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How Grubhub works for customers
How Grubhub works for restaurants
How Grubhub works for drivers
Grubhub is a food delivery service that serves about 32 million customers and 320,000 restaurants.
The delivery service also partners with "gig economy" contract drivers who get paid a small fee and an optional tip for delivering food from the restaurant to the customer.
Here is how Grubhub works for the restaurant, driver, and customer.
Grubhub is a popular food delivery service that has been around since 2004. According to the company, its service processes more than 745,000 orders each day from more than 320,000 restaurant partners, and it serves about 32 million active customers.
But Grubhub has a lot of moving parts — it doesn't simply work with customers, but also partners with restaurants and manages fleets of local drivers to make the deliveries.
Customers are at the core of the Grubhub business model; they use a mobile app (iOS or Android) or the Grubhub website to place orders and make payments.
After using the app or website to create an account and enter payment information, customers can browse or search for restaurants in the local area and then place an order by selecting items and adding them to a cart. They then check out, select a payment method, and track the status of the order until it's delivered. Grubhub generally charges a delivery fee in addition to what the restaurant charges.
The Grubhub app makes it easy for customers to order food and have it delivered or prepared for pickup.
Of course, Grubhub depends on a network of restaurants. In turn, Grubhub extends the reach of restaurants by allowing businesses to offer delivery even if the restaurant traditionally only offered dine-in service. Partnering also means that restaurants can use Grubhub as a delivery service rather than hiring and managing its own fleet of delivery personnel.
Restaurants can get started with Grubhub by applying on the Grubhub for Restaurants page of the Grubhub website. Once accepted, Grubhub works with restaurants to implement their menu, pricing, and other details in the app and website.
To partner with Grubhub, restaurants complete a form on the Grubhub website.
When a customer places an order, it appears on a dashboard in the restaurant's Grubhub app. The restaurant confirms the order and then prepares the food for delivery. When the driver arrives, the food is handed over and the restaurant's part of the process is complete.
Grubhub takes a portion of the restaurant's revenue to enable this workflow: a marketing and processing fee plus a percentage of the cost of the order. Because Grubhub orders cost the restaurant more, many restaurants have a different set of prices for online delivery than if you dine in.
Driving for Grubhub is a part of the modern "gig economy," and that means you can choose to work as a Grubhub driver as a main source of income or to supplement another job. Drivers can get started by applying on the Grubhub for Drivers page of the Grubhub website. To qualify as a driver, you need at a minimum to have a car (or, in some locales, a bike is acceptable), a driver's license and auto insurance (or a state ID if you're using a bike), and a smartphone.
After starting the application process on the Grubhub website, you'll complete it in the Grubhub mobile app for drivers.
Drivers get training from Grubhub and the ability to set their own hours. Once on the job, drivers are notified using the app when an order is available from a nearby restaurant. The driver claims the delivery and goes to the restaurant, waits for the food if necessary, and then delivers it to the customer by following the driving directions in the app. In addition to the basic delivery fee, drivers are also eligible to receive tips that customers can add to the payment details in the app.
TECH How to cancel a Grubhub order and get a refund
TECH How to order food from Google Maps for pickup or delivery, using a computer or mobile device
TECH How to cancel a DoorDash order and receive a refund quickly
TECH How to change the currency on Google Maps for accurate regional prices
More: GrubHub Software & Apps Tech How To | 2022-06-03T19:54:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Does Grubhub Work? Here's What You Need to Know | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-does-grubhub-work | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-does-grubhub-work |
What determines the cost of motorcycle insurance?
Average cost by company
Average cost by state
3 ways to save money on motorcycle insurance
The average cost of motorcycle insurance by state, company, and age
Liz Knueven and Alani Asis
The type of bike you ride can impact your insurance rates.
BROOK PIFER/
The average cost of motorcycle insurance is $519 per year or $43 per month.
Rates will vary based on your coverage type and amount; more coverage will increase your costs
Premiums also vary by state due to minimum coverage laws and the length of the riding season.
The average cost of motorcycle insurance in the U.S. is $519 per year. However, costs can range from $400 to $500 based on various factors, according to data from J.D. Power's NADAguides.
Like car insurance, motorcycle insurance has state minimum liability requirements and the option to add more coverage. Also, similar to car insurance , motorcycle insurance gets more expensive with more coverage and lower deductibles you'll be required to pay if you're in an accident.
Motorcycle insurance is more affordable than car insurance. However, full coverage motorcycle insurance can get quite pricey because it covers both your liability requirements and repair or replaces your motorcycle if damaged.
Generally, a motorcycle insurance policy has these five types of coverage available, according to the Insurance Information Institute:
Liability insurance: Coverage that pays for damage you do to others' property or any injuries. Generally, this is all that a minimum coverage policy will cover.
Collision insurance: Coverage that will pay for damages to your motorcycle if you're in an accident.
Comprehensive coverage: Pays for damage done by anything other than an accident, like theft or vandalism.
Coverage for motorcycle modifications, parts, and accessories: Some insurance policies will cover riding gear (like jackets and helmets), and other types of coverage will pay to repair and replace accessories like trailers, sidecars, or upgraded parts.
Underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage: This policy will reimburse you when an underinsured or uninsured driver damages your bike or injures you.
A state minimum policy means that you're only purchasing one of these five types of coverage. If you're underinsured, you could be covering these expenses out of pocket if you're involved in an accident.
Like auto insurance , drivers with less experience should expect to pay more for motorcycle coverage. For instance, 18-year-old drivers will usually have higher rates than someone in their 30s with a clean driving record.
Gender also plays a role in the cost of your insurance. An 18-year-old male purchasing a policy might pay $443 at GEICO, while a female might only have to pay $339 at the same company, according to data from J.D. Power.
Type of bike
The type of bike you plan to ride will also significantly impact how much you'll pay. The value of your bike, the safety features, the crash rate for that model, and the theft rate are factors considered when determining your premium, according to J.D. Power.
Here are some scenarios of how each bike compares in cost, according to J.D. Power:
Brand new bikes will cost more to insure than used motorcycles
A three-wheel motorcycle with a sidecar will cost more than a single-seat bike.
Dirt bikes and sport bikes will cost less to insure than bikes for the road. The average cost of a dirt bike policy in the U.S. is $99.
Like car insurance, traffic tickets can affect the amount you'll pay for motorcycle insurance. Whether it's in your car or on your bike, a traffic ticket will affect the price you'll pay for motorcycle insurance, according to Progressive.
If you have a history of filing claims, you may also see a jump in your premium. If you have too many claims on record, insurers may even deny coverage for your motorcycle.
Average cost of motorcycle insurance by company
Premiums can vary based on your provider. In the table below, the cost to insure a bike is cheapest with Progressive and most expensive with Foremost. However, this rate can vary based on your age, location, and other factors. Take the time to research the trustworthiness of each company and what each policy entails to make the best apple-to-apples comparison.
Motorcycle insurance carrier Average annual premium
Safeco $558
National General $597
American Modern $835
Dairyland $964
Average cost of motorcycle insurance by state
Some states are more expensive than others for motorcycle insurance coverage. Like car insurance, state laws that mandate coverage could affect how much your motorcycle insurance costs.
Another factor that influences the cost of your premiums is your state's winter conditions. In some parts of the US, motorcycle riding is seasonal. Coverage tends to cost less in states with harsh winters, like New England and the northern Midwest. The better your state's weather, the more you'll pay for motorcycle insurance because you'll be riding for more of the year.
Here's the average cost of motorcycle insurance in each state:
State Average motorcycle insurance annual premium
Saving on motorcycle insurance could take some extra work, but it could be worth it. Here are three moves to make that'll reduce your motorcycle insurance bill.
1. Shop around for coverage
Like any other type of insurance, shopping around can help you find the best rate. Each company considers your personal information and needs differently, and each insurer will price your policy differently, too.
Get quotes from several motorcycle insurers and see which company offers you the most coverage for the lowest premiums and deductibles.
2. Take a motorcycle safety class
Even if you've been riding for years, brushing up on your riding knowledge is never a bad thing. Many insurers will also offer you a discount if you've taken a motorcycle safety class within the past five years.
3. Take advantage of discounts
Some insurers offer discounts for members of owners or rider groups, like Harley-Davidson Owners Group. Speak to an insurance agent about lesser-known discounts and saving opportunities you might be missing out on.
Liz was a reporter at Insider, primarily covering personal-finance topics. Before joining Insider, she wrote about financial and automotive topics as a freelancer for brands like LendingTree and Credit Karma. She earned her bachelor's degree in writing from The Savannah College of Art and Design. She lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio. Find her on Twitter at @lizknueven.
PERSONAL FINANCE 7 ways to get cheaper car insurance, no matter which company you use
PERSONAL FINANCE Auto insurance isn't one-size-fits-all. The right amount for you depends on your state, your loans, and your finances.
More: motorcycle insurance Motorcycles Insurance insurance premiums
Insurance Pricing
Dairyland Insurance
PFI average
PFI Savvy | 2022-06-03T19:54:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Much Is Motorcycle Insurance? | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/average-cost-motorcycle-insurance | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/average-cost-motorcycle-insurance |
Leaked emails reveal what Amazon offers to pay influencers to post shoppable livestreams, and its requirements
Amazon is recruiting influencers to use its live-shopping feature, Amazon Live.
Amazon is recruiting popular TikTok and YouTube influencers to use its live-shopping feature.
Insider spoke with several influencers who shared examples of Amazon's pitch.
Here are Amazon's requirements and how much the tech giant is paying.
As Amazon competes to become the hub for livestream shopping in the US, the platform is attempting to attract some of social media's top talent.
Since 2020, the ecommerce giant has been recruiting influencers popular on TikTok and YouTube to use its live shopping feature, Amazon Live.
Insider spoke with nine creators, and two talent managers, about what the company's pitch looks like and how much Amazon is paying.
They shared that between the end of 2020 and early 2022, employees on the Amazon Live team reached out, offering additional payments — on top of standard commission rates — to creators who post live-shopping videos for a minimum of two months.
The rates ranged from $2,000 to $9,000 per month, according to emails viewed by Insider.
Here's what Amazon offered one creator with around 100,000 TikTok followers:
$2,100 per month for the first two months of the program if they streamed for a minimum of 300 total minutes over a minimum of five livestreams in one month.
$4,500 per month if they do the above and drive $11,000 or more in qualifying revenue.
Here's what Amazon offered a second creator with around 1 million YouTube subscribers:
$5,000 per month for the first two months of the program if they do at least five livestreams a month, each 60 mins long, or a minimum of 300 minutes per month.
Here are two more examples shared with Insider from two TikTok creators with around 100,000 followers:
$2,000 per month for at least 90 minutes of content a month.
$4,000 per month for at least four livestream — or at least four hours of content — a month.
In response to questions about these payments to creators, an Amazon spokesperson said in an email to Insider that the platform does not disclose the specifics of its relationships with any partner.
'I did it to get the guaranteed money'
While Amazon has proven to be a valuable platform for influencers through its affiliate marketing program and storefront tools, its livestreaming platform has struggled to produce its own stars.
"I did it to get the guaranteed money, but once that ran out, there wasn't any point," said one creator, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely about Amazon's terms.
"I didn't like that it was basically just me selling stuff," a second creator said. "It was hard to bring followers over to Amazon to watch a Live."
But some other creators said they'd made real money using Amazon Live.
In 2021, fashion influencer Shea Whitney, who has over 1 million YouTube subscribers, told Insider that she was recruited by Amazon in early 2020 to join the live shopping feature. At the time, Whitney, who posts around six livestreams on Amazon per month, said her Amazon Live earnings were starting to compete with her top stream of income, brand partnerships.
Screen shot of Amazon Live in Apple's App Store
How Amazon Live works and why some creators say it's not worth it
To livestream on Amazon, creators must be part of the Amazon Influencer Program. This program operates as an extension of Amazon's affiliate marketing program for creators, publishers, and bloggers.
For every item an influencer mentions during a livestream, a special link is added under the video directing viewers to the product. Creators earn a commission — between 1% and 10% — every time someone purchases a product with their link.
Unless the livestream is sponsored by a brand, Amazon doesn't give influencers the products they talk about for free, three creators told Insider. Instead, influencers said they either had to spend their own money on Amazon buying products or use what they already had at home.
Amazon's live shopping is similar to a digital HSN or QVC, and it's part of a larger push by many platforms to bring the concept of influencers selling products directly to fans live on social media to the US.
YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have all recently released tools to help creators sell products live. And Walmart has partnered with influencers for live-shopping events.
But live shopping still hasn't become mainstream enough to double as its own social platform.
In emails to creators, Amazon said that to be paid the creator had to share the Amazon livestream link with their followers on other social channels. Creators also had to ask viewers to follow them on Amazon at least once during the livestream.
"While I can go on TikTok Live and engage with my followers about all different subjects for hours, talking nonstop for an hour about Amazon products feels a lot like QVC," a third creator said. "Not to mention how many products you would have to be reviewing each month to accumulate four hours worth of reviews, and how much that would cost you."
More: Amazon Influencers YouTube | 2022-06-03T20:33:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Leaked Emails Show How Much Amazon Pays Influencers to Use Amazon Live | https://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-emails-how-much-amazon-pays-influencers-to-go-live-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-emails-how-much-amazon-pays-influencers-to-go-live-2022-6 |
Warner Bros. Discovery 'may have the best content assets in the industry,' analyst writes, but the company's debt and content spend are drawing Wall Street scrutiny
Robert Pattinson as Batman in Warner Bros.' "The Batman."
Netflix's stock price downturn in the last two quarters has rattled the entire media sector.
Wells Fargo equity analysts remain bullish on Warner Bros. Discovery but note the challenges ahead.
"Strategies are being rewritten in real time as a result," wrote Wells Fargo's Steven Cahall.
Netflix 's back-to-back dismaying quarters have cut a once-skyrocketing stock from over $700 per share to around $205, rattling the entire media sector. Now, as the structure of a combined Warner Bros. Discovery begins to take shape, Wall Street is scrutinizing the company's assets and strategy as the "the market is more skeptical than ever on streaming ," as one analyst put it.
Wells Fargo media analyst Steven Cahall reiterated an overweight rating on WBD shares on Wednesday, expressing a general sense of bullishness and noting that the parent company of Warner Bros., CNN, HBO Max , and Discovery+ "may have the best content assets in the industry."
While WBD will have to muddle through a period of "messy merger integration," he is optimistic that the company's leadership will exceed expectations on the strength of HBO and Warner Bros.' programming and film — with the potential to save even more than its target of $3 billion in synergies, i.e. cost-cutting. Cahall also wrote that he sees potential for divestitures in brands such as CNN and Discovery's Polish media group TVN, but added that a selloff of the cable news network — which CEO David Zaslav has publicly praised — seems unlikely at this stage.
Cahall also noted the pressure on traditional broadcasters' ability to generate revenue and highlighted WBD's $57 billion in debt, a challenge that has drawn concern from others on the Street. Additionally, MoffettNathanson's Michael Nathanson in April asked how much of Warners' lack of free cash flow was "the result of a business model focused on premium (read: expensive) scripted content versus mismanagement by prior ownership" at AT&T.
Cahall hailed WBD's attempts thus far at reining in content spending by, for instance, trimming scripted series at Turner networks TNT and TBS. (TNT drama "Snowpiercer," according to Wells Fargo estimates, racks up production costs of around $5 million per episode.) The analyst puts CNN+ investments at around $90 million in 2021.
"Based on our analysis, WBD is one of the best in the game at revenue generation per content dollar spent," Cahall wrote.
As for Zaslav's attempts to trim the fat, Cahall looks to Discovery's acquisition of Scripps as an example of the CEO's ability to cut costs. WBD should be able to cut $4 billion in costs by 2024, Cahall posited, a billion over the company's current targets.
WBD boasts a notable library of IP, such as the Harry Potter and Batman franchises, not to mention HBO's roster of series and films. Plus, the union of WarnerMedia and Discovery translates to fairly little overlap in content on their respective streaming services: Cahall cited Parrot Analytics' analysis that only 4% of HBO Max content is unscripted — i.e. reality TV, competition, and game show programming — compared to 70% of Discovery+ programming. (Still, industry insiders are concerned about the fate of unscripted teams on the Warner side, given Discovery's notorious frugality.)
"Drama, comedy, animation, and kids content make up nearly 80% of HBO Max's genres, which we think have virtually zero overlap with discovery+," Cahall wrote. "This plays particularly well in streaming, in our view, as content tailored to all members of a household tends to drive lower churn and higher engagement. The result should be pricing power over the long term, which we think can help satisfy investor concerns about streaming getting to healthy margins."
While Zaslav is focused on a winning streaming strategy — with plans to create an all-in-one service combining HBO Max, Discovery+ and content from CNN — he has also emphasized the continuing opportunity in WBD's legacy businesses.
The company has linear cable networks to think about, from TNT and TBS to Cartoon Network to CNN, and Wells Fargo estimates that linear revenue accounts for 47% of WBD's total revenue. There's also the conglomerate's reliance on the traditional theatrical experience, even after then-WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar made the decision to stream all of Warner Bros.' 2021 movie slate on HBO Max.
Balancing those priorities will be a tricky feat. As Cahall points out, at the time the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger was announced in May 2021, Wall Street was still rewarding companies for growing their streaming subscriber memberships, and Netflix was priced around $500 a share. He now believes that the market's focus is shifting to profitability from streamers, more so than subscriber gains.
"The capitulation of Netflix shares is now being felt by traditional media companies looking to make the pivot from linear to streaming," said Cahall. "Strategies are being rewritten in real time as a result."
More: Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Discovery HBO Max | 2022-06-03T20:33:17Z | www.businessinsider.com | Warner Bros. Discovery Debt, Content Spend Draw Wall Street Scrutiny | https://www.businessinsider.com/warner-bros-discovery-netflix-stock-scrutiny-streaming-debt-content-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/warner-bros-discovery-netflix-stock-scrutiny-streaming-debt-content-2022-6 |
Sonos now has a voice assistant for its smart speakers that lets you control playback — here's how it works and why it's safer than using Alexa
By Steven Cohen
What is Sonos Voice Control?
Does Sonos Voice Control record your voice?
What speakers are supported?
What music services are supported?
What's Sonos Voice Control like to use?
Sonos launched a new voice control feature for its lineup of smart speakers.
The music assistant lets you control playback with hands-free voice commands.
It's also designed with privacy in mind, so your voice is never recorded or stored in the cloud.
Sonos announced the launch of its very own voice assistant. The new Sonos Voice Control feature is now available on select Sonos speakers with built-in microphones, like the Sonos Move and Sonos Beam.
Though these speakers already support digital assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant , this new feature was built specifically with Sonos products in mind. The company also developed its assistant with privacy as a priority, so customers don't have to worry about their voices being recorded.
Below, we break down all the ins and outs of the new feature, including supported controls, devices, music services, and more.
Sonos Voice Control is the company's new voice assistant feature that lets customers control select Sonos speakers through spoken commands. Once set up, users can simply say "Hey Sonos" to activate the feature and initiate a command.
With Sonos Voice Control you can ask your speaker to play music, adjust volume, skip tracks, move playback to a different room, group devices, and more. Some commands also work over Bluetooth , so you can control portable Sonos speakers when you're on the go.
Sonos even teamed up with Emmy-nominated actor Giancarlo Esposito to bring the voice of its digital assistant to life. Esposito is best known for his roles in "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul," and "The Mandalorian."
Unlike Alexa or Google Assistant, however, Sonos Voice Control is strictly designed to manage playback and music. This means you can't use it for other common digital assistant functions, like answering questions or checking the weather.
Sonos says that its voice assistant works locally, meaning that it processes your requests on the device itself and never records or saves your voice to the cloud.
What speakers include support for Sonos Voice Control?
Sonos Voice Control is available on all of the company's smart speaker models. This includes the Sonos One, Sonos Move, Sonos Roam, Sonos Beam, and Sonos Arc.
What music services does Sonos Voice Control support?
Sonos Voice Control currently supports Sonos Radio, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Pandora.
Based on initial testing, Sonos Voice Control works well with simple setup and speedy performance. To give the new feature a whirl, I tried it out on a Sonos Beam (Gen 2) with the Sonos Radio service.
Setting up Voice Control couldn't be simpler. I just needed to update the speaker through the Sonos app on my smartphone. Once updated, I was able to select Sonos Voice Control as an option in the speaker's settings.
Initiating commands with the "Hey Sonos" wake word works well without any issues. Requests for play, pause, volume adjustments, and radio stations all led to speedy results.
Unlike Alexa, you can also quickly follow up voice commands without having to say the wake word again. For instance, I can say "Hey Sonos, play rock music" and then increase the volume by just saying "volume up" once it starts. It's a small feature, but it adds a little extra convenience.
If you're looking for a full-fledged smart speaker assistant, Alexa is still a better option, but as a feature meant purely for music control, Sonos' solution is a simpler and safer alternative for those who prioritize privacy. You can even have Alexa and Sonos Voice Control set up at the same time, so you can use Sonos' voice assistant for playback while still having the option to ask Alexa questions.
Steven is a Tech Editor for the Insider Reviews team, where he oversees streaming and home entertainment product coverage. He previously served as High-Def Digest's Gear Editor from 2013 to 2019, and his work has appeared on Ben's Bargains, Steve's Digicams, Big Picture Big Sound, and Consequence of Sound. Over his nine years of experience covering the audiovisual industry, Steven has reviewed numerous TVs, headphones, speakers, monitors, streaming players, and more. He was one of a select number of journalists invited to get a hands-on first look at LG's first 8K OLED TV in 2019, and is always excited to check out the newest and biggest displays on the market. Based on his extensive experience in the home theater industry, Steven served as one of the expert judges for the 2018 TV Shootout, the premier annual display competition that crowns the best TVs of the year. Steven also has a background in film criticism, having reviewed over 400 movies and TV shows. He uses his movie industry knowledge to help inform his coverage of the streaming and home entertainment markets. Steven's own home theater setup makes his passion for entertainment clear, complete with a 65-inch HDR display and the biggest Dolby Atmos speaker system he can fit in his apartment. And though he often spends his free time binging new series on every streaming service under the sun, he remains proud of his huge collection of Blu-ray discs. See below for some of his work.
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More: Insider Reviews 2022 Insider Picks Sonos Sonos Beam
Digital Assistant | 2022-06-03T22:04:44Z | www.businessinsider.com | Sonos Voice Control: New Digital Assistant Available on Sonos Speakers | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/sonos-voice-control-smart-speakers | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/sonos-voice-control-smart-speakers |
Kraken vs. Kraken Pro: The biggest differences
Is Kraken right for you?
Is Kraken Pro right for you?
Kraken vs.Kraken Pro — Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Kraken vs. Kraken Pro: How to choose between the basic and advanced crypto accounts
Kraken vs. Kraken Pro Editor's Rating Min. deposit Fees Next steps
$10; Minimums can vary depending on type of cryptocurrency
0% - 0.26% (1.5% for instant buy, sell, or convert orders)
Kraken Pro
Bottom line: The standard Kraken account is best for traders in search of an easy-to-use platform with basic crypto trading features and account options like staking. Kraken Pro best suits advanced traders who want to utilize margin trading, next-level charting tools, and advanced order types.
Kraken is a global crypto exchange serving more than 9 million clients in nearly 200 countries. The platform currently offers more than 100 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin. In addition to serving individuals, Kraken offers a vast array of services for businesses and institutions.
But its two main accounts — Kraken and Kraken Pro — serve different types of crypto traders. The basic Kraken account is a good option for beginners or intermediate traders who aren't in need of too many features besides regular trading or staking. If you're looking for an advanced interface, margin trading, and additional order types, Kraken Pro is your best bet.
Depends on cryptocurrency
Can exchange more than 90 crypto assets
Low account minimums and fees
Variety of educational resources and tutorials on cryptocurrencies
Over-the-counter (OTC) trading and account management support available
No 24/7 phone customer support
Kraken's futures mobile platform isn't currently available in the US
Not a personal wallet service
Features: More than 90 cryptocurrencies, margin and futures trading, OTC trading, account management for HNW individuals and institutional clients, multiple trading platforms, educational resources, and staking rewards.
Advanced trading app with charting tools and multiple order book layout choices
Margin trading with 5X leverage
Multiple order types: market, limit, stop-loss, and take-profit
Staking and unstaking
Margin trading fee schedule is fairly convoluted
Features: 100+ cryptocurrencies, margin trading, advanced order types, staking/un-staking, and charting tools
Kraken and Kraken Pro's features and account options also vary.
Users can set their favorite cryptocurrencies in the app and sort by winners or losers
Instant crypto purchases in different pre-defined amounts
Staking rewards up to 23%
OTC trading or account management for high- net-worth individuals
Separate trading platform with charting tools and advanced interface
Users get access to market orders, limit orders, stop-loss orders, and take-profit orders
Several order book layout options; staking
Yes — OTC trading individuals get access to one-on-one service and assistance from experts. Advanced traders can also upgrade to Account Management to get an ongoing personal account representative.
Can exchange more than 100 crypto assets
How Kraken works
You'll get access to more than 100 cryptocurrencies with both Kraken's basic account and the Kraken Pro account. But the standard Kraken account is a better choice for beginners who don't need to access features like margin trading, advanced order types, and charting tools.
When it comes to account funding, you can do so with fiat currencies (e.g., USD or EUR), cryptocurrencies, and you'll be able to trade fiat-to-crypto 24/7. Plus, the basic account lets you make purchases with ACH bank transfers or debit/credit cards.
Kraken also uses account verification levels to determine which features traders can access. It currently has four: Starter, Express, Intermediate, and Pro. Each level is simply based on how much documentation you provide when setting up your account. For instance, those who provide all of the following are considered to be at the pro level: email, full name, date of birth, phone number, address, occupation, valid ID, social security number, proof of residence, face photo, KYC questionnaire, and 2FA sign-in.
Those who don't provide all of the above typically fall into lower levels, limiting how much they can use on Kraken. Each level can use the Kraken Pro app, but only express, intermediate, and pro users can take advantage of the basic Kraken app (visit this link for more information on what you can do with each verification level).
Both the basic and Kraken Pro accounts additionally allow for staking (staking is a process whereby crypto holders receive interest rewards for holding specific amounts of certain cryptocurrencies for set periods of time). You can currently earn up to 23% annually on your crypto balances, but the rates you receive ultimately depend on the cryptocurrency you're staking. See more on Kraken's staking rewards here.
Kraken will also launch a beta version of its own NFT marketplace soon (you can join the waitlist here). The Kraken mobile app is available on both iOS and Android devices.
Read Personal Finance Insider's complete review of Kraken here »
Margin trading fee schedule isn't straightforward
What does Kraken Pro do?
Kraken Pro is best for experienced, active traders who want to take advantage of additional account perks like margin trading, charting tools, and advanced order types. Just as with the basic Kraken account, you'll get access to 100+ cryptocurrencies, staking, and over-the-counter trading (if you're a high-net-worth client).
Kraken's futures aren't currently available to US traders, but those residing in countries that aren't on its list of geographic restrictions will have access to futures through Kraken Pro. As for Kraken Pro's order types, you'll be able to utilize market, limit, stop-loss, and take-profit orders. Plus, you can easily stake and unstake cryptocurrencies through the app.
Its margin trading perks are best for individuals who want extra buying power. You can trade with up to five times leverage at Kraken (i.e., you can borrow up to five times your account balance to trade cryptocurrencies). The margin fee you'll pay depends on the cryptocurrency you're using (see more details on Kraken's margin fees here).
Users can set up the Kraken Pro mobile app on iOS or Android devices.
Is Kraken any good?
That depends on what you're looking for in a cryptocurrency exchange. Kraken is a global exchange offering 100+ cryptocurrencies, staking, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, futures trading, margin trading, and a range of other services for individuals and institutions.
The exchange is best for those who want easy access to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and others.
Are Kraken and Kraken Pro linked?
Yes. To set up the Kraken Pro app, you'll need to log in either using your current name and password, or an API key. If you choose the API route, you'll need to follow these instructions after downloading the app.
Is Kraken Pro free?
No. Kraken Pro users are still responsible for Kraken's trading fees.
Is Kraken Pro legit?
Yes. Kraken has been in business since 2011, and the business is regulated by FinCEN.
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More: Kraken Kraken Pro Cryptocurrencies Investing | 2022-06-03T22:04:56Z | www.businessinsider.com | Kraken Vs. Kraken Pro: Which Crypto Account Is Right for You? | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/kraken-vs-kraken-pro | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/kraken-vs-kraken-pro |
Tiger-backed email startup Superhuman has laid off 22% of its staff a month after launching on Microsoft Outlook
Rahul Vohra is the CEO and founder of the email app Superhuman
Rahul Vohra
Email app Superhuman laid off 22% of its workforce on Friday, the CEO said in a tweet.
Superhuman makes a premium email app for power users.
The Tiger-backed startup has raised $126 million in funding and was last valued at $825 million.
The wave of tech layoffs has reached even the pandemic darlings of the productivity sector. Email startup Superhuman has laid off 23 employees, representing about 22% of its workforce, CEO Rahul Vohra announced on Twitter on Friday.
"We are doing all we can to support them, including generous severance, mental health support, health insurance throughout the year, and job search assistance," Vohra added in a follow-up tweet. Vohra also offered to help those laid off to find a new job.
Superhuman amassed a cult-like following among tech founders and investors for pledging to make email faster. The app uses keyboard shortcuts and pre-written messages to help users churn through their inbox in less time. Backed by Tiger Global, the startup has raised $126 million in funding, most recently at a $825 million valuation.
It had its share of critics, to be sure. A Superhuman subscription costs $30 a month, which led some people to mock the app as luxury software for the tech elite. And until recently, people needed an invite from an existing user to join.
For years, Superhuman elicited gripes from tech-savvy professionals that the app wasn't compatible with Microsoft Outlook, one of the world's largest email services with nearly 345 million paid users. People needed a Gmail email address to use the app. Superhuman finally arrived on Outlook in May, a major milestone for the five-year-old startup that had the potential to unleash hundreds of millions of paid subscribers. The integration came about a year after Superhuman fired up enterprise sales, where businesses pay for licenses directly or through reimbursement.
The layoffs raise questions about the success of the launch, which had the potential to turbocharge business.
The layoffs are part of cutbacks sweeping the tech industry as venture capitalists slow down their pace of investing and startups slash their burn. More than 21,000 tech workers have been laid off so far this year, with 16,800 people dismissed in May alone, according to the online layoffs-tracker Layoffs.fyi.
Have a tip? Contact tech correspondent Melia Russell on a nonwork phone using text or encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (603) 913-3085, email, or Twitter DM.
More: Startups Venture Capital Superhuman Email | 2022-06-03T22:05:08Z | www.businessinsider.com | Email Startup Superhuman Lays Off 22% of Staff Amid Downturn | https://www.businessinsider.com/superhuman-email-startup-lays-off-22-percent-staff-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/superhuman-email-startup-lays-off-22-percent-staff-2022-6 |
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse gave a speech Thursday night largely criticizing his party.
Sasse said that using cable news to campaign to the "new angry octogenarian" may be ineffective.
He also claimed that "the loudest politicians and the media demagogues" still go viral.
Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse warned that his fellow GOP politicians rely too much on cable television.
Sasse's remarks were part of a nearly hour-long speech Thursday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute's "A Time for Choosing" speaker series. The series at the California presidential library centered on the future of the Republican party.
The Nebraska senator used the platform primarily to criticize his party for appealing too heavily to a small population of aging TV viewers, saying the strategy lacked longevity.
"Politicians who spend their days shouting in Congress, so they can spend their nights shouting on cable, are peddling crack – mostly to the already addicted, but also with glittery hopes of finding a new angry octogenarian out there," he said.
Sasse claims that less than 2% of the country watches cable on any given day.
"And this 2% is not remotely representative of the country. The median age of an MSNBC viewer is 68. CNN, basically the same," said the senator. Insider was unable to confirm that percentage. However, 2021 data from Neilson found that in 2021, the median age for both Fox and MSNBC viewers was 68 years old. The CNN median age was 64 so far this year, according to the Washington Post.
A February 2022 survey conducted by Statista, a data provider, found that 21% of US adults relied on cable to get their daily news, while 36% said that they never used cable news for news.
"Fox evening programming has an even more geriatric audience. Gen-Xers and Millennials and Zoomers (the generations that make up our entire future) are not listening to any of the fanservice media," he continued.
The Nebraska Senator also took issue with using social media to send out messages to the public. He brought up the topic again at the Thursday event, saying "Political Twitter isn't real."
Sasse had previously spoken about the intersection between social media and politics while also calling out members of both parties, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
"The vast majority of traffic on Twitter is driven by well under 2% of the public. And yet politicians – again, left and right are barely distinguishable – in seeking to cater to this tiny minority and the algorithms that drive addicted-engagement," the Republican claimed in his speech.
"Nonetheless, the loudest politicians and the media demagogues who enable and encourage them still daily go viral just by preaching to their little siloed choirs," he added.
Sasse also took a jab at President Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, for his Twitter usage.
Biden "immediately handed the staffing of his White House to far-left 20-somethings and a chief of staff who literally lives on Twitter," Sasse said in his Reagan Library speech. "That is Ron Klain's constituency."
Sasse did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Klain declined Insider's request for comment.
More: Ben Sasse Republican Social Media Cable Television | 2022-06-04T01:07:14Z | www.businessinsider.com | Sasse: GOP Politicians Focusing on Cable News Appearances Are 'Peddling Crack' | https://www.businessinsider.com/sasse-gop-politicians-cable-news-appearances-peddling-crack-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/sasse-gop-politicians-cable-news-appearances-peddling-crack-2022-6 |
'Perfect for SpaceX employees': Texas locals unhappy as realtors lure Elon Musk's engineers with listings
Elon Musk's SpaceX is based in a south Texas village called Boca Chica.
Realtors in south Texas are tailoring house listings to SpaceX workers, but residents aren't happy.
"Perfect for SpaceX workers" and "just minutes away from SpaceX" are written on some listings.
Brownsville locals told Insider they are upset that realtors are luring SpaceX staff to the area.
Residents in a south Texas city next to SpaceX's facility are upset about real estate agents attracting the company's workers through property listings.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk pleaded in March 2021 for engineers, technicians, builders, and other workers to move to the city of Brownsville or South Padre Island, close to the company's Starbase facility in the coastal village of Boca Chica.
Since then, properties in the area that were on the market for years have sold in a matter of months, said Craig Grove, real estate broker and owner of Texas-based GRT Realty.
"Most agents now — if they feel like it is good for SpaceX workers — they may put a copy in [the listing] about it being an easy commute to Starbase," Grove told Insider, adding that his firm does what it can to attract the company's employees.
One of GR T's online listings says "only minutes away from SpaceX!." Other listings advertise a 15-or 20-minute drive from SpaceX's Starbase.
Houses recently listed on Facebook Marketplace have similar descriptions. One property for rent is described as "perfect for SpaceX workers," while others are considered "just minutes away from SpaceX" and "conveniently located near SpaceX and Boca Chica beach."
David Prchal, a realtor at GRT, told Insider the real estate company has dealt with many clients who have worked at SpaceX. Grove said he even set up a subsidiary of GRT called "Starbase Realty" designed to cater for SpaceX workers.
Grove told Insider that SpaceX has definitely had an impact on the housing market in Brownsville. He said the average property that SpaceX employees tend to rent or buy is newly built, has three to four bedrooms, a two-car garage, and costs between $250,000 and $350,000.
Bruno Zavaleta, a broker who owns Zavaleta Realty, told Insider that SpaceX's presence in Brownsville is definitely having an impact on residents.
"We have seen the price of homes and rentals gradually increase so some residents feel they have been out priced," he said, but added that he doesn't tailor his listings to SpaceX employees.
Locals are upset
Residents of Brownsville — considered one of the poorest cities in the US — have criticized SpaceX for destroying the surrounding environmental habitats, but they're also worried about rising house prices.
Emma Guevara, Brownsville resident and organizer of the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club, told Insider a common problem in Brownsville is that locals can't afford the jump in house prices after SpaceX came to the area. Soaring inflation was making the issue worse, she added.
"The landlords are all kissing [Musk's] ass and they can't understand why we're so mad about it," Guevara said. "They're making money out of this — it's a great time for them, but it's bleeding the life outta the rest of us."
Her rent jumped by $175 from one month to the next and other locals have told her about their struggles with affording their own homes, she said.
Josette Hinojosa, a clerk and long-time Brownsville resident, told Insider she finds it "utterly disgusting and disturbing" that realtors are using particular wording in listings to attract SpaceX employees. Her rent for the house she's lived in for 10 years will rise in July by $425, she said.
"Californians who have made their way to Texas tend to have an economic advantage, and can afford to buy up multiple properties throughout the state," Hinojosa said.
Jerry Ruiz, a local who is a member of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, told Insider how he and other residents were upset about how much land SpaceX was occupying.
"We're just tiny Davids against a huge Goliath — the richest man in the world," Ruiz said. The situation is depressing and makes him angry, he said.
SpaceX did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
SpaceX isn't totally to blame
Grove said that although locals were "upset due to SpaceX," Musk's company wasn't the sole reason for the increase in property prices in Brownsville. He said the nationwide housing shortage and rising inflation have also affected the market.
"I don't want gloss over the people who have been affected," Grove said. "At end of day, nothing you do is going to be 100% great for everybody."
More: SpaceX Space Real Estate Houses | 2022-06-04T07:07:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | Texas Locals Unhappy As Realtors Lure SpaceXers With Property Listings | https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-musk-employees-texas-realtors-house-listing-locals-unhappy-expensive-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-musk-employees-texas-realtors-house-listing-locals-unhappy-expensive-2022-5 |
Insiders say Amazon's Consumer CEO Dave Clark was felled by a series of missteps, including warehouse overexpansion, spiraling costs, overstaffing and a union loss
Katherine Long, Eugene Kim, Ashley Stewart, and Emma Cosgrove
Amazon's outgoing CEO of Worldwide Consumer Dave Clark.
Clark resigned after Amazon's shares plunged about 35% from their peak in July.
It's unclear who will take Clark's job leading Amazon's retail division.
Insiders described a tense relationship between Clark and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
Amazon's worldwide consumer CEO Dave Clark lost his job after a series of missteps by the business he ran, including warehouse overexpansion, overstaffing, spiraling costs, and a bruising loss to a union, according to company insiders and former executives.
The move is a clear signal that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy was unhappy with the performance and direction of the retail business under Clark. In a companywide email on Friday, Jassy wrote that Amazon has "more work in front of us to get to where we ultimately want to be in our Consumer business."
Amazon is grappling with a slowdown in e-commerce spending following torrid online sales during the pandemic. The company opened warehouses at a record pace, and hired thousands of new workers to handle surging orders from consumers stuck at home. Now, the company has admitted that it has overcapacity and is even sub-leasing and shutting some fulfillment centers. Amazon's online retail sales fell 3% last quarter, the first year-over-year decline since at least 2015.
When Amazon revealed these problems fully in April, the company's stock plunged. That added to other problems, such as surging costs from inflation and employees demanding better pay. The company has also been rocked by unionization campaigns at three warehouses, and congressional and regulatory scrutiny of its e-commerce business.
Where "the buck stops"
Most of these issues were responsibility of Clark, a 49-year old executive who spent over two decades at the company. He was paid handsomely for doing the job. His most recent compensation package was valued at $56 million, almost entirely in Amazon stock. By resigning, he's foregoing roughly $71 million in unvested shares, according to regulatory filings and Insider estimates.
Amazon "can't ignore" a falling stock price, "firing employees for speaking up about sustainability and not stopping union progress," one former Amazon retail executive said. Clark is where "the buck stops for all of that," this person added.
Jassy took over the Amazon CEO role from founder Jeff Bezos last year. Jassy came from the company's cloud business, Amazon Web Services, so he relied on Clark to oversee the consumer operations, at least initially.
Tension between Amazon CEOs
Clark has had a tense working relationship with Jassy, who is known as a micro-manager, according to two Amazon insiders.
Jassy is also "AWS biased," one of these people said. Meanwhile, Amazon's falling share price "isn't just a market correction – the company is losing money and market share on e-commerce but AWS is still printing money," the person added.
The company's most recent financial report positioned Amazon's warehouse overexpansion as a mistake, another insider said, "and the implication of whose mistake that was seems clear." All three insiders asked not to be identified discussing sensitive topics.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on reports of tension between Jassy and Clark.
However, a former Amazon VP highlighted another possible source of friction between the two executives. "Clark was brilliant, but he was soul-less, like a machine, ruthless in a certain sense, and didn't have the human connection part," this person said. "Jassy has a different approach, kind of trying to shape a kinder, gentler Amazon that can be successful with the scrutiny they're under."
"It felt like Dave got thrown under the bus"
Other insiders and former employees highlighted Clark's talents and argued that he has either been targeted unfairly or is less suitable for the new challenges Amazon faces.
"It felt like Dave got thrown under the bus around the network expansion," one of the Amazon insiders said. "Much of that expansion was driven by a push for one-day delivery," a pet project of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, "combined with COVID unpredictability."
Another former employee said Clark knew how to build a business with seemingly endless resources, but not how to control costs and that is what the e-commerce operation needs now. "Add unions, Amazon's safety reputation, multiple class-action lawsuits and lack of trust in the marketplace for his revenue generating attempts (ship with Amazon; Amazon Freight), and they probably think it's time for a change," this person added.
"It's time for me to build again"
Clark's resignation is the latest in a string of executive departures at Amazon since Bezos announced he would step down as CEO last year. At least 50 vice presidents left Amazon in 2021, a turnover rate of more than 10% at that level, according to people familiar with the matter and Insider's analysis from January. The exodus included departures of other significant executives, including Charlie Bell, considered a cofounder of Amazon's cloud business, who defected to Microsoft.
In an email announcing his resignation, Clark said the decision to step down had been in the works for "some time." Clark has been less-involved in day-to-day matters in the past several months, according to insiders. It's been months, for instance, since the notably in-the-weeds Clark emailed an internal team responsible for addressing customer complaints, according to one current employee. Clark previously emailed the team on a weekly basis, this person said.
Clark sold his Seattle-area mansion and moved to Dallas with his family late last year, Insider previously reported, thousands of miles from Amazon's global operations headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.
Clark hinted at future plans in a tweet announcing his resignation, writing that after leaving Amazon, "it's time for me to build again." His last day at Amazon will be July 1, according to Jassy's email. The company will announce a replacement in the "next few weeks," the CEO wrote.
Replacing Clark, who some former Amazonians have described as a visionary leader, could prove difficult.
"In my time there, I never saw a clear successor," said one former Amazon logistics executive. "Dave is exceptional."
Work at Amazon? Got a tip?
Contact reporter Katherine Long via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-206-375-9280) or by email (klong@insider.com).
Contact reporter Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@insider.com).
Contact reporter Emma Cosgrove via email (ecosgrove@insider.com).
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More: Amazon Dave Clark Resignation | 2022-06-04T10:14:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Amazon's Consumer CEO Dave Clark Resigns After a Series of Missteps | https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-consumer-ceo-dave-clark-resigns-missteps-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-consumer-ceo-dave-clark-resigns-missteps-2022-6 |
The CEO of investing platform Webull explains how his company has stayed afloat as shares of competitors like Robinhood tank — and shares evidence he's seen that suggests a recession could be on the way
Retail investors have stuck with Webull, according to its CEO.
dima_sidelnikov/Getty
Investing platform Webull has held up as stocks tank and competitors like Robinhood struggle.
Webull CEO Anthony Denier shared what separates his company and the investing trends he's seen.
One disturbing phenomenon he's observed indicates that a recession could be coming.
Just last year, iPhone users were more interested in investing than TikTok videos.
Mobile-native brokerages like Robinhood and Webull topped the charts in Apple's App Store in early 2021, slightly edging ByteDance's highly addictive social media service in terms of app downloads.
The next generation of investors was emerging, emboldened by the sudden surge of so-called meme stocks like GameStop (GME). Many of these newcomers were young, enthusiastic, and fearless. They made a habit out of dip-buying and used online forums to chat about their favorite stocks and cryptocurrencies, hoping that their picks would soon soar "to the moon."
Twelve months later, many of those high-fliers have cratered — including Robinhood's own stock price (HOOD). Shares of the investing platform have crashed nearly 90% from its all-time high of $85 as many stocks and cryptocurrencies have fallen into a brutal bear market in 2022. This new investing environment caused Robinhood's transaction-based revenue to tumble 48% in Q1 as young investors fled the market.
By comparison, Webull's business is in "quite a good place" right now, CEO Anthony Denier told Insider in a recent interview. The 22-year market veteran said transaction-based revenue for the privately held company fell just 5.8% in the first quarter as investors put fresh money to work.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Denier shared why Webull has fared better than peers in this market downturn, the investing trends he's noticing, the major recession signal he's watching for, and why he believes that cryptos are in a bear winter but will eventually rebound.
Taking the Webull by the horns
At first glance, it's hard to see how Webull and Robinhood differ. For instance, both platforms tend to attract younger, less affluent investors. Denier said that the typical Webull user is in their early 30's and has an account size of $3,500 — a number he said was closer to $5,000 before the selloff.
But according to Denier, there's a reason why Webull hasn't seen a huge business slowdown like Robinhood has: Its clients tend to be "more sophisticated" and more experienced than its rival's, meaning that they tend to stay invested and trade in market downturns instead of getting flustered or bored and jumping ship.
"Robinhood is an investor's first account — Webull is their second," Denier said.
In Denier's view, Robinhood is a simple platform that tries not to bog down its users with too much information. By contrast, Webull provides more advanced information and tools, including the ability to short stocks — a feature that Denier said saw usage increase 400% in Q1.
Denier also noted that his company is profitable and is actively looking to hire with no layoffs in the works, while Robinhood has had to shed hundreds of jobs as it continues to rack up losses.
4 investing trends to watch
Denier — who's been the CEO of Webull since its inception in May 2017 after stops at Credit Suisse, ING, and LXM Group — shared a few investing trends he's observed lately with Insider.
First, the CEO said that Webull users were shorting stocks more frequently in the first half of the year in an attempt to profit from the stock market's dramatic decline.
Investors are also showing increased appetite for more advanced products, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Denier said.
Another trend is that investors have consolidated their portfolios and are shunning speculative investments, Denier noted. For example, the CEO said that the average Webull investor now holds six "core" stocks instead of holding 15 "third-tier" ones.
Lastly, Denier said there's plenty of evidence that investors are staying in the market and taking advantage of dips in stocks instead of pulling their hard-earned cash from the platform.
"When you see a big down day in the market, the following day, we see a lot of cash coming in to buy what they deem as discounted names," Denier said. "So when you talk about a 'buy the dip' mentality, I think we certainly see that as a retail platform."
Keep an eye on this telltale recession sign
Some market experts have sounded the alarm about a recession as inflation soars, interest rates rise, and the Russia-Ukraine war persists. Needless to say, Denier said he's not thrilled about how the economy looks right now.
"There's a lot of things that have me more than slightly concerned," Denier said.
One phenomenon that the Webull CEO has seen firsthand is the cooling of the labor market.
"We've been in a really hot labor market, and it's been extremely difficult to hire people — especially hire people in a work-from-home, remote environment," Denier said. "I'm starting to see that change now."
Denier continued: "Now, the employment figures don't really show that yet. But it seems like hiring or this mass hiring that we've been seeing is starting to slow. That's not necessarily a sign of anything bad — it could just be a normalization."
But when paired with what Denier called a "ridiculous" inflation rate and sky-high oil and gas prices, a softer labor market could quickly spiral into an economic downturn.
"Once you see companies like General Motors and Ford start announcing layoffs, that's when that recession is going to hit," Denier said.
The CEO added: "If the labor market slows, we'll go into recession. Right now, we seem healthy, but it's definitely not as hot as it was only two months ago."
Don't fear a crypto winter
Cryptocurrencies have crashed several times in their brief history, and are currently in the middle of another serious slump as investors unload risky assets. Denier acknowledged that cryptos are in a dreaded "winter" season where investment in tokens and the companies behind them dries up.
"From a perspective of having a crypto winter, I think, yeah — I mean, it's probably due for a winter, right?" Denier said. "You can only run hot for so long."
Chances are, some cryptos won't be around in a few years, the CEO said, adding that it's unclear which tokens will survive. However, he believes that the blockchain that undergirds cryptos like bitcoin will "absolutely, 100%" be around in a few years.
Crypto selloffs have historically been a great opportunity for long-term investors to reevaluate their positions and buy more to bring down an investment's cost basis, Denier said. While there's no guarantee that any specific coin or even the asset class as a whole will come back, Denier still believes that the future of crypto is bright.
"It's not going away," Denier said. "People say, 'Oh, it's worthless.' It's absolutely not worthless. Is bitcoin worth $80,000? I don't know. Will it get to $80,000 next year? Probably not. But will we get to $80,000 at some point? Probably more likely yes than no."
Denier added: "We have millions of customers that trade crypto, and they believe in it."
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Robinhood stock price | 2022-06-04T10:15:06Z | www.businessinsider.com | Webull CEO: 4 Investing Trends to Watch, Top Recession Risk | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-risk-retail-investing-trends-stock-market-robinhood-webull-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-risk-retail-investing-trends-stock-market-robinhood-webull-2022-6 |
Starbucks workers have unionized in dozens of US stores.
Starbucks workers' union filed a complaint against the company, saying it closed a store illegally.
The workers accuse the coffee chain of retaliating against them for unionizing, Bloomberg reported.
The store being permanently closed is in Ithaca, New York state.
Starbucks' decision to permanently close a store in Ithaca, New York, has prompted its workers' union to accuse the company of retaliation for recent union activism, Bloomberg reported.
The union filed the complaint about the "illegal" closure to the National Labor Relations Board on Friday.
Reggie Borges, a spokesperson for Starbucks, told Bloomberg that the closure was due to facilities, staffing, and "time and attendance" issues.
"We open and close stores as a regular part of our operations. With deep care and urgency, we continuously work to create the kind of store environment that partners and customers expect of Starbucks."
Insider contacted Starbucks for comment.
According to the report, Starbucks attorney Alan Model emailed the union to inform of the closure, saying: "As you know, there have been many issues with regard to the condition of the store (e.g., the grease trap) and it does not make sense to further operate the store."
One employee, Evan Sunshine, told Bloomberg: "Starbucks won't get away with retaliating against us like this. Whatever it takes, however long it may take, we will persevere."
Three Ithaca stores have voted to unionize in the past few months, along with more than 50 Starbucks stores nationwide.
Other workers from other giants have either attempted or succeeded in unionizing, such as Apple workers who filed to do so in April but later withdrew their request amid alleged intimidation.
Amazon, however, pulled off a surprise victory, marking the retail giant's first unionized warehouse.
Employees at the Ithaca store, near the Cornell University campus, voted to unionize in April. The drive was prompted by an overflowing grease trap that had spilled wastewater and oil onto the floor, according to Bloomberg.
Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, has helped Starbucks workers to unionize, and they said it would support the staff.
Gary Bonadonna, a regional leader for the union, told Bloomberg that the closure was a "blatant act of war" against the union's members, adding: "We have their backs."
More: Weekend BI UK Union Starbucks Unionizing | 2022-06-04T10:15:12Z | www.businessinsider.com | Starbucks Closed a New York Store After Its Workers Unionized: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-store-closure-in-new-york-retaliation-against-union-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-store-closure-in-new-york-retaliation-against-union-2022-6 |
A notorious market bear who called the 2000 and 2008 crashes warns that stocks will end the current sell-off down 60-70% from January highs as valuations remain grossly above historical norms
John Hussman is warning that stocks will end down 60-70% from January highs.
He said stock valuations and investor sentiment remain poor.
Hussman also called for 10-12 years of negative returns from January's highs.
Discussions on Wall Street about a stock-market bottom are underway after five brutal months to start 2022. Since January 3, the S&P 500 is down about 12%.
But to John Hussman, stocks aren't even close to hitting the floor. That's because valuations remain far too high, historically speaking.
"Despite the year-to-date decline in the S&P 500, the most reliable valuation measures we monitor remain at levels never observed in market history prior to August 2020," Hussman, the president of the Hussman Investment Trust who called the 2000 and 2008 stock market crashes, said in a recent commentary.
Hussman uses the market cap of nonfinancial stocks-to-gross-value-added (total revenue) ratio as his premier measure for stock market valuations because he says it's proven to be the most reliable indicator for subsequent returns. But by a host of valuation measures, Hussman said the market remains even more overvalued than at the height of the dot-com bubble, if looked at by how many times above a measure's historical norm it currently is. (1.0 is the each measure's historical norm.)
Hussman Funds
But high valuations on their own don't signal trouble, Hussman said. Rather, it's a period of high valuations and poor investor sentiment.
"It's useful to think about valuations and market internals jointly, rather than separately," he said. "The market can continue to advance even in the face of extreme valuations, provided that investors have a speculative bit in their teeth (which we gauge through the uniformity of market internals). In contrast, extreme valuations can matter suddenly, and with a vengeance, once investor psychology shifts toward risk-aversion."
Hussman uses a proprietary model to measure market internals, and said they are currently "ragged and divergent."
He also highlighted that the S&P 500 has moved below its 200-day moving average, and showed charts comparing bubble peaks in 2000, 2007, and now.
Here's 2000-2003:
And 2007-2009:
And 2022:
"Bull markets train investors to think in terms of single, V-shaped selloffs followed by advances to fresh highs. In bear markets, it's best to quickly abandon that thinking, preferably until market internals improve. Once market internals shift to a uniformly favorable condition, the 200-day average typically begins to act as support rather than resistance."
Hussman said stocks would end up down 60-70% from January's highs, assuming that was the market's peak. He also warned that the market faces 10-12 years of negative returns, on average, from January's highs.
Hussman's track record — and his views in context
Hussman's call for negative returns over the next decade given how high valuations have been isn't unique. Bank of America's Head of Equity and Quantitative Strategy Savita Subramanian said as much in 2021. GMO's Jeremy Grantham, Stifel's Barry Bannister, and RIA Advisors' Lance Roberts are among others who have also made this call.
But Hussman's call for a 60-70% decline has less company, apart from Grantham and some perma-bear types.
There are calls, though, for the current sell-off to continue to a lesser degree. CFRA's Sam Stovall said recently that the S&P 500 could fall to 3,450, or about a 17% further drawdown. Glenmede's Mike Reynolds said the index would hit fair value at around 3,585. And Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson has said 3,400 is a possibility given the risk to earnings as the Federal Reserve tightens.
Still, the average Wall Street strategist remains fairly bullish for the rest of 2022, with a median S&P 500 price target of about 4,800 (roughly 15% upside).
Investors have absorbed a lot of bad news in 2022, from a Fed turning hawkish to four-decade-high inflation to global supply chains being continually disrupted. It's still unclear how much these inputs will improve or worsen heading into the second half of the year.
For the uninitiated, Hussman has repeatedly made headlines by predicting a stock-market decline exceeding 60% and forecasting a full decade of negative equity returns. And as the stock market has continued to grind mostly higher, he's persisted with his doomsday calls.
But before you dismiss Hussman as a wonky perma-bear, consider again his track record. Here are the arguments he's laid out:
He predicted in March 2000 that tech stocks would plunge 83%, then the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index lost an "improbably precise" 83% during a period from 2000 to 2002.
Predicted in 2000 that the S&P 500 would likely see negative total returns over the following decade, which it did.
Predicted in April 2007 that the S&P 500 could lose 40%, then it lost 55% in the subsequent collapse from 2007 to 2009.
However, Hussman's recent returns have been less-than-stellar. His Strategic Growth Fund is down 43% since December 2010, though it's up about 1.6% in the last 12 months. The S&P 500, by comparison, is down 0.4% over the past year.
The amount of bearish evidence being unearthed by Hussman continues to mount. Sure, there may still be returns to be realized in this market cycle, but at what point does the mounting risk of a crash become too unbearable?
That's a question investors will have to answer themselves — and one that Hussman will clearly keep exploring in the interim.
More: Investing Stock Market Crash Stock market bubble
stock market valuation | 2022-06-04T10:15:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Stocks Will End Sell-Off Down 60-70% From January Highs, Expert Warns | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-how-far-will-stocks-drop-valuations-hussman-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-how-far-will-stocks-drop-valuations-hussman-2022-6 |
'The cure for low prices is typically low prices:' An investment chief overseeing $45 billion breaks down why current asset price pullbacks and investor skepticism is 'healthy' for the market — and shares 12 recession-proof stocks
Matthew Benkendorf, CIO of Vontobel's Quality Growth Boutique, has some words of wisdom for investors.
According to Matthew Benkendorf, the current market selloff isn't just expected, but also healthy.
During downturns, he urges investors to stay disciplined by avoiding "collective irrationality."
Instead, focus on high-quality sectors like consumer staples, healthcare, tech, and industrials.
Stocks have fared poorly in 2022, but unlike other investors, Matthew Benkendorf isn't worried.
In fact, Benkendorf — who oversees $45 billion in assets as the Chief Investment Officer of Vontobel's Quality Growth Boutique — believes that not only is the current stock downturn amidst sky-high inflation a natural result of the world's post-COVID normalization, but that it's also healthy for the market.
"A lot of the selloff is reasonable and expected in these frothy areas of the market. I think you're seeing this compounded by the effect that you had, over the last couple of years, a lot of abnormality and market behavior too," Benkendorf told Insider.
He specifically pointed to the emergence of retail traders over the past two years, armed with pandemic-induced cash savings and stimulus checks as one of these abnormalities. But the Federal Reserve's pandemic-era easy monetary policy meant that the market's mammoth gains weren't solely limited to retail traders. Investors of all sorts — including those dabbling in cryptocurrencies and real estate — also saw their portfolios swell with profits.
"We got this huge gift of manna here where we all feasted for the last couple of years," said Benkendorf.
He continued: "As people get a lot more concerned, I get a little less concerned because that tells me that asset prices are starting to price in some uncertainty, which is good and healthy because there should be uncertainty. The fact that we're starting to get some of these market flush-outs, assets more skeptically priced … I think that's a good thing."
Growth versus value is a "false dichotomy"
Traditionally speaking, value stocks generally perform better in bear markets than their growth counterparts, which seems like it would leave growth-oriented investors like Benkendorf and his peers in a tough spot. But according to Benkendorf, completely separating stocks into growth or value categories is a "false dichotomy."
"Even as a growth investor, what you're trying to do is still capture undervaluation. You just believe the undervaluation is driven by the degree at which the market is underappreciating the underlying economic growth in a business," he explained. "You can't just operate as two camps if you want to be successful."
Rather than solely sticking to one strategy, in times like these Benkendorf maintains that investment success will continue to be driven by businesses with "attractive economics."
In practice, this means identifying companies with the powerful pricing margins and capital returns needed to sustain profit growth and drive share prices higher. Practically, that means investors need to be patient and avoid the "collective irrationality" that comes with following the crowd, explained Benkendorf.
"You just have to avoid a lot of things, no matter how sexy they seem, no matter how near-term strong they seem, no matter how easy the money seems that could be made there," he said. "You just have to be disciplined."
By focusing on higher-quality assets, investors can protect themselves from economic cyclicality and unpredictable geopolitical events like the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Benkendorf explained. But he acknowledged that in a sales- and transaction-based industry like finance, investors are under constant pressure to readjust their assets and follow macroeconomic trends.
"You want to buy businesses that can navigate all of those environments, because you'll never predict the environments," he said.
Economically resilient sectors
With economic durability mattering more than ever, Benkendorf says that sectors like consumer staples, healthcare, technology, and industrials are particularly resilient.
"We like something where people have to have it or really need it," he explained, pinpointing brand loyalty as an investment catalyst within consumer staples, using Coca-Cola (KO) as an example.
"In some ways, there's a strong customer affinity to it," said Benkendorf. "When you go out, you order a Coke. You don't say, 'Give me that dark, carbonated, generic tasting thing that's like a Coke.'"
Healthcare is also a necessary product for consumers and thus resilient to recessionary pressures as well, he added.
Benkendorf also cited the technology sector for increasing profit margins by allowing manufacturers to cut out the middleman and sell directly to consumers. Specifically, Benkendorf highlighted Adobe (ADBE) for its digital marketing products and robust subscription model, which keeps customers locked into automatic payments.
Within the industrials sector, Benkendorf owns elevator manufacturer Otis (OTIS). He particularly likes the elevator industry because there's only a limited number of players, and because demand will increase both as the global population ages and as the density of urban areas increases, calling for more high-rise buildings.
"We need elevators both when they're new and then these old ones need to be fixed and upgraded too. They have to be legally maintained and repaired and monitored for safety and inspection," said Benkendorf, who explained that elevator maintenance takes up 70% of Otis' business.
Another industrials player Benkendorf likes is Copart (CPRT), the "number one" player in auto salvage and salvage auctions in the US. This industry is also very consolidated due to its high barriers to entry, as it's difficult for companies to acquire junkyards, he explained.
And Copart has also benefited as automobile stocks and physical automobiles on the road have increased. "They sit with an ice cream stand at the end of the desert there, capturing that growth," explained Benkendorf. "Good times, bad times, people drive."
Benkendorf also likes exchanges, such as financial derivatives exchange CME Group (CME). The company's assets have continually increased as more clients require structural hedging and derivatives instruments, he said.
"We like that aggregation of buyers and sellers in one place that sort of fortifies your business and your position," he said. "And it's not as cyclical, in that you don't buy it and have to make a directional bet like rates are going up and down. You don't care, you just want volatility ."
Benkendorf also keeps a global outlook, since the bulk of assets he manages and companies he invests in are located outside of the US.
As COVID-19 normalizes, Benkendorf has his eye on companies like Bookings.com (BKNG), which can capitalize on pent-up demand in cross-border travel both for business and leisure. For the same reason, he likes payments companies such as Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA).
Within high-quality consumer staples, Benkendorf likes cosmetic companies such as L'Oréal (LRLCY), despite investor trepidation stemming from these firms' significant exposure to Chinese markets. Cosmetic companies can particularly benefit from a pickup in duty-free sales, as can alcohol and spirits manufacturers.
Benkendorf also invests in selective opportunities within emerging markets, choosing companies based on their competitiveness within a specific area, like Taiwan's TSMC (TSM).
"It's the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer and a great emerging markets company with long-term structural growth," he elaborated. "That's kind of what makes it into the global portfolio."
Additionally, Benkendorf highlighted India's HDFC Bank (HDB) as a "great, long-term structural holding." For emerging markets opportunities in the consumer staples sector, Benkendorf cited Hindustan Unilever (HINDUNILVR), Unilever's India subsidiary.
Finally, Benkendorf also identified Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com (JD) as a name he's eyeing over the long run.
"They have tremendous pressure near-term right now and uncertainty from a superficial market standpoint about regulation and economic weakness because of COVID domestically," he explained. "But it's a great mouse trap in an area that's going to structurally grow longer-term — with a fully integrated distribution model for e-commerce, dominant platform of scale, and good structural drivers for that business and industry longer term."
"But that's where you have to be patient. You have to look through near-term weakness and keep your eye on the long-term prize," Benkendorf concluded.
More: Investing stock market investing investing 2022
stocks to buy in a correction | 2022-06-04T11:46:03Z | www.businessinsider.com | 12 Recession-Proof Stocks to Buy During Asset Price Pullbacks | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-proof-stocks-ideas-investing-asset-price-market-pullbacks-healthy-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-proof-stocks-ideas-investing-asset-price-market-pullbacks-healthy-2022-6 |
Adam Neumann.
Jackal Pan/Visual China Group via Getty Images
Ex-WeWork CEO Adam Neumann and his wife are launching a new startup called Flowcarbon.
The project aims to use the blockchain to let businesses trade carbon credits using crypto tokens.
Those tokens have been dubbed Goddess Nature Tokens, or GNTs.
Carbon trading is getting the crypto treatment, and its latest orchestrator is none other than WeWork's eccentric cofounder.
Three years after being ousted as CEO, Adam Neumann is launching a new startup called Flowcarbon that wants to put carbon credits on blockchain technology.
His idea — powered in part by a $32 million round of funding from famed Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz — is to make these carbon credits more accessible and easier to trade with the help of the company's flagship product: the Goddess Nature Token (GNT.)
Businesses and individuals will be able to use these tokens — each backed by a real-life carbon credit — to buy and sell the permits on the blockchain in a decentralized manner, making the opaque and controversial process more transparent.
The new endeavor marks not only a turning point for Neumann following his fall from grace but also another high-profile tech founder leaping headfirst into the booming Web3 sphere.
So what's carbon trading? And where does crypto come in?
Time Magazine dubbed Richard Sandor the "father of carbon trading" in 2007.
Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty Images
Carbon trading, otherwise known as the voluntary carbon market, is when businesses buy and sell a limited amount of government-issued permits that they can "cash in" when they emit carbon.
The idea was to create scarcity in how much carbon the business world can emit. There are economic incentives in doing so — if a corporation doesn't use all of its carbon credits, it can sell them to peers. Depending on the country, if it emits too much carbon, it may have to buy more credits.
Neumann, per the website, believes this process is flawed, built on an "opaque and fractured market infrastructure" with credits that have little accessibility and brokers charging sky-high fees. That's where Flowcarbon and GNTs come in.
Flowcarbon did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but a spokesperson told Vox that the credits represented by the company's tokens are issued from one of four major carbon credit registries.
According to Flowcarbon and it and its backers, the blockchain is the perfect environment for trading carbon credits, given the technology's innate transparency.
Separating the project from its leaders' past?
Adam Neumann and his wife, Rebekah Neumann, are both listed as co-founders of Flowcarbon.
Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for Time
Critics have long said the carbon trading market is inherently broken, which calls to question Neumann's goal of simply putting them more in reach in the business sector.
And some people in the carbon trading space aren't huge fans of integrating with the crypto world — Verra, one of the world's largest carbon crediting programs, said last week that it wouldn't permit its credits to back crypto tokens. It doesn't help that climate advocates have condemned fundamental aspects of crypto as environmentally harmful thanks to the huge amount of energy the transactions require.
Others, however, have noted how Web3 is the perfect space for the startup, allowing it to more easily fund projects that could reduce carbon from the atmosphere.
But on top of all of that is the fact that Neumann oversaw one of the tech world's most infamous implosions in 2019, when WeWork was gearing up for an IPO. Regulatory filings for that offering gave an inside look at potential financial problems and turmoil at the coworking company. Eventually, the deal was yanked, and Neumann was ousted as CEO.
A show recounting the debacle, aptly called "WeCrashed," began airing on Hulu in March.
More: WeWork Adam Neumann Flowcarbon crypto | 2022-06-04T13:13:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | WeWork's Adam Neumann's Plan to Put Carbon Credits on the Blockchain | https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-adam-neumann-startup-carbon-credits-goddess-nature-tokens-trading-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-adam-neumann-startup-carbon-credits-goddess-nature-tokens-trading-2022-6 |
Similac baby formula at a store in Olmsted Falls, Ohio.
Abbott Laboratories, maker of the best-selling brand, will prioritize specialty formulas.
The first batch will be for children with severe allergies or medical conditions, per The WSJ.
The makers of Enfamil and Gerber formulas flew supplies from Europe to boost stocks.
The shortage of baby formula that began almost five months ago is expected to drag on into the summer, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The biggest US producer, Abbott Nutrition, is due to resume production on Saturday and start by prioritizing specialty formulas, according to the newspaper.
Abbott issued a recall of its products in February after strains of bacteria potentially deadly to infants were discovered at its factory in Sturgis, Michigan.
The first batch will include formulas for children with severe allergies or medical conditions and will be sent to doctors, hospitals, and consumers later this month, The Journal said.
In May, Abbott said it had reached an agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration allowing it to resume production of Similac formula at its Michigan plant.
The company's biggest competitors, Nestlé and Mead Johnson, have strived to replace the shortfall caused by Abbott's production halt, but shortages have persisted in many areas.
Last month the White House took steps to boost imports of baby formula, which had represented only 2% of US consumption. President Joe Biden has said he had not been aware of the formula shortages until April.
At a White House roundtable with infant manufacturers earlier this week, Biden said the next stage of "Operation Fly Formula" would bring 680,000 pounds of powder from the UK and Australia next week. That is enough to make 8.3 million standard bottles, or just under a fifth of average weekly consumption in America.
Last month Insider reported that Kendal Nutricare, a UK manufacturer of baby food used by Kate Middleton to feed Prince Louis, was in talks with the FDA to send formula to the US to help combat shortages.
Abbott and the White House were contacted for comment.
More: Weekend BI UK Baby formula Abbott Abbott Laboratories | 2022-06-04T14:44:09Z | www.businessinsider.com | Baby Formula Shortage Expected to Last Until the Summer: WSJ | https://www.businessinsider.com/baby-formula-shortage-expected-to-last-until-the-summer-wsj-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/baby-formula-shortage-expected-to-last-until-the-summer-wsj-2022-6 |
Katie Balevic and Sam Tabahriti
Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at the Michigan baby formula factory that was shut down in February.
The plant was shut down over concerns of contamination and complaints of illness in infants who consumed the formula.
The shutdown contributed to a nationwide shortage of baby formula, leaving parents frantic.
Abbott Nutrition has restarted production at the Sturgis, Michigan baby formula factory that was previously shut down due to contamination, contributing to a nationwide shortage of formula.
"We will ramp production as quickly as we can while meeting all requirements," Abbott said in a statement. "We're committed to safety and quality and will do everything we can to re-earn the trust parents, caregivers and health care providers have placed in us for 130 years."
The Abbott Nutrition plant shut down in February following complaints of illness in infants who consumed formula products manufactured there, two of whom later died. The illnesses were linked to the environmental bacteria, cronobacter sakazakii.
On Saturday, Abbott said it will start by prioritizing the production of its EleCare specialty formulas used for infants with allergies and digestive issues, Insider's Sam Tabahriti reported.
Abbott, the largest infant formula manufacturer in the US, said it will take approximately three weeks for products to hit store shelves.
In May, the Biden administration announced a series of regulatory moves to get baby formula onto store shelves more quickly, pushing agencies to import more baby formula from abroad and directing the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on profiteering.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the Sturgis formula production plant had a leaky roof, broken equipment, condensation, and unsanitary surfaces. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said the plant was "egregiously unsanitary" and allowed bacteria to spread, though the agency was not able to link the infections in the infants directly to the plant.
More: Baby formula baby formula recall Abbott | 2022-06-04T17:46:38Z | www.businessinsider.com | Abbott Nutrition Resumes Production at Michigan Baby Formula Factory | https://www.businessinsider.com/abbott-nutrition-resumes-production-michigan-baby-formula-factory-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/abbott-nutrition-resumes-production-michigan-baby-formula-factory-2022-6 |
Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle she expects similar prosecution for miscarriages "to only get worse."
Becker's attorney, Samatha Lee of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, told the San Francisco Chronicle her client's case — and a similar 2018 case — are part of a growing national trend of criminalizing pregnant people after stillbirth and miscarriage.
"When that door is opened, then anything someone does or doesn't do during their pregnancy could be charged similarly," Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle. "We're already seeing it, and we expect it to only get worse."
More: Abortion Roe v Wade Miscarriage murder investigation | 2022-06-05T01:26:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | Reproductive Rights Attorney Expects Prosecution for Miscarriages Will Only Get Worse | https://www.businessinsider.com/reproductive-rights-attorney-expects-prosecution-for-miscarriages-to-get-worse-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/reproductive-rights-attorney-expects-prosecution-for-miscarriages-to-get-worse-2022-6 |
The Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
The Cessna Citation XLS Gen2 has a large cabin, transducer sound system and customizable interiors.
The model is completely sold out and costs over $15 million.
I toured the jet while it was on display in Geneva and was surprised by how much can fit inside.
The Cessna Citation XLS Gen2 is Textron Aviation's latest model. I toured the private jet while it was on display at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Geneva last week.
Two Cessna Citation models preceded the XLS Gen2, the Citation XL and XLS. A spokesperson for Textron Aviation told Insider that the new model has is updated features including stairs in the cabin door, an entry curtain, and a larger cabin.
Inside, the main cabin has two pairs of seats, as well as additional seating at the front and back.
The cabin inside the Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
The most popular cabin configuration is a nine-seat space, but the jet can hold up to 12 passengers.
A look inside the Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
An additional pair of adjoining seats at the front of the cabin also fold down to create room for bags and other luggage.
Inside the Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
Beside the seat pair, there are additional storage cupboards, space for a coffee machine, and a pull-out stone counter top ideal for slicing lemons and limes.
The main cabin is also tech-friendly, boasting wireless charging ports and different sized cup holders.
The cabin has adjustable lighting, and instead of built-in speakers, it is equipped with transducers that can be controlled from any Bluetooth device. "It's almost like being immersed in a speaker," a spokesperson said. "It's like being in a theatre with surround sound."
The jet also has a touchscreen that displays a flight map and controls temperature and lighting.
A spacious toilet is situated at the rear of the cabin.
The bathroom inside the Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
A spokesperson for Textron Aviation told Insider that the model is popular with charter companies as well as corporate customers because of the large cabin. A number of private individuals also use the jet to travel with families and pets.
Most of these private buyers tend to customize their jets, a spokesperson added, choosing from up to 20 design options.
The model I boarded had sustainable composite veneer tables made of oak and walnut, according to the company. Customers can also opt for customized stitching on the seats...
The seats inside the Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
... and the carpets are made from wool and silk.
One of the seats onboard the Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
The jet is mainly suitable for flying regionally, including journeys from the east to west coast of the US or around Europe, according to Textron.
Inside the cockpit of the Cessna Citation XLS Gen2.
The model would set you back over $15 million – if it wasn't already sold out.
More: Features Planes transport Travel
Cessna Citation | 2022-06-05T07:31:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | Come Aboard This $15 Million Private Jet With Transducer Sound System | https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-private-jet-cessna-citation-xls-gen2-see-inside-photos-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-private-jet-cessna-citation-xls-gen2-see-inside-photos-2022-5 |
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testifying to a Senate committee.
Frances Haugen said Facebook can only recover if Mark Zuckerberg steps down.
In an interview with Bloomberg, she said Facebook promotes hate speech in fragile countries.
Haugen left Facebook in May 2021, taking damning documents about its policies with her.
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said the social media giant won't be able to recover until Mark Zuckerberg steps down as chief executive.
In an interview with Bloomberg, she spoke about what compelled her to go public after she left the company in May 2021.
Haugen took tens of thousands of pages of documents that showed the social media giant knew its products were damaging teenagers' mental health, fomenting ethnic violence in countries such as Ethiopia, and were failing to curb misinformation before the Washington DC riots on January 6 last year.
She told Bloomberg that Zuckerberg "genuinely believes that Facebook is just a mirror" of reality, and that "you are unhappy because you can see it now."
"Mark has been surrounded by people since he was 19 years old who told him he was doing a great job," adding "we can demonize Zuckerberg, but it's not going to make him heal faster."
Haugen added that, unlike most other public companies, Zuckerberg holds 56% of the voting rights. "No one, but Mark Zuckerberg can control Facebook right now."
When asked by Bloomberg's Emma Barnett if Zuckerberg should go, she said: "I don't think the company can recover as long as he is the leader of it."
Haugen spoke about a change Facebook made to its algorithm in 2018 to trigger reactions from users, rather than aiming to increase dwell time alone. "Unless we can provoke a reaction from you, it's not good," she added.
Extreme content gets the most distribution in "linguistically diverse places", Haugen told Bloomberg, which meant they were using the most "dangerous version of Facebook" and leaving room for hate speech.
Last month, Insider reported that a former Facebook moderator in Kenya had accused Meta of human trafficking.
Daniel Motaung said that he tried to start an employee union as a result of the traumatic content that moderators had to watch but was fired because of his actions.
"The fact that he [Zuckerberg] doubled down on the metaverse when I brought up issues around genocide," Haugen added in the interview, "instead of actually making these systems safe. I think that's a dereliction of duty."
Facebook was contacted for comment.
More: Weekend BI UK Frances Haugen Facebook Hate Speech | 2022-06-05T10:34:23Z | www.businessinsider.com | Frances Haugen Says Facebook Can't Recover Until Zuckerberg Steps Down | https://www.businessinsider.com/frances-haugen-facebook-unable-to-recover-until-zuckerberg-steps-down-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/frances-haugen-facebook-unable-to-recover-until-zuckerberg-steps-down-2022-6 |
Sen. Susan Collins speaks to supporters right around midnight at an election night event outside of the Hilton Garden Inn on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
Campaign workers can have vastly different salaries even for the same job title.
How much they get paid depends who they work for.
Working on a presidential campaign won't necessarily mean getting paid more.
In 2020, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine faced the first tough reelection race of her long congressional career. Democrats made unseating her a top goal after Collins, a moderate by her party's standards, voted to confirm conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
So Collins tapped her longtime chief of staff, Steve Abbott, to temporarily leave his job on Capitol Hill and manage her campaign, as he'd done before.
Collins won re-election. But Abbott's work came at a premium, as he disclosed earning $426,666 for the entirety of his work on the 2020 campaign, according to an annual personal financial document he filed with the US Senate. The document indicates that his wife, Amy Abbott, received a salary from the Collins campaign, too.
Abbott is among a group of top-tier Capitol Hill staffers to reap the rewards of hitting the campaign trail. In fact, joining campaigns has become a common way for congressional staff to pad their taxpayer-funded incomes, according to an Insider review of congressional financial disclosures and Federal Election Commission filings.
Members of Congress frequently hire campaign talent directly from their official Capitol Hill and district office employee pool. Job opportunities on campaigns range from communications professionals to policy directors and senior advisors.
After all, congressional staffers know their boss's policy positions, their states, and have a deep sense about what's important to constituents. Plus, the arrangement can mutually benefit staff. A year or less spent on campaign-only work can pay more than a comparably long stint in a congressional job, particularly at the most senior levels, the documents show.
Some take weeks or months off from their Capitol Hill jobs to devote themselves fully to campaigns. Others hold down jobs on the Hill and work on campaigns after hours or throughout the day. Some scale back their official hours, while others just see their congressional work bleed into nights and weekends.
Either way, earning the extra cash requires taking on added responsibilities and navigating new ethical standards.
For many good government groups, the divided duty is concerning.
"The obvious outcome that could occur is that more staffers will look to the campaign for money and be more dedicated to the campaign than doing the work of Congress," said Kedric Payne, a former deputy chief counsel at the Office of Congressional Ethics who's now a top attorney at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog organization.
But many congressional staffers defend the practice. One former Democratic House staffer said colleagues viewed it as "an opportunity for them to prove themselves" and helped to underscore "that elections really matter."
"If you have had the experience of phone banking for a campaign and you're bothering voters during dinner, then you are a better phone answer when they are calling you with a problem [at the office]," said another former Democratic congressional staffer. "You have been on the other side of the table."
Bradford Fitch, president and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation, told Insider that, in his experience, congressional offices would make arrangements if a staff leader was going to be on the campaign trail for a while or scaling back hours.
He said the organization, which works with members of Congress and management staff, counsels staff to clearly track when they're doing campaign work and to spell out, in writing, which responsibilities will be handed down to other staff while they're out.
"We have not seen a lot of managerial problems arise from these arrangements," he said.
Cashing in on experience
Insider took a closer look at certain campaign salaries by analyzing 2020 personal financial disclosures of senior congressional staffers, which are only available to the public via a handful of computer terminals at the US Capitol complex in Washington, DC.
Many of the salaries Insider uncovered are imprecise because staffers inconsistently reported the details of their pay in their disclosures.
Staffers who reported how much they earned on campaigns also didn't tend to disclose the amount of time they worked for the pay they received. The pay can often be given in bonuses in addition to biweekly amounts, one Republican senior staffer told Insider.
Nevertheless, the revolving door between congressional work and campaigns can be lucrative, the records show.
Abbott's financial documents are just one example of how piecing together the pay for campaign leaders is difficult.
For instance, payroll data from the FEC further breaks down Abbott's pay to show what he was making every two weeks. An Insider tally of the numbers found Abbott made $184,673 from the campaign in 2020 alone, including a $52,302 payment on Election Day. The total was an increase from the $109,385 Abbott reported making as Collins campaign manager during the 2014 election cycle.
Neither Abbott nor Collins' office responded to questions clarifying the terms of his salary. Most people named in this article did not respond to questions from Insider about the amount of work they did for the pay they received.
Another similar discrepancy was in the financial documents for Ali Black, who currently serves as communications director for House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York.
Black disclosed earning $131,932 during her time as the Trump 2020 campaign's deputy director of communications. FEC records show that Black did slightly better than that, pulling in $135,438 in straight payroll payments.
Vanessa Valdivia, who currently serves as communications director for Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, disclosed earning $82,875 from handling press for Democratic Sen. Gary Peters' 2020 reelection effort in Michigan.
FEC records show that Valdivia earned significantly less, detailing $60,660 in salary payments from Peters' campaign. The same records show that she earned $9,354 from Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, bringing her combined haul from both campaigns in 2020 to $70,014.
No political pay standards
So, how much money can someone expect to make working a higher-level job on a political campaign?
The FEC, or any other governmental body, provides no guidance to campaigns on what they should pay their workers. The campaigns alone determine how much they compensate staff members.
But federal records show just how much campaign pay can vary.
Take Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who ran for president in 2020.
Democratic White House hopeful Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks to her supporters during a campaign rally on the eve of the California Democratic Primary in Monterey Park, east of Los Angeles, California on March 2, 2020.
FEC data show she paid her campaign manager, Roger Lau, about $13,000 a month — for an annualized salary of $156,000. Lau, who is now the deputy executive director at the Democratic National Committee, previously worked on Warren's Senate campaigns, and was Warren's state director in her congressional office.
There, his salary was similar to what he was getting paid on campaigns, according to the nonpartisan Congress-focused research organization Legistorm.
Warren, who ran her presidential campaign on a policy-heavy platform using the slogan, "I have a plan for that" paid the head of her policy team, Jon Donenberg, the same salary she paid Lau and the rest of her senior staff.
Donenberg was Warren's legislative director before the election but is now her Senate office's chief of staff.
The congressional promotion came with a salary bump. In 2018, Donenberg made $153,857 and in 2021 he made $171,774, according to Legistorm.
Other staffers come to the Hill by way of campaigns. Misty Rebik, who was executive director of the 2020 presidential campaign committee Friends of Bernie Sanders, reported earning $110,909 for the time she worked on Sanders' campaign. She now serves as Sanders' Senate chief of staff, where she earned $115,292 in 2021, according to Legistorm.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah paid his 2018 campaign manager, Matthew Waldrip, $150,000 for the time he spent working for the campaign, according to his financial disclosures. Waldrip went on to be Romney's chief of staff, where he made $172,790 in 2020, according to Legistorm. He now works for the investment firm Dauntless Capital Partners.
When Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville joined Congress in January 2021, Jordan Doufexis disclosed that he made $47,500 working as new media manager for the former Auburn University football coach's successful 2020 campaign. The documents don't specify how many hours or months of campaign work Doufexis' pay represented.
Now Doufexis works on Capitol Hill for Tuberville. He earns a lot more, making $121,889 in 2021 for his work as a state coordinator, according to Legistorm.
In some instances, campaign pay, which is funded by private donors and special interests, can exceed Capitol Hill pay, which taxpayers fund.
Abbott's chief-of-staff salary for Collins reached as much as $169,459 in recent years. That's almost as much as the senator herself earns as a federal lawmaker, but less than he makes leading Collins' campaign.
The same was true for Ali Black, who was making $86,011, according to Legistorm, in her job as press secretary for Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. She boosted her salary by at least $46,000 from when she was working for the Trump campaign.
A 'salary cap'
Some congressional staffers work on campaigns part time while still holding onto their Capitol Hill or congressional district jobs.
The practice is fairly widespread, though it has its limits. Senior congressional staffers earning a minimum of $135,468 a year for their Capitol Hill jobs are allowed to earn no more than $29,895 working on campaigns, according to ethics rules in both the House and Senate.
Financial disclosure documents uncovered a few examples of senior staff taking this route.
In 2020, for instance, Vanessa Moody reported working simultaneously as the state director for Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas while also consulting for his Senate campaign.
Workers hang campaign signs for then-Senate hopeful Tom Cotton of Arkansas ahead of an election night gathering on November 4, 2014 in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Moody reported making $27,500 for the outside work in her financial disclosure, which FEC data show was the tally from January 2020 to soon after Election Day.
Aside from salary caps, the House and Senate ethics committees have rules about what staffers are and are not allowed to do if they want to take on two jobs. For instance, they cannot take campaign-related calls from congressional offices. So if they're at work when they get an elections-related call, then they have to step outside.
Sometimes staffers take time off for a few weeks or months while other times they work a double shift — first on Capitol Hill or in a district office, and then go home, to a coffee shop, or to a political party's headquarters to do campaign work.
One former staffer told Insider that during the 2020 election cycle he would sit at home and have both official and campaign computers open given that everyone was working remotely to avoid COVID-19.
Potential issues are subject to scrutiny by the secretive House or Senate Ethics Committees — though they rarely act — or by the independent, nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics on the House side, which keeps its investigations private until they conclude there's reason to believe a legal or ethical violation occurred and then refer matters to the Ethics Committee.
The office could work much better if it was permanently authorized and had subpoena power, said James Thurber, a professor at American University and congressional ethics expert.
"They've done a good job with the resources that they have," he said, "and the politics that are surrounding them, and also the limits that are placed on them."
Congressional chiefs of staff, press secretaries, and schedulers are the essential personnel that tend to inhabit both worlds, said one former congressional aide who requested anonymity because they routinely advise members and campaign staff about ethical issues.
Staffers who are allowed to work in Senate offices but also handle fundraising matters are called "political fund designees" and every office is allowed to have up to three of them.
Others who elect to flip-flop from one world to the other, the advisor said, participate at their own peril.
"Some people are very ambitious and really into politics," the advisor said. "And if they're not volunteering for their boss's campaign, they're probably going to volunteer for somebody else's."
More: Conflicted Congress Susan Collins Elizabeth Warren Bernie Sanders
Kedric Payne
Congressional Management Foundation
bradford fitch | 2022-06-05T10:34:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | Revealed: How Much Political Campaigns Really Pay | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-political-campaigns-pay-their-workers-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-political-campaigns-pay-their-workers-2022-5 |
'I Did That!': Anti-Biden stickers are plastered on gas pumps nationwide. But who created them?
They're MAGA's most successful piece of propaganda. And the story of their origin offers a glimpse into the lucrative business of turning pro-Trump memes into political merch.
Getty Images; Alex Ford/Insider
On the final blustery afternoon of March, police responded to a call from a Turkey Hill gas station and convenience store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A middle-aged white man was menacing a young female clerk who had asked him to remove some stickers he had slapped on the gas pumps, with an extra coating of adhesive to make them harder to get off. The stickers, which depicted President Joe Biden pointing at the price on the pump, were captioned "I Did That!" — the implication being that Biden was somehow responsible for driving gas up to five bucks a gallon.
According to the police report, officers tried to "de-escalate" the situation, but the 54-year-old suspect "ran toward a store employee in an aggressive manner." In a video shot by a bystander and shared on Facebook, a large, gray-haired man can be seen struggling with two cops and shouting, in a meta reference to the stickers themselves, "I did that! That's what I did!" The protestor, one Thomas Richard Glazewski, was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, harassment, and criminal mischief.
The "I Did That" stickers are perhaps the most ubiquitous and successful piece of political propaganda that the counterculture right has produced in its semi-deranged campaign to blame Biden for everything from inflation to his son Hunter's "bio labs" in Ukraine to setting up a communist regime in the White House. As with "Let's Go Brandon" and those "Fuck Biden" flags, the style is occasionally clever, frequently profane (there's often a junior-high bully, fart-joke vibe), and always infused with what used to be the province of the left — a kind of joyful, Yippiesque delight in causing public mischief on behalf of a greater cause.
By the time Glazewski pulled his stunt, the stickers had already achieved full IRL meme status. They started appearing on pumps across the country last summer, as prices began ticking up, much to the frustration of gas-station workers who have to constantly scrape them off. Putin invaded Ukraine about a month before the Lancaster incident, and it's fair to say that the war's effect on oil prices poured gasoline on the Biden sticker phenomenon. Today hundreds of vendors on Amazon and other platforms sell the stickers in packs of 100 for as low as $5.99. An Etsy search for "Joe Biden gas pump stickers" returns 672 results, including variations, like a little "Fuck Joe Biden" sticker to place over the fuel selection button ($10 for a pack of 50 from PatriotSupply76). You can get a sticker of Kamala Harris saying "And I Helped!" to glue on next to the president, or one of Trump saying "I Can Fix That." A window decal of a stick figure with a gas pump up its ass and a big "Thanks Biden" caption can be had for just $2 from TheMaskGuys.
But in the midst of this onslaught of weaponized merch, one question has remained unanswered: who created the "I Did That" stickers, and why? Was it a MAGA truck driver outraged at soaring gas prices? A right-wing operative looking to stoke the flames of conservative discontent? Marjorie Taylor Greene, with a stack of blank stickers and a few hours to kill at a Kinko's?
No one knows. So I set out to locate the source of Sticker Zero.
Americans love cheap gas. We're not just addicted to it — we feel entitled to it, in ways that appall citizens of other industrialized countries accustomed to paying three times what we pay per gallon (or liter). For most of the past decade, gas prices remained low and were dropping steadily. But by the time the Biden stickers were first spotted in the wild back in the summer of 2021, the national average for a gallon of gas had risen above $3. That was a political tipping point. And according to Steve Schmidt, the longtime Republican strategist and Never Trumper who has since parted ways with the GOP, whoever was in the White House was going to get the blame.
"This is like a game wheel at a carnival, spinning," Schmidt told me. "Both parties have ended up on the wrong side of the gas wheel. There is a price for gas at which, when it goes over that amount, people get extremely pissed very fast."
Gas-station attendants have spent untold hours scraping the stickers off pumps.
Paul Weaver/Getty Images
The truth is, presidents have almost no control over gas prices, which fluctuate according to the laws of supply and demand, plus a dash of corporate greed. In the spring of 2020, as pandemic lockdowns caused demand to crater, the price of gasoline plunged. But what was good for consumers was bad for business. So in April 2020, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other oil-rich nations slashed production to drive down the supply and drive up prices. The move worked — and prices at the pump crept even higher as the world began to emerge from the pandemic, fueling energy demand.
Then came the war in Ukraine. "You had an exceedingly tight supply-and-demand picture before the Russian invasion," says Helima Croft, an oil and gas analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "And now you're looking at losing millions of additional barrels from the world's third-largest oil producer. This is not rocket science. We have not built major refineries in years and now have shortages of diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. Supply could not keep pace with resurgent demand as countries lifted COVID lockdown restrictions. Add in sanctions on Russia, and you get triple-digit oil prices."
The bottom line: Biden didn't do it. Or at least not any more than Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump or Mohammed bin Salman did. But political finger-pointing is a lot like gas prices — the higher the demand, the higher the blame rises. You really don't want to be president in the middle of a gas crisis. Just ask Jimmy Carter.
So where did the "I Did That" stickers come from? Judging from social media and press coverage, they didn't start sweeping the nation's gas stations until last summer. In mid-August, alt right provocateur Jack Posobiec tweeted a photo of one of the stickers on a gas pump, a tiny smiling Biden pointing at a meter reading $97.60 for 29 gallons.
"A buddy sent this to me from Pennsylvania", Posobiec wrote.
"Where can I get some?" his followers posted in the comments.
One reply included a link to a company called Patriotic Products. Today, that company sells the stickers at the rather uncompetitive price of $34.95 for a pack of 50. The website's home page features Trump in black and white profile, chin-jutting Il Duce style, overlaid with the words "Joe Biden? Not My President." The site's mission statement: "To deliver products that tick off every left wing snowflake that ever existed! You're welcome."
In late October, a TikTok account from a man named Matt Champion ("soulharvester87") posted what he said was a photo from a gas station in Utah. "I saw my first Biden 'I did that' sticker today", he wrote, adding a laughing emoji. The post generated more than 200 replies, as followers reported sightings of the stickers across Western states. "I did it across the US last month!" one woman posted, boasting of her own sticker rampage. To which Champion replied, "Not all heroes wear capes."
By December of last year, gas prices had risen to $3.40 a gallon, a dollar more than the last month of Trump's presidency. Never mind that Hurricane Ida had shut down oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, or that oil producers were keeping production low in an effort to recoup the revenues they lost during COVID. The right-wing messaging machine from Fox News to TikTok was blaming Biden — and the stickers were everywhere.
The Chamber of Commerce explicitly blamed Biden for discouraging domestic fuel production, citing his cancellation of the Keystone pipeline and his proposal to ban drilling on federal lands. The Wall Street Journal editorial page agreed. If only Biden would hand out more offshore drilling leases, we could get back to the days of $2.50 a gallon. Make America Gas Again!
Joe Biden knows the political risks posed by a gas crisis. A year after protestors marched on the White House in 1979, Jimmy Carter became a one-term president.
Marion S Trikosko/Getty Images
Biden and Democrats were caught, as they often are, on the back foot. The White House eventually trotted out the president to reassure Americans that he is on top of it. Biden released 50 million barrels of oil from America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve — the largest such release ever. He asked OPEC and other producers to "ramp up supply." (They declined.) And he asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether suppliers were illegally fixing prices to goose profits. The FTC, for its part, suggested that big retailers were colluding through a tactic called price signaling, in which one chain raises prices in a region, then watches to see if other retailers follow suit. If they don't, the original chain drops its prices back down.
But Biden's efforts to curb prices meant nothing to angry consumers whose gas bills kept going up, and who kept pasting "I Did It" stickers onto gas pumps. According to Brandwatch, which tracks social media trends , conversations about the stickers on Facebook and Twitter peaked last December, went quiet early this year, and then took off again in the spring, as gas prices shattered the $4 mark and kept marching toward $5.
The whole thing was a huge hassle for gas stations, which struggled to keep up with the onslaught of stickers. Adding insult to injury, some fuel suppliers began punishing stations that didn't scrape off the Biden images as fast as they appeared. BP slapped one of its stations in Reedsburg, Wisconsin with a $400 fine. "I got written up because I had stickers on my pumps," Pam Coy, the owner of the Viking Village Express Mart, told a reporter. "You know: 'You can't have that on the pumps.' We keep taking them off! And people keep putting them on. I can't have someone out there 24/7."
I started my search for the very first sticker on TikTok and Twitter, which yielded a rough timeline and a working list of the most active retailers. Then I turned to Etsy and Amazon. Scrolling through endless pages of vendors, I zeroed in on a few who were selling the stickers in large packs, at low prices. The mass producers, I reasoned, seemed likeliest to know the origin story. I made some calls, left messages with receptionists, and waited.
I had a promising chat with Ronald Solomon, the investment banker and entrepreneur behind MAGA Mall, who has been called the Jeff Bezos of Trump merchandise. Solomon sells the stickers, but he told me he doesn't know who created them. "I don't know if you can ever really know," he said. I emailed a bunch of other possibilities. No luck.
Just when I was running low on hope, my phone lit up with a call from West Palm Beach. I almost ignored it as spam, but it turned out to be my lucky break. It was Robert "Bobby" Naklicki, president and CEO of the right-wing merch giant Redneck Nation. During a long and friendly conversation, he told me that he runs a number of companies, including a record label and a MAGA-friendly clothing line called Patriots Pledge ("clothing of the people by the people for the people shall not perish!"). Nacklicki, who looks like an aging Harley rider with a bushy ZZ Top chin beard, wanted me to know that typical lefty assumptions about his brand of Florida Man conservatism are just wrong. "You don't get more conservative than me," he said. "And you know what — I don't care if you're gay. If you want to have an LGBT parade, go do it!"
According to Naklicki, he produced the very first "I Did That" stickers in May 2021, the same month gas prices hit $3 a gallon. "Our brain trust did that," he told me. Once his team came up with the idea, they began printing the stickers in Florida by the thousands.
Like others in the right-wing agitprop industry, Naklicki's team constantly monitor Facebook, Tiktok, and Reddit to stay current on the latest talking points that filter down from conservative mouthpieces like Fox News and OANN. The aim is to find a meme you can monetize. "You have to be constantly up on the memes and the sayings," he told me. "One of my team, my creative partner, he's a genius, Jesse Ryan, he said, you gotta have Biden say 'I did this!' We had a couple people do a couple TikToks. After that, anybody who had a sticker machine was making them." Naklicki says that one day last July, he did $88,830 in sticker sales alone.
Robert Naklicki, the CEO of Redneck Nation, says his team created the first Biden gas-pump stickers back in May 2021.
Robert Naklicki
It's impossible to verify Naklicki's claims, and he's certainly got a financial interest in claiming ownership of the idea. But his timeline fits, and I found him to be sincere and credible. He and his team are already on the lookout for the next big wave of political outrage to cash in on. Gas prices won't stay high forever, but there will always be new ways to own the libs. Anti-Biden merch is now more popular than pro-Trump paraphanalia, according to one seller who spoke with the New Yorker earlier this year.
When Naklicki and I spoke, the meme of the moment was Biden's use of the term "ultra-MAGA" in his comments decrying the racist mass shooting in Buffalo. "We trademarked ultramaga.com right away," Naklicki told me. "It's the new 'deplorables.' Everyone is militant and wants to kill people! They think of us as animals. They think we should just go out and buy an electric car. It's almost as if they're trying to choke us out. I get that we have to transition, but we need gas right now! My opinion is that Biden deserves every single one of those stickers."
In the Hollywood version of this story, Naklicki would be a front for some cabal of dark-monied conservative operatives who sit around dreaming up viral phenomena as a way to control the conversation and, ultimately, the country. But Schmidt, the former GOP strategist, says it doesn't need to be that sophisticated in order to work. "This ecosystem has no rules," he says. "The gas price issue is no different than replacement theory. Is there causality between the sticker and dark money? A direct line? No."
Schmidt blames Democrats — not for high gas prices, but for failing to craft an effective message to counter the extremism of the right. "You have this wild-eyed MAGA movement running loose like a cancer that is taking over a party, and the other party is losing to that insanity," he says. Yet Democrats seem to find it "rhetorically impossible to offer a unifying vision." And the vision they do promote, he adds, reflects an "unknowing condescension" that infuriates the Naklickis of the world. "If you're an urban millennial working at the DNC with an electric car and you commute six miles a week, you're not necessarily at the pump," Schmidt says. "You're not paying attention."
The right, meanwhile, knows exactly how to get its message out. Shortly after Thomas Richard Glazewski was arrested for sticker-bombing the Turkey Hill gas station in Pennsylvania, Fox News turned him into an uncaped crusader. "Don't you dare make Biden the butt of a joke!" Jesse Watters mock-intoned during his prime-time show over a split-screen image of an "I Did That" sticker and the iPhone video of cops trying to maneuver Glazewski into the back of a squad car. "One man in Pennsylvania is paying the price after he stuck a couple stickers on gas pumps in Pennsylvania!"
If Watters had bothered to do his homework, he would have discovered that Glazewski has a criminal history that goes beyond political agitprop. I can't say definitively that Glazewski is guilty of the violence against the young gas station clerk with which he is charged, because his hearing is not scheduled until July. But I can say that he has been convicted three times in the last ten years for felony retail theft. So, you know: He Did That.
Nina Burleigh is an author, documentary producer, and journalist. Her latest book is Virus: Vaccinations, the CDC, and the Hijacking of America's Response to the Pandemic.
More: Gas Gas Prices Biden | 2022-06-05T12:05:56Z | www.businessinsider.com | "I Did That!": Who Created the Joe Biden Gas-Pump Stickers, and Why? | https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-i-did-that-gas-pump-stickers-inflation-prices-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-i-did-that-gas-pump-stickers-inflation-prices-2022-6 |
Margaritaville's first cruise ship is now operating two-night sailings from Florida to the Bahamas.
I stayed in the almost 180-square-foot oceanview stateroom starting at $200.
The cruise line is new but the stateroom aboard the 30-year-old ship didn't feel modern or refreshed.
I spent a night in the oceanview stateroom on Margaritaville's first cruise ship, the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise.
Before the cruise, I expected a modern stateroom decked out with all things Margaritaville and Jimmy Buffett …
… similar to the hotel rooms inside Margaritaville's recent $300 million Times Square property ....
… or the other heavily themed spaces aboard the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise cruise ship.
Instead, when I first opened the doors to my stateroom, I was left feeling like the space didn't live up to its full sponge cake and sun bake potential.
The actual accommodations felt as old as the original "Margaritaville" song.
And for a company that relies so heavily on its branding, the minimal decorations left me surprised and disappointed.
Margaritaville at Sea is the hospitality empire's first foray into the cruise industry.
But its first ship is nowhere near as new as the brand. It's actually about 30-years-old.
Margaritaville partnered with Florida-based Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line to create the new brand.
The latter has since rebranded to Margaritaville at Sea …
… and its previous flagship vessel has similarly undergone a "multi-million dollar" transformation to become a floating Margaritaville resort.
This initial investment was hefty, but it felt like the staterooms weren't a priority in this ship-wide refreshment.
My accommodation didn't feel as modern and updated as other recently unveiled cruise ships, which might be understandable given the age of the ship.
But in my opinion, the new cruise brand could have done a better job of turning the plain staterooms into an immersive Margaritaville experience.
The Oceanview stateroom I stayed in is the Margaritaville at Sea Paradises' mid-tier stateroom option starting at $200.
To compare, the interior stateroom starts at almost $170 …
… while the Grand Terrace suite has a starting price of almost $800.
The McBride Company
It wasn't the grandest option, but my 176-square-foot oceanview stateroom still had all the basics …
… including a television, closet, bed, desk with a chair, and bathroom.
When I first walked in, I saw rows of storage to my right and the bathroom to my left.
A few steps past this, I found a small side table to my right, a desk with a large mirror to my left, and the bed in front of me.
It wasn't as sizable or modern as my last stateroom on the Celebrity Apex (seen below) but my little slice of Margaritaville still had all the bare necessities.
The keyword here is "bare."
I was expecting a bright room with blue, green, and white tropical decorations like this suite at the Margaritaville hotel in New York City, seen below.
Instead, I was confronted with heavy wood-colored accents and a yellowish wall overshadowing whatever could've made the room feel bright and fresh.
The only reminders of Margaritaville were from the tropical wall art, the palm tree graphics on the nightstand, the wallpaper (shown below), and a branded ice bucket, paper pad, and pencil.
If the latter branded items weren't there, my accommodation would've looked like any old (emphasis on "old") cruise ship stateroom.
Not to be fussy, but it didn't look like the picture on Margaritaville at Sea's website. Where's the small living room-like seating space under my windows? While this wasn't on the amenities list, it was in other guests' staterooms and pictured on the brand's website.
The McBridge Company
Source: Margaritaville at Sea, YouTube
Or the "nothin' but a breeze" quote above my window that I've come to expect in almost every Margaritaville space?
Or even the decorative Margaritaville pillow which could've at least been a reminder of the cruise ship I was on?
I'm obviously being picky, but these little details would've made the stateroom feel like it belonged to Margaritaville.
Wallpaper and some framed pictures on the wall just don't cut it compared to how immersive Margaritaville's other properties have felt.
And the bathroom wasn't any better. The bedroom may have received some decorative updates but the bathroom still felt very obviously like a 30-year-old room.
There was nothing wrong with it.
But besides the picture of a purple flower, the bathroom was totally plain (are you sensing a theme here)?
And the literal drain hole near the shower floor was definitely a reminder of its age.
Overall, my stateroom was nothing to rave about.
While it had everything I could ask for in a cruise stateroom, it felt its age and didn't have the typical Margaritaville charm I was expecting.
I'm not asking for a live parrot and a mini refrigerator filled with canned margaritas.
But when I step foot onto a Margaritaville-branded property, I expect to be immersed in the tropical laidback lifestyle the brand consistently touts.
Instead, I was greeted by an old stateroom where the only reminder of Margaritaville was the wallpaper, some pictures on the wall, and some branded items.
I'm no "Parrothead," but even I was disappointed by the lack of Margaritaville sparkle.
Luckily, most of my complaints are superficial.
My stateroom — which starts at $200 — was perfectly functional. I don't have any glaring complaints other than my hair dryer blowing the room's power strip fuse (I should've known better).
More: Margaritaville Margaritaville at Sea Cruise cruise line
Cruise Industry | 2022-06-05T12:06:02Z | www.businessinsider.com | Photos: Margaritaville at Sea Cruise Line Stateroom Review | https://www.businessinsider.com/margaritaville%20at%20sea-cruise-line-stateroom-review-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/margaritaville%20at%20sea-cruise-line-stateroom-review-2022-5 |
Discount supermarket Grocery Outlet could see more business as shoppers face high food prices. I visited the store and saw why bargain-hunters love it.
Sarah Jackson/Insider
Food prices have been pinching Americans' wallets for several months.
Discount retailers like Grocery Outlet could draw consumers looking to cut costs at the supermarket.
I visited the store and saw why bargain-hunters love it and how it could see more business as food inflation persists.
Millions of Americans have felt a pinch on their wallets at the grocery store over the past few months as food prices ballooned.
For the year ended April 2022, food prices were up 10.8%, marking their largest 12-month increase since November 1980.
The high prices could drive shoppers to discount retailers instead, and that's where stores like Grocery Outlet come in.
In mid-May, analysts at investment bank Cowen said they expect the discounter to be "a relative long-term winner in the value grocery space," noting in addition that "its value proposition has broad demographic appeal that cuts across a wide spectrum of income levels, ages, and other factors."
Grocery Outlet calls itself "the nation's largest extreme value retailer."
Source: Grocery Outlet
I decided to visit a Grocery Outlet to see why bargain shoppers love it and how it can help customers save as grocery trips become more expensive.
Right off the bat, the front of the store advertises its steep discounts, drawing customers with the promise of prices 50% off those found at traditional grocery stores.
The company has an opportunistic buying model.
Name-brand labels offer Grocery Outlet surplus inventory due to occurrences like packaging changes or manufacturing overruns, in which companies produce more goods than they need.
Grocery Outlet then buys the excess items for "pennies on the dollar" and can pass those savings onto consumers.
This allows Grocery Outlet to sell items at 40%-70% less than conventional grocery stores.
Grocery Outlet says most of its stores are independently operated by local families. A sign in the wine and beer section at my store proudly declared this was the case there.
When the company buys from suppliers, local store owners choose which products from the inventory to offer in their stores, which Grocery Outlet says helps with "personalizing each store's selection to its local community."
As a result, product selection can vary greatly by store.
When I visited, there were large signs throughout the store indicating the various big-name brands that supply products there, like these.
Grocery Outlet signed its first supplier agreement, with Del Monte, in 1971.
Today, it works with more than 2,500 brands.
Its top suppliers include household names like Kellogg's, General Mills, Kraft, Nestle, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble.
When it comes to a lot of common staples, however, many items can't usually be sourced opportunistically, like milk...
...and eggs.
In these cases, Grocery Outlet sources these products just like other grocery stores but tries to price them at or below the competitors' lowest price.
This is meant to help shoppers finding a good bargain make sure they can also get everything they need in one trip.
Grocery Outlet has had plenty of time to become, as it calls itself, "one of the largest opportunistic buyers of grocery items in the country." The company's history dates back to 1946, when founder Jim Read opened the first store.
Located in San Francisco, the store was called Cannery Sales.
It sold military surplus items at heavily discounted prices.
Grocery Outlet didn't start selling fresh produce until 1999. On my visit, I found some deals were particularly good when it came to organic produce (I'm looking at you, avocados).
There was also a great deal on watermelon with summer just around the corner. These were regular-sized for sale at the price of some personal-sized watermelons.
Up next was the meat section.
Many of the items here had orange stickers denoting their prices were reduced for quick sale. This made some products an especially good deal, if you could use them in time before they expired.
And though Grocery Outlet has been around for decades, the company didn't start selling fresh meat until 2003.
Nearby, there was an aisle devoted to what Grocery Outlet calls the "NOSH" section.
NOSH stands for "natural, organic, specialty, healthy."
Products here included everything from coconut flour and spirulina to snack bars and even watermelon jerky (not pictured here), which was new to me.
As I walked through the store, I saw a lot of products still stored in the cardboard packaging they came in.
This can help the company save on the costs of labor for workers stocking shelves.
Besides groceries, the store had plenty of other products, including household items like this sharply discounted toilet paper...
...and this assortment of laundry detergent.
There was a section for beauty products, personal care items, and toiletries.
This area had some of the biggest discounts in the store.
There was a small clothing section in one corner of the store, although some boxes were left on the sales floor nearby.
Some clothes had piled up into a small heap.
One area had a small selection of kids' toys.
There was kitchenware...
...outdoor items and pet products.
I went to the store in mid-May, a full month after Easter, but found some merchandise still lingering from the holiday, on clearance.
There were also heart-shaped Ding Dongs from Valentine's Day.
In the same aisle, I even saw some Oreo knock-offs from fellow grocer Food Lion.
As I walked through the store, I saw empty shelves from time to time.
Inventory can change very quickly at Grocery Outlet stores because of the company's opportunistic buying model.
As a result, many deals can be one-time only.
After visiting the store, I can see why bargain-hunters love it.
The company's website says, "From a demographic perspective, Grocery Outlet customers are generally reflective of the grocery shopping population. What makes them different is their shared attitude about shopping. They are bargains shoppers and they LOVE a deal. They shop often and do not like to pay full retail."
If you enjoy hunting for bargains, Grocery Outlet could be a great place to shop because you never know what deals you might find.
And I found that many of the items were in fact priced lower than I'd probably see elsewhere, which could very well attract more shoppers as inflation remains high.
But the store may not be for everyone.
Shoppers who value consistency more than the fun of a bargain hunt may be turned away by the stores' constantly changing inventory since it means they may not be able to make repeat purchases very often.
I enjoyed my visit to the store and would definitely go back again.
More: Features Groceries Inflation Food Prices | 2022-06-05T12:06:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | Bargain Hunters Love Grocery Outlet. I Visited and Saw Why. | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-grocery-outlet-bargain-market-discount-retailer-food-prices-review-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-grocery-outlet-bargain-market-discount-retailer-food-prices-review-2022-6 |
George Floyd's murder sparked a wave of promises from Big Tech companies to be more diverse, equitable and inclusive. Black employees say companies have fallen short two years later.
Big Tech companies made many diversity, equity, and inclusion promises after George Floyd's murder.Black workers told Insider that their experiences paint a different picture than the goals companies tout as success
Diamond Naga Siu, Catherine Henderson, and Rachel DuRose
On the evening of May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, sending millions of people to the streets in protest of racial inequality.
Within 72 hours, the tech industry also began to respond. By June 2020, more than 200 tech companies had made formal statements about Floyd. They promised changes such as investing in equity and justice focused organizations, improving diversity training, and hiring more Black talent.
Despite the initial rapid response, now that two years have passed since Floyd's murder, annual reports and other public companies' documents tell a story of some lip service to change without much real action, according to interviews with a dozen of current and former Black tech employees, racial equity experts and DEI professionals.
"Some of it's so hard to track because some of the promises are so vague in the first place," said Charlton McIlwain, author and New York University Steinhardt vice-provost who teaches about race, digital media, and racial justice activism. "There is little to no accountability to really track the promises and companies' progress towards addressing and meeting those promises."
Across philanthropy, supplier diversity, and investing in Black businesses, many large tech companies haven't reported any specifics about how their actions produced better outcomes for the Black community.
A current Microsoft employee at the director level who identifies as Black and asked not to be identified to speak freely, said regardless of any efforts, the work experience as a Black professional simply does not change.
She has had to — and continues to — do more than her white counterparts to succeed, such as documenting all her work to get credit for it and having other Black leaders at the company advocate for her to avoid getting overlooked.
"We talk about the Black tax," she said. "I've never been able to show up and just do my job. I always have had to do extra — whatever that extra is."
A Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Insider that the company "is committed to helping enact change with multiyear, sustained efforts through our Racial Equity Initiative. Our progress is ongoing."
Among the largest US tech companies, the percentage of Black employees has marginally increased since 2020, while the percentage of white employees decreased slightly. But current and former Black employees at Big Tech companies shared with Insider that beyond numbers, these companies still have a long way to go.
Black employees still express frustration and isolation in Big Tech and challenge that company goals have not gone far enough to root out deep-seated inequality.
In June 2020, Facebook promised that by 2025 it would increase the representation of Black leaders at the company by 30%. Facebook exceeded its five-year goal within one year after increasing the number of Black leaders by 38.2% in 2021. However, this was from a relatively small base: Black employees made up just 3.4% of the company's leadership in 2020, and their representation increased to 4.7% in 2021.
The embattled social media company faced employee backlash during 2020 Black Lives Matter protests when it kept up a controversial post from then-President Donald Trump that read "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," while other social media platforms flagged it. Employees virtually walked out and were encouraged by other tech workers to resign in protest.
A former Facebook employee who identifies as Black and asked not to be identified, said working at the company during that time was very difficult and recounted how some employees changed their avatars in internal company forums to show support for Black Lives Matter, while others changed their avatars to support Blue Lives Matter — a pro-police group — and wrote posts on an internal forum about why Floyd deserved to die.
No posts were removed from the company forum due to its free speech policy, "but it was like at what cost?" the former employee asked.
Maxine Williams, Meta's Chief Diversity Officer, told Insider in an emailed statement that it has made "meaningful progress" on its promises from two years ago to advance equity, racial justice, and economic opportunities for communities of color.
She shared that the company spent $306 million with Black-owned businesses as part of its 2020 supplier diversity program goal.
"But this is an ongoing journey that requires us to keep working to build on this progress and hold ourselves accountable for results," Williams said. "That remains our plan."
We talk about the Black tax. I've never been able to show up and just do my job. I always have had to do extra — whatever that extra is.
While most of Big Tech voiced commitments to the Black community, Tesla never released a formal statement or any promises to improve diversity at the company. A representative for the company did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
Ariel, who asked to be referred to by their middle name, worked at Tesla as an engineer from 2016 to 2021 and told Insider a Musk tweet was the closest the company got to addressing Floyd's murder.
Throughout their tenure at Tesla, hate speech and white supremacist graffiti at work were commonplace, Ariel said. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a class action lawsuit against Tesla in February detailing the same hostilities described at Tesla's Fremont, California factory.
Even in their position as an engineer, Ariel described being called racial slurs, and when they reported the incident, management declined to investigate, calling the incident "a private matter."
"Among leadership, there's a culture of denial that there is a problem, and it ultimately stems from the desire to please their supervisors," they said. "They want to keep their jobs. They want to get their promotions."
Black employees' demands for change were ignored long before 2020
When Tori Bell first joined Facebook in 2017, among a cohort of hundreds of new employees only a handful of them were Black. She previously worked at a diversity-focused startup and wanted to connect with other Black women at the company, so less than a year after joining Facebook, she created the Black Women at Facebook affinity group.
It was originally for social purposes, but the group quickly realized that they faced many similar issues while working at the company, like being underpaid, human resources not believing when their managers treated them unfairly, being underleveled, and worse.
"I wasn't senior, but I was really trying to make the company better," said Bell, who left Facebook in 2021 to pursue a master of business administration at Columbia University.
The affinity group secured an executive sponsor, career coaches for Black women at the company to help them level up and raised awareness about what it is like for Black women to work at Facebook.
After Floyd's murder, the affinity group was well-situated to participate in discussions on how the company could support Black communities internally and externally through hiring and retaining diverse talent and considering different organizations to donate to.
But following these discussions, Bell said change was not palpable for the people working at Facebook.
"They'll slap like $10 million at a problem, but they end up putting it towards external efforts, and it ends up being this like, 'oh yeah, we're trying for people' — it's for optics — but the people internally are suffering," Bell said.
Tori Bell, a former Facebook employee says the affinity group she started helped her stay at Facebook longer.
Tori Bell
Bell emphasized that slow moving change is a problem throughout Big Tech — and not just at Facebook — and that many of these companies treat employees like they should just be grateful to work there.
Microsoft similarly dragged its feet to implement change.
The current Microsoft employee at the director level said before Floyd's murder, there was a lot of talk about diversity but no actions to back it. She has been at the company for more than five years and said the increased velocity in changes since 2020 has been noticeable.
Among leadership, there's a culture of denial that there is a problem.
The company announced multiple efforts to tackle racial injustice, including a $150 million commitment to diversity and inclusion efforts and a goal to "double the number of Black and African American people managers, senior individual contributors, and senior leaders in the United States by 2025."
The same benchmark was implemented for Hispanic and Latinx leaders, and Microsoft announced in 2021 that it had increased each of these targeted groups by more than 20%.
"Microsoft made these commitments over a five-year span. Well, why does it need to take five years? It shouldn't," the director said. "When you're talking about inequity, there should be no delay."
She observed that Microsoft had rarely worked with Black suppliers — even with people advocating for more diverse partnerships — but after 2020, the number of partnerships with Black-owned businesses increased.
The director added that she is interested in seeing how long this commitment to change continues, especially since she has not seen as much action this year.
While frustration abounds, Black employees at Big Tech companies say they are trying their best to thrive, and many credit Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs, for providing support and opportunities to excel at their respective companies.
Bell said building Black Women at Facebook from an idea to a network of thousands of members and allies was a labor — albeit unpaid — of love, that gave her purpose and said being a community leader motivated her to stay at the company as long as she did.
Blacks at Microsoft — also dubbed BAM — was Microsoft's first-ever ERG, and the decades-old group currently serves as a model for other ERGs at the company. It features elected officials, location-based chapters, an executive sponsor, annual conferences, and more.
Kimani Williams joined Microsoft in July 2019 as a strategic account manager and was recently elected as a communications lead for BAM. As a relatively new employee when she attended her first annual conference in February 2020, Williams said she was motivated to get involved in BAM after being surrounded by so many amazing Black tech workers and seeing the company's commitment to the global ERG.
Kimani Williams, a manager at Microsoft relied on the Blacks at Microsoft group to process emotions around George Floyd's murder.
Kimani Williams
"When everything happened with George Floyd, I felt that Microsoft made a space for people to feel," Williams said. "While it's still a business, I had never been part of an organization and company where they actually realized everyone's human and made a space for those emotions."
They'll slap like $10 million at a problem, but it's for optics — but the people internally are suffering.
Zachary Dorcinville, a software engineer, previously taught programming courses to incoming college students as part of a BAM initiative, and while there, he observed that Microsoft — similar to other tech companies — was not very diverse.
But it seemed like the company was putting in the effort to improve, he said. Dorcinville was humbled to get a sneak peek of what working at a Big Tech company would be like.
"Going in there, seeing people that look like me is very inspiring, to say the least," Dorcinville, who grew up in the Bronx, said.
'The goals have to be audacious'
Cooperation and collaboration are key to solving the systemic diversity, equity, and inclusion problems in tech, since the current siloed approach of each company does not make a significant difference, according to McIlwain of NYU.
If for example, Facebook builds a metaverse with one set of DEI tenets, it is far less effective if Oracle and Microsoft also build metaverses but with different values, he said.
McIlwain also thinks additional education is required to make any substantial changes within the industry.
"I don't think many of the leadership and CEOs that make these promises either actually care or really know what it means to say words like equity and to promote equity in every facet of its business," McIlwain said.
He highlighted how this work requires sensitivity, strategic thinking, and resource allocation — tools that tech leaders currently lack through a DEI lens, while also not understanding how to bring it about.
"We're so late to the game and the gaps are so large," said Michael Collins, vice president of education and training nonprofit Jobs for the Future. "The goals have to be audacious, and we have to keep pushing because we are essentially trying to address centuries of structural inequality by design."
He said Black talent has long been underrepresented in tech and that over the past two years, companies have fallen short trying to turn things around.
And where companies have succeeded in part, they can go further, Collins said, pointing to Apple's $25 million learning hub for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. While continuing to invest in HBCUs,"[Apple] can also fund public colleges with significant Black student populations and eradicate degree requirements that shrink the talent pool," Collins said.
He said there are aspects of the Black employee experience that can't be quantified but are essential for retaining and recruiting diverse talent. He encouraged tech companies to connect with Black and Brown communities, building better pathways to these lucrative careers.
"If everybody comes from the same set of universities and the same backgrounds, there are ways that it just feels chilly and alienating," Collins said.
Ekow Sanni-Thomas, the founder of Inside Voices, a platform for workers to share reviews of their employers, said the tech industry still has such a dismal reputation for diversity and that there is no way to hold any individual company accountable. The promises keep coming without any meaningful change, he said.
When corporations spouted promises two years ago, many stated they would keep track of their goals on their own, but Sanni-Thomas said this is useless. To make sustainable progress, companies need to set up accountability structures to report their progress externally and help Black employees seek justice.
"The real Achilles heel for companies when it comes to diversity conversations is that they haven't figured out how to enforce their discrimination policies," Sanni-Thomas said.
"Every single one of these companies is constantly having Black and Brown employees say, 'this decision wasn't fair, this is not the way the decisions are made for my white co-workers,' and companies are trying to hide it."
As the grim anniversary of Floyd's death passes once again, Black tech workers still struggle to create a more equitable and inclusive world than the one Floyd lived in.
More: BI Graphics Savanna Durr Big Tech | 2022-06-05T13:32:46Z | www.businessinsider.com | Big Tech's Promises Two Years After George Floyd's Murder | https://www.businessinsider.com/big-techs-promises-two-years-after-george-floyds-murder-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/big-techs-promises-two-years-after-george-floyds-murder-2022-6 |
The survey by Zillow found Gen Z, Millennial, and Latinx buyers cried the most while trying to buy a home.
Half of Americans are crying as a result of attempts to buy a home, Zillow survey finds.
Almost two-thirds of Gen Z and 61% of Millennial buyers have cried during the process.
The home-buying market has become increasingly competitive because of low supply and all-cash offers.
Buying a home has become so challenging that half of Americans have reported crying at least once while going through the process, according to a new survey published by real-estate marketplace company Zillow.
The report found that 65% of Gen Z buyers and 61% of Millennials reported crying while trying to buy a home. Meanwhile, Latinx buyers were far more likely to cry than black and white homebuyers.
"Buying a home is not like buying any other asset; it's deeply personal and it's emotional," Zillow home trends expert Amanda Pendleton said in a statement. "When you make an offer on a home, you have likely envisioned your life there. If you lose out on that home to a stronger offer, it can feel like losing a future you have already started planning."
The trends reflect an increasingly competitive market that continues to price out millions of homebuyers in the US, particularly millennials and Gen Z buyers more reliant on finance to fund a home against a rising tide of all-cash and investment purchases, regarded as more attractive to buyers.
In its 2021 Consumer Trends Housing Report, Zillow found 60% of homeowners had at least two offers on their homes, while the group found nearly half of all homes sold in April went for below asking price.
The market is being driven by increasingly competitive conditions that also include historically low levels of supply, though data from Realtor.com suggests inventories rose last month for the first time since June 2019.
The spectre of a recession is expected to throw cold water on rising prices, and is even forcing some luxury home buyers to change their behavior, but continued shortages and an expectation that prices will remain stable mean buying a home is unlikely to get easier.
More: Weekend BI UK Real Estate Housing Crisis Housing Supply | 2022-06-05T13:32:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | Process of Buying a Home Is Making Half of American Cry, Survey Finds | https://www.businessinsider.com/buying-home-making-half-americans-two-thirds-gen-z-cry-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/buying-home-making-half-americans-two-thirds-gen-z-cry-2022-6 |
Greenlight Debit Card fees
Greenlight Account
How Greenlight works
Is Greenlight trustworthy?
Greenlight vs. FamZoo
Greenlight vs. Chase First Banking
Greenlight app review: Debit card for kids and strong monitoring features for parents
Greenlight is a fintech platform with a debit card and app for kids.
Greenlight; Vicky Leta/Insider
The bottom line: Greenlight is a prepaid debit card for your child that links to your bank account or debit card. Your child's card also includes an app that lets them create savings goals, earn interest, and read educational material.
Greenlight could be a good option if you want to teach your child about personal finance and monitor their activity, especially if you want to use savings and investing tools. There isn't a free option, though, so you'll have to decide if you're willing to pay a monthly service fee.
Prepaid debit card for kids or teens of any age
App with a variety of tools so parents can monitor kids
Earn 1% to 2% on savings goals if you have a linked bank account
Access to certain features depends on your plan and accounts
Monthly fees ($4.99, $7.98, or $9.98)
No reimbursements if you're charged by an ATM provider
Sign-up fee None
Monthly service fee $4.99 to $9.99, depending on plan
Reload fee None
No. of free ATMs N/A
The Greenlight Card doesn't have an initial sign-up fee, but after the one-month free trial, you'll have to choose between three plans — Greenlight, Greenlight + Invest, or Greenlight Max — to utilize the app's features.
There isn't a reload fee for transferring money from an external bank account or another debit card. However, you'll want to be mindful of potential ATM fees. Greenlight won't charge you a fee for using an ATM, but it also won't refund you if you have to pay a fee from an ATM provider.
Separate accounts for parents and children
ATM access
May waive the initial deposit
Can assign chores
Earn 1% to 2% annually through Greenlight Savings Reward
Save for individual goals
Parental monitoring features to limit spending
Can set up an allowance (weekly, biweekly, or monthly)
Monthly service fee depends on plan
No refunds if you're charged by an ATM provider
Use any ATMs that have a Mastercard, Visa Interlink, or Maestro logo
App features may vary depending on plan ($4.99, $7.98, or $9.98)
Debit Card FDIC inusred up to $250,000 through Community Federal Savings Bank
The Greenlight Account is where both parents and kids can manage the Greenlight Debit Card through the app. Parents and children will have separate accounts. Parents will also set limits on how often kids can use their cards and assign chores or allowances. Meanwhile, kids may use the app to establish individual goals or learn about personal finance concepts.
Greenlight is a fintech company, not a bank. Greenlight offers a kids debit card and app that lets both parents and kids manage the card.
Access to certain app features will depend on your monthly plan. Here's an overview of plans:
Greenlight ($4.99 per month) Greenlight + Invest ($7.98 per month) Greenlight Max ($9.98 per month)
Educational features on the Greenlight mobile app
Financial tools that help you save for individual goals
Parental monitoring features
Earn 1% on up to $5,000 in Savings Goals and General Savings through Greenlight Savings Reward
Earn 1% on savings up to $5,000 in Savings Goals and General Savings through Greenlight Savings Reward
Earn 2% on up to $5,000 i Savings Goals and General Savings Greenlight Savings Reward
Earn 1% cash back on debit card purchases
Get a Greenlight Black card
Additional identity theft, cell phone, and purchase protection
The Greenlight plan is the app's basic offering. You'll be able to teach your child about money management by allowing them to use a debit card. Through the app, you'll be able to monitor their usage and help them establish individual Savings Goals.
You'll also earn 1% through Greenlight Savings Rewards, which works similarly to how you would earn interest on a traditional bank account. The interest will be deposited at the beginning of each month based on calculations of average daily savings on General Savings and Savings Goals. The interest is only offered if you have a linked bank account instead of a debit card.
The Greenlight + Invest plan offers the same features as the basic plan, and it allows you to invest with your child through a brokerage account in your name. You may invest at little as $1 in a company, and there are educational resources available through the app to educate your child about investing.
Lastly, the Greenlight Max has unlimited access to all the app's features. Notably, you'll be able to earn 1% cash back on debit card purchases, and you may be eligible to earn 2% on your savings.
If you have any questions about the Greenlight debit card, you may call a customer service representative from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET on weekdays or 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.
Greenlight's mobile app is rated 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.2 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.
The Greenlight debit card is issued through Community Savings Bank, which is FDIC insured. Keep in mind that you won't be opening a new bank account. Instead, you'll be managing the debit card through a mobile app with savings features.
Greenlight trustworthiness and BBB score
We use ratings from the Better Business Bureau to help determine how a business deals with customer issues. The BBB gave Greenlight a B rating because it has received a high volume of complaints.
A strong BBB rating doesn't necessarily ensure your relationship with a business will be perfect. You'll also want to talk to customers or read online customer reviews to get a better idea of whether Greenlight may be suitable.
Greenlight hasn't been involved in any recent public controversies.
Greenlight and FamZoo both offer kid's prepaid debit cards. See how the two companies compare below.
FamZoo Prepaid Debit Card
Sign-up fee
None for the first 4 cards, $2 for each additional card
Monthly service fee
$4.99, $7.98, or $9.98
$2.50 or $5.99
If you're looking for a way to help teach kids about managing without adding them directly to your bank account, you might like FamZoo or Greenlight.
Your preference between these two options may come down to your preferred method of payment.
At FamZoo you can either pay $5.99 per month or choose one of the app's annual plans, which help you save between $9.95 and $59.95 on your subscription. Greenlight currently only offers monthly service plans, but if you choose the higher-tier plans, you'll have the ability to invest in addition to managing a debit card.
We compared Greenlight to Chase First Banking, another debit card offering.
$4.99, $7.98, or $9.98 depending on plan
Your decision between these two debit card options may hinge on each company's opening requirements and whether you're willing to pay a monthly service fee.
Only current Chase checking account holders may open Chase First Banking. If you don't have a Chase bank account or don't want to open a new bank account, you may favor Greenlight.
You may prefer Chase First Banking if you're looking to avoid monthly service fees. Greenlight currently only offers a one-month free trial, and after that, you'll need to choose between three plans to keep using the app's features.
How much is Greenlight a month?
Greenlight has a free one-month trial. After the free trial, you will have to pay a monthly fee to utilize the app's features. The app has three monthly plans: Greenlight ($4.99 per month), Greenlight + Invest ($7.98 per month), and Greenlight Max ($9.98 per month).
Can you use a Greenlight card at an ATM?
Yes. You may use a Greenlight card at any ATMs that have a Mastercard, Visa Interlink, or Maestro logo. Greenlight won't charge you any ATM fees, but it also won't reimburse you if you're charged by the ATM provider.
Can you deposit cash onto a Greenlight card?
No, Greenlight doesn't allow you to directly deposit cash. You'll have to initiate a transfer from an external bank account or debit card.
Are there spending limits for the Greenlight card?
Yes. You may spend up to $1,500 per day and $7,500 per month. You'll also only be able to withdraw up to $105 per day at ATMs.
Are there funding limits for the Greenlight card?
Yes. Parents will only be able to keep up to $15,000 in their Greenlight Account, and kids may have a maximum balance of $7,500.
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More: Greenlight Greenlight Debit Card Chase First Banking FamZoo Prepaid Debit Card
Kids Debit Cards | 2022-06-05T13:33:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | Greenlight Review: Kid's Debit Card With Strong Monitoring Features | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/greenlight-debit-card-review | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/greenlight-debit-card-review |
Malcolm Ethridge
LeoPatrizi/Getty Images
It's painful to watch your portfolio drop, but there are strategic moves you can make during a bear market.
Do a Roth conversion now if you've been considering it — you'll end up paying less in taxes.
It's also a good time to increase your contributions and look for tax-loss harvesting opportunities.
It's an understatement to say the stock market has been stuck in a rut lately. And while it can be quite jarring to watch your investment returns fall further and further from last year's record highs, a bear market doesn't have to be all bad. In fact, for savvy investors, steep market declines often provide a chance to be opportunistic and take advantage of high-quality stocks.
There is nothing wrong with the conventional wisdom to hold tight and ride out bad market cycles. But for those who have a higher-than-average risk tolerance, as well as the capacity to take on additional financial risk, a bear market presents a great opportunity to be strategic and capitalize on what is happening.
Below are three ways to take advantage of a bear market and position yourself for an eventual recovery.
1. Execute a Roth conversion
If you have been eyeing this strategy for some time and you hold investments in a traditional IRA, now might be a good time to consider a Roth conversion. That is because a bear market means that your account value is likely lower, and executing a Roth conversion at that lower amount means you will pay less in taxes than if you wait until the market recovers.
In addition, an eventual market recovery would help you to recoup what you end up paying in income taxes due to that conversion. And if you think the market will someday rally back to its highs and continue to power higher over time, executing a conversion while in a down market essentially allows you to choose to have that rally happen inside of your tax-free bucket rather than in your tax-deferred one.
When contemplating a Roth conversion, it is always important to consider whether the increased income will push you into the next tax bracket for the year and whether you will be able to wait out the five-year rule before you need access to Roth funds. However, for those who have both a long time horizon and the capacity to withstand any future market shocks, the current bear market cycle may be presenting a great opportunity to create a tax-free pool of assets for your future self in your later years.
2. Take advantage of tax-loss harvesting
Investing in a rental property or a small business can provide you with solid cash flow, covering your expenses and netting you a profit at the end of each year. But when such assets are sold at a profit, they often produce significant long-term capital gains tax obligations for their owners.
If you have substantial gains, perhaps from the sale of a rental property or a business, selling off some of your most beaten-down stocks that you don't expect to recover any time soon is another way to take advantage of the current bear market. Selling off those losers at a time when you have meaningful capital gains elsewhere in your portfolio is what's known as tax-loss harvesting.
Even in bull markets, not every investment will be a winner. Thankfully, a losing investment often provides you with a tax benefit. Tax-loss harvesting allows you to get those losers out of your portfolio and put them to good use, ultimately reducing your tax liability for the year.
If you find yourself flush with cash and looking for a good use for those funds, another way to take advantage of a bear market is to simply increase your contributions to your investment accounts. Whether by increasing your contribution percentage to your workplace retirement account or by contributing those funds to your brokerage account, adding a few more dollars while the market is down will help you buy more shares at lower prices.
There is a reason why CEOs and other top executives of publicly traded companies tend to scoop up large chunks of their company's shares during market downturns when they believe they are significantly undervalued. That is essentially what you would be doing by buying more of what you consider to be a high-quality long-term investment during a bear market.
This is simple dollar-cost averaging and can help you build up a position in your preferred investment over time, while simultaneously lowering your average purchase price.
Of course, no one knows exactly when the bear market will end and a subsequent market rally will begin. But, by being strategic and taking advantage of the opportunity presented by this current market cycle, you can position yourself to come out ahead once the market does eventually turn around.
Malcolm Ethridge, CFP, CRPC, is an executive vice president and fiduciary financial advisor with CIC Wealth Management, based in the Washington, DC area. He is also the host of the Tech Money Podcast. Malcolm's areas of expertise include retirement planning, investment portfolio development, insurance, stock options and other executive benefits. He leverages that expertise to help senior managers and small business owners in tech make sense of some of the most complex financial situations that working professionals tend to face.
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More: Stock Market stock market dip Investing Financial Planners | 2022-06-05T13:33:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Ways to Take Advantage of the Stock Market Slump | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/ways-take-advantage-stock-market-slump-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/ways-take-advantage-stock-market-slump-2022-6 |
Elon Musk sent an email to all Tesla employees saying they should return to the office or resign.
On Saturday, after announcing he wants to cut 10% of jobs he said the headcount will increase.
Read the email Musk sent to all employees.
Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to Tesla's executive employees, calling for the workers to come into the office and stop "phoning it in" or to quit.
The richest man in the world responded to reports of the emails on Twitter that employees "should pretend to work somewhere else," when a user asked Musk how he would respond to people who consider in-person work "antiquated."
On Friday, Musk also emailed executives saying they needed to pause all hiring worldwide because he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy and needed to cut 10% of the company's workforce. But he tweeted on Saturday that the headcount would still increase.
Here's the email Musk sent to Tesla employees telling them to return to the office or resign.
The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence. That is why I lived in the factory so much - so that those on the line could see me working alongside them. If I had not done that, Tesla would long ago have gone bankrupt. There are of course companies that don't require this, but when was the last time they shipped a great new product? It's been a while.
More: Weekend BI UK Elon Musk Tesla Letter | 2022-06-05T15:08:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | Read Elon Musk's Email to Tesla Employees About Returning to Office | https://www.businessinsider.com/read-elon-musk-email-tesla-employees-return-office-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/read-elon-musk-email-tesla-employees-return-office-2022-6 |
Trump liked the heated exchange that Mo Brooks had with a Fox News host, according to Politico.
Brooks, who's running for the Senate, clashed with Sandra Smith over the 2020 election results.
Trump pulled his endorsement of Brooks in March, but could potentially throw his weight into the race again.
During an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" last week, Rep. Mo Brooks made waves after he tussled with guest host Sandra Smith over the 2020 election results, repeating unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud that have become a rallying cry for the conservative base over the past two years.
Former President Donald Trump, whose consumption of programming on the network was a staple of his White House tenure, also saw the exchange.
And according to Politico, Trump — who endorsed Brooks in this year's Alabama Senate race only to retract his support in March after the congressman's campaign suffered from low polling and poor fundraising — liked what he saw in his longtime legislative ally.
Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, took to the pro-Trump social media platform Gettr last week to applaud Brooks.
"Mo Brooks FINALLY GOT THE MEMO!!!!!!," he wrote in a post.
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 29, 2022
Brooks, who was written off by many observers after the Trump snub, eventually saw his candidacy surge after support for former primary rival Mike Durant faltered, which led to him coming in second place in the primary and holding Britt under 50 percent — which triggered a June 21 runoff election.
The reversal in fortune for Brooks represents a bit of a conundrum for Trump, who could potentially re-endorse Brooks in the Senate race, issue an endorsement for Brooks' runoff election rival Katie Britt, or decline to formally throw his support behind either of the two Republicans.
Also, while Brooks has called for Senate Minority Leader McConnell of Kentucky to be replaced as the upper chamber's Republican leader, Britt is the preferred candidate of McConnell — with whom Trump has been feuding with publicly since the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
Trump himself spent much of last year working behind the scenes to oust McConnell as GOP leader, per the The Wall Street Journal.
Jon Gray, a Republican strategist in Alabama, told Politico that there was little incentive for Trump to jump back into the endorsement game for the Senate race at this point — adding that the former president's influence would have been more beneficial if he had backed another candidate after ditching Brooks.
"I don't see any upside to him getting in, honestly," he told the news outlet. "I do think, though, there is this recollection of Mo having been with the president in the past, and his policies."
However, an individual close to Trump told Politico that the former president is unlikely to look the other way regarding the Alabama race, telling the outlet that he could point to a potential re-endorsement of Brooks as having "taught him a lesson."
"Mo got straight and has been very strong since" regarding the 2020 election, said the individual.
Trump has continued to propagate allegations of mass fraud in the contest against now-President Joe Biden, but his campaign team was unable to prove any of the major claims in court.
More: Donald Trump Mo Brooks Katie Britt Alabama senate race | 2022-06-05T16:39:23Z | www.businessinsider.com | Trump Liked Mo Brooks Needling Fox News Host Over 2020 Election: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-brooks-fox-2020-election-alabama-senate-pulled-endorsement-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-brooks-fox-2020-election-alabama-senate-pulled-endorsement-2022-6 |
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, seen here in Glasgow in November 2021, called blaming mass shootings on the doorway designs in schools 'the definition of insanity' in an interview Sunday.
After the Uvalde elementary school shooting, some lawmakers proposed changing school design.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it's insane to say school design is to blame.
Democratic lawmakers have pushed for stricter gun control in the aftermath of the shooting.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it was insane to blame mass shootings on the design of schools.
"And the idea that us being the only developed country where this happens routinely, especially in terms of the mass shootings, is somehow a result of the design of the doorways on our school buildings, is the definition of insanity if not the definition of denial," Buttigieg said during an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos that aired Sunday .
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said if he was mayor during a local mass shooting, like the one recently in Uvalde, Texas, the worst part would be having to talk "to families of people who have lost their loved ones and knowing that nothing you can do will bring those loved ones back."
"We have a horrific scourge of gun violence in this country and you know, as mayor -- as every mayor is doing around the country, you take the steps that you can to reduce community violence, to invest in partnerships, to make sure that you've taken the steps you can locally," he said.
In the aftermath of the shooting in Uvalde, where an 18-year-old gunman barricaded himself in a classroom at Robb Elementary School killing 19 children and two adults, some GOP lawmakers suggested mass shootings are a result of faulty school designs or not arming teachers.
During an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters, Sen. Ted Cruz said adding bulletproof doors and glass to schools would keep them safe.
"Have one door into and out of the school and have that one door, armed police officers at that door," Cruz argued. "If that had happened, if those federal grants had gone to this school, when that psychopath arrived, the armed police officers could have taken him out and we would have 19 children and two teachers still alive."
Many Democratic lawmakers have pushed for stricter gun control measures as more and more mass shootings rattle the country.
Other lawmakers have said resolutions like those Cruz proposed are not useful.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told Politico he didn't want to revive ideas that haven't worked.
More: Mass Shooting Uvalde Pete Buttigieg | 2022-06-05T19:41:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | Buttigieg Says It's 'Insanity' to Blame Mass Shootings on School Design | https://www.businessinsider.com/buttigieg-insanity-blame-mass-shootings-school-design-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/buttigieg-insanity-blame-mass-shootings-school-design-2022-6 |
Rep. Adam Schiff said the Jan. 6 committee will vote to hold Steve Bannon in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena.
The DOJ declined to hold former Trump aides Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress.
Meadows and Scavino refused to cooperate with a subpoena from the House January 6 committee.
Rep. Adam Schiff said the DOJ's decision could set a dangerous precedent.
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said it was "deeply troubling" that the Department of Justice refused to prosecute former President Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and former Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
Schiff told CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday that Meadows and Scavino are not immune from prosecution.
"And it is very puzzling why these two witnesses would be treated differently than the two that the Justice Department is prosecuting. There is no absolute immunity. These witnesses have very relevant testimony to offer in terms of what went into the violence of January 6, the propagation of the big lie, and the idea that witnesses could simply fail to show up," Schiff told host Margaret Brennan.
He added: "And when the statute requires the Justice Department to present those cases to the grand jury, they don't, is deeply troubling. We hope to get more insight from the Justice Department, but it's a - I think, a grave disappointment, and could impede our work if other witnesses think they can, likewise, refuse to show up with impunity."
On Friday, the DOJ declined to hold Meadows and Scavino in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with subpoenas from the House committee investigating the January 6 riot. The DOJ did indict former Trump advisor Peter Navarro and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Schiff said there is no executive privilege that would prevent Meadows and Scavino from testifying, adding that they have critical information on what happened leading up to the insurrection.
"That shouldn't be the explanation here because of course there are great many things these witnesses can testify with no even plausible claim of executive privilege. They were both involved in campaign matters. They both have documents that they could offer," Schiff said.
"None of this is protected by privilege and the idea that you can simply refuse to show up rather than show up and say as to this question, I'm going to exert a privilege, that just invites others to be in contempt of Congress or be in contempt of judges around the country, in other courtrooms, and I think it's a very dangerous precedent to set."
More: january 6 Adam Schiff | 2022-06-05T21:13:03Z | www.businessinsider.com | Adam Schiff Says It's 'Puzzling' DOJ Didn't Prosecute Meadows and Scavino | https://www.businessinsider.com/adam-schiff-puzzling-doj-didnt-prosecute-meadows-scavino-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/adam-schiff-puzzling-doj-didnt-prosecute-meadows-scavino-2022-6 |
Former President Donald Trump, right, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
Former President Trump on Saturday formally endorsed House Minority Leader McCarthy for reelection.
In his announcement, the former president called the California lawmaker "strong and fearless."
Audio released by the NYT in April revealed McCarthy considered asking Trump to resign after January 6.
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday formally endorsed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for reelection in the lead-up to the November midterms, where Republicans are favored to make major gains and potentially regain control of the lower chamber.
Trump, in an announcement touting the formal endorsement, described the California Republican as "strong and fearless."
"In Congress, Kevin is a tireless advocate for the people of Bakersfield and the Central Valley. He is working incredibly hard to Stop Inflation, Deliver Water Solutions, and Hold Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi Accountable for their catastrophic failures and dereliction of duty," the former president wrote.
He added: "Kevin McCarthy has my Complete and Total Endorsement."
Trump's show of support comes on the heels of audio released by The New York Times in April, which revealed that the GOP leader had spoken to fellow lawmakers about potentially asking him to resign following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
During a January 10 conference call, McCarthy said that he considered relaying to the then-president that if he were to be impeached, then "it would be my recommendation you should resign."
Despite the audio, McCarthy has dismissed any notion that he would have pushed for Trump to leave office.
Shortly after the audio hit the public, Trump and McCarthy spoke on the phone, with The Washington Post reporting that the former president was pleased that the California lawmaker didn't follow through with pressing him to resign.
"I think it's all a big compliment, frankly," Trump later said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal regarding the initial post-January 6 thinking from some GOP leaders. "They realized they were wrong and supported me."
McCarthy will compete in a multicandidate primary on June 7.
More: Kevin McCarthy Donald Trump Republican Party Capitol Siege | 2022-06-05T21:13:15Z | www.businessinsider.com | Trump Endorses McCarthy for Reelection, Calls Him 'Strong and Fearless' | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-endorses-mccarthy-reelection-gop-midterms-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-endorses-mccarthy-reelection-gop-midterms-2022-6 |
B-24 Liberators pass through the target area at treetop-height during the raid on oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, August 1, 1943.
US Army Air Force
US airmen killed in the 1943 raid on Ploiești and identified by the Ploiești Unknowns Project.
The Columbia Aquila refinery in Ploesti, Romania, most likely in 1943.
US Office of War Information
B-24 bombers over the oil refinery in Ploiesti, August 1943.
A B-24 over a burning oil refinery in Ploesti, August 1, 1943.
44th Bomb Group Photograph Collection
Oil storage tanks at the Columbia Aquila refinery in Ploesti ablaze after the raid by US B-24 bombers, August 1, 1943.
Romanian soldiers and civilians look at a B-24 bomber shot down near the Ploiesti refinery complex in 1943.
German prisoners of war exhume graves at a temporary US cemetery in Europe.
Remains recovered by the Ploiești Unknowns Project are transferred at Offutt Air Force Base, September 4, 2020
US Air Force/Leticia Cunningham
More: US Army Air Force Ploesti POW/MIA Accounting Agency DPAA | 2022-06-05T22:40:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | The US Military Is Trying to Identify Airmen Killed in Raid on Ploesti | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-trying-to-identify-airmen-killed-in-ploesti-raid-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-trying-to-identify-airmen-killed-in-ploesti-raid-2022-6 |
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey (left) and President Joe Biden (right)
Win McNamee/Getty Images // Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Sen. Pat Toomey said President Joe Biden hasn't done enough to "reach out" to Republicans on gun laws.
"The President is not being very helpful," Toomey said of Biden.
Toomey also said that laws on expanded background checks are "on the table."
GOP Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said President Joe Biden has not "reached out to Republicans" on gun legislation.
During Sunday's "Face the Nation," host Margaret Brennan asked Toomey if Biden needed to get involved with congressional discussions on gun laws. Toomey said the President had not been "helpful."
"I think the President might have been a president who would reach across the aisle, try to bring people together, but he's chosen not to take that approach since day one," Toomey said. "He has sided with the far left of his party and really not reached out to Republicans."
Toomey is among a handful of Republican senators working towards gun reform legislation. He also said policies on gun reform that Biden has touted have "no chance of passing."
"So once again, the President is not being very helpful," Toomey said.
During the interview, Toomey also said that senators are still discussing how to implement expanded background checks.
"We're still in discussions, and we are still trying to figure out exactly what mechanism is going to enable us to get the votes that we would need... It hasn't been finally resolved, Toomey said, "but something in the space of expanding background checks I think is very well — it certainly is on the table, and I hope it'll be part of a final package."
In the wake of multiple mass shootings in America — with the most high-profile shootings occurring in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York — congress is working on a slew of measures meant to raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm, remove firearms from people who pose a threat to the public, and allow text message alerts during mass shootings.
More: Pat Toomey Biden gun reform Republicans | 2022-06-06T03:20:02Z | www.businessinsider.com | Sen. Toomey Says Biden Isn't 'Helpful' During Gun Reform Negotiations | https://www.businessinsider.com/sen-toomey-says-biden-isnt-helpful-during-gun-reform-negotiations-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/sen-toomey-says-biden-isnt-helpful-during-gun-reform-negotiations-2022-6 |
Former US President Donald Trump right welcomes Senate hopeful Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama to the stage during a "Save America" rally in Alabama on August 21, 2021.
Rep. Mo Brooks appealed to his supporters to call on Trump to re-endorse him.
"I am the MAGA candidate. I am the Trump candidate," wrote Brooks in a lengthy Twitter post.
Trump pulled his endorsement of Brooks in March, claiming the Senate candidate had gone "woke."
Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks has penned a lengthy Twitter post appealing for former President Donald Trump to re-endorse him.
In the post on Sunday, Brooks called on his supporters in the "MAGA nation" to ask Trump to once again back him in his Senate race against "establishment RINO named Katie Britt."
The congressman and known Trump loyalist once had Trump's backing in the race, but the former president retracted his endorsement of Brooks in March, claiming the latter had turned "woke."
Brooks has since received the backing of GOP figures like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. In May, he surged in the race and became one of the top two vote-getters, advancing to a June 21 runoff versus Britt.
"I had President Trump's endorsement at the beginning, but then Mitch McConnell spent millions on TV attacking me," Brooks wrote, appearing to accuse McConnell of causing Trump to un-endorse him.
Brooks added that the loss of Trump's endorsement gave his campaign "the kick in the pants we needed."
"He was like a football coach, grabbing us by the face mask, and getting us in gear. Part of me wonders if he also knew that in pulling his endorsement, he'd bat ol' Mitch into thinking we couldn't win and get Mitch to stop attacking us," he wrote. "Whether that was the plan or not, it worked and we made it into the runoff."
"I am the MAGA candidate. I am the Trump candidate," Brooks added.
Trump endorsed a slew of GOP candidates over the weekend, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, but did not publicly respond to Brooks' overtures.
Spokespersons for Brooks and Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Mo Brooks Alabama Senate Donald Trump | 2022-06-06T04:50:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | Mo Brooks Begs for Trump to Re-Endorse Him in Lengthy Tweet | https://www.businessinsider.com/mo-brooks-is-begging-for-trump-to-re-endorse-him-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/mo-brooks-is-begging-for-trump-to-re-endorse-him-2022-6 |
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro sued Google for refusing to take down two videos that a judge later ruled were defamatory.
Lisa Maree Williams - Pool/Getty Images
Rares said Shanks had used racist and offensive words such as "greasy little scrotum" and "wog" to describe Barilaro, who is of Italian descent.
"Of course, as a politician, Mr. Barilaro could expect many people in the community not to agree with his policies or to regard him well," Rares said in the ruling. "He could expect public criticism and condemnation for his political conduct and stances as part and parcel of being in political life, particularly in as publicly prominent a position as he had as Deputy Premier and a party leader. Hate-filled speech and vitriolic, constant public cyberbullying, however, cannot be classified as in any way acceptable means of communication in a democratic society governed by the rule of law."
More: insider news Australia lawsuit Google | 2022-06-06T07:48:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Google Ordered to Pay Politician $515,000 in 'Vulgar' Video Case | https://www.businessinsider.com/google-youtube-must-pay-nsw-politician-515000-hateful-video-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/google-youtube-must-pay-nsw-politician-515000-hateful-video-2022-6 |
Interns at billionaire Ken Griffin's Citadel are kicking off summer with a weeklong off-site at the Four Seasons, where they'll have 'Shark Tank'-style sessions
This year, Citadel had 33,000 applicants for its 11-week summer internship.
It begins Monday, and 290 interns will be joining the program.
The interns will be dispersed across two off-sites: one in Palm Beach and one in Fort Lauderdale.
The billionaire Ken Griffin's Citadel is making a habit out of booking out beachfront resorts in Florida.
The firm made headlines in April 2020 when it set up a "bubble" at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach, Florida, for its Citadel Securities trading floor because of the fallout of COVID-19. It booked the resort for the last two summer intern classes, too.
On Monday, its 290 interns will be gathering on Florida waterfronts again as Citadel kicks off this year's 11-week program with a weeklong off-site. Citadel Securities interns will be at the Palm Beach Four Seasons, and interns of the $47 billion hedge-fund manager will be staying at the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale.
Why continue the COVID-19-era tradition? "We want them to have connectivity to each other because a lot of times, they're on different teams in different locations, and we want them to be together," Matt Mitro, Citadel's head of campus recruiting, said.
The first few days will consist of learning about the company, with senior leaders from Citadel breaking down the different roles at the company and giving them tips on how to have a successful internship. Interns will also hear from a yet-to-be-announced guest speaker. The professional snowboarder Shaun White spoke with interns at last year's off-site.
Ken Griffin at Citadel's Palm Beach, Florida, bubble in 2020.
On Wednesday and Thursday, interns will be broken into teams for an "immersive leadership challenge," where they will have to solve issues that Griffin might face and present their ideas to some of the company's leadership team in a "Shark Tank" style, Mitro said.
"We focus on the interns' personal development and have world-class training and development sessions that help them think about things like how to act as a leader — even as an intern," Mitro said.
On Friday, interns will get to use quant simulation tools to try their hand at manual trading and automate their trading patterns. During the weekend, interns will get the chance to wind down and participate in activities like Spikeball, karaoke, and poker. On Sunday, interns fly back to their respective cities, including Chicago and New York City, to dive into the remaining 10 weeks of the program.
Griffin and Peng Zhao, Citadel Securities' CEO, are expected to make speaking appearances for the graduates later in the summer.
Citadel is also placing a greater emphasis on its mentorship program.
"We want our interns to be successful and have invested a lot in our mentorship program," Mitro said.
The goal is to match interns with a coach who helps interns navigate the firm, get acclimated, and become connected to the relevant people in the organization. Traditionally called "buddies," mentors are employees within Citadel and Citadel Securities with a few more years of experience than the group of interns.
This year, Citadel had 33,000 applicants and accepted only 290 interns. This year's class is nearly 25% larger than the 2020 and 2021 classes, a spokesperson told Insider. The breakdown between Citadel interns and Citadel Securities interns is close to being split down the middle, Mitro said.
The firm also has more than 100 software-engineering interns this summer, a record number for Citadel. Other areas interns are in include trading, quant research, fundamental investing, finance, accounting, human resources, operations, and compliance.
"This is our largest intern class ever, which reflects the growth of Citadel and Citadel Securities and the importance we place on engaging with early-career talent," Mitro said.
More: Hedge Funds Intern Citadel
Citadel Securties | 2022-06-06T09:23:58Z | www.businessinsider.com | Interns at Citadel Are Kicking Off Summer With a Four Seasons Off-Site | https://www.businessinsider.com/citadel-summer-internship-four-seasons-offsite-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/citadel-summer-internship-four-seasons-offsite-2022-6 |
Workers of color can get stuck with dead-end office housework. Here's how to move onto the projects that get promotions.
Alan Henry is the author of the upcoming book, 'Seen, Heard, and Paid.'
Minorities are disproportionally assigned "office housework", according to author Alan Henry.
Being consistently assigned these tasks can lower your chances of promotion.
Keeping an office diary and prioritizing team goals are two ways to escape office housework.
At work, some tasks are less glamorous than others.
The employee who books the meeting rooms or takes notes won't get the same recognition as the one who presents the results of that meeting to senior management.
This is the distinction between office housework and glamor work that Alan Henry wants to define in his upcoming book "Seen, Heard and Paid."
"Glamor work is always that work that gets you attention, it gets you recognized by your manager and by their manager. It gets you promoted and paid more," Henry said.
Doing this glamor work allows employees to climb the career ladder, but not all workers have the same access to it.
Office housework is disproportionally assigned to minorities, he says, while the glamor work is often kept out of reach.
Insider previously reported that working women spend an average of 200 hours a year on tasks that don't lead to promotions, according to a study conducted by four US economists, such as taking notes, booking rooms, and DEI work.
Being consistently assigned office housework can have a serious impact on your career. The work goes largely unnoticed by senior staff and spending too much on low-impact tasks can mean missing out on bigger opportunities that lead to promotions.
Here's how to make sure you land high-impact work, according to Henry.
1. Identify what is important to the team
One definition of office housework is work that does not directly contribute to a company or an employee's goals.
This does not mean the work is unimportant to the organization, but they are often not part of anyone's formal job description.
"It's important work and it keeps the team going. But it's not the kind of work that will get them promoted," Alan Henry said.
Taking notes, planning meetings, and onboarding employees are all examples of this kind of work.
"Marginalized folks and workers of color get stuck with the office housework," Henry said. "The office housework is the stuff that they wind up having to do over and over again."
His first advice is to get proactive when prioritizing a workload.
"One thing I always tell people is to make sure that what they're doing aligns with not just their personal priorities but their team's priorities. Try and find a way to frame up the work you're doing in terms of overall team success."
He advised asking a manager which tasks were a priority for them, and then communicating that you want to be taken off lesser, housework-like tasks to help achieve those top priorities.
"If you're a worker of color and marginalized, you're gonna have to soften that a bit like and say something along the lines of "I'd really like to work on this but ABC is taking up so much of my time that I can't devote my full self to it," he said.
2. Keep a work diary
Keeping a diary of your work on a daily or weekly basis can help you track what kind of work you're doing, and how often you're doing it.
"It's really cathartic, but it's also data," Henry said. "And data is power."
By keeping track of the work you are assigned, you simultaneously create a record of "what your manager is assigning you versus what you wish you were doing."
Doing so can help employees build a case for breaking out of the office housework.
"If you've noticed that for the past month you're the one assigned to scheduling all the weekly meetings, ordering lunch for the weekly team meetings, or scheduling all-hands meetings. If all that stuff seems to be rolling to you. You now have data to go to your manager," Henry said.
"Putting that information together takes you from making a very emotional appeal to a manager who may not be swayed by emotions to a logical one where you have the information in front of your boss, and they can't really refute it."
More: Promotions Career Pay rise | 2022-06-06T09:24:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Workers of Color Can Escape Office Housework | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-workers-of-color-escape-office-housework-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-workers-of-color-escape-office-housework-2022-6 |
Today's mortgage and refinance rates: June 6, 2022 | Even as they steady, higher rates hurt affordability
Mortgage rates appear to be holding steady at around 5%. While rates could start rising again if the Federal Reserve is unable to get inflation under control, the fact that they haven't increased in several weeks is promising news.
But even as they moderate, rates are still well above last year's historic lows. If you're considering buying a home, be sure to look at your overall financial situation and how homeownership fits into that.
"While the current market conditions may seem difficult, there are still opportunities for those that are ready to buy, and current rate levels don't automatically mean you should sit out the market entirely," says Robert Heck, vice president of mortgage at Morty. "We're also seeing record-high rent increases and fierce competition for rentals across many markets, which means that buying may present a strong alternative, depending on your financial situation, location, and the amount of time you plan to be in your home." | 2022-06-06T10:54:57Z | www.businessinsider.com | Today's Mortgage, Refinance Rates: June 6, 2022 | Even As They Steady, Higher Rates Hurt Affordability | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-monday-june-6-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-monday-june-6-2022-6 |
Ryanair is refusing to let South African passengers board flights if they fail a language test, reports say
Ryanair is forcing South African travelers to answer questionnaires issued in Afrikaans, per reports.
The airline told The FT that customers will be refused travel if they cannot complete the test.
The airline has faced accusations of discrimination from passengers as a result.
Ryanair is facing accusations of discrimination and racial profiling after telling South African passengers to fill out a questionnaire written in the Afrikaans language before travelling.
Multiple outlets, including The Financial Times and The Guardian, reported the news.
The airline said that South African customers would be refused travel home from the UK and Europe if they could not complete the test, which included questions such as identifying the side of the road that people in South Africa drive on, per the FT.
The budget airline's new requirement comes as the South African Department of Home Affairs recently accused criminals of identification fraud and creating fake passports for sale in South Africa, the outlets reported.
Ryanair did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, which was made during a public holiday in Ireland.
In a statement sent to the FT, the airline said: "Due to the high prevalence of fraudulent South African passports, we require passengers travelling to the UK to fill out a simple questionnaire issued in Afrikaans."
"If they are unable to complete this questionnaire, they will be refused travel and issued with a full refund," the statement added.
Customers have since accused Ryanair of racial discrimination over the questionnaire since the language is not used by a majority of people in South Africa and was historically imposed on black people during apartheid, the outlets reported.
One customer told the FT that the policy was "extremely exclusionary."
Another, who was forced to take the test to board their flight home from Lanzarote to the UK, told the outlet: "You can't profile and spot-check people like this."
Others raised complaints related to how the test's general knowledge questions could be considered proof that their passports were not fake.
The UK High Commission in South Africa posted a tweet on Friday stating that the test was not a requirement for South African passport holders to enter the UK.
Insider contacted the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa for confirmation that the test is not a travel requirement but did not immediately receive a response.
More: Travel Transportation News Ryanair | 2022-06-06T10:55:09Z | www.businessinsider.com | Ryanair Won't Let South Africans Travel If They Fail Language Test | https://www.businessinsider.com/ryanair-south-africa-language-test-passports-test-travel-id-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ryanair-south-africa-language-test-passports-test-travel-id-2022-6 |
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Morning, Wall Streeters! My name's Aaron Weinman, a correspondent for Insider, and I'm incredibly humbled to have your attention for the first edition of 10 Things on Wall Street. I'll look to unpack all things banking, finance, dealmaking, and fintech every weekday.
Got a tip? I'd love to hear from you. Drop me a line aweinman@insider.com or find me on Twitter @aaronw11.
And on that note, here's what's new on The Street — starting with a cautionary tale about View, Inc., the SoftBank-backed glass manufacturer that's arguably flying much too close to the sun.
Download Insider's app here.
1. View was once like catnip for investors, but now it's the poster child for Wall Street's SPAC largesse. Over the years, the glassmaker reeled in commitments from a host of investors like BlackRock's private-credit arm and even New Zealand's Superannuation Fund. Last year, it nabbed the services of Goldman Sachs when it merged with Cantor Fitzgerald's SPAC in March.
Despite raising almost $1.5 billion in capital over the years, and $815 million through its de-SPAC merger, View's share price is now hovering near penny-stock territory, and it's been scolded by Nasdaq: Get your house in order, or a delisting won't be out of the question.
From a bird's eye view (pun intended), you'd be forgiven for thinking that View's woes were sudden, but more than two-dozen people familiar with the company told Insider that View has grappled with serious cash burn and product failures for years.
As my colleague Hayley Cuccinello and I report, former employees described a toxic workplace, with some fearing being reprimanded or dismissed should they voice their concerns.
At the helm, with presumably the greatest view (yes, I'm here all day, folks) of all, is Rao Mulpuri. The Harvard Business School graduate has a knack for capitalizing View, but as investors and lenders pare back exposure to companies that hemorrhage cash, the charismatic CEO's greatest challenge lies ahead.
Read the full investigation here.
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel
2. Ken Griffin's latest batch of minions will dive into "Shark Tank" style sessions at this year's offsite adventure. Starting today, the Citadel interns are hitting up resorts in Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale for their 2022 kumbaya. Here's what else they're getting into.
3. Coatue got off easy compared to peers Tiger Global and Melvin Capital. The tech-enamored hedge fund stuck more cash under its mattress to ride out the latest bout of volatility , something founder Phillippe Laffont is known for during trying times.
4. Meet Rich Latour, BlackRock's global head of content, and its official fire extinguisher. The world's largest money manager wants to set the record straight, and to do that, Latour's dragging the archaic world of investing toward unchartered territory like TikTok.
5. Klarna's sweetening severance for employees it recently canned. The BNPL fintech slipped from tech darling to villain after cutting about 10% of its roughly 7,000-strong staff last month. Now, Klarna's bumping up its "kthxbye" paychecks to at least 14 weeks pay, from six.
6. Array's CEO dropped some very personal names to avoid being blacklisted by payments processors, according to a lawsuit. Martin Toha, chief exec of the so-called "fintech for fintechs," is accused of using his kids' mothers' names to bypass a blacklist.
7. Adam Neumann's back — this time trying to make "Goddess Nature Tokens" a thing. The ousted WeWork founder and his wife Rebekah Neumann are launching Flowcarbon, a startup aimed at using blockchain tech to let businesses trade carbon credits using crypto.
8. Citi's bracing for $50 million in losses following last month's fat-finger debacle. It's not as severe as the $900 million Revlon error, but similarly face-palm worthy. A Citi trader in London mistakenly added a zero to a trade, causing what's known as a flash crash across European markets.
9. Bank of America could pay about $645 million to FC Barcelona for part of the Spanish football giant's TV rights. It's another sign of US influence in European sports, but this deal's more indicative of Barca's ongoing cash crunch.
10. Wells Fargo is progressing on being more progressive, but Wall Street's way off Main Street. The bank increased its share of women, Black, and Latino execs, however, the higher up you go, the whiter it gets.
On today's docket:
John Rainey's reign as Walmart's new CFO starts today. Rainey will take over from Brett Biggs. As CFO of one of Wall Street's most sought-after clients, Rainey can bank on a deeply-filled inbox this week.
BofA Securities is hosting an electric vehicle charging summit. | 2022-06-06T12:21:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | Wall Street: yet Another SoftBank SPAC Mess | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-wall-street-softbank-spac-view-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-wall-street-softbank-spac-view-2022-6 |
Aledade just raised another $123 million in a funding round that values the primary-care upstart at $3.1 billion
Shelby Livingston
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, CEO, Aledade
Tom Sandner for Insider
Aledade just raised $123 million in a Series E funding round led by OMERS Growth Equity.
The company, which helps primary-care practices get paid in new ways, is valued at $3.1 billion.
Aledade plans to push deeper into Medicare Advantage and deliver more services directly to patients.
Aledade, a company transforming how primary-care doctors are paid, has raised $123 million in a new funding round led by current investor OMERS Growth Equity, Insider has learned exclusively.
The round, which also included Fidelity Management & Research Co. and other current investors, boosts the company's post-money valuation to $3.1 billion, according to a source close to the deal. Aledade was valued at $2.1 billion when it last raised funding in January 2021.
Aledade plans to use the fresh funds to work with more primary-care practices serving patients in the private-health plan market for seniors, known as Medicare Advantage, and potentially deliver more healthcare services directly to patients through a new business arm unveiled in January.
"We raised the money so that we would have the opportunity to invest in going deeper — deeper into Medicare Advantage, deeper into product, and potentially more wraparound services like Iris," Dr. Farzad Mostashari, Aledade CEO, said in an interview.
In January, Aledade acquired Iris Healthcare, a company that helps patients plan for end-of-life care, to be part of its new business arm called Aledade Care Solutions. That business unit provides services to patients cared for by Aledade's primary-care practices. Mostashari said Aledade is considering offering more services, like kidney care and behavioral health, to its practices.
"What we can do with Iris, and I think it's a model for other services as well, is we can use the data we have to really target and find the people who would benefit the most from whatever service, whether it's kidney care, or end-of-life healthcare planning in the case of Iris, or behavioral health," Mostashari said.
2021 was Aledade's biggest year of growth
Founded in 2014, Aledade helps independent primary-care practices enter contracts with Medicare and private health insurers in which they're paid based on how well they care for patients.
Under those contracts, if primary-care practices reduce patients' healthcare costs, the practices and Aledade — which equips doctors with technology and data — get to share in those savings with the health plan.
Traditionally, doctors have been paid for the number of services and tests they deliver. But there's a movement in the US toward tying payment to the cost and quality of healthcare. Aledade and some companies that stand up clinics, like Oak Street Health, are at the forefront of that movement.
Mostashari said 2021 was Aledade's biggest year of growth yet.
The company, which collected $300 million in revenue in 2021, works with about 1,000 primary-care practices across 36 states and DC, up from about 700 practices the year before.
"Our target this year is to exceed that: to have an even bigger growth year this year in terms of the number of practices — all kinds of practices, from federally qualified health centers, to primary-care clinics, multispecialty groups, solo docs, across the board," Mostashari said.
Aledade's partner primary-care practices care for 1.7 million patients under contracts the startup set up, according to the company. About 200,000 of those patients are covered by Medicare Advantage — a key market that Aledade wants to capture. The rest of the patients are covered by traditional Medicare or by private health insurers.
Aledade has reported positive EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, for the last two years, according to the company.
More: Aledade Primary Care Funding | 2022-06-06T12:21:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | Exclusive: Primary-Care Company Aledade Valued at $3.1 Billion in Latest Round | https://www.businessinsider.com/aledade-primary-care-startup-valued-at-3-billion-latest-funding-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/aledade-primary-care-startup-valued-at-3-billion-latest-funding-2022-6 |
An outspoken crypto trader breaks down why he's putting 70% of his funds into ether and moving the rest to cash as the painful bear market creates 'quite a spectacle'
iStock; Insider
Crypto trader Alex Kruger is making a major bet on ether, allocating 70% of his money.
On a podcast he breaks down why he's making the bet while trying to fish out the Fed's next move.
And Kruger shares the reason why he's avoiding alt-coins at all costs right now.
Technical traders and analysts who spend hours studying charts to find patterns and trends may need only watch a few indicators to identify winning market opportunities.
Crypto trader and economist Alex Kruger is intimately familiar with the price and volume charts as he leverages them to gauge market sentiment.
Speaking on the May 31 episode of "The Pomp Podcast", Kruger explains that those trusty tools have become less reliable in this challenging macro environment.
"Even though I'm focused strictly on crypto, the macro is driving crypto and equities are driving crypto," said Kruger on the podcast.
In April 2020, Kruger went all in on crypto trading. He currently has over 130,000 followers on Twitter who follow his outlook on trading and markets.
"I was happy to be able to ignore mostly stocks, because honestly having to listen to Powell and to the Fed, and to all this economic data with the level of detail I'm doing right now is not really enjoyable. It's just something the market is forcing me to do," Kruger said.
At the start of this year, the Federal Reserve implemented an aggressive monetary policy plan to combat surging inflation, which involved multiple interest rate hikes. This comes after years of low interest rates which have benefitted risk assets like stocks and crypto.
When the Federal Reserve started to tighten, risk assets crashed. The S&P 500 is down 15% from its 2021 highs, while bitcoin's fallen around 54% from its 2021 highs.
Now Kruger's trying to "fish out" when the Fed is going to change its stance and when it's time to start deploying significant capital to risk assets. He's monitoring both inflation data and commentary coming from the Federal Reserve.
"It's hard to explain this, it's painful. It's quite a spectacle," said Kruger describing the difference between this market crash and previous ones. "This is like a drip," he added. "It's like acid in your face if you're long."
Kruger doesn't see the pain subsiding any time soon until the Federal Reserve steps in.
"It's really about the Fed," Kruger said. "And until the Fed doesn't pivot, until they don't change their current stance, there is a very high likelihood that prices keep on going down."
As Kruger tries to identify the point where he can deploy all his capital in the market again for the long-term, in the meantime he's making a major bet on ether with a 70% allocation of his portfolio to the asset while keeping the rest of his funds in cash.
"I think ether has basically a very high likelihood to outperform bitcoin because of 'the merge' in the coming months," Kruger said. "Like say from here until the end of the year."
This is a similar outlook to Matt Hougan, the chief investment officer of the $1.2 billion crypto asset manager Bitwise. He also believes that the current crypto market is being driven by the macro environment and that the volatility will continue throughout the summer months.
Despite this, Hougan believes ether is an asset to bet on as the market bottoms out and crypto fundamentals start to matter again.
The merge, which is the shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, will bring benefits such as lowering the carbon footprint of ethereum, reducing new issuance and offer attractive yields through staking, according to Hougan.
"The merge is undercounted and as a result I find it very attractive at these prices," Hougan said.
Kruger sets the likelihood of the merge happening this year as extremely high. However, he still has two concerns.
First, if crypto completely collapses similar to the 2018 cycle then ethereum's merge will become completely irrelevant.
Second, if crypto continues to stay in a bear market and activity on ethereum lowers then it will reduce the yield that can be achieved from staking. Hougan's firm is predicting ethereum will offer an 8% to 12% staking yield.
"I think ether offers a great, great way to trade risk at the moment," Kruger said. "Why 70%? Because basically I'm trading for a reversal."
"I have stops, so if things go bad, unfortunately, I'll be getting out of part of the position at a loss," he added.
On the flipside, Kruger is staying completely clear of alt-coins as a lot of market participants are trying to exit that area of the market.
"The more illiquid, the higher the probability that we suffer something that we can't really hedge against, we can't really trade," Kruger said. "It is just people with more information than us that can destroy our thesis completely. So I'm quite concerned about being in alts at present."
Tightening
tokens to buy
ether price analysis
ether price | 2022-06-06T12:22:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Ether Price: Why This Trader Is Betting Big on $ETH Despite the Bear Market | https://www.businessinsider.com/ether-price-crypto-bear-market-trading-investing-eth-merge-strategies-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ether-price-crypto-bear-market-trading-investing-eth-merge-strategies-2022-6 |
Virgin recently announced plans to hire 300 new flight crew members to service new routes.
Virgin Atlantic received 5,000 job applications for 400 roles, its CEO Shai Weiss said.
Weiss told the Sunday Telegraph that Virgin's "secret sauce" meant people wanted to work there.
Airlines have struggled to hire pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers, causing delays.
Despite an ongoing labor shortage in the airline industry, not every carrier is struggling to recruit.
Virgin Atlantic, the transatlantic airline founded by Richard Branson received 5,000 applicants for 400 jobs, its CEO Shai Weiss told the Sunday Telegraph.
The surge in applications contrasts starkly with the majority of the industry where firms have been struggling to hire pilots, baggage handlers, and flight attendants at a rate that matches pent-up consumer demand for travel. Many workers that were laid off or furloughed at the height of the pandemic have not returned.
The shortage, combined with rising fuel costs and the impact of the Ukraine war, has led to delays at airports and forced executives to cancel hundreds of flights.
Virgin has not yet canceled flights this summer, according to analysis by the iNews and aviation analysts, Cirium. Weiss told the Sunday Telegraph that this was due to Virgin's "secret sauce", something he credits founder Richard Branson for starting.
"We've put it on steroids for the last few years," he said. "We pay fairly and competitively. In this day and age, people need to believe and they want to be a part of something," Weiss said. He did not specifically say what Virgin's secret sauce is.
The 5,000 job applications came for roles that were open in January 2022, a spokesperson told Insider.
The airline pays cabin crew up to £22,000 a year, according to its careers portal. British Airways cabin crew can earn up to £28,00, with a starting salary of £16,000.
On Wednesday, Virgin announced plans to hire 300 more flight crew to service new routes, Insider previously reported, alongside an announcement that it will be the first full international airline to lift its ban on cabin crew showing tattoos.
Weiss hopes Virgin will return to profit by 2023 after nearly collapsing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Weiss, 54, who became CEO in 2019, told the Sunday Telegraph about his experience leading the firm through the coronavirus pandemic. He also discussed his plans to continue with his job firm despite recently being diagnosed with colon cancer, for which he is undergoing chemotherapy.
Virgin nearly collapsed when COVID-19 lockdowns grounded international travel after being ineligible for UK government support. The airline cut a total 4,300 jobs and had to restructure its debt, per the company's 2020 annual report.
Weiss is targeting a return to profitability by 2023, per the Sunday Telegraph.
It's not the only transatlantic airline that's finding recruitment easy. Norse Atlantic Airways received more than 3,000 offers for its first 50 pilot roles this year. Its CEO told the BBC that the opportunity to fly Boeing Dreamliner jets had been a major draw.
More: Virgin Atlantic Transportation labor shortage Airlines
shai weiss | 2022-06-06T12:22:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | Virgin Atlantic Received 5,000 Applications for 400 Jobs: CEO | https://www.businessinsider.com/virgin-atlantic-ceo-thousands-job-applications-despite-airline-labor-shortage-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/virgin-atlantic-ceo-thousands-job-applications-despite-airline-labor-shortage-2022-6 |
Why Best Buy is betting big on healthcare as the retail giant's sales plummet
Best Buy Health president, Deborah DiSanzo, joined the company in September 2020.
Best Buy's investment in its healthcare segment is putting pressure on the business as sales fall.
The retailer is building its healthcare business around in-home care with health-system customers.
Best Buy Health's president says the financial strain hasn't changed the company's strategy.
Even as sales slump, Best Buy is pouring more money into its healthcare business.
The electronics retailer slashed its revenue outlook for the year on May 24, as sales from its stores fell 8% over the last quarter. Despite the tightening margins, executives said the company is continuing to invest in Best Buy Health.
That strategy is putting pressure on Best Buy's overall business, with the healthcare segment's expenses swelling last quarter, said Matthew Bilunas, the company's chief financial officer, during the May earnings call.
Best Buy is betting on the long-term profit potential of its healthcare segment despite the drop in store sales. The retailer has been pushing steadily into the industry since 2018, signaling its plan to settle into traditional healthcare, with its acquisition of remote-monitoring company, Current Health, in 2021.
Deborah DiSanzo, the president of Best Buy Health, told Insider the company won't be decreasing that investment anytime soon.
"We're staying on that plan, and Best Buy is extraordinarily supportive of the Best Buy Health business," she said.
'It seemed like a natural fit'
While Best Buy also sells consumer-health devices like fitness watches and blood-pressure monitors, Best Buy Health is staking its future on home healthcare.
The retailer acquired Current Health — which delivers a virtual-care platform and remote patient-monitoring devices to connect patients and providers — in November for $400 million.
In the past year, the company added 18 new hospital and health-system clients to Current Health's business — signing on health systems like Mount Sinai and UMass Memorial Health — and bringing its client total to 40. Current Health pulled in $525 million in revenue in fiscal year 2022.
Best Buy also acquired GreatCall — now known as Lively — in 2018 for $800 million. The company announced last week that Lively's urgent-response service for seniors will now be available on Amazon's Alexa-enabled devices.
Best Buy Health directs most of its services toward older patients. The retailer has a team of people that helps customers pick out health devices and set up remote-monitoring technology in the home, tasks that DiSanzo said health systems have often had to handle for their patients.
DiSanzo said that Best Buy's healthcare moves capitalize on the retailer's strengths. Taking care of technology setup and logistics, she said, is the company's bread and butter.
"Nurses don't want to do that. Physicians don't want to do that. And that's what Best Buy does," she said. "It seemed like a natural fit."
Shifting the balance
Healthcare customers — including physicians, health systems, insurers, and pharmaceutical companies — only make up about 9% of Best Buy Health's revenue. Consumers contribute the other 91%.
As the health segment digs deeper into traditional healthcare delivery, though, the company plans to shift that balance. Best Buy Health expects to increase the revenue contribution of its healthcare customers from 9% to 20% over the next five years, according to DiSanzo's presentation to investors in March.
DiSanzo declined to share how much money Best Buy is investing in its health segment or how much Best Buy Health banked in revenue in the last quarter. Best Buy secured $11.6 billion in revenue across its segments in the same quarter.
Goldman Sachs analysts backed up Best Buy's strategy to invest in its healthcare business in a note about the earnings on May 24. While analysts said the company faces challenges to its margins, they said Best Buy Health — among a few other initiatives — could help the retailer grow after those financial pressures ease.
More: Best Buy Dispensed Best Buy Health | 2022-06-06T13:57:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | Why Best Buy Is Betting Big on Its Health Segment As Sales Fall | https://www.businessinsider.com/best-buy-health-earnings-president-deborah-disanzo-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/best-buy-health-earnings-president-deborah-disanzo-2022-6 |
Tanza Loudenback
Personal Finance Insider's free retirement calculator can show you whether you're on track for a comfortable retirement.
By providing information including your age, income, savings rate, retirement balances, expected retirement spending, and how long you plan to work, it estimates how much money you'll have compared with how much you'll need.
Use Insider’s calculator to see if you’re on your way to a comfortable retirement by answering a few questions about yourself, your savings, and how long you expect to keep working.
How much have you saved for retirement?
What is your annual household income?
How much will you save each month?
At what age do you plan to retire?
Optional Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Expected annual average pay increase?
Anticipated monthly retirement spending?
70% of pre-retirement income
Life expectancy?
You will have about
You will need about
*Need is based on covering 70% of your annual pre-retirement income and a life expectancy of 100 years.
How to use the retirement calculator
For this calculator, we define a comfortable retirement as being able to live on 70% of your pre-retirement income. However, the calculator is customizable.
Here's what you'll need to input:
Personal information: Current age and the age at which you expect to retire.
Current retirement balance: The total amount of retirement savings you have across all your accounts, including 401(k)s and IRAs.
Current household income: Your annual gross income (the amount you earn before taxes).
Rate of savings: How much money you save toward retirement each month. You can enter this as a dollar amount or a percentage of your income.
The following inputs are pre-filled, but you can change some of them to further customize your retirement calculation.
Expected annual salary increases: The calculator's default is 2%.
Anticipated monthly spending in retirement: We assume you'll spend 70% of your pre-retirement income (the amount you're projected to be earning right before you retire), but you can change that number if you expect to spend more or less.
Life expectancy: The default calculation uses a life expectancy of 100 years.
Investment returns: We assume your savings are invested and earn a 5% annual rate of return.
How a retirement calculator can help
Our retirement calculator is designed to track your progress toward retirement. It's based on a rule of thumb that Americans spend less as they age and can therefore sustain a 30- to 40-year retirement on 70% of their pre-retirement income.
The calculator generates two important numbers:
The amount you will have by your desired retirement age. By providing your current savings rate and retirement account balances, we're able to estimate how much money you'll have in savings or investments by retirement.
The amount you will need by your desired retirement age. Using your current income and expected salary increases, we're able to estimate how much money you'll need in savings or investments by retirement.
Important: How much you'll need to retire may be more or less than the 70% rule of thumb, depending on your lifestyle. For a more accurate estimate of how much you can expect to spend in retirement, consult a financial advisor.
Using a retirement calculator to see where you stand provides several benefits.
Snapshot of your future: A rough estimate of how much money you'll need to retire by a certain age is better than having no estimate at all.
Identify shortfalls: The calculator shows if you might fall short of your financial goal, giving you the opportunity to plan for a higher savings rate or find sources of supplementary income.
See your options: By adjusting the calculator's inputs — such as changing your savings rate or your planned retirement age — you can see how your overall plan is affected.
What to do if you're behind in retirement savings
If the retirement calculator shows you falling short of your financial target, don't be discouraged. There's still time to make adjustments to your savings rate or investment strategy to get closer to meeting your goal.
One of the most effective ways to catch up on retirement savings is to increase your income. A nationwide labor shortage has given workers significant negotiating power. According to FlexJobs' Work Insight 2022 survey, 47% of employees who asked for a raise in 2021 year were successful.
If you're unable to score a raise in your current position, consider switching jobs for a higher salary or better benefits, such as a more generous 401(k) match or access to stock options.
Above all, be flexible. As you approach retirement, consider taking a part-time job, waiting to claim Social Security benefits, downsizing your home, or relocating to a more affordable city.
Tanza is a CFP® professional and former correspondent for Personal Finance Insider. She broke down personal finance news and wrote about taxes, investing, retirement, wealth building, and debt management. She helmed a biweekly newsletter and a column answering reader questions about money. Tanza is the author of two ebooks, A Guide to Financial Planners and "The One-Month Plan to Master your Money." In 2020, Tanza was the editorial lead on Master Your Money, a yearlong original series providing financial tools, advice, and inspiration to millennials. Tanza joined Business Insider in June 2015 and is an alumna of Elon University, where she studied journalism and Italian. She is based in Los Angeles.
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More: PFI Reference Personal Finance Insider Retirement Calculator service graphics | 2022-06-06T13:57:06Z | www.businessinsider.com | Retirement Calculator: See How Much You Need to Retire Comfortably | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/retirement-calculator | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/retirement-calculator |
Tjhen-White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham looks on as then-President Donald Trump speaks on the South Lawn of the White House.
Stephanie Grisham discussed the DOJ's decision to charge Peter Navarro, yet not 2 other ex-Trump aides.
Grisham said Trump aides should be punished if they don't cooperate with the Jan. 6 commission.
Grisham claims Meadows helped plan off-the-books White House meetings relating to Jan 6.
Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said that former Trump administration officials should be punished for not cooperating with the House committee investigating the Capitol riot.
In a Sunday interview with CNN's Jim Acosta, Grisham welcomed the Justice Department's decision to indict the former Trump aide Peter Navarro for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the committee.
But she was critical of the decision not to charge former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and his deputy, Dan Scavino, over their refusal to cooperate.
"I truly was confused by that, most certainly with Mark Meadows, who was chief of staff at that time and who was facilitating so many conversations and meetings and doing all of President Trump's bidding. I was puzzled by it," said Grisham.
"I was happy to see what happened with Peter Navarro. That was important. I think that the Trump team always gets away with no consequences. I know that only because I was part of that world and that was the attitude, we were very flippant because nobody was going to get us," said Grisham.
"And so I think that with the DOJ's latest decision, specifically with Meadows, it's just more of — they get away with it all and that's disappointing for a lot of people."
Of Navarro's charges, she said: "I was happy to see that because he had been openly defying the committee, he has been openly defying everybody and I don't think it's going to make him flip ... I think it's so important we show people that your actions have consequences."
During the Trump presidency, Grisham served as Trump's press secretary as well as a close aide to first lady Melania Trump, and resigned from the administration in the wake of the Capitol riot.
In a scathing memoir about her time working for Trump, Grisham claimed that Meadows helped organize off-the-books meetings for the president ahead of January 6, 2021, in an effort to shield the contents of the discussions from the National Archive.
Grisham has also testified to the committee about events leading up to the riot.
Meadows initially cooperated with the January 6 commission, but reversed his decision and refused to cooperate. Scavino has also refused to cooperate. Both men claim that their work for Trump is shielded by executive privilege.
Congress charged both Navarro and Steve Bannon, another former Trump aide, face charges of contempt of Congress over their refusal to cooperate with the committee.
The committee is set to hold its first public hearings this Thursday.
More: Stephanie Grisham Mark Meadows Peter Navarro Jan 6 committee | 2022-06-06T13:57:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Grisham: Trump Aides Not Working With Jan. 6 Panel Should Be Punished | https://www.businessinsider.com/stephanie-grisham-says-punish-trump-aides-not-cooperating-jan6-committee-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stephanie-grisham-says-punish-trump-aides-not-cooperating-jan6-committee-2022-6 |
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California in the Senate subway on Capitol Hill on May 11, 2022.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest sitting senator, sat down for an interview with The Cut.
In the interview, Feinstein sometimes forgot questions and depended on an aide to help her recall details.
But a former staffer "emphatically" says that a "diminished Senator Feinstein" is better than electing a new senator.
In an interview published Monday in The Cut, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California sometimes forgot questions posed to her and depended heavily on an aide to help her recall key details.
But one former staffer who spoke anonymously to the outlet insisted that despite the 88-year-old senator's apparent shortcomings, she's still able to get more done than a younger, more recently-elected senator could.
"Is a diminished Senator Feinstein better than a junior California senator?" the staffer asked. "I would argue, emphatically, yes."
Part of that notion is based on her seniority: Feinstein is the oldest member of the chamber, and once Democratic Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont officially retires in January 2023, she will become longest-serving Democratic senator currently in office.
"If we lost her seniority … every other state benefits from California not having seniority, because our appropriations are so much larger," Ken Millman, her 2018 campaign manager, told The Cut.
Feinstein is known to be heavily reliant on staff to perform her duties as senator, constantly flanked by a staffer as she walks to votes and hearings on Capitol Hill. In the phone interview with columnist Rebecca Traister, Feinstein sometimes trailed off and relied on communications director Tom Mentzer for help.
"Everything has become more partisan than it was when I came to the Senate," said Feinstein. "When I came to the Senate, Bob Dole was the leader, and he stood up and said … What was it? Tom, help me, what was the quote?"
She also appeared to forget the year that the 1994 assault weapons ban — one of her key legislative accomplishments — was enacted.
"In a way, the weapon issue was a good one because we were able to pass the first bill," she said. "When was it, Tom?"
Insider asked Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in April whether he still had confidence in Feinstein's ability to serve in the upper chamber, given a recent report from the San Francisco Chronicle raising fresh questions about her cognitive decline.
He conspicuously declined to answer the question, and his office declined to respond to requests for comment seeking clarification.
"I've had a good number of discussions with Senator Feinstein, but I'm keeping them to myself," he said at his weekly press conference.
—CSPAN (@cspan) April 26, 2022
Four sitting senators told the Chronicle that they'd observed the rapid deterioration of Feinstein's cognitive abilities, and a Democratic House member from California said they had reintroduce themselves to Feinstein multiple times during a single, hours-long conversation earlier this year.
"There's a joke on the Hill, we've got a great junior senator in Alex Padilla and an experienced staff in Feinstein's office," one staffer working for a California Democrat told the Chronicle.
Feinstein, for her part, said she was "rather puzzled" by reports of her unfitness to serve.
"I meet regularly with leaders," she told the Chronicle's editorial board. "I'm not isolated. I see people. My attendance is good. I put in the hours. We represent a huge state. And so I'm rather puzzled by all of this."
But Schumer reportedly had to urge Feinstein two separate times to step down from her post as the lead Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee following outcry over her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearings.
The bulk of Feinstein's interview with The Cut focused on gun control, an issue close to Feinstein given her proximity to the assassination of San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Harvey Milk. She became the first female mayor of San Francisco after Milk and Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed by a fellow board member Dan White in 1978.
"Oh, we'll get it done, trust me," she said of the prospects of meaningful gun reform.
But Feinstein also seemed unable to grasp with the rigid partisan dynamics that now dictate debates about guns in Washington, even as she conceded that Republicans have become less willing to compromise than Democrats on a myriad of issues.
"Well, yes. I think that's not inaccurate. I think it's an accurate statement," she said. "What did you first say about Democrats moving?"
More: Congress Dianne Feinstein California cognitive decline | 2022-06-06T15:19:50Z | www.businessinsider.com | Former Staffer: 'Diminished' Feinstein Still Better Than Junior Senator | https://www.businessinsider.com/dianne-feinstein-interview-diminished-california-senator-cognitive-decline-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/dianne-feinstein-interview-diminished-california-senator-cognitive-decline-2022-6 |
Meet the 34 retail-technology power players revolutionizing how brands operate and customers shop
Matthew Kish, Madeline Stone, Ellen Thomas, Alex Bitter, Ann Gehan, Anthony Medina, and Nancy Luna
Cathy Polinsky, Dilip Kumar, Tom Ward, and Asha Sharma.
Shopify; Amazon; Walmart; Instacart; Insider
Retailers know that shopping habits established during the pandemic are here to stay.
Brands are expected to build out capabilities or partner with vendors to fill in the gaps.
Insider's inaugural retail-tech power players list gives the nod to innovative industry leaders.
The pandemic wasn't easy for retailers to navigate. But ultimately, investing in e-commerce became the playbook to boost sales as customers preferred shopping in the safety of their own homes over outlets and shopping malls.
Now, the industry is at yet another inflection point. E-commerce sales growth has slowed, inflation has grown, and a recession is looming, but customers seem to have held onto many of the shopping habits and expectations they developed during the height of the pandemic.
These new expectations mean retailers must offer the ease and speed of Amazon. They need to offer ways to shop online, pick-up in-store, and at least dip their toes in the metaverse. They need to be live selling on TikTok while looking for alternatives to pricey Facebook ads.
So where do retailers go from here?
With our inaugural list of retail-tech power players, Insider is highlighting the leaders best answering that question. These innovative industry executives are leading the way in areas like resale, artificial intelligence, the metaverse, customer marketing, and more.
Insider's retail team selected the recipients based on nominations and our deep reporting on players in retail tech.
Cathy Polinsky, vice president of engineering for merchant services, Shopify
Polinsky leads engineering for Shopify's merchant-services division, which includes products like shipping, sales tax calculations, retail point of sale, and international cross-border sales. She joined Shopify in January 2021 after serving as Stitch Fix's chief technology officer for four years.
Among her top priorities at Shopify are initiatives that help merchants sell on different channels, from Instagram and TikTok to Spotify, in addition to their own online stores.
"Retailers who can meet their customers wherever they are and provide personalized experiences will be the big winners in the next five years," Polinsky said.
Shopify recently launched a link-in-bio tool called Linkpop, which allows merchants and influencers to sell products directly from their social-media profiles. Polinsky said that the creator economy would be an area of investment for Shopify in the coming year. The Canadian e-commerce platform is also dipping its toes into Web3 technologies "that can transform the types of experiences merchants can provide customers," Polinsky said.
These innovations come as Shopify's engineering team ensures its infrastructure provides a speedy, reliable experience for shoppers. Polinsky added that Shopify processed a peak of more than $3 million in sales a minute during Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2021.
"This means no matter how much traffic our merchants drive to their flash sales, they can depend on us to meet demand," she said.
Marcelo Cortes, cofounder and chief technical officer, Faire
Wholesaling wasn't exactly a digital-friendly business until Faire came along.
Founded in 2017, Faire is an online wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers with brands and artisans that help stock their stores. Over 70,000 brands are available on the site, and most of the 450,000 retailers that use the service are local brick-and-mortar boutiques.
One of Faire's three cofounders, Cortes, oversees Faire's engineering team and the company's technological vision. A former Google engineer, entrepreneur, and small-business owner, Cortes feels especially close to the company's mission of helping local retailers thrive.
"We set out to transform wholesale and create something that doesn't just unburden retailers from decades-old obstacles but also provides them with an experience they actually enjoy," Cortes said.
Faire offers retailers free returns on products from vendors they've never purchased from before. Its expansion to Europe last year allowed retailers overseas and in North America to find new vendors without traveling across borders for costly trade shows.
In the year since Faire's European launch, 100,000 retailers signed up for the platform — a milestone that took Faire three years to achieve in the US, the company said.
Cortes sees this as a sign that demand for Faire's business is growing.
"Even with Faire reaching $1 billion in annual volume in less than five years, we believe the size of this market is vastly underestimated," Cortes said. "The most exciting opportunities in this space are still ahead of us."
Dilip Kumar, vice president of physical retail and technology, Amazon
Amazon has rolled out its "Just Walk Out" technology over the past few years. It allows shoppers to pick out what they want and leave the store without standing in line at a checkout counter. Instead, their accounts are automatically debited for the purchase.
The man in charge of the futuristic tech is Kumar.
While Just Walk Out got its start in a roughly 10,000-square-foot Amazon Go store in early 2020, the technology now functions in stores that vary in size.
"Our technology services are operational in locations ranging from small-store formats to full-size grocery stores, to locations that cater to high customer volumes, like airport and stadium stores," Kumar told Insider.
In February, for example, Amazon opened an entire Whole Foods store in Washington, DC, with Just Walk Out. Amazon has also installed the tech at its AmazonGo convenience stores and sports stadiums.
Kumar also oversees related projects at Amazon. They include Amazon One, which allows customers to scan their palm to enter a Just Walk Out location or pay, and Amazon Dash Carts, a smart shopping cart that keeps track of what consumers put in their carts as they shop and allows them to skip the checkout line.
"These technologies can improve the shopping experience by saving time and removing friction from shopping trips," he said.
Kumar said he didn't "have a crystal ball" to see into the future of retail. But he anticipates "the retail industry will continue to adopt machine learning and computer-vision-based technologies that offer customers ease and convenience," he said.
Eric Redmond, metaverse studio head, Nike
Eric Redmond
Nike is among the long list of consumer brands sprinting into the new, immersive digital reality known as the metaverse. Redmond is leading the Swoosh's charge.
A seven-year company veteran, Redmond was named head of Nike's Metaverse Studio in November.
Since then, Nike has created a virtual world called Nikeland on Roblox, done an in-game partnership with the popular "Madden" video game, and acquired Rtfkt, a buzzy virtual-collectibles company.
A November review of Nike patents suggests the company sees the metaverse as a long-term play.
In April, Nike launched its first metaverse sneakers, which it calls CryptoKicks. Some of the shoes are already selling for premiums on the secondary market. Redmond later wrote in a LinkedIn post that he declined a six-figure offer for his personal pair of CryptoKicks.
"Today I rejected a $130k offer for my NFT," he wrote. "Why? Because it was obviously a mistake. Someone fat fingered a decimal place. I could have profited on their mistake, and it would have been irreversible. But that's not the Metaverse I want, where an innocent mistake can destroy a family's wealth. We need technical and institutional fixes to this. In the meantime, let's be kind."
Redmond's an accomplished writer, with several books to his credit, including "Deep Tech," an accessible primer on everything from virtual reality to artificial intelligence.
Prama Bhatt, chief digital officer, Ulta Beauty
In March 2020, Ulta Beauty shut the doors on all 1,000-plus of its brick-and-mortar stores as COVID-19 swept across the US.
Bhatt, who has been with the Illinois-based retailer for eight years, and her team immediately shored up Glamlab, Ulta's artificial-intelligence-powered virtual-try-on technology so customers could shade-match products at home.
With stores closed and consumers stuck at home, Bhatt's team made 3,600 Ulta makeup products available for virtually try-on via the store's app and website. Glamlab clocked 82 million visits in 2021, and e-commerce purchases now make up 20% of Ulta's total sales after nearly doubling in 2020, according to the company.
At Ulta, Bhatt leads Ulta's strategic partnerships and investments in digital capabilities. In November, the company announced a same-day delivery partnership with DoorDash led by Bhatt's team. The company has also launched Beauty to Go, a buy online, pick up in store service that promises to have products ready for pickup within two hours of ordering.
"As the landscape becomes even more fragmented, we will further link the Ulta Beauty stores' tangible, distinctive experiences with our digital channels across our app, website, BOPIS, curbside pickup, social platforms , and more to enable convenient, immersive connections," Bhatt said. "Every touchpoint deepens loyalty and engagement."
Spencer Hewett, CEO and founder, Radar
Inventory mismanagement can kill a retail business. Radar's founder and CEO, Hewett, has a solution.
Radar uses radio-frequency-identification technology, or smart labels, to help businesses digitally track inventory. The company's technology counts and locates every item in stores, helping retailers maximize revenue, minimize losses, and save time on order fulfillment.
The technology is being piloted with American Eagle and two Fortune 500 retailers that the company declined to name. It has a wait list of another 80 retailers.
In a recent test with American Eagle, Radar's technology kept track of 99% of the company's products in select stores.
But simple inventory management is just the base case for Radar's technology. Hewett sees all sorts of futuristic applications, including use in distribution centers and by consumers.
"Imagine walking down the street and seeing someone wearing a very cool jacket," Hewett said. "In the future, technologies like Radar will have learned to recognize the jacket by sight, and if the wearer (or brand) has opted to share wardrobe data, anyone would be able to pull up a link to purchase, and the wearer could be compensated as an affiliate for having effectively marketed the product."
Radar has raised $33 million in venture funding. Its board includes American Eagle's chief operating officer, Michael Rempell. The company employs more than 40 employees. Hewett is a Y Combinator alumnus, a Forbes "30 Under 30" honoree, and a former Thiel Fellowship recipient.
Carman Wenkoff, executive vice president and chief information officer, Dollar General
When Wenkoff joined Dollar General as its chief information officer in 2017, he took a somewhat unconventional approach to the role.
Since many of Dollar General's nearly 18,000 stores are in rural communities, Wenkoff emphasized the development of tech for the brick-and-mortar shopping experience rather than pushing for e-commerce growth.
During Wenkoff's tenure at the chain, he's overseen the development of features like the shopping-list and cart-calculator tools in the Dollar General app, which help customers plan and budget for their shopping trips. He's also expanded the DG Rewards and DG Digital Coupons programs as tech helps break down the barriers between online and in-person shopping, a transformation Wenkoff thinks will be crucial for the retail industry in coming years.
"I believe there will be very little distinction or lines between digital and brick and mortar, and the customer will experience unparalleled personalized shopping experiences, while enjoying a much greater degree of privacy at the same time," Wenkoff told Insider.
Oisin O'Connor, CEO and cofounder, Recharge
O'Connor launched Recharge, a software company that helps online merchants sell their products via subscriptions, with Mike Flynn in 2014.
But the company's goal — to help merchants build long-term relationships with customers — is perhaps even more relevant today than ever. Many online sellers are rethinking their customer-acquisition strategies following Apple's customer-data privacy changes.
The pandemic has also rewritten the rules for e-commerce.
"We're coming out of such a volatile time," O'Connor said. "Retail companies need consistency and repeated touchpoints with consumers in order to grow, and subscriptions can provide that in a really significant way."
Recharge powers subscriptions for more than 15,000 merchants, including Verve Coffee Roasters, Geologie, and Who Gives a Crap. Most of Recharge's merchants are powered by Shopify, as the Canadian e-commerce platform is popular with the small and medium-size businesses that Recharge targets, O'Connor previously told Insider.
Recharge has raised $277 million in venture-capital funding from investors including Summit Partners, Iconiq Growth, and Bain Capital Ventures. Its latest round, a $227 million Series B in May 2021, valued it at $2.1 billion.
O'Connor said that much more innovation was on the way for Recharge.
"There are so many opportunities to bolster our merchants' retention strategies outside of subscriptions," he said. "This really is just the beginning — both for Recharge and the e-commerce industry at large."
Neha Singh, CEO and founder, Obsess
Obsess
Obsess' founder and CEO, Singh, is helping some of the biggest brands get into the metaverse. The company uses augmented and virtual reality to create immersive 3D online stores.
"Over the next five years, retailers and brands will have to establish their presence in the metaverse to keep up with consumer adoption of the new technologies enabling it," Singh said. "Consumers will continue to demand interactive online shopping, entertainment, gaming, and fitness experiences, which will drive continued technology advances in the industry."
Obsess is differentiating itself by helping brands sell physical products in virtual stores, not just digital goods. The company's clients include Ralph Lauren, Coach, and Tommy Hilfiger.
The company designed its first virtual store in 2017, giving it years of historical data to develop best practices. Among its tips for clients: Virtual shoppers don't like closed doors. So don't include virtual doors in virtual stores.
Obsess closed a $10 million Series A fundraising round in June 2021. It's using the money for product development, international expansion, and entering additional retail verticals, including home, entertainment, and consumer goods.
Singh's background includes work as a senior software engineer at Google and the head of digital product at Vogue.
Andrew Bialecki, CEO and cofounder, Klaviyo
Klaviyo is an email and text marketing company that integrates with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce.
Bialecki, a cofounder and the CEO of Klaviyo, said that the software company helped retailers take what they know about their target customer and market to them directly.
"The distance between retailers and consumers is shrinking — geography matters less and less, which means it's easier for each of us to have our favorite 10 to 20 brands, and we can default to shopping them," he said. "This requires a fundamental shift in the economics and business model of retail, which will benefit consumers and retailers."
Klaviyo's tech stack for merchants includes a customer database, content-creation tools, and machine-learning algorithms that can automate message creation and targeting. Its users include Milk Bar, Girlfriend Collective, and Dermalogica.
"You teach our software how you would treat a customer, and we then make sure every customer gets the experience that's right for them," Bialecki said. "And, just like a retailer, our software learns over time and can make suggestions on how to improve the experience."
Klaviyo has raised $678.5 million in funding from investors including Sands Capital Ventures, Lone Pine Capital, and Accel. Its most recent round was a $320 million Series D that valued it at more than $9 billion in May 2021.
Haniff Brown, CEO, Fit:Match
Fit:Match
Fit:Match helps users more accurately buy clothing in their size using AR and AI technology. The platform uses a patented algorithm to match users with someone who shares a similar body type in Fit:Match's database.
Fit:Match, led by Brown, specializes in lingerie, bras, and activewear — some of the more hard-to-fit categories in retail, the company said. Brown, a first-generation Jamaican immigrant, has spent almost a decade in the consumer-investment industry and has worked as an analyst for Credit Suisse and Freeman Spogli.
Brown's experiences helped him recognize a discrepancy in how retail businesses are able to match clothing items to all body shapes.
"Customers are craving elevated ways to shop through an extremely curated lens, and brands are seeking to learn more about their customers in order to serve them best-in-class commerce experiences and ultimately keep them loyal," Brown told Insider.
Fit:Match works with brands including Rihanna's Savage X Fenty and Fabletics. The company earned $750,000 from angel investors in December 2019 and followed that up with $2 million and $4 million seed rounds in September 2020 and May 2021, respectively.
Jason Murray, CEO and cofounder, Shipium
Shipium
Shipium builds software that helps retailers offer a speedy shipping experience outside Amazon Prime.
It does this by determining where inventory should be shipped from, which carrier to work with, and which package type and size should be used to ship items.
Murray, an Amazon alum, said he thought solutions like Shipium's would make omnichannel commerce truly effective for retailers. Shipium works with brands like Grove Collaborative and the drop-shipping platform CommerceHub.
"For too long, the logistics world has run on old and disconnected systems," Murray said. "The biggest shift we'll see as a result will be a more predictable, connected, and robust supply chain in which every system is connected."
Murray has a deep understanding of what is required to build fast shipping into a business. He spent almost 20 years at Amazon, managing an operations group that included Prime. And he said that being able to deliver items quickly was now table stakes for retailers.
"Consumers now demand a Prime-like experience that includes accurate delivery promises plus free and fast shipping options, and they are less likely to purchase if fast shipping isn't offered," Murray said. "The shipping experience is now the shopping experience, and the race is on for retailers to deliver."
Shipium has raised $37.5 million in venture capital since it was founded in 2019. Its investors include Insight Partners, Trilogy Equity Partners, and Good Friends.
Tom Ward, chief e-commerce officer, Walmart
Ward has been Walmart's chief e-commerce officer for just a few months. But Walmart shoppers have seen the influence of his work for years.
Under Ward's leadership, Walmart's e-commerce team developed Spark Driver, the retailer's proprietary software-as-a-service platform that matches delivery orders with drivers. He's also responsible for GoLocal, Walmart's delivery service for small businesses.
On top of that, Ward manages pilots for delivery by autonomous vehicles and drones at the retailer, as well as Walmart's express delivery, which sends orders to customers' homes within two hours.
Those kinds of technologies "are resetting customers' expectations around speed of last-mile delivery," Ward said.
"The future of retail is going to be about so much more than the company's assortment," Ward told Insider. "We see the future of retail evolving to include ubiquitous access to goods, services, and solutions that will be delivered however and whenever the customer chooses."
He added, "The closest Walmart to our customers is the one in their pocket, our app.
Yael Cosset, Chief Information Officer and chief digital officer, Kroger
Kroger remains among the largest grocers in the US, according to data from Euromonitor, despite new opposition from the likes of Amazon and the German discounter Lidl and ongoing competition from established players like Walmart.
In part, the company has Cosset to thank for that.
Cosset has been Kroger's top executive for digital since 2019. Under him, Kroger has started building a network of automated delivery warehouses in a partnership with the UK grocer Ocado, including in markets like South Florida where it doesn't have physical stores.
Selling groceries online is a tough task, especially given the slim profit margins associated with selling food. Kroger and Cosset think they have a solution by creating a "dynamic network" using a combination of Kroger's stores and the automated warehouses.
"On one hand, the store offers a lot of options to the customer, taking advantage of its proximity, but limited scale," Cosset said during an investor presentation in March. "On the other hand, large facilities offer reliability, scale, and efficiency but limit some of the trips we can capture."
Kroger is also building out its advertising business and working with Instacart on a service that delivers grocery essentials in as fast as 30 minutes.
Julie Bornstein, CEO and cofounder, The Yes
Bornstein is a cofounder and the CEO of The Yes, a shopping platform that uses AI to curate a customized "store" that adapts to user's preferences over time.
The free-to-use app and website take into account users' style preferences, budget, and sizing information to bring together items from designer, direct-to-consumer, and mall brands in one place.
"There are so many choices, so many products, and so much noise — it becomes overwhelming," Bornstein told Insider. "Turns out there is such a thing as too much choice."
The Yes' AI model can capture objective data, like color and length, as well as subjective data, like season or occasion, on every product in its system and uses a combination of text parsing, image classification, and human labeling to create about 200 data points for each product.
Over the course of her 25-year career, Bornstein has led the development of e-commerce at retailers including Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, and Sephora. Most recently, she was the chief operating officer of Stitch Fix, departing in 2017 just before the company's $120 million initial public offering.
"Understanding the nuances that apply to both sides of fashion — the product on one side and the consumer's shopping preferences on the other — takes a deep understanding of the space," Bornstein said. "We have begun to build the most extensive information graph on fashion in the world."
In June, Pinterest announced plans to acquire The Yes as it seeks to develop more shopping features like checkout. Bornstein will head up shopping and strategy for Pinterest, and The Yes team will join Pinterest after the deal closes at the end of the month, Business of Fashion reported. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Casey North, vice president, DoorDash Drive
North has been instrumental in scaling DoorDash's largest core businesses, its marketplace, and DoorDash Drive. One of the first 20 DoorDash employees, North started in 2014 as an operations manager in Los Angeles and quickly moved up the ranks.
In 2017, he became the head of marketplace, helping expand the number of restaurants on the app.
In his role as the vice president of DoorDash Drive, he is responsible for the company's white-label delivery platform. The service, available since 2016, allows merchants to offer delivery through their own digital channels — a feature rivals like Grubhub and Uber Eats didn't offer until years later. Chipotle and Wingstop were early adopters of the program, which has expanded to include last-mile delivery for retailers, supermarkets, and convenience stores.
North said Drive was "a key part of the business because it empowers our merchant partners to meet customers where they are."
Tyler Wozny, chief digital officer, Madison Reed
Boxed hair dye hadn't seen a lot of technological advancement ver the past few decades, but the direct-to-consumer startup Madison Reed changed that.
Now, Wozny is tasked with envisioning the "digital client experience" and oversees projects related to the company's website, app, and software systems that fuel its brick-and-mortar Hair Color Bars.
Madison Reed was developed to offer customers a hair-coloring option that was as convenient as buying a boxed dye at the drugstore but as customized for individuals as a visit to a salon colorist.
Wozny, a Sephora alum who worked on the beauty retailer's mobile app, joined Madison Reed in 2018. Last year, he helped launch Madison Reed's app for iOS and Android, which lets clients manage their subscription and membership. The app also has a "store mode," which clients can use in store to check-out and book appointments. He also launched the company's in-store "screens," which allow customers to virtually try on different hair colors. Virtual try-ons are also available on Madison Reed's website.
"Hair color is an incredibly emotional purchase, as a person's hair is a core part of their sense of self," Wozny said. "In order for our clients to feel totally confident and excited to engage with our products, we need to be there for her in any way that she needs."
Taylor Bloom, chief technology officer and cofounder, Foxtrot
Foxtrot has been on a tear lately. The upscale convenience-store chain has 19 locations around the US and plans to open 50 more by the end of 2023, thanks in part to the $100 million Series C round it raised at the start of this year.
But Bloom says it's Foxtrot's technology that sets the company apart.
The startup has built its own platform, which its employees use to pack orders for delivery in 30 minutes or for customers to pick up at a store within five minutes. In addition to products it has on the floor, Foxtrot maintains separate stock in the back of its stores for filling online orders.
At the same time, Foxtrot designs its stores around a curated mix of food and beverages, from startup brands to house-made coffees.
"At Foxtrot, we're equally as excited about retail as we are about technology," Bloom told Insider. "For us, it's about merging the two to create an omnichannel experience for our customers."
Bloom added: "Innovations in tech will continue to push the industry forward, like cashierless technology and content-rich platforms.
"We also expect to see even more innovation in the CPG, food, and beverage spaces — and consumers will be increasingly more curious and interested in discovering new brands."
Asha Sharma, chief operating officer, Instacart
At the start of this year, Sharma was Facebook's vice president of product. She oversaw the social network's chat products, such as Messenger, that allow for direct interaction between users.
Now, she's trying to get customers to have just as close a relationship with Instacart and their favorite grocers.
In her first year at the company, Sharma and her team have expanded Instacart's app by adding the option for customers to send gifts to each other and putting greater emphasis on Instacart's new prepared-food offerings.
"Instacart is a grocery-technology company," she said. "We are developing connected commerce offerings for retailers that break down the silos between in store and online as shopping habits continue to evolve, making shopping more personalized, affordable, inspirational, and accessible for consumers."
Sharma said she wanted to tackle several other challenges for the company, including making it easier for Instacart shoppers to find foods for specific health needs, creating content with recipe ideas, and improving access to food and nutrition.
"Over the next few years, technology is going to power the future of the industry," she said.
David Hardiman-Evans, senior vice president for North America, Ocado Group
In the early 2000s, grocery-delivery company Ocado became an established retailer in the UK, thanks to its use of autonomous robots in its warehouses.
Today, Ocado and its order-filling robots have set their sights across the pond, partnering with Kroger in 2018 to expand its grocery-delivery services in the US. Industry experts are closely watching the company's expansion in North America, waiting to see if Ocado will be able to replicate the success it's found in the UK. Overseeing the Kroger partnership, among others, is David Hardiman-Evans.
Ocado also has partnerships with Canadian grocery chains like Sobeys, the country's second-largest grocery retailer, which helps the company trial new strategies for use in the US.
Hardiman-Evans said the pandemic reinforced the importance of investing in Ocado's platform and seeking out opportunities, like vertical farming to increase produce freshness, driverless technology to improve last-mile transportation, and reductions in costs like food waste.
Hardiman-Evans points to Ocado's efficiency and end-to-end tech as key differentiators from other grocery players.
"We have spent over 20 years building such a wide technology estate to serve grocery online," he told Insider, referencing the tech stack that helps power warehouse robots, map-efficient delivery routes, and user experience for shoppers, warehouse employees, and delivery drivers.
"Crucially, also, these technologies are fully integrated end to end across the grocery value chain, enabling outcomes that would not be possible with a piecemeal approach," he said.
James Reinhart, CEO, ThredUp
For Reinhart, the question isn't "if" resale will accelerate, it's "how" retail companies and consumers should go about it.
Reinhart is the founder and CEO of ThredUp, which offers a "resale-as-a-service" platform. In addition to working with people who want to clean out a closet, ThredUp works with corporate clients, such as Walmart, PacSun, Target, and Adidas.
"ThredUp is the vanguard of a movement helping a generation of brands and retailers embrace a more sustainable, circular future — and we're helping them do it in a way that can balance purpose and profit," Reinhart said.
With inflation and climate-crisis concerns rising, Reinhart thinks his company is well positioned for growth. In fact, Reinhart sees a lot of runway. ThredUp estimates only 0.1% of revenue at established brands comes from resale.
ThredUp went public in March 2021. Its technology has been used to sell more than 125 million secondhand items, including sweaters, dresses, and jeans.
One of the keys to the business model is the company's tech infrastructure, which allows for the tracking of single items, making it simpler for people to sell an old sweater or a major brand to resell a used T-shirt.
"We've spent over a decade building a differentiated and defensible operating platform that enables resale at scale," Reinhart said.
Sara Du, CEO and cofounder, Alloy Automation
Alloy Automation
Retail brands like Burberry and Brooklinen use Alloy Automation to connect all of their third-party marketing and logistic apps to one control center. In doing so, they can automate the work that otherwise would require multiple applications to track metrics like subscriptions or rewards points.
Du, the company's CEO and cofounder, dropped out of Harvard after one year to build the company.
The self-taught engineer who previously worked at Wish Shopping and Snapchat has raised $27 million from top venture-capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, and Y Combinator, as well as from angel investors.
"We're essentially providing the technological backbone for brands to have unified customer data," Du told Insider.
Alloy Automation launched in 2019 and is in an ideal position to help retail partners organize their customer data, Du said.
"Brands are going to get much smarter about engaging their 'existing' customers," Du said. "Acquisition costs are going up, so naturally, it makes more sense to nurture more lucrative, long-term relationships with people who have already bought from your brand."
Darren Noll, head of pricing, OpenStore
OpenStore
OpenStore is a startup that acquires Shopify stores. It uses a proprietary algorithm to determine how much it should pay to bring a brand into its portfolio.
As the head of pricing and a member of OpenStore's founding team, Noll has played a large role in building the tech that helps the startup quickly price an acquisition target.
"The first tech we built as a company was an automated pricing engine because we want to price every online direct-to-consumer business," Noll said. "We know busy merchants value speed, certainty, and low cost, so we built an algorithm that can price a business in a day simply by connecting their online accounts."
Even as it's grown easier than ever to start an online business thanks to e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Noll said, entrepreneurs still have few exit options unless they've grown big enough to raise venture capital or go public. The company's goal is to democratize access to capital and help entrepreneurs who want to move on to their next venture.
"At OpenStore we aim to price every online direct-to-consumer brand and extend an exit opportunity to all online sellers," Noll said.
The company also wants to eventually create a single shopping destination for all the brands it owns. OpenStore has acquired dozens of Shopify stores in a variety of categories.
"Similar to what Instagram and TikTok does with content, we aim to cover all niches of the internet to constantly surprise and delight," Noll said.
OpenStore has raised $105 million in venture funding from investors including General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and Founders Fund, where Keith Rabois, an OpenStore cofounder, is a general partner.
Naveen Singhal, vice president of engineering, Gopuff
The number of products customers can order for fast delivery through Gopuff's app and website has exploded over the past few years, with the company even adding its own private-label products.
Now, it's figuring out the best way to "display thousands of products in a way customers can digest and navigate on a 4-inch screen," Singhal told Insider, adding: "With our data and consumer insights, Gopuff is able to optimize the app experience for discoverability."
Singhal added: "Retailers need to align themselves with both the physical and digital demands of their customers. This can be accomplished by investing in digital and in-store technologies that bridge the gap."
This commitment leads to customer retention, increased basket size, and improved loyalty, he said.
Besides sorting a growing range of products, Gopuff's app also includes ads, which it has sold to brands through Gopuff Ad Solutions for a year.
Gopuff bought the liquor-store chain BevMo in 2020 for $350 million, giving it access to stores with liquor licenses. Since then, it's integrated its technology into BevMo stores and added mini fulfillment centers and accompanying systems to fill orders.
"With technologies and data, Gopuff has created an experience that blurs the line between online and offline shopping for our BevMo locations," he said.
Alice Chang, CEO, Perfect Corp.
If you're a beauty retailer with an AI-powered virtual-try-on platform, chances are you probably licensed the technology from Perfect Corp.
Founded by Chang in 2015, Perfect Corp. has made virtual-try-on technology an essential feature for beauty companies. It works with over 400 brands, including ones owned by the industry heavyweights Estée Lauder and L'Oréal. Perfect Corp.'s tech allows customers to virtually try on makeup products via a retailer's website or mobile app.
Virtual-try-on technology has become especially important as the retail industry recovers from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"As consumers prioritize digital platforms for product advice and inspiration, brands will need to create entertaining and immersive shopping experiences in order to forge meaningful connections with customers and build brand loyalty," Chang said.
With the beauty landscape nearly conquered, Perfect Corp. is looking to the fashion industry as its next big growth engine. This year, the company introduced a technology for try-ons for watches, bracelets, and rings. The technology is designed to mimic real-life movement, so customers can see how the jewelry looks in motion.
"In the coming years, hygienic and sustainable retail experiences will continue to be a priority for consumers and brands," Chang said. "AI and AR technology will be essential to building contactless, hygienic shopping interactions that minimize harmful impacts on the environment."
Andy Ruben, CEO and cofounder, Trove
Trove works with fashion brands like Lululemon, Levi's, and Patagonia to create branded resale programs using the company's white-label technology. In a nutshell, Trove allows companies to profit from the same piece of clothing twice.
According to Trove, Patagonia generated $1 million in sales on its Worn Wear website within six months of launching in 2017. Eileen Fisher's resale site brought in more than $4 million in revenue in its first year, Vogue Business reported in 2019.
The software Trove provides for buying back and reselling clothes contributes to limiting the carbon footprint of clothing retailers — a main goal of Ruben.
Before Ruben cofounded Trove in 2012, he was Walmart's first chief sustainability officer, where he measured how the company's approach to waste affected business and the environment.
"Our end-to-end item intelligence optimizes every step of a product's circular journey and transforms complex logistics into joyful customer touchpoints, adding to brand equity without increasing carbon emissions," Ruben said.
Grant LaFontaine, CEO and cofounder, Whatnot
Logan Head (left) and Grant LaFontaine (right)
Whatnot, a livestream collectibles marketplace for items like trading cards and Funko Pops, reached unicorn status in 2021 after raising a $150 million Series C round in September.
LaFontaine cofounded Whatnot alongside Logan Head in 2019. Along the way, the platform has caught the attention of notable investors like Andreessen Horowitz and angel investors like the YouTube personality Logan Paul.
Whatnot focuses on giving collectors a safe space to buy and sell items. LaFontaine, a Facebook alum, is himself a collector of Pokémon cards and Funko Pops. The livestream resale marketplace allows for real-time transactions between the buyer and seller while a stream is in progress.
The benefits of investing in e-commerce for small businesses became evident at the start of the pandemic as consumers' shopping habits shifted online. According to Whatnot, over 40 sellers totaled sales of at least $1 million in 2021.
Whatnot's team has grown since its founding from 20 to 110 full-time employees, with plans of doubling that by the end of this year.
Bruce Buchanan, founder and CEO, Rokt
On average, nearly 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned at checkout, according to the Baymard Institute, a firm that researches user experience. Buchanan, the founder and CEO of the marketing-tech startup Rokt, wants to change that.
Rokt allows brands to use proprietary customer data to increase order values through an algorithm that determines the best offer to show a customer — from upsells on the cart page to loyalty-program and third-party offers post-purchase. Ticketmaster, Wayfair, Spirit Airlines, and Fanatics are all Rokt customers.
"Customers will expect even more relevant and customized experiences every time they shop — wherever that may be," Buchanan told Insider. "Customers already reward retailers that make transactions more relevant today, but in the future, customers will actively switch to where they feel remembered and valued."
Citing recent customer-privacy changes made by Apple, Buchanan added: "With cookies well on their way out, first-party data has become a gold mine for improving the customer relevancy and economics of e-commerce."
In December, Rokt announced $325 million in Series E funding led by Tiger Global. That brought the company's valuation to $1.95 billion. It's targeting an initial public offering in 2023 and plans to use the Series E capital to acquire other e-commerce companies to expand its offerings, Buchanan previously told The Wall Street Journal.
Carrie Tharp, vice president of retail and consumer solutions, Google Cloud
Tharp is the creative mind behind Google Cloud's retail-search technology and AI recommendations.
Through her work, Tharp helps a wide variety of retailers, including Walmart, Ikea, and Sephora, avoid "search abandonment" — when shoppers abandon a retailer's site because an item they searched can't easily be found.
Tharp and her team even conducted research into the "search abandonment" issue in 2021 to prove the large hole in some retailers' online shopping experience.
"Google Cloud helps retailers accelerate their digital-transformation agenda, providing them with industry-specific and purpose-built artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data-analytics solutions that address the real challenges and opportunities they are facing today," Tharp told Insider.
Tharp has always had a personal connection to the retail experience — from working in her parents' grocery store as a young girl to later overseeing e-commerce, digital experience, and marketing at Neiman Marcus Group and Fossil Group. Tharp also oversaw innovation at Travelocity and strategy at Dean Foods.
Andrew Chan, cofounder of Aftership
Chan, a cofounder of AfterShip, believes that the time between when an order is placed and when it reaches the customer is crucial to a successful e-commerce business.
"'Where is my order?' is always the biggest headache for the industry, and the pandemic made on-time delivery an even bigger issue," Chan told Insider. "Even if it is a late delivery, being open, transparent, and proactive in communication can help brands stay accountable when setting customer expectations."
Using historical data for over 4 billion shipments, as well as 3 million data points that are added each day, Chan and AfterShip developed a machine-learning platform that allows retailers to provide delivery estimates with a 94% accuracy rate, often beating carriers at their own game.
Chan also helped lead AfterShip's $66 million Series B funding round in April 2021, which was led by Tiger Global.
AfterShip works with over 13,000 clients, including marketplaces like eBay and Etsy, and brands like Wayfair and the direct-to-consumer razor brand Harry's. Its application programming interfaces integrate with several major e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, BigCommerce, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
Anthony Zaccaria, chief commercial officer and cofounder, Linktree
Since Linktree's founding in 2016, its link-in-bio tool has been leveraged by brands, creators, and influencers and has racked up over 19 million users worldwide. Linktree averages 35,000 sign-ups a day and 1 billion views on profiles a month.
Zaccaria, Linktree's cofounder and chief commercial officer, leads product innovation at the company. He played a crucial role in creating Linktree's integration with the shopping platforms Spring and Shopify, allowing users to convert their online followers into customers.
Linktree's Stores feature allows for shopping directly through users' link-in-bio pages, as opposed to a series of referral links. The digital storefront allows for more payments to be processed directly through Linktree profiles.
Zaccaria believes the future of retail will include a greater convergence of the physical and digital space. An emphasis on personalized commerce should also grow, Zaccaria said, along with a rise of private-label direct-to-consumer products in the next five years.
John Curtius, partner, Tiger Global Management
Tiger Global was the most active investor in retail technology in the first quarter of 2022, according to the CB Insights' recent "State of Retail Tech" report. The firm made 24 investments, well ahead of the No. 2 investor, Germany's Global Founders Capital, which made 15.
Recent investments include companies working on commerce platforms and warehouse robots. Among the companies in Tiger Global's portfolio are the rapid-delivery startup Getir, the grocery-delivery startup MilkRun, and the last-mile-delivery startup Veho. Tiger Global has also invested in multiple companies on this list.
Tiger Global did not return Insider's requests for comment, as the firm rarely speaks with the media.
Curtius is among the Tiger Global executives leading the firm's retail-technology investments. According to his LinkedIn profile, Curtius is Tiger's head of software and business-to-business investing. He's led nearly 200 of the firm's investments in companies, including several that work with retailers, such as the retail marketplace Ankorstore and the data startup Databricks.
Ankorstore, founded in 2018, has 100,000 retailers on its platform. Databricks helps companies, including retailers such as H&M, manage piles of inventory and customer data.
Curtius joined Tiger Global in 2017. He previously worked in technology investing for Elliott Management Corp. and as a senior associate for Silver Lake, which also invests in technology companies.
Guillaume Pousaz, CEO and founder, Checkout.com
Pousaz originally moved to California to go surfing. While there, he found himself intrigued by "the creative, technology-first Californian mindset," he said in a 2021 interview with CNBC.
He later identified the potential for a company that could solve many of the issues plaguing payments providers — namely achieving global, seamless scale.
Pousaz eventually founded Checkout.com in 2012. The payments processor mainly works with large, enterprise businesses and offers payment processing, fraud protection, and crypto offerings as its key products through a single application programming interface.
Its customers include Netflix , Farfetch, Pizza Hut, Shein, Siemens, and Sony, as well as crypto clients like Coinbase, Crypto.com, and FTX. Checkout.com says that its payment channels power 80% of the global crypto-trading volume.
Checkout.com went seven years without raising external funding until it announced a $230 million Series A in 2019. The venture funding has continued to roll in as the company expands. Most recently, the company raised a $1 billion Series D in January, which pushed its valuation north of $40 billion.
The company is profitable and said it was focusing on three goals following its Series D: expanding in the US, continuing development of its proprietary tech, and continuing to innovate in Web3.
While Pousaz told CNBC that an IPO would eventually be "the right path" for Checkout.com, he said the company was "still a few years from listing."
Alex Plugaru, chief technology officer and cofounder, Gorgias
Gorgias is an e-commerce customer-support platform that has flourished during the pandemic.
The startup closed a $25 million Series B round of funding in December 2020 after tripling its customer base that year. The round was led by Sapphire Ventures, with SaaStr, Alven, Amplify Partners, CRV, and Greycroft also participating.
Gorgias works with brands selling online to automate responses to frequently asked questions by customers around returns, order tracking, and more. The company's chatbot technology integrates with Shopify's e-commerce platform.
Plugaru is a cofounder and the chief technology officer of Gorgias. Before starting Gorgias in 2015 with CEO Romain Lapeyre, Plugaru worked as a web developer for small startups in Europe.
Now valued at $300 million, Gorgias is still riding the wave of e-commerce acceleration boosted by the pandemic. As of December 2020, the company told TechCrunch it was working with 4,500 brands, including Steve Madden, Timbuk2, and Fjällräven.
Gorgias' technology is slowly turning customer service into a sales driver for brands. In addition to its customer-service features, Gorgias technology enables retail-support teams to recommend additional products and services for customers to buy.
The company told TechCrunch that while businesses were initially turning to Gorgias for help speeding up their customer-service response times, they were now also interested in using Gorgias' customer-support technology as a way to "drive sales" via product recommendations.
Some businesses are even starting to offer customer-service representatives sales commissions after implementing Gorgias technology.
More: Retail tech Retail Power Players
artifial intelligence | 2022-06-06T15:20:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Meet 34 Retail-Technology Power Players Changing How Merchants Operate | https://www.businessinsider.com/retail-technology-players-changing-shopping-trends-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/retail-technology-players-changing-shopping-trends-2022-6 |
Walmart thinks it's beating Amazon in making money from customer data — and is eagerly taking swipes at its retail rival
Ben Tobin
Walmart Luminate is a data-monetization platform through which suppliers can access information on shopper behavior, customer perception, and more.
Walmart Luminate saw 75% growth quarter over quarter to start the year.
Mark Hardy, Walmart's data head, said the platform provides insights to users "in an agile manner."
Amazon passed Walmart in largest share of retail spending in the US in 2021, a research firm said.
Mark Hardy, Walmart's head of data ventures, didn't mince words when comparing longtime rival Amazon's data plans to those of his own company.
"Everything they're doing is disparate initiatives," said Hardy, who has been with Walmart for about 2 ¹⁄² years. "They are not bringing it all together, where Walmart has brought it all together and has a strategy of a closed-end ecosystem."
That "closed-end ecosystem" Hardy referenced is Walmart Luminate, the company's rapidly growing data-monetization platform. The platform launched in October to provide a suite of data products to merchants and suppliers who stock Walmart's shelves and experienced over 75% revenue growth between the final quarter of last year and the first quarter of this one, as well as 50% growth in the number of suppliers onboarding.
Luminate is part of Walmart's larger plan to diversify its services for other retailers and to expand its tech footprint.
Walmart has not said much publicly about Luminate, and Hardy was hush-hush about certain topics during an interview with Insider. For example, Hardy would not disclose how many suppliers had purchased the data-products suite when asked, nor would he say how much it cost suppliers to use the platform. He said that was "proprietary information."
But Hardy did give Insider one of the most detailed descriptions to date of Walmart's data-monetization platform — as well as what it can mean for a retail giant that is aggressively trying to lean into the tech space and compete with Amazon.
'What we're doing is groundbreaking'
Walmart is aiming to improve its data monetization business with Luminate.
Bob Chamberlin/Getty Images
Hardy broke down Luminate into three primary functions: observing shopper behavior, understanding customer perception, and analyzing which channels (online versus in-store versus in-app) people are using to purchase products.
Data on shopper behavior, or the basket composition and buying trends of types of customers, has been available to suppliers for years, typically through secondary research companies, such as Nielsen or Information Resources Inc.
The distinction with Luminate is the "scale of data," he said. "The granularity possible in the analytics is what is very different from what would have been available anywhere else in the marketplace."
Meanwhile, with the customer-perception component, Walmart has allowed merchants and suppliers to conduct proprietary surveys with specific customers, or what Hardy and his colleagues have called "a community of shoppers." The data is aggregated and de-identified, Hardy said.
Luminate pulls together these functions — shopper behavior, customer perception, and channel performance — all in one platform to streamline the data analytics: "What we're doing is groundbreaking — not just for Walmart but for the industry in itself," Hardy said.
"We're building the right ecosystem that drives the right insights in a very agile manner, but then allows us to quickly apply those insights to then become more relevant to the customers," he added.
'Amazon does not have that presence across the omnicommerce world that Walmart does'
Amazon has several data initiatives.
Walmart's data-monetization-platform growth comes as the Bentonville, Arkansas, retailer faces increased competition from the tech-native company Amazon. The Seattle e-commerce company had the largest share of retail spending for the first time ever in the United States by the end of 2021, claiming a 9.4% share of retail buying last year versus Walmart's 8.6% portion, the research firm PYMNTS said.
Amazon has been aggressive in the data space for quite some time: In 2019, Amazon Web Services, the company's massive subsidiary, launched AWS Data Exchange, which allows millions of suppliers, retailers, and other customers "to securely find, subscribe to, and use third-party data in the cloud," a post announcing the initiative said.
Hardy acknowledged that he was "only aware of some of the areas that Amazon has been on," such as the company's creation of a community to do customer-feedback surveys.
But he believed Walmart had taken its data game to the next level: Beyond having more of a unified approach to data collection, Hardy said, the company had more of an omnichannel presence than Amazon thanks to Walmart's more than 5,000 physical stores, growing e-commerce presence, and more.
"Walmart really encompasses the full range of options that we as consumers today face in the marketplace," he said. "Amazon does not have that presence across the omnicommerce world that Walmart does."
Do you work at Walmart, or are you a Luminate customer? Contact the reporter Ben Tobin via the encrypted messaging app Signal +1 (703) 498-9171 or email at btobin@insider.com. Check out Insider's source guide for other tips on sharing information securely.
More: Retail Amazon Walmart | 2022-06-06T15:20:41Z | www.businessinsider.com | Walmart Thinks It's Beating Amazon in Making Money From Customer Data | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-thinks-it's-beating-amazon-in-monetizing-customer-data-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-thinks-it's-beating-amazon-in-monetizing-customer-data-2022-6 |
Read the 12-page deck used by Fundid, a fintech offering credit and lending tools for 'micro businesses'
Stefanie Sample is the founder and CEO of Fundid.
Fundid offers credit and lending tools to "micro businesses" with 10 or fewer employees.
Founder Stefanie Sample aims to help women-owned businesses access capital and develop knowledge.
See the 12 slides Sample used to raise $3.25 million in seed funding here.
Startups aiming to simplify the often-complex world of corporate cards have boomed in recent years.
Business-finance management startup Brex was last valued at $12.3 billion after raising $300 million last year. Startup card provider Ramp announced an $8.1 billion valuation in March after growing its revenue nearly 10x in 2021. Divvy, a small business card provider, was acquired by Bill.com in May 2021 for approximately $2.5 billion.
But despite how hot the market has gotten, Stefanie Sample said she ended up working in the space by accident.
Sample is the founder and CEO of Fundid, a new fintech that provides credit and lending products to small businesses.
This May, Fundid announced a $3.25 million seed round led by Nevcaut Ventures. Additional investors include the Artemis Fund and Builders and Backers. The funding announcement capped off the company's first year: Sample introduced the Fundid concept in April 2021, launched its website in May, and began raising capital in August.
"I never meant to do Fundid," Sample told Insider. "I never meant to do something that was venture-backed."
Sample lives in Missoula, Montana, and has been surrounded by entrepreneurship for more than 15 years. Sample's first business was bags created from marathon and triathlon memorabilia. She maxed out her personal credit card to pay for a booth at the Las Vegas Marathon expo, where the bags were a hit.
Sample had caught the entrepreneurship bug. "I just loved this idea of small business ownership," she said.
Fundid fills a gap in the market
Over the years, Sample noticed that as her friends started businesses of their own, they often struggled to access capital and funding. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she researched why she was seeing news reports of women- and minority-owned businesses struggling to access Paycheck Protection Program loans.
"I really went down this rabbit hole on this topic of small-business financing during the pandemic," she said.
Sample's rabbit hole led her to a niche she says has yet to be addressed by the high-flying corporate-card startups. Fundid's target customer is a business with 10 or fewer employees, a group Sample says makes up a significant portion of the market but has few solutions that adequately address their needs.
"The reason we're focused on this segment is when I was really trying to figure out how to get women business owners capital, I realized that 98% of all women-owned businesses have less than 10 employees," she said.
Fundid offers three main solutions to small businesses: a marketplace that allows business owners to more easily find and apply for grants, a lending product launched in April that offers what Sample calls "microloans," and a business credit card that will launch later this summer. The card is based on business performance, is unsecured, and does not require a personal guarantee or credit score .
Fundid makes money through interchange fees on the business card and through interest on the loans it offers.
Sample says that the grant search tool was key to Fundid successfully attracting investors. Although Sample didn't have previous finance experience, she used her marketing background to design the grant search to attract potential customers and demonstrate demand to potential backers.
"I really leaned into that, especially with the grant match program," Sample said of her past experience. "We set that up, in a lot of ways, to prove to the venture investors that we are capable of efficiently attracting our customer base and that we speak their language."
Over 7,000 businesses have already joined Fundid's waitlist for its corporate card after using the grant search tool and without any other marketing efforts, Sample said.
Sample and Fundid are also using feedback from customer surveys to inform the its roadmap and future products. Sample said that 76% of survey respondents indicated they don't have access to funding for their business and don't know how to get it.
The survey responses also indicated that business owners weren't necessarily looking for large lines of credit in a lending product. What they really needed was a product that could help them smooth out their cash flow as they grew their businesses and brought on new employees and clients. Fundid's lending product is available to businesses that have annual revenues as low as $50,000.
Fundid also seeks to help business owners answer questions they might have through content on its website. Topics include tips for writing grant proposals, how to compare interest rates on different types of loans, and different uses for loan financing.
"The most overwhelming part of being a small business owner is that you're just all of a sudden supposed to know all of this stuff that you definitely didn't know the day before, like what the heck an EIN number is, how filing taxes work, that being a sole proprietor means that you have to pay taxes quarterly," Sample said of Fundid's decision to develop content in addition to its financial products. "We really try to simplify all of that and understand how business finance works, in addition to accessing capital."
See the 12 slides Fundid used to raise $3.25 million in seed funding here.
More: Fintech Pitch Decks Small Business | 2022-06-06T16:59:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | Fundid Works With SMBs Who Aren't Served by Startups Like Ramp, Brex | https://www.businessinsider.com/fundid-pitch-deck-small-businesses-lending-credit-ramp-brex-divvy-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/fundid-pitch-deck-small-businesses-lending-credit-ramp-brex-divvy-2022-6 |
A customer pushing a shopping cart walks by a freezer containing eggs at a supermarket on April 5, 2022 in San Mateo County, California.
Most Americans think the US is in a recession, according to a new Economist and YouGov poll.
In addition to strong majority of Republicans, nearly half of Democrats share the same concerns.
The latest jobs data shows the country a long way from a downturn, and experts see strong growth ahead.
It's not just inflation that's dampening Americans' moods. The majority of US adults now think the economy is in the tank.
Fifty-five percent of surveyed adults believe the US is currently experiencing an economic recession , according to a new poll conducted by The Economist and YouGov. Just 21% of surveyed adults don't believe the country is in a downturn, and 24% said they weren't sure if the economy was in a slump or not.
The survey highlights just how large a gap exists between the actual path of the economy and Americans' perceptions of it. A wide range of indicators show the country still firmly in recovery mode, and with little sign of a near-term recession. The economy added 390,000 jobs in May, beating forecasts and signaling the economy is settling down while still featuring strong job growth. Americans' spending held at record highs through April, and historically low jobless claims hint there hasn't been a sizable uptick in layoffs. The recovery isn't moving as quickly as it was last year, but it's far from reversing course.
That performance hasn't been enough to quash Americans recession worries. Consumer sentiment has hovered around decade lows through much of the year, with most citing sky-high inflation for their soured moods. Two-thirds of surveyed adults said inflation was a "very important" issue, while another 26% deemed it a "somewhat important" problem, according to the Economist/YouGov survey.
Source: Economist/YouGov
Economist/YouGov
While downturn fears had mostly been held by Republicans disapproving of the Biden administration's policies, the bleak outlook has spread across party lines. Forty-three percent of Democrats believe the US is in a recession, overtaking those who don't hold that outlook and those who aren't sure. Seventy percent of Republicans and 55% of Independents believe the country is in a downturn.
But where the average adult is turning more pessimistic by the day, experts poring over economic data are slowly walking back some recession concerns.
The encouraging May jobs report was the latest signal to prompt some encouraging forecasts. There "doesn't really seem to be strong economic evidence" that the recovery is slowing "dramatically," Daniel Zhao, a senior economist at Glassdoor, told Insider.
Even more bearish voices are turning positive. Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said on May 15 that a US recession is "a very, very high risk factor," adding there's only a "narrow" path for the Federal Reserve to fight inflation without sparking a downturn. Yet the former chief executive took on a rosier tone after the May jobs report's release, saying in a Friday tweet that the economy "may yet land softly."
"Dial back a bit of the negativity on the economic outlook," Blankfein said. "The economy is starting from a strong place, with more jobs than takers, and is adjusting to higher rates."
—Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) June 3, 2022
The pinch of inflation and slowing recovery might have Americans feeling bad about the economy. But as the latest data beats forecasts and experts rein in their concerns, the average adult could be in for a surprisingly strong 2022 economy.
More: Economy Economic Data YouGov Economist | 2022-06-06T16:59:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Recession 2022: Americans Think US Is in a Downturn; Economists Don't | https://www.businessinsider.com/most-americans-think-the-us-is-already-in-a-recession-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/most-americans-think-the-us-is-already-in-a-recession-2022-6 |
Will neobank disruptors face the same fate as their predecessors in wealth management?
Few startup fintechs from a decade ago were able to withstand the force of incumbent financial institutions.
Neobanks that can't get their act together soon may face the same fate.
What we're thinking: Looking back at the disruptors from a decade ago and where they are now might help us understand what to expect in the future, per CNBC.
The original disruptors: Ten years ago, the idea of handling financial and investment affairs completely online was nearly unheard of. But then a revolution happened within the wealth management space—the creation of all-digital robo-advisors and investment platforms.
Wealthfront, an automated investment platform founded in 2008, attracted clients from NFL teams and Big Tech firm Facebook, boasting $1.3 billion in assets under management (AUM) in the early days.
Robinhood, which offered the first commission-free trading platform for stocks and ETFs, was founded in 2013.
Personal Capital, an online financial advisor and personal wealth management company, was founded in 2009.
Although these startups were innovative, they couldn't outcompete the larger incumbents, which were able to co-opt the technology, and also do it on a much bigger scale and more cost-effectively.
Wealthfront grew to $27 billion AUM before it was purchased by UBS earlier this year. Its scale was impressive, but was no match for large investment firms such as Vanguard with $200 billion AUM and Schwab with $60 billion AUM.
Robinhood's commission-free business model was quickly replicated by Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab. Robinhood is now trading at 89% below its highest valuation.
Personal Capital was ultimately sold to Empower Financial in 2020.
Today's disruptors: Those wealth management startups look similar to another group of major disruptors: neobanks , which similarly have been pushing digital banking to the next level. Still, incumbent banks aren't far behind. Goldman Sachs offers digital bank Marcus and JPMorgan offers digital bank Chase. But neobanks' efforts to scale and the cost of scaling differ from the effort and cost for incumbents.
Neobanks are struggling to reach profitability, with less than 5% of them breaking even, per Simon-Kucher & Partners. And as they struggle with profitability, they continue to focus on customer acquisition through the purchase of social clubs and media companies. But their customer acquisition costs may make profitability impossible.
Conversely, JPMorgan's CEO told shareholders earlier this year that the bank's You Invest platform had reached $55 billion in assets "without us doing virtually anything," per CNBC.
Venture funding cools: Neobanks now face an additional challenge. After last year's funding boom, venture capitalists are putting the heat on them.
Funding has dropped off significantly in 2022, and CB Insights expects a 28% drop in fintech funding in Q2 2022.
Major investment capital fund managers, such as Ben Horowitz, founding partner of Andreessen Horowitz, are now meeting with startup companies before investing. The managers are reviewing how the startup companies spent their money over the past two years, and want the companies to offer truly differentiated products.
Startup valuations are also down. Neobanks that were looking to go public may end up putting that plan on the back burner until the markets rebound.
The big takeaway: Neobanks must spend their money prudently to make it through tougher times. They need new products that will help them to stand out in a saturated market. We expect them to challenge incumbent banks on more niche offerings and personalization. Neobanks that are running out of money and lack differentiation need to consider stronger partnerships. Or, with their valuations lower than ever, getting bought out by a midsize or large bank with plentiful resources might not be such a bad prospect. | 2022-06-06T17:00:01Z | www.businessinsider.com | Disruptors From the Past May Provide a Roadmap for Today's Neobanks | https://www.businessinsider.com/past-disruptors-may-provide-a-roadmap-for-todays-neobanks-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/past-disruptors-may-provide-a-roadmap-for-todays-neobanks-2022-6 |
The highest savings account rates this week: 5 savings accounts earning over 1% APY, and long-term CDs with over 2% APY
Synchrony CD
If you don't think you'll withdraw money before the CD terms ends
If you can deposit at least $1,500 upfront and don't mind limited term options
With interest rates steadily increasing on savings accounts and CDs, you might be considering new banking options to make the most out of your savings.
We've been checking over a dozen financial institutions to keep up with the new rate offerings. Our best savings accounts guide and best CDs guide can be great starting points in your research. However, if you're focused on finding the highest rates above all else, then this list is for you.
The FDIC keeps track of national rates for interest-earning bank accounts. The average interest rate earned by a savings account right now is 0.07% APY.
For CDs, the average interest rate will vary depending on the term you choose. The average interest rate for 1-month is 0.03% APY, and the average interest rate for a 60-month CD is 0.39% APY.
Our list includes accounts with much higher interest rates than the national average since online institutions tend to offer high-yield bank accounts. As you'll see with our high-yield savings account options, all have higher than 1% APY, while CDs may offer over 2% APY.
Keep in mind interest-bearing accounts may fluctuate over time. Savings accounts have a variable interest rate, which means that it can change at any time. CDs work a little bit differently. When you open a CD, you'll usually be locking in a rate for a specific period of time. The interest rate will stay the same for the entire term.
High APY (minimum $1 balance to earn)
You may pay a monthly fee, depending on a variety of factors
Other fees depend on which checking account you link to your savings account
Not available in certain states
BBB gives Citi an F in trustworthiness
Monthly fee depends on whether you link to a Citi checking account, and which checking account you choose
You may qualify to have the monthly fee waived, depending on which checking/savings package you have
Compounding interest to maximize your savings
Not available in CA, CT, IL, MD, NV, NJ, NY, VA, DC, certain parts of FL, and Puerto Rico
High-yield savings accounts are great tools if you'd like to earn some interest on your savings. Because the Federal Reserve has increased the federal funds rate twice so far since March, savings interest rates will also generally go up.
Citi, LendingClub, Salem 5 Direct, Bread Savings, and BrioDirect are offering some of the highest interest rates on savings accounts right now.
Citi® Accelerate Savings recently increased its savings rate to 1.01% APY, and it might be worth exploring if you live in a state where the account is available. The account is not available in the following states: California, Connecticut, some parts of Florida, some parts of Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, or Washington, DC.
Most of the institutions on our list are also sprinkled throughout some of our best CD guides, so if you're looking for a specific CD term, consider reviewing these posts too:
That said, if you're comfortable with a high initial deposit or don't mind limited terms options, the following three CD options also might be suitable contenders — even though they aren't in our best-of guides.
Live Oak has CDs terms from 6 months to 5 years. It stands out for its competitive interest rates and low early withdrawal penalties, but you'll need at least $2,500 for an initial deposit. Most banks usually require a minimum of $1,000.
While the Popular Direct Certificate of Deposit didn't make it into any of our best-guides, it still could be great if you already intend to open a CD with more than $10,000. You'll want to pay attention to the CD early withdrawal penalties though, because some terms have high penalties.
Salem 5 Direct
LendingClub Certificate of Deposit
Synchrony Bank CD | 2022-06-06T17:00:07Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Highest Savings Account and CD Rates This Week: June 6, 2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-savings-account-rates-this-week-june-6-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-savings-account-rates-this-week-june-6-2022-6 |
See the pitch deck a startup used to raise $2.1 million and win over Serena Ventures
Ellen Nguyen
Kathleen Chan bootstrapped two fashion startups before launching Calico.
Kathleen Chan
Calico is a management tool to help businesses set up and maintain supply chains in soft industries.
Kathleen Chan spent seven weeks fundraising during the pandemic and announced the raise in March.
Chan raised $2.1 million from the likes of Serena Ventures and Ancestry.com's CEO Deborah Lui.
Kathleen Chan raised $2.1 million for her fashion supply-chain-software company, Calico, during the pandemic. The company announced the round in March of this year.
Serena Ventures contributed the most, and Ancestry.com's CEO, Deborah Lui, is an angel investor in the company.
Before Calico, Chan had built two brands: one for direct-to-consumer jewelry and one for corporate apparel. While developing these brands, she noticed the tools she used to manage the supply chain were very fragmented and manual.
As Chan turned to her network of business owners — both small and large — she was surprised to find they all used Excel to manage their supply chains.
There were no tools like Shopify or Facebook Ads for supply-chain management.
Chan describes Calico as an operating system targeting soft goods — like jewelry or apparel — that lets businesses perform all supply-chain functions in one place. Using Calico, businesses can quote, bring their suppliers on board, and place prototyping and production orders.
While Chan had bootstrapped her previous startups, she decided to go the venture route with Calico because she wanted to do it right and do it fast.
"I strongly believe what we're doing will shift just about every player in the supply chain, and to do that, you truly need the right partners and the right kind of funding," she said.
Chan walked Insider through the pitch deck she used to close the $2.1 million seed round.
Courtesy of Calico
While Chan's first seed round closed in only six to seven weeks, it wasn't easy. She met with over a hundred investors and heard "no" quite a few times.
All the meetings happened over Zoom , which meant the pitch deck was the main touchpoint; she had to ensure it was compelling and self-explanatory.
By the time Chan met with Serena Ventures, she had iterated her pitch deck a few times. She would also change her narration slightly depending on who she spoke to, so she could give them the specific context they needed about the supply-chain market.
Chan said it was important that the design and images were clear and intentional because of the supply-chain industry's complexity.
Chan said, "I spent a lot of time iterating on this slide. I sat there and I thought, 'I have spent over seven years in this space. I know how to take a product to market.' There are tons of steps."
She intentionally made the slide cluttered to highlight the problem in the supply-chain industry.
Chan told Insider, "If it's overwhelming, then people will realize, 'Okay, this is the problem.' It's not supposed to have that many steps."
Chan put Calico alongside Shopify and Stripe to demonstrate where her business fits in the ecosystem.
"If you want to bring a new solution to this space, you really need to give people context," Chan said.
With past startups, Chan tried to explain what her business did, but people would get confused. So with Calico, she decided to turn it around and ask, "Who are all the known players in this space?" and categorize the business in comparison to those players.
If slide one addresses the problem and slide two shows the solution, slide three breaks down exactly how Calico works.
There's minimal information on the screen because Chan said this slide is meant to "trigger more questions."
Chan told Insider that venture-capital funds often asked about the company's unique selling point, market size, go-to-market, and growth strategies.
She said presenting a coherent business plan was integral to addressing all these questions.
With this slide, Chan told Insider she wanted to show the difference between the current state of the industry and what Calico could do to improve it.
On the left are the screenshots of the standard process of making hoodies, and on the right is how Calico could streamline the task.
She wanted to emphasize efficiency because, after conducting customer research, she found this was one of the biggest pains of supply-chain management.
"I wanted to tell who my team is and why we're well-equipped to tackle this," Chan said, referring to herself and two important early hires.
She picked information to put in all of their bios that would be relevant to Calico and instill trust in investors who view the pitch deck.
While Chan wasn't sure what aspect of the pitch deck sealed the deal, she knew Serena Ventures was the right partner for her business; they respected her time, moved quickly, and she didn't have to wait months to hear back.
If Chan had to guess what made them tick, it would be her mission: She's here to solve a very big problem, and it resonated well with Serena's team.
More: Features UK Freelance BI-freelancer
Serena Ventures | 2022-06-06T17:00:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | Startup Pitch Deck Raised $2.1m and Won Over Serena Williams' VC Fund | https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-pitch-deck-raised-millions-serena-williams-venture-capital-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-pitch-deck-raised-millions-serena-williams-venture-capital-2022-5 |
White House aides are still perplexed over Manchin's decision to walk away from Build Back Better, according to The Washington Post.
Manchin blamed White House staff for issuing a statement he claimed jeopardized his family's safety.
Biden privately criticized Manchin's intent to cut a deal on his agenda after talks collapsed.
The White House remains perplexed over why Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia walked away from negotiations on their economic agenda late last year when a deal seemed to be at hand, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
It stems from events during the final stretch of December as it appeared Manchin and Biden were close to an agreement before the conservative West Virginia senator suddenly announced his opposition to the plan. The newspaper cited three dozen interviews with White House officials, Congressional aides, and lawmakers, among others.
After discussions that dragged through the fall, Manchin produced a $1.8 trillion offer that included many pieces of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan. His skepticism about the size and scope of the plan had only grown as inflation started to worsen.
His proposal brought him closer to the amount that the White House sought while Biden agreed to cut temporary spending programs, given Manchin's concern that short-term funding proposals camouflaged the bill's true price tag if those were renewed later.
The Biden administration didn't promptly accept Manchin's proposal since it dropped a child allowance most Democrats wanted to extend and included tax increases that risked the opposition of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Instead, White House aides viewed it as the starting point to keep trying to iron out an agreement with the centrist holdout.
But Manchin abruptly ended discussions with Biden. Manchin privately railed to a senior Biden aide against a a Dec. 16 statement he said cast the spotlight on him and claimed it jeopardized his family's safety. Manchin allies said the West Virginia Democrat's family faced credible threats and liberal protests at the time, the Post reported.
Manchin later sunk the House-approved Build Back Better bill in a Fox News interview on Dec. 19, citing its potential to worsen inflation and further swell the national debt. Every Senate Democrat, including Manchin, would have needed to back the plan to advance it over unified GOP resistance in the 50-50 chamber.
A day later, he laid part of the blame on White House staff without elaborating. "This is not the president. This is the staff," Manchin said in a radio interview. "And they drove some things, and they put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is, and that's it."
The Dec. 16 statement from Biden said Manchin had "reiterated his support" for a large Build Back Better plan and said discussions would continue, given the arduous process of finalizing legislation and bringing it to the Senate floor.
The president's aides still seem mystified that a statement they viewed as harmless would enrage Manchin to the extent that it did. Biden later privately criticized Manchin's intent to cut a deal at all, the Post reported.
Negotiations on a smaller bill were largely on the back-burner for Democrats in the spring with Manchin saying they would be "starting from scratch" in the future.
Meanwhile, Manchin had grown frustrated over attempts from other Democrats last year to advance priorities he was not willing to support, like a paid leave program that was reintroduced in the House.
A White House spokesperson told the Post that Biden and Manchin are "longtime friends who share fundamental values about standing up for middle class families and a fair tax code."
"The president is eager to pass a reconciliation bill that takes on inflation and lowers many of the biggest costs Americans face," the spokesperson said.
Negotiations are ongoing between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over a smaller version of the spending bill. They've met three times in the past month to draw up a package that could meet the West Virginia Democrat's narrow parameters of support.
More: Policy Joe Manchin Kyrsten Sinema Congress | 2022-06-06T17:00:31Z | www.businessinsider.com | White House Bewildered Over Manchin Walking Away From Agenda: WaPo | https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-manchin-walking-away-bbb-agenda-report-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-manchin-walking-away-bbb-agenda-report-2022-6 |
An ex-hedge fund analyst at Steve Cohen's SAC Capital breaks down how bitcoin has failed as an inflation hedge — but explains why it and ether are still a retail investor's best bet in the crypto market
Prometheus Founder Michael Wang
Michael Wang is the founder and CEO of alternative investments platform Prometheus.
The exec broke down how bitcoin failed to live up to its billing as an inflation hedge.
Wang also laid out why bitcoin and ether remain top crypto options for retail investors.
"The world is moving towards more transparency," says Michael Wang, a former senior analyst at Steven Cohen's now-defunct hedge fund SAC Capital.
The 15-year capital markets vet, who later worked for a now-shuttered hedge fund Tourbillon Capital Partners, told Insider that Wall Street has a transparency problem. But Wang says his Los Angeles-based fintech startup is making strides to fix this.
His new venture, Prometheus, is an alternative funds marketplace coupled with a social network. It facilitates investment in hedge funds, venture-capital funds, and crypto funds — despite the latter not being especially known for its transparency.
Wang says to imagine the platform as a pseudo-LinkedIn for people who want exposure to more than what Robinhood and Coinbase has to offer them. The transparency problem across the assorted funds listed above, Wang mentioned, can be remedied with a more efficient and faster avenue to communicate with investors.
"Think about how many doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and engineers you know that have probably close to 0% of their assets in hedge funds, venture funds, and private equity funds," Wang said. "We want to change that."
Bitcoin's questionable reptuation as a safe-haven asset
Given how Prometheus allows users to invest in crypto funds, Wang has been watching the space as its seen widespread losses over the past several months. For context, both bitcoin and ether — the two most dominant cryptos historically — have lost more than 50% since recent highs in late 2021.
There's also been wreckage in altcoins, perhaps none more severe than in USDTerra and its sister coin LUNA. Solana is down 83% from its record high amid sporadic outages on its network.
The fact that this has all happened at a time when the US is seeing the highest inflation in 40 years has dispelled the formerly popular idea that bitcoin could serve as a hedge against higher consumer prices. Instead, bitcoin, and crypto at large, has functioned more like a traditional risk asset.
That explains why crypto prices have declined alongside stocks for the better part of 2022, in response to the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening efforts, which are intended to cool inflation and head off an overheating economy. With the central bank set to announce significant rate hikes at their next two meetings, the main headwind for both crypto and equity investors looks likely to persist.
Wang, who was named Institutional Investor's 2016 Hedge Fund Rising Star, said crypto markets are highly correlated with the broader equity market, and agreed with the narrative that bitcoin has failed as an inflation hedge. But that interrelatedness is just the start: Wang notes that bitcoin has a "much higher beta" than stocks, making it more susceptible to sharp downside swings.
For signs of what's to come in the crypto market, Wang — like most stock investors — is looking at central bank activity.
"What supersedes anything for any asset class and asset price whether it's crypto, stocks, or real estate is what the Fed does," Wang said.
What to buy amid crypto wreckage
Wang predicts that most cryptocurrencies are not going to "survive" long term with the exception of "probably" bitcoin and ethereum. The two have amassed large market caps and have garnered enough mainstream adoption to withstand bearish markets.
"Your litmus test here for some stocks and cryptos is that if it's not going bankrupt, you're probably going to make money holding it for a year," Wang said.
Bitcoin, in particular, will continue to gain traction as a borderless payment method, allowing users to bypass remittance fees and slow transaction times.
"Many parts of the world are still unbankable," he said. "Blockchain can be used as a solution in helping people in those areas."
NOW WATCH: A certified financial planner explains just how risky of an investment bitcoin is
More: Investing crypto Steve Cohen | 2022-06-06T18:33:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | Bitcoin, Ether Price Outlook: Why They Will Survive Crypto Winter As Inflation Hedge Fails | https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-ether-price-outlook-surviving-crypto-winter-inflation-hedge-fed-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-ether-price-outlook-surviving-crypto-winter-inflation-hedge-fed-2022-6 |
Honest Tea's creators are getting back into the tea game after Coca-Cola axed the brand. Its founders explain why they're reviving the better-for-you beverage at their new startup Eat The Change.
Seth Goldman, a cofounder of Honest Tea and a former executive chair at Beyond Meat. His latest startup is Eat the Change, which has started making mushroom jerky.
Paul Morigi/CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Honest Tea's founders say they're launching a beverage to fill the void left by the brand.
Coca-Cola, which acquired Honest Tea in 2011, discontinued the brand last month.
Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff say small food brands now have to get bigger to get acquired.
The founders of Honest Tea are getting back into the tea business 11 years after they sold the brand to Coca-Cola.
Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff told Insider they plan to unveil a line of bottled teas under Eat the Change, a healthy-snack brand that Goldman cofounded with Spike Mendelsohn, a celebrity chef, in 2020.
Goldman and Nalebuff sold Honest Tea to Coca-Cola for an undisclosed amount in 2011. On May 23, Coca-Cola announced it would discontinue the brand, keeping only its Honest Kids beverage line in production.
But Goldman, Nalebuff, and Mendelsohn want to fill the void left by Honest's disappearance by making the sort of beverages that made the brand well known in the first place: teas sourced from fair-trade-certified suppliers that offer a low-sugar alternative to soda.
Shock, then an idea
The decision to get back into tea was a sudden one. Goldman said Coca-Cola informed him about its decision to discontinue Honest the same day the company announced it publicly.
Coca-Cola executives told him that Honest had faced supply-chain issues during the pandemic and had not been as profitable as the company wanted. Goldman said the company also said it wanted to focus on "fewer, bigger" brands.
"For me, the first reaction was shock," he said.
Goldman had stayed on at Honest and held a position at Coca-Cola's venture arm until 2019. He kept in touch with management at Coca-Cola and Honest after leaving the company that year and provided advice on how to grow the brand.
"Two weeks ago, I had no intentions of getting back into the iced-tea business," Goldman told Insider.
Coca-Cola did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Goldman said that conversations and feedback after he posted on LinkedIn about Coca-Cola's decision convinced him there was still a market for drinks like Honest's.
"It really reinforced what I had hoped: That this thing really means a lot to a lot of people — not just the employees, not just the retailers and distributors, but consumers," he said.
Eat the Change focuses on creating healthy snacks, including mushroom jerky and carrot chews. Many of its employees have worked with Goldman since Honest Tea's early days, making the brand a natural successor to Honest.
Goldman said he already has interest from bottlers and other business partners eager to make tea for Eat the Change. That includes tea suppliers in countries like India, many of whom spent years obtaining organic and fair-trade certifications at Honest's request to supply the brand.
"I did feel responsible for making sure there was continued demand," Goldman said.
A 'disaster' for small food brands
When Goldman and Nalebuff sold Honest to Coca-Cola, the idea of multinational companies buying up smaller brands was gaining steam. The deal came a few years after Coca-Cola created its venturing-and-emerging-brands arm, which the company charged with acquiring and growing brands it thought could become profitable.
Coca-Cola has since scaled back that division and focused instead on larger brands. Besides Honest, the company has shuttered, sold off, or curtailed distribution for Zico coconut water, Odwalla smoothies, and Hubert's Lemonade.
Nalebuff said that means brands now have to "get much bigger before they can be acquired," which could lead to a "disaster" for small brands that want to reach that milestone.
"Investors are going to be less willing to fund you if they think it's going to take longer to get there," he said. "And the longer you wait, the more your distribution network gets tied in with very tough contracts that are hard to get out of."
More: Honest Tea Coca-Cola Seth Goldman | 2022-06-06T18:33:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Why Honest Tea Founder Seth Goldman Is Launching a New Tea Drink | https://www.businessinsider.com/honest-tea-founder-seth-goldman-launching-a-new-tea-drink-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/honest-tea-founder-seth-goldman-launching-a-new-tea-drink-2022-6 |
How much a TikTok creator with 500,000 followers makes with 6 revenue streams
Tejas Hullur is 21 years old and lives in New York City as a full-time creator.
Tejas Hullur
Tejas Hullur started posting TikToks from his college bedroom in 2020.
A year later, he decided to drop out, move to Los Angeles, and pursue content full-time.
Hullur broke down how he earns money — and how much he earned in Q1 this year.
Tejas Hullur, a 21-year-old content creator and entrepreneur, likes to refer to himself as a "one-man media production company."
"Which is just a fancy way of saying I'm a TikToker," he joked.
Hullur's TikTok career started in August 2020, while he was an undergraduate student at Indiana University Bloomington.
"My goal is to build a community, so follow along," Hullur said earnestly in one of his earliest TikToks.
Today, that community has grown to more than 500,000 TikTok followers, as well as thousands of followers on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. It also includes influencers like ice cream scooping sensation Dylan Lemay and creator economy gurus Colin and Samir, who have appeared in his content.
But it wasn't until about a year into posting content that Hullur realized "this can be a business" and decided to take a break from university, move to Los Angeles, and pursue content creation full-time.
"When the opportunity cost is low enough for me to go back to college, I guess I'll go back," Hullur said.
Over the past two years, his TikTok content has evolved from short clips filmed in his college fraternity bedroom to highly-produced videos breaking down the highs and lows of working in the "creator economy."
@tejashullur i’ve got a ton of these stories… should I tell more? #creatoreconomy #business #influencers #clubhousebh ♬ original sound - tejas
How Hullur structures his business as a full-time creator
In a YouTube video Hullur posted in May, he opened up about his finances.
"Basically, I don't want to spend more than $5,000 a month ... anything over that $5,000 per month, I plan to invest and save up," he said in the YouTube video.
In the first quarter of 2022, he earned approximately $30,000 from a number of revenue streams. (These earnings were verified by documentation viewed by Insider).
Like a number of other content creators, Hullur earns a majority — or about 67% in Q1 — of his income from brand deals.
While Hullur had "no idea" how to price his content when he first started working with brands last year, after some trial and error, speaking with peers, and eventually signing with a manager, Hullur landed on a starting rate for short-form content.
His starting rate is currently $3,000 for one video, and he then adjusts that rate according to usage rights, exclusivity, his audience niche, and engagement, and any other asks (such as keeping something in his link-in-bio).
In addition to brand deals, Hullur makes money in five other ways:
Creating content for clients. While sponsorships are very common deals for influencers, creators also produce content for brands that don't serve as advertisements and are used on the brands' own channels. Hullur told Insider he has produced content for companies like LinkedIn and Index Ventures.
Consulting, advising, and investing in startups. In 2021, Hullur moved to LA to act as a creator advisor to Stir, a creator-focused fintech startup, with all expenses paid. Hullur later moved to New York to advise his friend and peer, Dylan Lemay, on the launch of Lemay's experiential ice cream shop.
Teaching an online course. Hullur runs a few courses online. One is hosted on Nas Academy, a course platform founded by creator Nuseir Yassin. Hullur also charges followers $10 to ask him "anything creator related."
Creator funds on platforms. While Hullur makes money by participating in creator funds on Instagram and TikTok, the earnings from these programs are "not sustainable" and are more of a "cherry on top," he said.
Crypto, NFTs, and playing the stock exchange. Although Hullur says he has a "very unbalanced crypto portfolio," it still plays a part in his finances, and he discusses his investments in his content. He also collects NFTs and is open about the time he got "scammed out of approximately $3,000" in NFTs.
More: Influencers Creator economy TikTok LinkedIn | 2022-06-06T18:33:33Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Much TikTok Creator Makes With 6 Revenue Streams | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-tiktok-creator-tejas-huller-makes-six-revenue-streams-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-tiktok-creator-tejas-huller-makes-six-revenue-streams-2022-6 |
Marjorie Taylor Greene hires Milo Yiannopoulos — an 'ex-gay' former Brietbart editor once disinvited from CPAC for defending sexual relationships between young boys and older men — as an intern
Milo Yiannopoulos watches as Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia at a press conference outside the Capitol on April 28, 2022.
Marjorie Taylor Greene has hired "ex-gay" alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos as an intern.
He lost much of his following in 2017 after making favorable comments about sexual relations between boys and older men.
Now, he's been hired by a congresswoman who's accused pro-LGBTQ Democrats of being "groomers."
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has hired Milo Yiannopoulous, a 37-year-old former Breitbart editor and "alt-right" activist, as an intern in her official Washington, DC office.
"Mummy always said I'd end up in government!" Yiannopoulos wrote on his Telegram account on Monday. Greene confirmed the hiring to Insider in a defensive statement.
"So I have an intern that was raped by a priest as a young teen, was gay, has offended everyone at some point, turned his life back to Jesus and Church, and changed his life," she said. "Great story!"
Her statement included a transphobic remark about Democratic Rep. Marie Newman's trans child.
"I've finally been persuaded out of retirement. But my skills are a bit rusty, so the best role I could land was an unpaid internship with a friend," Yiannopoulos wrote on Telegram. "Pray for me!"
Yiannopoulous posted a photo of his staff ID badge on his Telegram account on Monday.
Screenshot / Telegram
The hiring, first reported by Right Wing Watch, marks something of a career change for the one-time online provocateur, who saw his following crater following controversial comments about sexual relationships between younger and older men surfaced in 2017.
"I think particularly in the gay world, and outside the Catholic Church — if that's where some of you want to go with this — I think in the gay world some of the most important, enriching and incredibly life-affirming, important shaping relationships very often between younger boys and older men," he said in a 2016 podcast. "They can be hugely positive experiences."
Yiannopoulos, who identified at the time as gay, now calls himself "ex-gay."
"I treat it like an addiction," Yiannopoulous told LifeSiteNews of his prior sexuality. "You never stop being an alcoholic."
He also said his husband — who he described merely as "the guy I live with" — had "been demoted to housemate."
Greene ascends the steps of the Capitol outside the House of Representatives as a reporter asks her questions on April 28, 2022. Yiannopoulos can be see on the right.
It is unclear when Yiannopoulous was hired as an intern for the far-right congresswoman, though he was present at her April 28 press conference in which she discussed Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, a bill to reform Section 230, and called for the reinstatement of her Twitter account.
Greene, for her part, has frequently accused Democrats and others favorable to LGBTQ rights as being "groomers."
More: Milo Yiannopoulos Marjorie Taylor Greene Pedophilia Republican Party | 2022-06-06T18:33:57Z | www.businessinsider.com | Marjorie Taylor Greene Hires 'Ex-Gay' Milo Yiannopoulous As Intern | https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-milo-yiannopoulos-intern-ex-gay-alt-right-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-milo-yiannopoulos-intern-ex-gay-alt-right-2022-6 |
Taco Bell is opening its highly anticipated two-story drive thru restaurant in Minnesota — see what it looks like and how it works
Taco Bell is opening its first four-lane, two-story drive-thru in Minnesota.
The chain first revealed plans for the massive restaurant last year.
The contactless delivery system "defies gravity" as food is transported from the second-story kitchen to drivers below.
Taco Bell is finally opening the doors of its four-lane, two-story drive-thru in Minnesota that was first announced last summer.
Taco Bell Defy is designed to serve drive-thru customers, mobile orders, and delivery drivers in just two minutes or less, one of the fastest times in the industry.
Customers can park in designated parking spaces to create mobile orders on Taco Bell's app.
Then mobile order customers can use a designated pick up lane to receive their food.
These customers will be able to check in on mobile order screens with their QR codes provided by the app.
Another drive-thru lane will be dedicated just to delivery drivers picking up orders through third-party apps like UberEats and DoorDash.
The final drive-thru lane will be more traditional, with a standard ordering board where customers can choose food and pay right at the restaurant.
The four drive-thru lanes are larger than a standard restaurant, but follow the industry trend of adding lanes that has swept Taco Bell, McDonald's, and other chains.
Customers who order at the traditional speaker will talk to workers on the second floor of the restaurant through both audio and video.
These workers will be located in the kitchen, which is located on top of the drive-thru lanes.
This unusual drive-thru design minimizes the restaurant's footprint.
The food is then delivered through a lift system down to waiting customers.
The food delivery system is contactless, and could be the "future of quick-service dining," according to CEO of operator Border Foods Lee Engler.
The lift system is proprietary, but there could by copy attempts in the future if the restaurants is successful.
In the initial press release last year, the chain defined its food service system as defying gravity, leading to the "Defy" name.
The process is new to fast food customers, though it seems somewhat similar to the system at a bank, and Taco Bell provided instructions for helping buyers figure it out.
Though most of the buzz is focused on the drive-thru, customers will also be able to order inside the restaurant.
Ordering kiosks have gained traction in fast food in recent years, and they'll be included in this design, too.
Franchisee Border Foods says it is already considering how to best retrofit these designs onto other existing restaurants.
Taco Bell Defy opens in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota on June 7. | 2022-06-06T18:34:31Z | www.businessinsider.com | Taco Bell Opens Four-Lane Two-Story Drive Thru: Photos | https://www.businessinsider.com/taco-bell-opens-four-lane-two-story-drive-thru-photos-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/taco-bell-opens-four-lane-two-story-drive-thru-photos-2022-6 |
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
A judge signed off on warrants to seize two luxury jets from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
The two planes have a combined value of about $400 million, Biden administration officials said.
Biden officials hope the warrants deter any further transport of the planes on Romanovich's behalf.
US authorities obtained warrants Monday to seize two luxury jets from the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, as the Justice Department and Biden administration escalated enforcement of sanctions and export controls imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
In court filings, the Justice Department said the two planes — a Gulfstream and Boeing Dreamliner — flew to Russia in March in violation of export controls. Because the planes were manufactured in the United States, Abramovich would have needed licenses to move them to Russia — "but no licenses were applied for or issued," the Justice Department said in the court filings.
The seizure warrant marked the latest move by the Justice Department's so-called KleptoCapture task force, which Attorney General Merrick Garland established in March to ramp up enforcement of sanctions and other economic countermeasures levied in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The task force's efforts previously resulted in the seizure of two yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin.
In a parallel action Monday, the Commerce Department filed administrative charges against Abramovich, alleging that his Boeing flew from Dubai to Moscow on March 4 in violation of export controls. Later in March, the Gulfstream flew between Istanbul and Moscow in violation of export controls, with Romanovich aboard as the "primary passenger on part, if not all, of those flights to and from Russia."
Romanovich faces a maximum penalty of about $328,000 per violation or a sum twice the amount of the transaction at issue. An administration official said Monday that the Boeing plane is worth about $350 million, and the Gulfstream jet about $60 million.
The planes "are not today taken into U.S. custody," the administration official said, "but they are now publicly known as wanted property, as tainted assets subject to forfeiture and under active pursuit."
Abramovich sold Chelsea Football Club last month to a group led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and investment company Clearlake Capital Group. His sale of the storied team came just months after the UK and European Union sanctioned him in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On Monday, a Justice Department official acknowledged that the United States has not similarly sanctioned Abramovich. But the official said that "simply not being on the [sanctions] list is not carte blanche" for enabling Putin's war machine.
The prospects for seizing the Gulfstream and Boeing planes are unclear, the administration official said, noting that the two jets are in "difficult spots now." But by obtaining the seizure warrants and making the Commerce Department charges public, the Biden administration sent a message deterring any company or individual from facilitating further transport of the jets on Romanovich's behalf, the Justice Department official said.
"One way to do that is by making its allegations publicly known," the official said.
More: KleptoCapture Roman Abramovich Vladimir Putin Ukraine | 2022-06-06T19:08:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Feds Move to Seize Two Planes From Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich | https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-oligarch-roman-abramovich-luxury-jets-seizure-warrant-putin-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-oligarch-roman-abramovich-luxury-jets-seizure-warrant-putin-2022-6 |
The 11 incidents that occurred in Michigan were part of a larger count of 17 breaches being investigated across the US.
Trump's supporters tried to breach voting systems in Michigan in 11 incidents, Reuters reported.
They tried to gain unauthorized access to equipment to prove Trump's baseless voter fraud claims.
Authorities are investigating if the incidents were coordinated, said Michigan's secretary of state.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump tried to gain unauthorized access — sometimes successfully — to voting equipment in 11 incidents across Michigan, Reuters reported, citing state police documents.
The outlet wrote that the state has been investigating incidents involving local election systems that Republican officials and pro-Trump activists breached in an attempt to prove Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
The investigation has grown to a stage where Michigan state police have obtained warrants to seize voting equipment and records in three towns and one county, per Reuters.
The outlet reported that it had seen police records detailing how several of these breaches occurred: One official reportedly gave two vote-counting tabulators to an unauthorized, unidentified "third party" who kept them for weeks in early 2021, while a county clerk told investigators she also gave her equipment to unauthorized parties.
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Democratic secretary of state, told Reuters that the state is currently investigating if the 11 incidents were coordinated and would "seek accountability for all involved." Michigan is a crucial battleground state for elections, which President Joe Biden won in 2020.
The 11 incidents in Michigan are part of a larger count of 17 breaches being investigated across the US, per Reuters, which previously reported similar incidents in Colorado and North Carolina.
In the Colorado case, a clerk copied voting data from a server onto two hard drives and gave them to lawyers, per the outlet. Meanwhile, the North Carolina incident involved a local GOP leader threatening to fire an election official if she didn't give him unauthorized access to voting systems.
According to Reuters, Trump won in all the Michigan counties where the 11 breaches occurred. The results were certified by 250 post-election audits carried out by the Bureau of Elections.
However, per Reuters, pro-Trump activists and officials wanted to prove that the former president won by a larger margin in these areas.
More: insider news Donald Trump 2020 election Presidential election | 2022-06-07T08:18:07Z | www.businessinsider.com | Trump Supporters Breached Voting Systems 11 Times in Michigan: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-supporters-breached-voting-systems-11-times-michigan-report-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-supporters-breached-voting-systems-11-times-michigan-report-2022-6 |
Defacto cofounders Marc-Henri Gires, Morgan O'Hana, and Jordane Giuly.
French embedded lending platform Defacto has raised $16 million in Series A funding.
Founded in 2021, Defacto offers short term credit facilities to SMEs via B2B marketplaces.
Check out Defacto's pitch deck below:
French fintech startup Defacto has raised $16 million in fresh funding.
Founded in 2021 and based in Paris, the company offers loans and credit to small- and medium-sized businesses s via its embedded finance platform. Companies can plug into Defacto's API, which connects to third party marketplaces and e-commerce platforms.
"The main trend we're seeing is the digitalization of businesses in Europe, with companies working alongside B2B marketplaces, and using SaaS and fintech software to optimize their processes," Jordane Giuly, Defacto cofounder told Insider. "However, working capital and short-term financing is still a pain, so within the ecosystem of value added services, lending will be a key business line."
Embedded finance and, by extension, embedded lending are leading sectors of the fintech market. Defacto believes that by innovating the credit infrastructure for smaller businesses, they can help to solve a key pain point for companies, with most suppliers paying invoices in a range of 30 to 90 days. The company wants to make credit checks straightforward for marketplaces that offer Defacto's products by optimizing its underwriting using business revenues, invoices, and AI.
The Series A round was led by Northzone, with additional backing from previous backers Headline and Global Founders Capital.
Giuly told Insider the company had plenty of inbound from investors after its previous round attracted angel tickets from Thibaud Elzière (founder of eFounders), Rodolphe Ardant (founder and CEO of Spendesk), and Victoria van lennep (founder of Lendable).
The company will use the funding to double the size of its team in the next six months and expand into more locations in Europe. Check out Defacto's pitch deck below: | 2022-06-07T09:49:15Z | www.businessinsider.com | Defacto: French Embedded Finance Startup Raises $16m From Northzone | https://www.businessinsider.com/defacto-french-embedded-finance-startup-raises-16m-from-northzone-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/defacto-french-embedded-finance-startup-raises-16m-from-northzone-2022-6 |
Warnings from Apple and Microsoft are the start of a pattern that's going to spread, Morgan Stanley says. Here's why the firm says investors should watch out for another market downturn this summer.
Traders have been rocked by volatility in 2022.
Morgan Stanley's investment chief and top US stock strategist expects turbulence in July and August.
Michael Wilson says trends in company earnings forecasts are weakening and will get worse.
He says recent comments from Microsoft and Apple, among others, are the tip of the iceberg.
You're probably not going to pay attention to this warning, according to Morgan Stanley. Not yet. But in a month, things might be different.
Mike Wilson, chief US equity strategist and chief investment officer for Morgan Stanley, says stocks could build on their recent gains and even rise a bit further in the weeks ahead if Ukraine and Russia make progress in peace talks. But in four to six weeks he thinks it'll become clear that company profits are weakening, and that will spell the end of any bear market rallies.
"Stocks can hang around current levels until 2Q earnings season when the next leg lower is likely to begin and end," Wilson wrote in a recent note to clients. But as those reports come in and companies cut their forecasts for the rest of the year, it's going to hit stocks hard.
"Either the price needs to come down to reflect the earnings risk or the estimates need to fall. We think both will happen over the course of 2Q/3Q earnings season," he said. "If earnings revisions don't reaccelerate (our view), we think the price remains wrong."
Companies including Apple, Pfizer, Meta Platforms, and most recently Microsoft have all recently warned that foreign currency fluctuations, including the very strong dollar, are affecting their respective businesses. That hasn't bothered investors so far, but Wilson thinks it's going to grow to become a real problem.
He notes that analysts are lowering their earnings forecasts for more companies and raising them for fewer lately. He thinks that trend will continue, while investors are betting the trend will break and EPS revisions will start to get better.
"The market disagrees with that view or is clinging to the idea that earnings growth from the rest of the market will reaccelerate later this year," Wilson said. "Either the price needs to come down to reflect the earnings risk or the estimates need to fall. We think both will happen over the course of 2Q/3Q earnings season."
Wilson says that the best revision trends have been in the real estate sector, while food and drink, commercial and professional services, and materials are getting positive changes in revisions. The worst are in consumer tech, especially in food and staples retail, where Wilson says trends have "collapsed" due to rising costs.
"Consumer discretionary has also seen continued weakness in revisions over the past 4 weeks. This weakness has been driven by consumer durables and apparel and retailing," he said.
So far, positive trends in cyclical areas like energy are making overall corporate earnings numbers look good, according to Wilson. But he says that effect is going to fade.
"A key question for investors is whether they should pay a lower multiple for earnings growth derived to a notable extent from deeply cyclical sectors like energy and materials," he says.
michael wilson morgan stanley | 2022-06-07T09:49:39Z | www.businessinsider.com | Morgan Stanley Warns Guidance From Apple & Microsoft Means Trouble | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-recession-warning-profit-guidance-apple-microsoft-earnings-ms-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-recession-warning-profit-guidance-apple-microsoft-earnings-ms-2022-6 |
Goooood morning Opening Bell crew. Phil Rosen here, back again with your market rundown.
Today we're talking tech — the sell-off is seeing some relief.
Photo by Marco Bello/Getty Images
1. Big Tech stocks are showing signs of life. And Cathie Wood's flagship fund is finally feeling some relief after a brutal run in 2022.
After a terrible start to the year, Wood's Ark Innovation ETF has outperformed the S&P 500 over recent weeks as bond yields slipped. Since May 11, ARKK is up 17%.
The fund is still down more than 50% year-to-date, but its small resurgence may be a sign that traders are warming back up to the technology sector , coming back to some beloved names that soared during the pandemic.
Fundstrat's Tom Lee is expecting demand for tech stocks to accelerate thanks to current prices as well as broader economic trends.
"Nasdaq 100 is cheaper today than at the absolute 70-year low of 2003," Lee said. "This should affirm why the risk/reward in FAANG is attractive. Even anecdotally, the bad news seems priced in."
He added that companies will seek to offset the labor shortage, which poses a long-term opportunity for tech.
"If minimum wages are rising, [and] companies are raising starting salaries, this raises the ROI and justification for labor replacement via automation. This is an obvious demand accelerator for Technology — aka $QQQ Nasdaq 100."
Russian President Vladimir Putin summons meeting of Russia's Security Council at Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on February 21, 2022.
Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
2. US stock futures fell early Tuesday, as investors fret about interest rates and the SEC considers making major changes to the stock market. According to reports, the SEC is weighing sending retail stock orders into auctions where trading firms compete to execute them. Here are the latest market moves.
3. On the docket: Dave and Buster's Entertainment, Smartsheet Inc, and Orion Energy Systems, all reporting. Plus, look out for the US International Trade in Goods and Services report at 7:30 am ET.
4. Investors should buy these specific stocks to book the biggest profits in small tech companies and key growth themes that are starting to gain momentum. Bank of America said these companies can rally 45% on average over the next year. See the firm's list of 8 picks.
5. Morgan Stanley's co-president said to expect "fire and ice" as a massive shift in the markets gets underway. "It's an extraordinary moment…it signals the end of 15 years of financial repression," Ted Pick said. Here's what else he said in his economic forecast.
6. Russia is pulling in less oil profits even though it's shipping more crude as buyers in Asia get huge wartime discounts. Crude exports rose last week out of Russia, but total revenue fell by about 5%, Bloomberg data shows. Still, wary traders are finding alternative ways to keep crude flowing while attempting to avoid affiliation with the sanctioned nation — like completing transfers on the high seas.
7. The stock market rebound will continue as long as these technical indicators show signs of improvement, according to BofA. The bank is eyeing upward moves in the Advance-Decline line, analysts said. But if these signals fail to make the bullish upside moves, investors should expect the S&P 500 to fall as much as 16% to 3,500.
8. Insider's very own real estate editor was 29-years-old when he became a first-time homeowner and landlord. AJ LaTrace purchased a two-unit building in September 2015 and has had several tenants since then. He shared how his real estate journey has developed, and how he's gained confidence as a landlord.
9. An engineer received $4,173 in one year using mini crypto miners. He broke down which models he purchased and how much they cost, as well as what he mines. He shared which projects he's eyeing next.
10. More and more Americans were seeking work in May. The economic recovery is making progress, and people are signaling they're ready to get back in the workforce. Take a gander at these three charts that show how labor force participation has changed since 2020. | 2022-06-07T11:16:47Z | www.businessinsider.com | Opening Bell: Tech Stocks Get Some Relief | https://www.businessinsider.com/opening-bell-tech-stocks-get-some-relief-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/opening-bell-tech-stocks-get-some-relief-2022-6 |
Average interest rates on refinanced five-year variable student loans have dropped since two weeks ago, according to Credible. Five-year rates on undergraduate loans have cratered, while five-year graduate rates have only fallen slightly. Rates on 10-year fixed loan have risen over the past two weeks
This upcoming school year, federal student loan rates will increase by the largest amount since the 2005-06 year. These new rates won't directly impact private student loan rates, but private rates may increase as they don't have to remain as low to be competitive with federal loan rates.
Laurel Taylor, CEO and founder of student debt fintech company FutureFuel.io, says that over the last two decades, it has been uncommon for rates to rise so significantly over such a short period of time. However, Taylor says borrowers shouldn't be too concerned about the increase in federal rates.
Note: It's important to understand that federal loans are almost always a better option than private loans. They come with set interest rates that are often lower than private lenders and don't depend on your credit score . Additionally, they have many protections that private lenders don't offer, including the current repayment pause.
Refinance rates on 5-year variable undergraduate student loans have plummeted this past week, dropping by 1.56% from two weeks ago to settle at 3.07%.
Refinance rates on 10-year fixed student loans this past week have ticked up from two weeks ago. Undergraduate rates are up by 22 basis points, while graduate rates have risen by 14 basis points. Rates have gone up a lot since six months ago.
Each type of student loan is right for different borrowers.
If you want a better interest rate and you can pay off your loan more quickly, a 5-year loan term could be an excellent choice. You'll save money in interest and will free up money to put toward your other financial goals faster.
A 10-year loan term will cost you more in total, but you'll make smaller monthly payments. This may make it easier for you to repay your loan if you're on a tight budget.
More: Student Loans Loans pfi Credible | 2022-06-07T11:16:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | This Week's Student Loan Refinancing Rates: June 7, 2022 | 5-Year Undergraduate Rates Plummet | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-tuesday-june-7-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-tuesday-june-7-2022-6 |
Palestinian children with candles and pictures of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza City, May 11, 2022.
AP Photo/Adel Hana
The US has rebuffed calls for it to investigate the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank.
Biden should use his upcoming trip to Israel to launch such an investigation and advance both the US's interests and those of Israel.
Dylan Williams is senior vice president of policy and strategy at J Street.
The killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank and subsequent violence by Israeli police at her funeral procession is rightly eliciting calls for an independent investigation into her death.
Palestinian rights activists, journalists and lawmakers have called for such an official inquiry by authorities other than those implicated in the killing.
Those calls have understandably grown louder since a CNN investigation concluded that Abu Akleh was killed, in CNN's words, in a "targeted attack by Israeli forces."
According to CNN, "there was no active combat, nor any Palestinian militants, near Abu Akleh in the moments leading up to her death. Videos obtained by CNN, corroborated by testimony from eight eyewitnesses, an audio forensic analyst and an explosive weapons expert, suggest that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces."
Yet despite mounting concerns regarding Abu Akleh's killing, the United States government has rebuffed calls to conduct its own independent investigation.
Dismissing a letter from 57 Members of Congress to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting such an inquiry, an unnamed Biden administration official said that "We're helping [Israeli and Palestinian authorities] review how they investigate" and declined to elaborate further on the matter.
The refusal of the United States government to investigate the death of its own citizen is even more concerning when one looks at the track record of Israel in conducting its own investigations into such matters.
Israeli security forces confront family and friends carrying the coffin of Shireen Abu Akleh at her funeral in Jerusalem, May 13, 2022.
Israeli human-rights organizations and investigative journalists have detailed how the Israeli government has repeatedly proved itself far from impartial both in conducting inquires into military violence against Palestinian civilians and holding those responsible to account.
The Israeli government's immediate attempt to muddy the waters about the facts of Abu Akleh's killing with a quickly debunked video suggesting Palestinian militants may be responsible for her death certainly do not strengthen a sense of impartiality on Israel's part, nor does its rejection of a criminal probe into the matter.
The US government has sought to conduct its own investigations into the death of its citizens abroad in other instances where such doubt exists about the ability of the relevant foreign authority to conduct a thorough and fair investigation.
The 2017 murder of another US journalist, Syrian-American Halla Barakat, and her mother in Turkey, prompted the FBI to open its own case into their killing, although the FBI's ability to investigate was limited due Turkish government resistance.
Declining to attempt a similar investigation here would be to apply a different, unique standard in the case of a Palestinian-American killed in Israeli-occupied territory.
The Biden administration's dismissal of calls for an independent US inquiry into Abu Akleh's killing reflects an overall unwillingness to meaningfully confront the facts and consequences of Israel's nearly 55-year long occupation of Palestinian territory.
Whereas his predecessor oversaw an aggressive agenda advancing permanent Israeli occupation and annexation in the West Bank, President Joe Biden has declined to even fully restore the pre-Trump, bipartisan US positions related to Israel and Palestine, like the illegitimacy of Israeli settlements under international law, the prohibition on mislabeling settlement products as "Made in Israel," or even his own repeated promise to reopen a separate US consulate in Jerusalem serving Palestinians.
A picture of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.
While Biden administration officials have gently criticized some of Israel's more brazen moves in the occupied territory, nearly all of its admonitions are packaged in a "both sides" liturgy admonishing both Israel and the Palestinians, even when responding to violations of international law committed by Israel alone.
The inadequacy of such mild push back is clearly demonstrated by Israel unflinchingly continuing to engage in acts of de facto annexation in the West Bank. In fact, within weeks of Biden confirming a trip to Israel, the Israeli government announced the advancement of nearly 4,500 new settlement units across the territory and began the home demolitions and forced displacement of approximately 1,000 Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills.
These steps by Israel, like Abu Akleh's killing, reflect a significant deterioration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Horrific attacks by Palestinian terrorists have killed nineteen Israelis and wounded many others in recent months, while Palestinian civilians not linked to those attacks have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces in the West Bank during the same period.
In the face of this dangerous escalation, it is critical for the US government to stand up for its own stated interests and take steps that would help finally break this destructive cycle, help ensure Israel's security and future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people, and guarantee the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and safety in an independent state of their own.
Biden's upcoming trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory is the perfect opportunity to advance these US objectives — and it should start with an independent US investigation and justice for Shireen Abu Akleh.
More: Opinion News Contributor Shireen Abu Akleh Israel | 2022-06-07T12:51:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | Biden Should Seek Justice for Shireen Abu Akleh in Israel | https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-should-seek-justice-for-shireen-abu-akleh-in-israel-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-should-seek-justice-for-shireen-abu-akleh-in-israel-2022-6 |
Today's mortgage and refinance rates: June 7, 2022 | Rates hold steady at 5%
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been hovering around 5% for several weeks now, suggesting that rates may have peaked and are settling in at their current levels.
While it's good news for homebuyers that rates are no longer skyrocketing, they're still significantly higher than they were this time last year. This has caused the market to cool somewhat. | 2022-06-07T12:52:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | Today's Mortgage, Refinance Rates: June 7, 2022 | Rates Hold Steady at 5% | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-tuesday-june-7-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-tuesday-june-7-2022-6 |
This alt-data startup is looking to help retail traders catch the next GameStop-like meme stock
Popstox wants to helps traders catch the next meme stock ahead of time.
Investors are mindful of social-media comments surrounding a stock following the meme-stock frenzy.
Hedge funds have long used social-media analysis to help them monitor their portfolio.
Alt-data startup Popstox wants to simplify social-media data for retail traders.
When the GameStop trading frenzy took off last year, it demonstrated the power social media has over swaying the market. The event also proved to 35-year-old Dan Edelman that tracking those conversations for investors is a business opportunity.
So Edelman and his friends Ben Holt and Lucas Bennett founded Popstox, a startup focused on distilling various social-media channels into actionable insights for retail investors.
Prior to GameStop, Edelman, who previously spent 10 years analyzing social media for major brands like Nike, Samsung, and Procter & Gamble, thought social-media conversations had little to do with company stock prices.
"I had companies come and say, 'Oh, can you look at our stock price on social?' I never really took it seriously. I was like, 'I don't think there's a correlation here," Edelman, told Insider.
But last year's formidable event changed his mind. He saw how much social-media conversations, like those in the subreddit r/WallStreetBets, were beginning to be taken more seriously in the investing world.
"There are real-world implications and it's part of due diligence now," he said as he cited the closing of Melvin Capital, the hedge fund that shorted GameStop and wound up losing more than half of its assets.
Sophisticated hedge funds have long turned to non-traditional data streams, such as satellite images and cell-phone records, to get an edge when trading. That includes monitoring social-media channels.
Co-founders Ben Holt, Dan Edelman, and Lucas Bennett started Popstox to give mom and pop investors synthesis of social media data feeds on stocks and cryptocurrencies.
Popstox
But Popstox is focused on opening up access to that data for retail traders. The startup is aiming to create auto-generated summary paragraphs from social-media data feeds, such as Reddit and Twitter. The company also wants to include feeds from YouTube and StockTwits down the line.
"We're not giving anyone financial advice. We're trying to get people transparency and understanding of what's happening so they can be empowered to make their own decisions," said the Popstox CEO.
The early-stage startup is still testing potential features, but Edelman said the final product might include profiles for stocks and cryptocurrencies that display the social conversations surrounding it, including a section following the stocks and cryptocurrencies experiencing social increases and what's being said.
Another feature is influencer profiles that track a social-media influencer's posts about a stock alongside its financial performance. Edelman gave the example that if an influencer mentioned Tesla in a post, Popstox would mark the stock's price and then follow the movement of it afterwards.
He explained that the company wants to give its future customers "the tools to understand what they could stand to gain or lose if they choose to invest their money based on an influencer's advice."
Popstox uses GPT-3, a third generation machine-learning model created by Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI. Edelman said the release of GPT-3 "leveled the playing field" since building something like it in-house requires the type of talent and resources a small startup would have difficulty obtaining. Plus, it's "very rare that institutions can build their own proprietary solutions that are gonna be as good as that," he said.
But the model doesn't work on its own. Popstox engineers train it with additional data to focus on finance and spit out analysis that includes the hype around a stock, but also the dissidence, Edelman told Insider.
Popstox has about 20 people alpha testing its product before it puts it in the hands of the end users. And the company plans on raising a seed round of $2 million to $2.5 million sometime this summer.
Though the company is retail-focused, it sees itself possibly moving into the hedge-fund space. Popstox would offer APIs to pump bulks of data into the firms' automated investment systems to assist with trades and other algorithms.
"There's institutional potential, but we want to make sure we're doing it in a responsible, transparent way," said Edelman.
More: Fintech AI artifial intelligence
Wall Street Bets | 2022-06-07T14:22:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Alt-Data Startup Popstox Analyzes Social Media for Retail Traders | https://www.businessinsider.com/alt-data-startup-popstox-analzying-social-media-for-meme-stocks-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/alt-data-startup-popstox-analzying-social-media-for-meme-stocks-2022-6 |
Amex CEO sees resilience despite market uncertainty
Amex CEO Steve Squeri said its card business has been unshaken by widespread market concerns.
In Q1, Amex's billed business increased 35% year-over-year, driven by younger consumers, small businesses, and a return to travel.
The news: American Express's card business hasn't shown cause for concern despite recent speculation of an economic downturn, CEO Steve Squeri said during the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference last week.
Squeri said based on Q1 results, credit card delinquencies and charge-offs are still under 1%, and the company expects those metrics will remain below pre-pandemic levels through 2022. Based on economic forecasts, he expects inflation will normalize in 2023 and noted that many economists aren't anticipating a recession in the US.
Key context: Several factors, including persistently high inflation and Big Tech turmoil, have led to widespread market uncertainty.
Prices for consumer goods and services grew 8.3% year over year (YoY) in April—near the highest level in 40 years. That's affecting consumers' economic outlook: 83% of respondents described the state of the US economy as poor or not so good, per a May 2022 survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal and the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.
Poor sentiment has also hurt the fintech space: Neobanks; buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies; and crypto firms are facing funding challenges and severe market volatility.
Supply-chain issues and Russia's war on Ukraine have also made many companies reevaluate their strategies.
Amex's approach: While Squeri acknowledged current market circumstances, he said that from a consumer spending perspective, things are going well for Amex.
In Q1, the issuer's billed business increased 35% YoY, up over both Q3 2021 and Q4 2021. This was driven by younger consumers, small businesses, and a return to travel.
Squeri credited overall performance to Amex's strategy changes throughout the last two years. In the early days of the pandemic, Amex shifted its investment away from cardholder acquisition and toward strengthening its value proposition through updated rewards for streaming and grocery delivery services.
Despite not being a focus, Amex still acquired more than 1 million cards per quarter, according to Squeri. Since then, Amex has focused on encouraging customer spend by launching and revamping cards. In terms of cardholder spending, Amex's positioning in the card market may have been an advantage for the company compared with other issuers: It offers several premium and co-brand cards.
The big takeaway: Squeri is confident in Amex's overall performance and believes the company is well-positioned for growth despite current market uncertainty.
His comments reflect those of Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, who in April said consumer spending remains robust despite inflation. But JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently painted a different picture, warning that an "economic hurricane" could be on the horizon due to market trends. | 2022-06-07T14:23:01Z | www.businessinsider.com | Amex's CEO Says Card Business Has Been Unshaken by Market Concerns | https://www.businessinsider.com/amex-ceo-says-card-business-has-stayed-resilient-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/amex-ceo-says-card-business-has-stayed-resilient-2022-6 |
The résumé and portfolio that got me a job at Tesla as an engineer
Tamer Shaheen.
Tamer Shaheen
Tamer Shaheen is a Serve Robotics mechanical-design engineer and a former Tesla engineer.
When applying for jobs, he always sends his portfolio along with his résumé.
He says sending a portfolio and keeping a master list of questions help him land jobs.
I graduated from engineering school in April 2021 and started at Tesla just one month later in a full-time contract position as a mechanical-design engineer.
I recently left for a startup called Serve Robotics, a sustainable self-driving delivery service. I know my portfolio helped me get both jobs.
When I started applying for jobs while I was still an undergraduate, I barely got any interviews. I would have to go through 10 to 15 interviews to get one job offer.
I used to be super nervous and felt underprepared. But through thorough research, trial and error, and a lot of failures, I found a method that worked for me. These are my tips for landing a job as a mechanical engineer.
Keep a master list of technical questions
For many of these engineering roles, you have to go through a technical interview. I had my first technical interview in my second year of school. I was surprised by how complex some of the questions were. But with every interview I did, I became less and less nervous because I started to accumulate resources.
I did over 10 interviews at Apple, three or four at Tesla, and several other interviews at startups. I've learned that companies often ask similar questions. So at the end of each interview, I wrote down the questions they asked me. If I didn't already know the answer, I would figure out how to answer it.
I kept a master list of technical questions and would go over this list before an interview. It helped me not get caught off guard.
Shaheen added color to make his résumé stand out.
I redesigned my résumé to stand out from the crowd
I had a very traditional résumé at first — everything was black and white with typical fonts and all in one column. I wasn't getting called back for a lot of interviews. So I tried something different.
My résumé is still only one page, but I divided it into two columns and split it into four distinct sections: experience, skills, projects, and education. The result was a more aesthetically pleasing and easier-to-read résumé.
When I'm deciding what to include in the bullets under each job, I think about three things:
First, I make a list of all the important mechanical-engineering skills I need for the job I'm applying to.
Then, I think about which of my skills I want to highlight.
Finally, I turn each skill I have into a bullet point.
My résumé helped me stand out and put my best skills forward. But I think the real game changer for me was sending it alongside my portfolio as one PDF when I applied for jobs, or even when I networked over LinkedIn.
This is what my visual portfolio looks like
Shaheen always includes pictures because it makes it easier for interviewers to look through his projects.
I've never gotten negative feedback for sending my portfolio along with my résumé. I think, as humans, we prefer to look at pictures over reading words. It also makes it easy for companies to breeze through your experiences.
For my portfolio, I made three columns and included a picture.
Under each photo, I explain what I did for the project — the first bullet is really just an overview. In the next bullet, I talk about what I did. In the "how" section, I explain things like what software or manufacturing process I did. I try to include keywords and terminologies that would show someone my knowledge and the value I brought to the project.
I also try to include as many numbers as possible. I try to quantify the positive influence the project had.
Interviewers always end up asking me questions about my projects. It's a great conversation starter and makes you memorable to someone going through résumé after résumé.
I'm sharing these templates so you don't have to be as nervous as me
When I started applying for jobs, I was super nervous and didn't know what to expect. I'm sharing these templates so that other people are less nervous than I was. I shared my experiences on YouTube, and I got comments from people saying my formats helped them get jobs at Apple and General Motors. I even have friends who are using similar templates. It makes me really happy to see that it works.
Here's the link to my Canva template for my résumé and portfolio. It worked for me. I hope it works for you. I know that this method has helped me and others. It's just a matter of being consistent and keeping your work updated.
More: as told to contributor 2022 Jenna Gyimesi | 2022-06-07T14:23:13Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Get a Job at Tesla Early in Your Career | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-a-job-at-tesla-early-carreer-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-a-job-at-tesla-early-carreer-2022-6 |
Instacart is hunting for profits by doing more than delivering groceries as pandemic boom wanes. Here's a rundown of its initiatives, from ads to fulfillment services.
Instacart is diversifying its business outside of gig-based grocery delivery.
The company is expanding revenue from ads, checkout tech, and other areas.
One analyst described the goal as being a "one-stop shop" for grocery technology.
Instacart built a name for itself using gig workers to deliver groceries. But its future will rely on moving beyond that business, analysts say.
The grocery-delivery startup isn't profitable right now. But it has launched projects and added services to its offerings over the past couple of years aimed at growing its business. Many of them, such as advertising and smart carts, take it into areas far beyond its core delivery business.
In March, the company announced a "platform" of services for retailers including advertising options and microfulfillment centers it's launching at Publix stores in Georgia and Florida.
It's an acknowledgment that Instacart needs to do more than manage an army of shoppers to succeed, said Alex Frederick, a senior venture-capital analyst at PitchBook.
Instacart's core grocery business is "just not a viable model long term," he said, adding that while many grocers turned to Instacart after Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods and during the pandemic for a quick way to get online, the cost of using the startup makes it a money-losing proposition for most clients.
Some retailers, like Kroger, have built out their own tools for delivery and e-commerce, Frederick said.
Instacart's response has been to move toward an a la carte model offering grocers a wider range of services beyond just delivery. "It allows grocers to choose what capabilities they want, and ideally at a profit," he said.
Even Fidji Simo, who has been Instacart's CEO since August, has acknowledged that the company needs to do more than delivery.
"While we expect a continued increase in online-grocery adoption over the next decade, we know many consumers will still want to shop in-store," Simo told Insider in December.
"As a result, retailers and brands are going to be increasingly incentivized to create unified shopping solutions that break down the silos between their in-store and e-commerce solutions," she added.
Instacart reportedly filed confidentially for an initial public offering in May.
Here are the main ways Instacart is trying to diversify its business.
Instacart in March introduced Instacart Platform, a suite of e-commerce and in-store tools for retailers.
Instacart has been building its advertising business for roughly two years. The division allows brands to place their products in front of customers as they scroll and add to their virtual shopping basket.
Insider reported last year, citing people familiar with the matter, that that business was worth hundreds of millions in 2020 and could generate up to $1 billion in 2022.
This spring, Instacart announced Carrot Ads, which allows retailers to set up their own ads business.
Jonah Ellin, the chief product officer at 1010Data, a retail-data -analytics firm, said that expanding advertising for brands was "the most logical" element of Instacart's platform announcement this spring since the company already has a developing ads business.
But he added that the fact that Instacart manages its own ads business could make selling that ability as a service to retailers hard.
"I'm not entirely sure that retailers are going to think of Instacart as that value-added partner that you want to trust the loyalty of your customers to," Ellin said.
While it's too early to say how Carrot Ads will fare, Frederick told Insider that advertising dollars from brands are likely to gain importance for Instacart.
"That's the online version of an end-cap in the grocery store," Frederick said. "That's a really powerful place, and an important place, that we'll see a lot of food companies putting their money."
Retailers including Kroger and Albertsons as well as rapid-delivery startups are also trying to expand their ads businesses.
Laura Kennedy, a CB Insights analyst, said that standing out from those rivals and attracting enough consumers to Instacart as delivery demand wanes will be key to growing the business.
"Before the pandemic, I think there were a lot of questions about Instacart's long-term viability," Kennedy said. "So that's not a silver bullet in any sense of the word."
Instacart is adding 30-minute delivery.
Another part of Instacart's new platform is Carrot Warehouses, a division that works with retailers to set up fulfillment centers for orders instead of picking items off store shelves.
Instacart has said it's open to creating different kinds of warehouses with its retail customers.
"Some partners will want stand-alone facilities that we operate and manage, and others may look to co-locate the Carrot Warehouse within their existing brick-and-mortar location," Instacart said when it announced its platform in March.
Several startups have for years been offering warehouse technology to grocers, including Fabric, which announced a partnership with Instacart last year.
Frederick said that Instacart, however, could offer a more complete package to grocers.
"That would be potentially challenging for a grocery chain to build out their own automated fulfillment center and to have the software to run that," Frederick said.
But Instacart itself is not a big name in warehousing, Ellin said. He pointed to Ocado, the online grocer that built its business in the UK by developing its own automated warehouses and that struck a deal in 2018 to build similar facilities in the US for Kroger.
"It's harder to see how Instacart's package comes together, because they haven't really done it before," Ellin said.
Publix is launching 15-minute delivery through a partnership with Instacart.
Rapid delivery
The first test of Instacart's new warehouse strategy is taking shape at two Publix grocery stores, one in Miami and the other in Atlanta. Both stores will offer 15-minute delivery of a selection of items through small warehouses.
The ultrafast-delivery promise is similar to startups such as Gorillas, Jokr, Gopuff, and Getir, which grew fast in 2021 but have had a harder time in 2022, as many have laid off employees and others have shut down entirely.
Instacart told Insider its approach is different since it works with existing grocers instead of competing with them.
But Frederick said that with investor and consumer interest in ultrafast delivery fading, the approach has become less attractive.
"It looks like Instacart has been working on this model for a while and were doing so while there was this huge, exuberant interest in this model," he said.
"But I think it's yet to be seen if it's truly a viable model," he added.
Ellin agreed. "It's very much want, not need," he said.
KroGo carts at Kroger.
Caper AI and a smart cart
Instacart acquired Caper AI for $350 million last October. The startup makes checkout technology for both online and in-store use, including a smart shopping cart that it pitches as an alternative to Amazon's.
Customers using the cart can scan products as they shop, then skip the traditional checkout when they're finished. The startup has said it wants to eliminate scanning entirely, a change that would put its tech on par with Amazon's cart.
Kroger and Caper worked together on a similar cart before Instacart acquired Caper. Now Kroger is trying to roll out a cart at its stores through a partnership with a rival startup, Veeve.
Ellin said the screens on the digital carts could both help consumers find products in the store and provide another medium for advertising.
There's also a more obvious use: "Getting out of the store quickly and painlessly," he said.
Frederick said the cart could also speed up order picking, either by Instacart workers or by customers. But he added that whether the smart cart becomes a staple of going to the supermarket is unclear.
What the Caper acquisition does show is that Instacart is trying to be a "one-stop shop for grocers who want to bring their operations into the next century," he said. "It seems like they're covering all the bases."
More: Instacart E-Commerce Grocery | 2022-06-07T14:23:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Instacart Moves Into Ads, Checkout Tech, and More | https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-ads-initiative-checkout-tech-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-ads-initiative-checkout-tech-2022-6 |
A KFC restaurant in Melbourne, Australia.
WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images.
KFC Australia has started using a mix of cabbage and lettuce in its burgers and wraps, per the BBC.
The fast-food giant cited shortages of lettuce caused by flooding across Australia this year.
Australia's food supply has also been affected by global supply chain and COVID-19 related issues.
KFC has started using a mix of lettuce and cabbage in its burgers and wraps in Australia as it faces shortages of lettuce caused by extreme flooding, BBC News reported.
The fast-food giant said on Monday that flooding across New South Wales and Queensland meant they had to substitute the traditional lettuce filling with a combination of cabbage and lettuce due to ongoing shortages, per BBC News.
KFC Australia did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.
Torrential rain and flooding engulfed parts of eastern Australia earlier this year, forcing residents out of their homes and destroying crops.
The blow to crop production threatens to worsen Australia's food supply, which has also been hit by ongoing supply chain constraints caused by the pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and extreme weather hampering food supplies across the world.
Earlier this year, McDonald's locations in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan were also forced to ration french fries as the fast-food giant faced potato shortages, partly due to flooding and landslides in Canada, Insider's Mary Meisenzahl previously reported.
In January, KFC Australia also had to compromise its menu as a result of chicken shortages after Australia's largest supplier faced pandemic-related staff shortages, per the BBC.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine threatens to worsen the global food supply as blockades have affected the distribution of grains. The head of Ukraine's biggest food producer, MHP, said the food crisis could become catastrophic, Insider's Urooba Jamal previously reported.
The climate crisis was already causing harm to crop production through droughts and storms, the head of MHP recently told Insider, adding that the conflict is what "broke the camel's back."
More: Food & Beverages Retail News KFC | 2022-06-07T14:23:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | KFC Australia Is Using Cabbage in Its Burgers Amid a Lettuce Shortage | https://www.businessinsider.com/kfc-australia-floods-lettuce-shortages-cabbage-global-food-supply-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kfc-australia-floods-lettuce-shortages-cabbage-global-food-supply-2022-6 |
Stocks haven't looked this cheap since the start of the pandemic, according to Morningstar's chief market strategist. He shares 8 undervalued names to buy - and 4 headwinds that investors should still be worried about.
Morningstar's chief market strategist highlighted eight stocks that now look cheap - and four potential sources of volatility.
US stocks are trading at their largest discount since the start of the pandemic, Morningstar said.
The bank's chief market strategist Dave Sekera highlighted eight undervalued stocks to buy.
But Sekera also warned of four headwinds that could drive up market volatility this summer.
Stocks haven't looked this undervalued since the start of the pandemic, according to Morningstar.
Chief US market strategist Dave Sekera made that bold call based on the investment firm's price to fair value metric - which currently says that stocks are trading at a 13% discount.
It's incredibly rare to see equities so cheap, Sekera said. He pointed to the 2011 Greek debt crisis, the December 2018 growth scare, and the March 2020 coronavirus lockdowns as the only three occasions when stocks had a lower price to fair value ratio.
"We were not surprised by the market pullback earlier in the year, as the markets were overvalued," Sekera said. "[But] the pendulum has swung too far the other direction and we view the US equity market as being significantly undervalued for long-term investors."
Stocks have struggled in 2022, as investors grapple with high inflation, rising interest rates, and a potential recession . Those factors will continue to drive volatility even though they've made pockets of the market undervalued, according to Sekera.
He identified four risks that investors still need to consider when buying equities - before picking eight stocks that look undervalued.
Summer volatility
Sekera is still wary of slowing growth, inflation, rising interest rates, and the bond market.
Morningstar recently slashed its 2022 growth projection from 3.5% to 3% and cut its 2023 projection to just 2.2%. But that's still comfortably clear of a recession - typically defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
"While the economic growth rate may be slower, we continue to think that the probability of a near-term recession is relatively low," Sekera said.
Sekera also isn't too worried about inflation, which slowed for the first time in eight months in April. Morningstar expects price rises to cool to just 2% by the end of next year.
"Inflation will begin to moderate in the second half of this year as supply chain disruptions ease and inflation runs up against high year-over-year comparisons," Sekera said.
But monetary policy aimed at bringing inflation under control has spooked investors in 2022, with the Federal Reserve sometimes giving conflicting signals on whether it'll be hawkish or dovish when raising interest rates. Sekera expects the US central bank's next two meetings to have a significant impact on stocks.
"The market continues to project that the Fed will increase the [base] rate by a half percent at each of the next two meetings," he said. "At that point, the Fed will be able re-evaluate its outlook for inflation and economic growth and determine its path for future rate hikes."
Lastly, investors should keep an eye on the bond market, according to Sekera. The Fed began its quantitative tightening program in June, selling bonds as it looks to slash the size of its balance sheet by around $95 billion a month.
"The next test for the bond market begins this month as the Fed begins to shrink its bond holdings," Sekera said. "With the Fed no longer reinvesting the proceeds from bonds that mature, the bond market will have to absorb this additional amount of supply."
Despite those headwinds, eight high-quality stocks now look undervalued, according to Sekera.
Growth investing strategies have borne the brunt of investors' concerns about rising interest rates, but the sell-off has made the sector undervalued by 19% per Morningstar's price to fair value metric.
"According to our valuations, the growth category is now the most undervalued," Sekera said. "Now is not the time to be reducing exposures but to be adding judiciously—especially in high-quality companies."
Here are Sekera's eight undervalued stock picks:
Sector: technology
4. Compass Minerals International
Sector: basic materials
6. MercardoLibre
Sector: e-commerce
Ticker: ZBH | 2022-06-07T14:23:37Z | www.businessinsider.com | Stocks to Buy: 8 Cheap Names for a Volatile Market: Morningstar | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-to-buy-cheap-undervalued-volatility-morningstar-investing-analysis-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-to-buy-cheap-undervalued-volatility-morningstar-investing-analysis-2022-6 |
Verse wants buying NFTs to be as easy as shopping on Amazon. It used this 14-slide deck to raise $2.4 million to help non-crypto users and artists buy NFTs.
The London Web3 startup Verse has raised $2.4 million to build an accessible NFT platform.
Its founders believe platforms face issues that deter artists and collectors from NFTs.
Verse is building a platform that offers artists credibility and enables fiat purchases of NFTs.
Despite the multibillion-dollar boom in nonfungible tokens that has swept the crypto world since 2021, a high barrier of entry for non-crypto users and a minefield of digital tokens worth very little peddled on incumbent platforms have made it difficult for artists and the general public alike to know where to begin when getting involved with the technology.
One startup is hoping to get rid of the challenges of buying into NFTs, which are unique digital assets that represent ownership of items like art, video clips, and music.
Verse, a startup focused on the art market, raised $2.4 million in a seed round to build out an NFT platform that wants to make the buying of NFTs as easy a process as shopping on Amazon, while attracting artists in search of a reputable digital space where they can sell their work.
The London business was cofounded by CEO Jamie Gourlay, a former advisor on art deals involving the likes of Picasso and Warhol, and Augustinas Malinauskas, its chief technology officer, to rectify some of the challenges they identified in incumbent NFT platforms such as OpenSea.
"My mom would not be able to buy an NFT, so we wanted to make something for the moms," Malinauskas said. "We want to empower crypto people who know everything about crypto and also people who are maybe afraid or haven't yet had a chance to learn everything."
To make NFTs more accessible to participate in, Verse allows non-crypto users to take an intermediary step and create accounts with an email and password, as they would on any other site, and then lets them purchase digital-art tokens with their debit or credit cards.
For users who buy NFTs this way, their purchases will be stored on Verse's central platform, where they can be held while a user spends time becoming more comfortable with their crypto wallets before withdrawing the NFT from Verse for their own private ownership.
Verse also hopes to help artists get involved by offering a more curatorial element to online NFT displays, with Gourlay believing that the "incredibly snobby" attitude of the art world demands a more hands-on approach to exhibitions online that can prevent artists from "damaging" their brand.
For collectors, it means knowing that NFT artworks they're seeking to buy have been hand-selected by curators with an understanding of how to value art pieces.
A key challenge facing NFT platforms like OpenSea is that they attract opportunists who want to take advantage of their rising popularity and are "purely in it for the commerce side," Gourlay said.
"There are a lot of projects out there put together by people who know you can make a bit of money in NFTs," he said. "They put something together for the sake of it." He added: "We definitely only want to be showing artists who at least really care about what they're doing."
To boost its credibility, the startup has appointed Leyla Fakhr, a former curator for the Tate art institution, as its head of exhibition programming.
Verse raised the seed funds from angel investors such as Paul Forster, a founder of the job site Indeed, and Impala CEO Ben Stephenson, as well as Venrex and Michael Daffey, a former Goldman Sachs executive who's the chairman at Galaxy Digital.
Gourlay told Insider that his company got "very lucky" in raising its round before the crypto markets faced a steep crash that has wiped several billions of dollars off the valuations of startups and projects amid investor fears over uncertain macro conditions.
Sales in NFTs have dropped significantly in recent months, with roughly 19,000 NFTs sold in the first week of May, according to figures from the transaction-data site NonFungible — first reported by The Wall Street Journal — marking a significant drop from a high of about 225,000 sales in September.
The startup has a 14-month runway of funds, according to Gourlay, and will look to extend that runway to two years with additional capital in the future.
More: Features NFT Web3 | 2022-06-07T14:24:01Z | www.businessinsider.com | Verse Raises $2.4M for Platform Allowing NFT Buying With Fiat Currency | https://www.businessinsider.com/verse-crypto-buy-nfts-with-fiat-currency-amazon-crypto-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/verse-crypto-buy-nfts-with-fiat-currency-amazon-crypto-2022-6 |
Sponsor content Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Travel
Many business travelers are choosing driving over flying for greater flexibility and control.
Renting cars can be a cost-effective and reliable option for both employees and employers.
A business rental program offers perks, savings, and duty of care.
Getting employees from point A to B requires reliable transportation. And cars are now an even bigger part of that equation.
In a business travel survey by BTN Group, sponsored by Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental, 57% of corporate travel decision-makers said they expected employees to drive more in 2021 than in 2019. Further, they expected a rental car to be used for those road trips — either to drive to the destination (64%) or in the destination (41%).1
While many people use their own cars for business travel, renting cars for business often makes more sense to ensure that companies are compliant and employees are in reliable vehicles.
A business rental program can offer extra support, peace of mind, and even savings on mileage reimbursement. Here are some of the benefits of such a program and factors to prioritize.
Travel support and loyalty rewards
A business rental program can help companies meet a wide range of employees' business travel needs — from client meetings to site visits and everything in between.
For example, the Business Rental Program offered through the Combined Power of Enterprise and National provides businesses with custom, comprehensive rental programs based on their unique needs, considering factors like preferred vehicle size, frequency of travel, and top-visited destinations.
Depending on how many miles an employee is driving, it may be more economical to rent a car than to pay mileage reimbursement. Enterprise account managers can run a mileage reimbursement analysis to determine if there's a large-scale savings opportunity for the business.
Business rental programs often offer a better corporate rate than a one-off rental, and employee travelers may receive perks like loyalty rewards.
Access to reliable vehicles
With the increase in road travel, a reliable rental program is a good alternative to employees using their own cars for a number of reasons — one being for "duty of care," a company's obligation to promote the safety of its employee travelers.
When employees use a rental car instead of their personal vehicles, employers can feel confident they are providing employees reliable cars. All Enterprise vehicles follow a regular maintenance schedule based on the manufacturer's recommended requirements. Rental vehicles are also inspected for safety and to ensure they're in good condition.
According to an Enterprise survey of business travel renters last year, about half of employees don't want to use their own car because of the wear and tear of a long business trip. Travelers who do use their own car reported that they have to spend time on pre-trip maintenance.2
Even then, employees' personal vehicles might not be in the best condition for a business trip. While corporate travelers surveyed said they've done most routine maintenance checks on their own cars, nearly half have not checked that their fog lights are working, changed their tires, or checked brake pads. In the survey, 45% of people who travel with their personal vehicle own a car that is 5 to 19 years old.2
Enterprise and National's Business Rental Program ensures employees have access to recent-model, well-maintained vehicles. The brand has committed to the Complete Clean Pledge to ensure cars are cleaned and sanitized between every rental.
Plus, if there are any issues with a rental car, there's roadside support and a company's account manager to help resolve them quickly, which might not be the case with personal vehicles.
When looking for a business rental program, companies should ensure that all employees will be able to easily access a rental no matter where they live.
Enterprise has over 9,500 locations in nearly 90 countries and territories across the globe, making it convenient to pick up a rental anywhere — whether it's near home, the office, the airport, or a client. The rental program honors a traveling employee's company contracted rates at all locations. Plus, the brand offers customers options for how they want to pick up the car, whether they want to interact with an employee or have a low-contact experience.
Navigating change with a rental car partner
As business travel continues to change, companies have a responsibility to evolve their travel programs to ensure employees have access to clean, reliable vehicles through a rental program that can support employees when they're on the road. Joining a business rental program can make trips more efficient, help protect employees and the employer, and empower companies to continue traveling to meet their goals.
Learn more about how your company can reinvent business travel with The Combined Power of Enterprise and National's Business Car Rental Program.
This post was created by Insider Studios with Enterprise and National.
More: Sponsor Post Studios Enterprise Studios Custom Studios Travel | 2022-06-07T15:54:10Z | www.businessinsider.com | Here's How a Corporate Car Rental Program Can Support Business Travel | https://www.businessinsider.com/benefits-of-corporate-rental-program-business-travel | https://www.businessinsider.com/benefits-of-corporate-rental-program-business-travel |
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin speaks to reporters before his swearing-in ceremony in San Francisco on Jan. 8, 2020.
San Francisco voters are deciding whether to recall Democratic District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
The recall and the stakes:
Boudin, a former public defender, was elected as San Francisco's district attorney in 2019. His candidacy and election gained national attention because of his own story of having incarcerated parents combined with his progressive politics and reform-minded agenda aimed at reducing incarceration rates.
Boudin is the latest California official to face a well-funded and organized recall effort after California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat elected in 2018, resoundingly beat back a campaign to oust him from office in 2021.
Unlike in Newsom's recall election, Boudin has no opponent.
Voters will simply vote "yes" or "no" on booting Boudin from office, and if a majority votes to recall him, San Francisco Mayor London Breed will name a temporary replacement district attorney until a new one is elected. California holds its elections primarily by mail, so the race may not be called for a few days.
Mounting frustrations with crime in San Francisco among voters and some powerful local Democrats — and lots of outside money from wealthy donors — are driving the campaign to oust Boudin.
As the New York Times noted, "there is no compelling evidence" that, since he took office in early 2020, "Boudin's policies have made crime significantly worse in San Francisco," which has seen crime rates notably rise in some categories, like retail theft and break-ins to homes and cars, but remain relatively steady or fall in others.
In a recent interview with SFGATE columnist Drew Margary, Boudin vigorously defended his policies and his record, including high-profile instances of assailants committing violent crimes in San Francisco after being released from custody.
"We make mistakes every day," Boudin told SFGATE. "We're managing tens of thousands of arrests every year. We have a very tight timeline, set by state law, to make charging decisions. We always have imperfect information. Some significant percentage of people who are arrested in any jurisdiction in this country are going to be released and go on to commit very serious crimes."
Boudin has also decried the basis for the recall as bad-faith attacks, arguing that his detractors unfairly blame him for matters outside of his control, like San Francisco's housing crisis, the availability of mental health services, and conservatorships for people with mental illnesses.
"Homelessness is another issue of frustration," Boudin told New York Magazine. "There are lots of city departments, some overseen by the mayor, some by the Board of Supervisors, that deal with housing and housing policy. My office is not one of them. Things have been dishonestly foisted onto my office and onto me."
Boudin getting ousted from office would be a major setback for the progressive prosecutor movement nationwide and could spur wealthy donors to try to recall other district attorneys or mount efforts to make it easier to oust other local officials, New York Magazine noted.
More: San Francisco Chesa Boudin INSIDER Data DDHQ | 2022-06-07T15:54:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Chesa Boudin, San Francisco DA Recall Election: Live Results | https://www.businessinsider.com/chesa-boudin-san-francisco-da-recall-election-live-results-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/chesa-boudin-san-francisco-da-recall-election-live-results-2022-6 |
My custom clothing business hit 7 figures after losing half of our sales in 2020. Here's how I successfully navigated an unforgiving market.
Zach Uttich and his wife, Kirsten.
Courtesy of Zach Uttich
Zach Uttich is a custom clothier and the owner of BLVDier, which he runs with his wife in Chicago.
A pandemic shutdown, shipping delays, and a rise in supply costs posed challenges for the business.
But expanding options into Zoom attire and womenswear has them on track for a record-breaking 2022.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zach Uttich, a clothier, about his business BLVDier in Chicago, Illinois. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm a custom clothier and run a small business serving a diverse clientele of fashion-conscious men and women in Chicago and around the world. Before starting my own business, I worked for a company called Suitsupply.
The pandemic has been rough for my business, but my wife, who runs the business with me, and I emerged stronger and more successful than ever, surpassing pre-pandemic revenues. The early 2020 fires in Australia killed tens of thousands of sheep and began a slow, small rise in the cost of wool for fabrics. But overall shipping has been the thing that's gone up the most for us.
We ship fabric from the mill to our makers in various places like China, Italy, England, Toronto, North Carolina, Istanbul, and Japan, then ship the finished garment from our maker to us. Then, if necessary, we ship the garment to the client if they don't live in Chicago. We make and source things from basically all over the world, and it's gotten a little bit more expensive in every area.
My wife Kirsten and I opened the doors to our first storefront on January 9, 2015
That original space was a 750-square-foot lease in the heart of Chicago's West Loop, which was already a booming neighborhood. We made 620 total garments in our first year in business and that included shirts, pants, sport coats, and tuxedos. In our second year we made 1,005 garments, and in our third year we made 1,336. In our fourth year, Kirsten quit her job running operations for an early childhood development program and came on full-time, and in 2019, we made more than 1,950 garments and gross revenues went into the seven digits.
We realized that the 750-square-foot space was simply not going to work anymore. It was like a restaurant with one dining table, and the dining table was full all the time. We needed a second fitting room, more storage, and a more comfortable sitting area for our clients. We bought a commercial space four blocks north of our old store and moved into that space nine days before quarantine started. We saw our first client Friday, March 13, 2020.
Our sales numbers for 2020 ended up being just half of 2019
We didn't have any employees, so we didn't need to lay anyone off, but we had to start getting creative with our business. We launched a drawstring pant, dubbed our "work from home pant," in April 2020. And people still needed shirts for Zoom meetings. We added custom sweaters, shoes, and chinos and a t-shirt line.
Our custom sneaker program is very much in its infancy. However, in a very saturated industry people crave uniqueness — our program gives them just that. We make custom Italian sneakers for less than $400 with an almost infinite amount of combinations of leather, silhouette, and sole. It was a no-brainer to offer it.
We built up this following, and once we've fit a client, people could purchase clothes remotely. We would prefer to fit everybody in person the first time to be able to look at their body. Purely providing measurements doesn't give us the intuitive information that we need to give you a perfectly customized garment. But, like most clothiers, we got pretty good at doing this from afar over Zoom over the last few years. Seeing pictures of somebody, gathering intel about what sizes they currently wear, if they play any sports or have any injuries — all that information helps us build an ideal garment for them on the backend.
Once people in Chicago got vaccinated, our clients felt comfortable coming into our shop again. We proceeded to make more than 2,000 custom garments in 2021, and that exceeded pre-pandemic 2019 revenues.
The men's tailoring world is infiltrating women's fashion right now
Double-breasted jackets and more boyfriend-cut pieces are aplenty on ready-to-wear racks. Women are seeing that and really like the idea of having a staple fall jacket that they can have in their closet for years.
In late 2019, we launched a women's line that we then relaunched in 2021, and we've seen quite a bit of growth with that in the last year. For women, buying a jacket and pants off the rack and having it tailored can cost roughly the same as just getting a custom garment. We've seen some of our current clients' partners coming in. We're also seeing word spread through the corporate world, with women in law and finance coming in to get navy blue or gray suits. We've even made wide-legged white pants for a bride to wear at her rehearsal dinner and then on a boat in Ibiza.
This year, we're on track to exceed our record 2021 and quintuple business from our first year
Right now we're 127% ahead of last year. I still see new clients for first and second fittings and Kirsten will go over new fabrics and designs with existing clients and help with consultations for grooms, along with organizing pick-ups and shipping completed garments. She's splitting her time between operations and client-facing work.
Being a Midwestern business, it pains us to raise prices, but how do you keep the level of quality while not sacrificing your margins, revenues, or the client experience? We're about to do it, but that decision is mostly motivated by demand and less because of inflation. Having just moved into a bigger space two years ago, and wanting to stay a small business within the confines of those walls, stepping up our price point makes sense. Demand is at a high with over seven years of built-up clients and people wanting to shop at more intimate spaces like ours. We've fit roughly 4,000 people since inception.
We always want a two-piece suit available for under $1,000
Our suits range from $950 to $1,850. We added fabric options, so if somebody wants to level up on a fabric that would cost multiple thousands of dollars elsewhere, but here it's 20-30% less, and we're happy to do it, like superfine wool, a cashmere and silk blend, or a 100% silk or cashmere jacket. Our fabric partners have a plethora of options and since our business has increased, so have more requests for specific fabrics. We have jackets for womenswear that are made from the same boucle fabric that Chanel uses for their jackets. They're $4,800 at Chanel and Dior, and here they're around $1,600.
We're quickly outgrowing our new space already, but for now each month we have a roughly 50/50 mix of repeat and new clients. We really like that blend. We can't ever guarantee that somebody is going to come back, so having the door open for a new client to come in is important.
Are you a small business owner who wants to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@insider.com.
More: BI-freelancer Clothes Chicago | 2022-06-07T15:54:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | I'm a Custom Clothier and We're Having a Record Year for Business | https://www.businessinsider.com/custom-clothier-chicago-record-year-business-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/custom-clothier-chicago-record-year-business-2022-6 |
Kimberly Leonard and Grace Panetta
Iowa is holding primaries for gubernatorial and state legislative offices on Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, running for reelection to a second full term in the governor's office, is not facing a primary opponent and will easily secure her party's nomination.
During the general election, she'll face 35-year-old Democratic activist Deidre DeJear, who previously ran for secretary of state in 2018. Reynolds is heavily favored by election forecasters to win reelection in Iowa, which has trended more safely Republican in recent years.
Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller, state Auditor Rob Sand, and Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald — all Democrats — are also all up for reelection this year.
The only state office with a competitive primary election is the race for secretary of state, the state's chief election official. Linn County Auditor Joel Miller and Clinton County Auditor Eric Van Lancker will face off in the Democratic primary to face incumbent Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate, who is running unopposed.
Iowa is also holding primaries for its state Senate and House on Tuesday. Republicans currently control the state Senate 32-18, and hold 60 out of 100 seats in the state House of Representatives.
Iowa state legislative primaries:
More: Elections Primary Iowa DDHQ | 2022-06-07T15:55:05Z | www.businessinsider.com | Iowa Governor, State Legislative Primaries: Results | https://www.businessinsider.com/iowa-senate-primaries-live-results-vote-count-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/iowa-senate-primaries-live-results-vote-count-2022-6 |
Madison Hall and Kimberly Leonard
Lauren Justice for The Washington Post via Getty Images; Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Insider
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is running for re-election for what would be his eighth term in office, and he's widely expected to win the nomination for his seat. Polls close at 8 p.m.
Senate Republicans breathed a huge sigh of relief when Grassley, the oldest Republican in Congress who will be 89 by Election Day, announced last September that he'd be running for reelection.
Grassley's seat is considered safe for Republicans and is part of their broader strategy to retake the currently evenly-divided Senate in the November midterms.
On Tuesday, Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, is expected to defeat state Sen. Jim Carlin of Sioux City, his lone challenger during the primary.
Iowa is considered a red state that backed former President Donald Trump in 2016 and by an even higher margin in 2020, even though the Hawkeye State twice backed former President Barack Obama. Trump endorsed Grassley early in his reelection bid.
Still, Democrats want to try to turn the state back to purple or even blue.
The Democrats vying for the nomination are former Rep. Abby Finkenauer; Michael Franken, a retired three-star US Navy Admiral; and Glenn Hurst, who chairs the Iowa Democratic Party's Rural Caucus.
Iowa's 3rd congressional district is also facing a competitive Republican primary, with three candidates in the running hoping to defeat incumbent Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne.
A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll from March found Grassley was viewed unfavorably by 40% of Iowans, the highest unfavorable rating he'd ever received. A total of 47% of Iowans viewed him favorably.
Democrats also say there's evidence their party can win statewide. The seats of state attorney general, auditor, and treasurer are all held by Democrats, though they're all up for reelection this year.
Democrats have two centrists and a progressive running in the US Senate primary happening Tuesday.
One of the centrists is Finkenauer, 33, who was in the US House from 2018 to 2021, and has campaigned on imposing 12-year term limits in Congress.
"When January 6 happened, that's where everything changed for me," she told Ballotpedia News. "Because I saw as we had somebody sitting there, at that point for 45 years, Senator Grassley pushed conspiracies about the election. Not even talk about the truth and actually, you know, bring people together after that moment."
Franken is campaigning on protecting voting rights and expanding Medicare — the government program that covers seniors and others who qualify because of a disability. He unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic primary for US Senate in 2020.
Hurst is a doctor who specializes in family medicine. He's a progressive who has run on a promise to expand Medicare to everyone living in the US and on the Green New Deal — a sweeping plan to combat the climate crisis championed by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Iowa's 3rd congressional district is the only one facing a primary on Tuesday and it's considered to be a toss-up in November. The district gained nine counties that voted for Trump after redistricting.
Republicans have been targeting Axne over her failure to properly report more than three-dozen stock trades, a violation first reported by NPR.
In the race for the GOP ticket are self-proclaimed political outsider Nicole Hasso, who worked as a financial services professional; state Sen. Zach Nunn of Polk County; and Gary Leffler, who calls himself Trump's biggest supporter in the race. Leffler was at the US Capitol riot on January 6 but said he didn't break into the building.
Hasso and Nunn have the lead in fundraising.
More: Elections Primary INSIDER Data DDHQ | 2022-06-07T15:55:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Iowa US Senate, House Primaries: Live Results, Vote Counts | https://www.businessinsider.com/iowa-senate-primaries-live-results-vote-counts-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/iowa-senate-primaries-live-results-vote-counts-2022-6 |
Olivia Nemec, Noah Lewis, and Tyler Merkel
The 2022 primaries have shown that Trump's endorsement still matters among Republican voters.
Political hopefuls are using his talking points to boost their chances of winning, and in many cases, it's worked.
We decoded who is most closely following Trump's lead while pushing the GOP agenda even further to the right.
The 2022 primaries have shown that Trump's endorsement still matters, and political hopefuls are duking it out to be his successor. | 2022-06-07T15:55:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | Meet the Republicans Who Are Trump's Likely Successors | https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-republicans-who-are-trumps-likely-successors-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-republicans-who-are-trumps-likely-successors-2022-6 |
RESULTS: New Jersey holds congressional and local primaries
New Jersey is holding congressional primaries on Tuesday. Polls will close at 8 p.m. ET.
New Jersey has 12 congressional districts — the current makeup of its US House caucus is 10 Democrats and 2 Republicans. The GOP is trying to change that ratio come November.
Of the 12 House races in New Jersey, only half of the incumbents are facing primary challengers: GOP Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith, and Democratic Reps. Donald Payne Jr., Tom Malinowski, Andy Kim, and Donald Norcross.
Unlike the other congressional districts in the state, the 8th Congressional District has no incumbent and will almost assuredly go Democratic come November. There are three Democratic candidates vying for the seat: Ane Roseborough-Eberhard, David Ocampo Grajales, and Robert Menendez Jr., the son of New Jersey's senior US Sen. Bob Menendez.
Mendendez Jr. may be difficult to beat — he's got much of the party's backing, including Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
According to Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, there are no "toss-ups" in New Jersey's 2022 congressional races. The prognosticators classify the races in the 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts as "safe R," the race in the 7th Congressional District as "leans R," and the remaining races as "likely D" or "safe D."
More: INSIDER Data New Jersey BI Graphics Rebecca Zisser | 2022-06-07T15:56:05Z | www.businessinsider.com | New Jersey Congressional and Local Primaries Live Results | https://www.businessinsider.com/new-jersey-congressional-and-local-primaries-live-results-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/new-jersey-congressional-and-local-primaries-live-results-2022-6 |
New Mexico is holding primary elections on June 7. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time.
New Mexico is holding primary elections for gubernatorial and congressional races on Tuesday.
Republicans will select a nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Michelle Luján Grisham, who was elected to the governorship in 2018 and is now running for a second term.
The leading contenders for the GOP gubernatorial nomination include former television meteorologist Mark Ronchetti, state Rep. Rebecca Dow, and Jay Block, the Sandoval County Commissioner.
Luján Grisham defeated her Republican opponent, former Rep. Steve Pearce, by more than 14 points in 2018, and is heavily favored to win another term in the Democratic-leaning state.
None of New Mexico's three incumbent House members, Democratic Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernandez and Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell, are facing any primary opposition.
After the 2020 Census, New Mexico Democrats redrew their three congressional districts to be significantly more favorable turf for Democrats, which could threaten Herrell.
The new maps kept Stansbury's and Leger Fernandez's districts safely Democratic but split the heavily blue city of Albuquerque down the middle to turn New Mexico's 2nd District, represented by Herrell, into a highly competitive district in the general election.
Herrell, elected in 2020, defeated former Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres-Small in the former 2nd District, which previously comprised most of the southern half of the state.
The 2nd District is now rated as a toss-up seat by election forecasters at the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
The two Democrats vying in the primary to take on Herrell in the general election are Gabe Vasquez, a former Las Cruces councilmember, and Darshan Patel, a physician.
New Mexico state legislative primaries:
More: New Mexico INSIDER Data DDHQ BI Graphics | 2022-06-07T15:56:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | New Mexico Governor, US House Primaries: Live Results, Vote Counts | https://www.businessinsider.com/new-mexico-house-senate-primaries-live-results-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/new-mexico-house-senate-primaries-live-results-2022-6 |
My friends are jealous that I'm wealthy and they're not, and I secretly think they should just work harder
Prasit photo/Getty Images
This week, a wealthy reader asks what to do when friends make comments about their money problems.
Our columnist says to be firm with your boundaries, but also try a little empathy.
I am wealthy and my friends are all always hinting about money problems. When I travel, I don't tell them, but if they know they resent it.
It is difficult to deal with people who have no budget or plan for their money. I inherited money and invested it. I also worked and invested. Why can't they do the same?
I am not a bank. I donate to nonprofits for worthy causes. I am generous. But dealing with friends is difficult. And loaning money is losing the friendship. I don't know what to do, please tell me ways to say NO.
The Friend With Money
Dear Friend With Money,
First off I want to thank you for writing in. Knowing the general response to your predicament is likely to be a collective groan — but choosing to share your experience anyway — was a brave thing to do.
I spent a lot of time thinking about your letter before sitting down to respond. Maybe because it feels like a matter of taking sides and I've been on both.
I've been the poor friend passively trying to redirect my friend groups' vacation plans to a local winery when everyone else was getting excited about Cancun, and I've been the friend with money pretending not to notice a pal's insinuation that because I make more money than they do I should pick up the tab. To clarify, both situations were awkward and unpleasant.
When I was the poor friend, I couldn't sleep at night because I didn't know how to tell my richer friends that I couldn't afford our annual girls' trip without feeling embarrassed and ashamed. As the friend with money, I couldn't sleep at night because I was worried my boundaries would end friendships I didn't want to lose.
Holding your boundaries is important
And that's where I want to start — you made a few assumptions worth interrogating that I plan to tackle later, but ultimately, this situation comes down to your boundaries. You don't think it is a good idea to give or loan your friends cash. Therefore, you shouldn't. Your friends need to respect that boundary even if it doesn't seem logical or compassionate to them, and true friends will have this respect.
But holding any line can be tough even when you know it's the smart thing to do. For example, you can know that loaning your friend money is a great way to lose that friend, but when they make an emotional appeal, staying true to that principle by looking them dead in the eye and saying "no" can be difficult. But there is value in sticking to your principles and holding your boundaries even if it means losing friends. A boundary is a commitment you've made to yourself, which means by breaking that commitment you're betraying yourself, and in turn, breaking your self-trust.
So, there you have it: my permission to ignore your friends' hints that you need to financially contribute to their lives.
Try a little empathy
That said, let's talk about that word "hinting." A hint is, by definition, an indirect suggestion. Since you used this word to describe the way your friends ask you for money, I wonder if you're interpreting something your friends have said as a request they've never actually made. I would encourage you to ask yourself if your interpretation of their motives could be wrong.
I also notice you wrote, "When I travel I don't tell them, but if they know they resent it." I find myself wondering what that resentment looks like. Are they making angry accusations that you ought to have brought them along for the ride? Or, is it good-natured ribbing with a side of passive aggression? Or maybe it's more straightforward than that and they simply respond to the news of your travels with a grumbled "must be nice"?
If the first scenario is true, to be perfectly frank, your friends aren't worth keeping. But if one of the latter two options more closely resemble your situation, I think you should try a little empathy.
No one likes snide digs and bitter asides, but your perspective on your friends' financial straits tells me that you're harboring a lot of resentment of your own. You were literally born into money and since then it sounds like you've made several smart financial moves that have increased your wealth. You should never feel like you have to apologize for either of those things, but that doesn't mean you get to judge your friends for not achieving your level of financial success either.
Instead of asking, "Why can't they do the same thing I did?" try asking yourself, "How would it feel if I had financial struggles to the point of not being able to afford a vacation and then I saw photos of my rich friend jet-setting across the globe?" If you're honest, the answer is probably something along the lines of a curled lip and an envious "must be nice."
These people are your friends. You care about them deeply to the point of stressing over how the wrong move might cost you the relationship. So, if they need to roll their eyes after you mention your vacation to Maui and they want to mutter something about how long it's been since they saw the ocean, try letting it go. You have money, they don't. If you want to keep the friendship the answer isn't to tiptoe around this fact but to instead accept it as the reality that it is.
You asked me for ways to say "no," but ultimately, "no" is a complete sentence you only have to use if your friend actually asks you for something. If they don't, it's not on you to assess their situation and feel guilty for not fixing it. Their life is their own, your life is your own, and your friendship isn't a transaction, it's a connection.
Rooting for all of you,
More: For Love and Money Relationships and money Wealth Personal Finance Insider | 2022-06-07T15:56:17Z | www.businessinsider.com | My Friends Are Jealous That I Have Money and They Don't | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/friends-jealous-have-money-work-harder-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/friends-jealous-have-money-work-harder-2022-6 |
3 industry secrets that helped a millennial with no experience build a short-term rental business making $8,400 per month
Adam Masato, right, with his family.
Adam Masato makes $8,400 a month in passive income from an Airbnb rental in Joshua Tree, California.
He learned how to start his short-term rental business from YouTube creator Robuilt.
Masato purchased a pre-fabricated, single-wide home to get the property up and running faster.
Self-described "regular millennial with a W-2 job" Adam Masato, 35, nets $8,400 a month in passive income from an Airbnb in Joshua Tree, California. Masato got the idea to invest in a short-term rental property from YouTube creator Robuilt, even though Masato has no prior experience owning or managing short-term rentals.
He and his wife, Diana Hernandez, had been saving and investing 100% of their combined $150,000 a year income — Masato works in IT healthcare and Hernandez has her own private therapy practice — for two years while living with Hernandez's parents.
The couple used $150,000 of their cash savings to buy a piece of land in Joshua Tree then built an Airbnb there, all in just seven months.
Here are three industry secrets that helped Masato get up and running and start making passive income fast.
1. He chose a pre-fabricated modular home instead of a 'stick-built' construction
According to Realtor.com, a new, privately owned residential home, colloquially known as a "stick-built" construction home, takes nearly 12 months to build as of 2020, however supply chain shortages during the pandemic can add months of delays. From speaking with owners of other Airbnbs in Joshua Tree, Masato knew it would take years before the Airbnb actually started putting money in his pocket if he went with a stick-built home.
To avoid delays, Masato chose a pre-fabricated modular home — a home built in a factory and placed onto the land — from Orbit Homes. Masato says, "The house itself only took a month to build in the factory. The permitting took about four months, so the house was actually in storage for a few months while I worked on the permits."
He says the foundation, landscaping, utilities, deck, and carport took an additional two months once the permits were issued and the house was delivered to the site. "The entire process from start to finish was about seven months," says Masato.
By shortening the home-building process, Masato was able to turn a profit from his Airbnb rental sooner.
2. Great interior design and photos helped his rental get on the Airbnb algorithm's good side
According to Airbnb, optimizing your listing can make it easier for your rental property to show up at the top of potential guests' search results. Airbnb's No. 1 tip is to "feature high-quality photos that set an inviting scene," says Airbnb's resources page.
Masato hired his sister, Hana Goldsmith, to design the interiors with a friends and family discount. Masato also hired real estate photographer Cristopher Nolasco to take professional photos of the home to get on the Airbnb algorithm's good side.
3. Local contractors offered valuable word-of-mouth referrals
Masato went down multiple "Google rabbit holes," he says, to find the best contractors and property managers for his Airbnb, but he had the most luck finding companies to hire through word-of-mouth once he was actually in Joshua Tree.
"Initially, it was just me and my YouTube videos," he says. "I ended up becoming really cool with my contractor. As it turns out, he has his own Airbnbs out there. So that guy became someone I bounce ideas off of. Now I'm working with a management company that oversees 80+ rentals. So anytime I get an idea or some inspiration, they know the market as well as anyone."
PERSONAL FINANCE A millennial California couple with 6 rental properties says anyone should take 5 steps before considering real estate for passive income
PERSONAL FINANCE 3 steps to earn passive income from real estate, according to a 29-year-old who did it
PERSONAL FINANCE A real estate investor making $6,000 a month in passive income used 4 strategies to get started
More: AirBnB rental income Passive Income Real estate investment | 2022-06-07T15:56:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Industry Secrets an Investor Used to to Build Passive Income | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/industry-secrets-passive-income-airbnb-short-term-rental-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/industry-secrets-passive-income-airbnb-short-term-rental-2022-6 |
The Oculus transportation hub and mall stands nearly deserted in lower Manhattan as the coronavirus keeps financial markets and businesses mostly closed on May 08, 2020 in New York City.
If the US falls into a new recession, expect it to look completely different from the 2020 downturn.
Economists expect spending on goods to return to normal while spending on services will keep rebounding.
The next slump will also be much shallower than the record-breaking decline of early 2020.
In early 2020, the US economy took an unprecedented nosedive as the first wave of COVID-19 spread across the country. Spending on in-person services cratered. Unemployment hit its highest level in modern history as companies announced sweeping layoffs. Overall economic growth slumped the most in history.
But the next recession is set to be the complete opposite: Goods spending will return to its pre-crisis trend, services will keep booming, and economic pain is expected to be much less severe.
Whether or not the US tumbles into a recession in the next year remains to be seen. That hasn't stopped economists from making their best guesses, and their projections suggest the coming downturn could be the perfect foil to the recession of early 2020.
The differences come from what will likely be the cause of the next recession. Bearish economists largely agree the slump will be powered by the Federal Reserve's efforts to cool inflation, which should lead to a more "normal" recession than the 2020 downturn that was triggered by an unprecedented public health crisis.
While rate hikes and weaker demand might slow growth to a halt, it won't power the same kind of nosedive seen just over two years ago. Gross domestic product shrank at an annualized rate of 31.2% in the second quarter of 2020, marking the worst quarter of economic growth since at least 1947 by an incredibly wide margin. Unless a new, far more severe virus variant or another "black swan" event emerges, it's unlikely the US will face another plunge quite like the one from two years ago.
"2020 was, of course, a very unique situation ... the speed and the magnitude of decline was just something that we'd never seen before," Alex Lin, a senior US economist at Bank of America told Insider in May. "The consumer has accumulated a ton of wealth over the course of this cycle, and so there is going to be some resilience."
Exactly where growth will slow is also in stark contrast to the economy of 2020. Strict lockdowns immediately slashed spending on services, particularly at in-person businesses like restaurants and bars. Yet spending on goods like furniture, appliances, electronics, and cars boomed as households leveraged their stimulus-boosted finances and bought things that made quarantine a little bit easier.
Those service businesses that struggled through lockdowns are now having their moment in the sun. The reopening of the economy unleashed swaths of pent-up demand onto the businesses Americans were unable to access just over a year ago. That shift holds strong today, with shoppers now diverting their spending on goods toward services like travel, dining, and live entertainment.
That shift is key to keeping the economy from suffering a major downturn, Brett Ryan, a senior US economist at Deutsche Bank, told Insider. The bank sees goods producers bearing the brunt of the slowdown while service sectors push toward a full recovery. The downturn will look more like an industry-specific slowdown than "a massive downturn ... across the board," Ryan said.
"We don't see a massively over-levered consumer that's going to have to slam the brakes on spending," he added. "It's all about the goods-side of it that give you a mild recession, just having goods spending pull back to its pre-COVID trend."
To be sure, the US economy can still dodge a recession. The May jobs report showed payroll growth slowing at a healthy pace, leading many to rein in their fears of a looming downturn and forecast a gentler transition to a normal labor market rather than a Fed-fueled crash. Wage growth slowed and participation improved, hinting at easing inflationary pressures in the labor market. The report was "probably about the best [the Fed] could hope for in the early innings of the tightening cycle," Michael Feroli, chief US economist at JPMorgan, said Friday.
Still, the economy isn't out of the woods. Inflation remains incredibly high, and signs of a sustained cooldown have been few and far between. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that, while a "soft or soft-ish landing" is possible, avoiding a recession will be "challenging."
If a US downturn does materialize, it won't remotely resemble the last one. The businesses with the biggest losses of 2020 will fare the best, and instead of an economic dive, Americans can rest easy knowing a dip is more likely.
coronavirus recession | 2022-06-07T15:56:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Next Recession Will Be Almost the Exact Opposite of the 2020 Crash | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-forecast-outlook-exact-opposite-pandemic-crash-inflation-spending-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-forecast-outlook-exact-opposite-pandemic-crash-inflation-spending-2022-6 |
Rose Thorne
Wynne Nowland, CEO and chair of Bradley and Parker.
Wynne Nowland
Wynne Nowland, the chair and CEO of insurance firm Bradley and Parker, came out as trans in 2017.
She worried some colleagues would react poorly, but was pleasantly surprised by the support she got.
She told writer Rose Thorne that she hopes her experience can inspire other trans people.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Wynne Nowland, chair and CEO of Bradley and Parker. It has been edited for length and clarity.
One morning in 2017, I lingered in my car at Bradley and Parker — the Melville, New York, insurance firm where I'm the CEO. For once, I hesitated to go inside.
Usually, I'm no wallflower; you don't get to be successful in business if you're shy. But just a few hours before, I'd sent an email to my entire company in which I came out as a transgender woman and shared my new name and pronouns.
Starting that day, I finally presented as Wynne — the woman I'd long known myself to be. It had taken me a year or two to prepare and begin living as myself full time.
I had presented as male in a conservative industry for so long that coming out seemed terrifying
Corporate insurance isn't a fun, cozy product, and those of us who work in the industry know that. A lot of us are older, and many lean conservative. I wasn't sure what reactions to expect, and I was definitely anxious when I walked through the front door.
But my employees rushed to greet me with smiles, hugs, and encouragement. While a couple of employees went straight to our human-resources department to ask the all-too-familiar question of which bathroom I'd use, my team, overall, supported me immensely.
I'd also sent coming-out emails — sometimes even snail mail — to clients, business partners, vendors, and restaurants where I'd cultivated relationships with the owners.
One of my longtime clients, an older gentleman who works with a large company here in the Northeast, embodies pretty much every stereotype you can imagine of someone who wouldn't support trans rights. He was one of the people I was concerned would react negatively.
But he replied to my email within minutes with a simple message: "We're friends. This changes nothing. Talk to you later."
I recognize my privileges as someone with a prominent leadership role at an established company
I also transitioned later in life, after becoming financially stable and independent. I imagine it's even tougher to come out if those circumstances don't apply to you.
I've always been someone who tries to mentor and empower others and since coming out, I've hoped to do that for other trans people who are considering transitioning in a world that makes it more complicated than it has to be.
I hope other trans people can see me transitioning as a CEO and know that it's possible for them, too. I want them to hear about the positive responses my workplace had and understand that, when you transition, you may be surprised to see where support comes from.
I also talk about trans issues and inclusivity at work, hoping to help normalize trans experiences for those who don't have another frame of reference. Since coming out, I have seen even more clearly how important it is to not turn people away because of who they are. It's important to elevate and support people who live outside the boundaries of what society expects of them.
I've learned in my own coming-out journey that most prejudices come from fear
Folks fear what they don't know, and the average person doesn't know anybody who is out as trans. With so much anti-trans rhetoric circulating right now, it's easy for them to lean into their fear and start to hate.
Maybe they don't understand trans identities, and maybe they don't think they support trans rights. But in my experience, coming out to someone forces them to confront the rhetoric they've heard. Learning that somebody they know and respect is trans makes them challenge any ideas they have about who trans people are.
Trans identity is not just a trend among teens and young adults, and coming out doesn't have to upend our lives. We just need a little more understanding from those around us.
More: contributor 2022 Nora Biette-Timmons as told to Trans Women | 2022-06-07T15:56:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | I'm a Trans CEO in a Traditional Sector. My Coworkers Were Surprisingly Accepting When I Came Out. | https://www.businessinsider.com/trans-ceo-insurance-conservative-industry-support-6-2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/trans-ceo-insurance-conservative-industry-support-6-2022 |
The world's largest real-estate proptech VC just made its first metaverse investment. A partner at the firm breaks down 3 reasons why blockchain land development will attract 'trillions' over time.
Parcel cofounders Ian Mukherjee and Noah Gaynor
Fifth Wall is the world's largest real-estate-focused proptech VC, and it just made its first metaverse investment in a startup called Parcel.
Fifth Wall, the world's largest real-estate prop tech VC, has jumped on the trend as well, specifically with investments in virtual land in the metaverse.
When asked if bearish sentiments in the market have impacted Parcel's growth, Gaynor responded: "Some prices have come down. However, the market is still growing. Development in the space has not slowed down at all."
Last year, Fifth Wall's LPs began asking its firm's partners like Dan Wenhold about investing in real estate development in the metaverse.
Wenhold said an investment in Parcel gives the firm the chance to be "connective tissue" between traditional real estate capital allocators and the Web3 space. The firm, Wenhold said, is offering exposure to the digital asset class because they believe that blockchain will "redefine real estate within the next 10 years."
"We're not a hedge fund so we're not trying to trade in and out of public securities. We're not having to mark our book on a quarterly basis," he said, adding that the firm is taking a 5 - 10 year view on its metaverse invesments.
Wenhold predicts that trillions of dollars will be ushered into virtual real estate development over time, and billions within the next 5 - 10 years. Virtual land sales notched $500 million last year, according to metaverse data provider MetaMetric Solutions, with sales at $1 billion during the first half of 2022.
"What if people started going to the office in the metaverse? What if people stopped going to traditional shopping malls and instead want to have digital commerce experiences in the metaverse?" Wenhold said. "We will continue to invest as we see individuals move and allocate their time from physical to digital spaces."
Cryptos markets have been in a recent downturn, in part due to both the downfall of UST and Terra's ecosystem and investor jitters over the Federal Reserve's hawkish monetary policies. Ether and bitcoin are more than 55% off from their all-time highs, according to crypto data dashboard Messari.
This hasn't stopped Fifth Wall's LPs, however, from asking about investment opportunities in the nascent space behind the scenes. If anything, since last year, Wenhold said backers of the proptech giant are inquiring more about virtual land than ever.
This ensures Wenhold's prediction that trillions of dollar will flood the sector because even amid market volatility , there is investor interest. The firm currently manages $3 billion in assets, with more than 90 strategic investors including Acadia Realty Trust, Arbor Realty Trust, and BNP Paribas Real Estate.
"I can tell you that the interest level of investing dollars in the space is still very high," Wenheld said. "The appetite for our largest LPs to explore where they should be on the frontier of tech hasn't changed over the last six months."
Certain companies now offer NFT-backed real estate and even fractionalized ownership of homes. In February, blockchain real estate startup Propy auctioned off a four-bedroom Florida home for $653,163 of ether. The winning bidder now holds the home's property rights, minted as an NFT. The NFT collector will own the house via a limited liability company, or LLC, that houses the crypto asset. The pros? Proponents say minting an NFT of a home's property rights can cut down its closing time since it's all online.
"We're at the very beginning of Fifth Wall deploying more capital into these types of companies, not just within the metaverse, but more broadly, companies that are enabling transactions on the blockchain for real estate purposes," Wenheld said.
When asked about the total size of Fifth Wall's blockchain invesments, Wenheld responded: "We've taken a cautious approach. We'd rather work with a handful of names and really try to get them integrated with our LPS and figure out how to unlock value for them, rather than build an entirely standalone portfolio of names in the Web3 space."
NOW WATCH: Cryptocurrency is the next step in the digitization of everything — 'It’s sort of inevitable'
More: Investing crypto PropTech
Virtual land | 2022-06-07T17:22:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Reasons Digital Metaverse Real Estate Could Attract $1 Trillion: VC | https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-real-estate-metaverse-investing-outlook-forecast-proptech-vc-investing-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-real-estate-metaverse-investing-outlook-forecast-proptech-vc-investing-2022-6 |
The 12 best new books of June 2022, according to Amazon editors
Explore the best new books coming out in June, according to Amazon's book editors.
Amazon's book editors round up the best new releases every month.
June's picks include a range of beach reads, spellbinding debuts, and a poignant parenting book.
For other book recommendations, check out some of the most anticipated book releases of 2022 here.
If you're gearing up for days spent sprawled out on the beach with a good book, you've come to the right place.
Every month, Amazon's book editors publish their favorite new book releases. June's book picks range from an excellent debut novel that will kick off a new trilogy ("The Final Strife" by Saara El-Arifi), a parenting book on raising antiracist children ("How to Raise an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi), a delicious beach read ("Hotel Nantucket" by Elin Hilderbrand) and a new, remarkable American epic by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author ("Horse" by Geraldine Brooks).
The 12 best new books of June 2022, according to Amazon's book editors:
Descriptions are provided by Amazon and lightly edited for clarity and length.
"Half-Blown Rose" by Leesa Cross-Smith
"Half-Blown Rose," available at Amazon, from $13.99
It's impossible to not feel giddy with the excitement of falling in love when you read "Half-Blown Rose." Vincent has left her lying American husband for the freedom of Paris. As she begins to uncover more about her husband's deceit she also begins to fall hard for a student in her class. Filled with love, lust, music, and the sparkle of Paris, "Half-Blown Rose" is perfect summer reading. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
"Cult Classic" by Sloane Crosley
"Cult Classic," available at Amazon, $13.99
A young woman discovers she's the unwitting guinea pig in a New Age-y experiment whereby a combination of rumination and social media manipulation attract former paramours for you to confront and find closure. This story could easily veer into too-kooky territory; instead, it's a wry, insightful, laugh-out-loud funny meditation on one of the riskiest things any of us can undertake: falling in love. "Cult Classic" is a little on the fantastical side. And just plain fantastic. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
"How to Raise an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi
"How to Raise an Antiracist," available at Amazon, from $13.99
Kendi writes with the cadence of a pastor delivering a sermon. He cranks up the speed and power of his words, and then pulls back slowly into a personal story about his daughter, or an unexpected connection between two thoughts. He doesn't mince words, but he's not judgmental — he too struggles to be antiracist, and you read this as if on a shared journey. A poignant read for all parents, or for people who want to examine the way they were raised. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
"Nightcrawling" by Leila Mottley
"Nightcrawling," available at Amazon, from $14.99
An unflinching, mesmerizing, and bruising novel that tackles the injustices of poverty, racism, sexism, and policing with such poetic clarity that it's impossible to put "Nightcrawling" down. This is the story about a Black teenager forced into sex work — nightcrawling — by the very people that could arrest her. As she tries to protect the ones she loves, she discovers a far more sinister side of the East Oakland she knew as a child. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
"Horse" by Geraldine Brooks
"Horse," available at Amazon, from $14.99
A heart-pounding American epic that gallops backward and forward in time to tell a story about race and freedom, horses and art, and the lineage of not just ancestors but actions. From Kentucky to New Orleans, from the 1850s to present day, Pulitzer Prize-winning Brooks weaves together a story centered on one of the fastest thoroughbreds in history and the Black groom that catapulted Lexington to the front of the track. A fast, exciting, and remarkable read, just like the horse the book is centered on. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
"The Final Strife" by Saara El-Arifi
"The Final Strife," available at Amazon, from $11.99
A debut that reads like a masterwork, "The Final Strife" introduces a beautifully realized and painfully human cast against the backdrop of one of the most compelling fantasy landscapes I've ever read. Simply put: I love this book. It's a true epic filled with mystery, adventure, romance, and...blood magic. Lots of blood magic. While "The Final Strife" starts a new trilogy, it tells a compelling story of its own, with a conclusion that will leave you desperate for more. —Marcus Mann, Amazon Editor
"The Catch" by Alison Fairbrother
"The Catch," available at Amazon, from $13.99
When Allie Adler's father dies unexpectedly and fails to bequeath her the baseball that was his prized possession — and held special significance for Allie — her grief gives way to anger and hurt. Fairbrother's funny, complex, and insightful novel asks: "What do we do if people don't love us the way we want to be loved?" —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
"Nora Goes Off Script" by Annabel Monaghan
"Nora Goes Off Script," available at Amazon, $14.99
Nora Hamilton — a scriptwriter for a romance channel — has the formula for true love down pat. On screen, that is. In real life, she and her two kids are still apprehensive about risking their hearts again after her husband cancels all three of them. But lemons and lemonade: the screenplay Nora writes about her divorce brings Hollywood to her door, a hot leading man, and a chance at a happy ending, in this funny, clever, and joyful rom-com. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
"The Community" by N. Jamiyla Chisholm
"The Community," available at Amazon, from $14.95
"The Community" transports readers to an abusive cult in Brooklyn — mere miles, yet an entire world away, from the gleaming skyscrapers of NYC. Chisholm chillingly recounts how her mom quit her job, converted to Islam, and allowed her husband to move their family into a secret Muslim society, where they were separated from Chisholm, then only age two. I was captivated by this harrowing tale, told through vivid flashbacks of life under lockdown, and in the present day, as Chisholm confronts her mother about how their lives were derailed. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
"In the Houses of Their Dead" by Terry Alford
"In the Houses of Their Dead," available at Amazon, from $14.16
A truly fascinating book about how an interest in a movement sweeping mid-1800s America and England, Spiritualism, bound two notable families together — the Booths and the Lincolns — long before the final, tragic connection they would share. Terry Alford lays out all of those eerie connections in detailed but never-dry prose, providing an astonishing story with enough historical context to make it both understandable and, simultaneously, incredible. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
"Hotel Nantucket" by Elin Hilderbrand
"Hotel Nantucket," available at Amazon, from $14.99
In Hilderbrand's latest beach read, a British financier purchases a run-down hotel, renovates it into a dream property, and hires a local to be the general manager. He's trying to impress two women, one of whom is an anonymous hotel reviewer, and the other is a mystery that unfolds over the course of this delicious novel. "The Hotel Nantucket" has lots to love: great food, juicy gossip, secrets and scandals, and that special something that Hilderbrand delivers novel after novel. —Sarah Gelman, Amazon Editor
"Corrections in Ink" by Keri Blakinger
"Corrections in Ink," available at Amazon, from $14.99
"Corrections in Ink" is not just a story about life in a women's prison — it's something much bigger. This is the chronicle of a woman who stared into the abyss of addiction, dove in head-first, then pulled herself out of the ashes of her life through a combination of determination, privilege, and second chances. Gritty, surprising, and hopeful, Blakinger's memoir is as indelible as ink on a crossword. — Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
Amazon Books | 2022-06-07T17:23:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | 12 Best New Books of June 2022, According to Amazon Editors | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/amazon-best-books-june-2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/amazon-best-books-june-2022 |
By Mara Leighton and Katherine Fiorillo
Some of the best enemies-to-lovers books include "Pride and Prejudice," "The Hating Game," and "Red, White & Royal Blue."
Enemies-to-lovers is one of the most popular romance tropes.
Readers love witnessing bitter rivalries dissolve into a sweet love.
You might recognize classic enemies-to-lovers stories like "Pride and Prejudice."
The romance genre is full of unique and adorable love stories but with so many different facets of the genre, subgenres or "tropes" have emerged such as "fake dating," "forced proximity," or "enemies-to-lovers." Tropes offer an outline for the plot from which exciting plots and memorable characters emerge and allow readers to find their favorite romance style again and again.
"Enemies-to-lovers" is one of the best and most popular tropes that you might recognize from classics like "Pride and Prejudice" or bestsellers like "Red, White & Royal Blue." Whether they're set on a fabulous island or a darkly magical land, here are some of readers' favorite enemies-to-lovers romance reads.
The 32 best enemies-to-lovers books in 2022:
Descriptions are provided by Amazon and lightly edited for length.
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Available on Amazon and Bookshop from $6.99
When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever.
Jane Austen's best-loved novel is an unforgettable story about the inaccuracy of first impressions, the power of reason, and above all, the strange dynamics of human relationships and emotions.
"Dating Dr. Dil" by Nisha Sharma
Simone Larkspur loves her job as a pastry expert for a cookbook publisher until the company pivots to video and Simone finds herself stumbling and failing to create great content. When Simone's new kitchen test manager effortlessly and infuriatingly becomes a viral sensation, Simone is forced to work with Ray and their obnoxious personality in close quarters. In "Chef's Kiss", everything gets even more complicated when Ray comes out as nonbinary to a swell of mixed reactions — and Simone must choose between her career and the person who's been slowly melting her heart.
Simone Larkspur is a perfectionist pastry expert with a dream job at The Discerning Chef, a venerable cookbook publisher in New York City. But when The Discerning Chef decides to bring their brand into the 21st century by pivoting to video, Simone is thrust into the spotlight and finds herself failing at something for the first time in her life.
To make matters worse, Simone has to deal with Ray Lyton, the new test kitchen manager, whose obnoxious cheer and outgoing personality are like oil to Simone's water. But the more they work together, the more Simone realizes her heart may be softening like butter for Ray.
Things get even more complicated when Ray comes out at work as nonbinary to mixed reactions—and Simone must choose between the career she fought so hard for and the person who just might take the cake (and her heart).
"West Side Love Story" by Priscilla Oliveras
Having grown up in the nurturing household of Casa Capuleta, Mariana will do anything for familia. To solve her adoptive parents' financial problems amid their rapidly changing San Antonio comunidad, Mariana and her younger sisters are determined to win the Battle of the Mariachi Bands. That means competing against Hugo Montero, their father's archnemesis, and his band and escalating a decades-old feud.
To Angelo Montero's familia, Mariana is also strictly off-limits. But that doesn't stop him from pursuing her. As their secret affair intensifies and the competition grows fierce, they're swept up in a brewing storm of betrayals, rivalries, and broken ties.
"She Gets the Girl" by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she's in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn't actually talked to her yet.
When Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly's hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. Because maybe if Alex volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her, she can prove to her ex that she's not a selfish flirt.
As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they're the ones falling…for each other.
"The Stand-In" by Lily Chu
Gracie Reed is doing just fine. Sure, she was fired by her overly "friendly" boss, and yes she still hasn't gotten her mother into the nursing home of their dreams, but she's healthy, she's (somewhat) happy, and she's (mostly) holding it all together.
But when a mysterious SUV pulls up beside her, revealing Chinese cinema's golden couple Wei Fangli and Sam Yao, Gracie's world is turned on its head. The famous actress has a proposition: due to their uncanny resemblance, Fangli wants Gracie to be her stand-in. The catch? Gracie will have to be escorted by Sam, the most attractive―and infuriating―man Gracie's ever met.
"Beach Read" by Emily Henry
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck with their respective writer's blocks engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters. They strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. Everyone will finish a book, and no one will fall in love. Really.
"The Spanish Love Deception" by Elena Armas
A wedding. A trip to Spain. The most infuriating man. And three days of pretending. Or, in other words, a plan that will never work.
Four weeks wasn't a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic — from NYC and all the way to Spain — for a wedding. Let alone someone eager to play along with my charade.
But that didn't mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6'4 blue-eyed pain in my ass standing before me: Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date, right after inserting his nose in my business and calling me delusional and himself my best option.
Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister's wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences?
"Poison Study (The Chronicles of Ixia Book 0)" by Maria V. Snyder
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace — and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
And so, Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dusté, and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia, and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again, and choices must be made. But this time, the outcomes aren't so clear.
"A Touch of Darkness" by Scarlett St. Clair
Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist. Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world, and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible.
After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead, and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. The bet does more than expose Persephone's failure as a goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows — and it's forbidden.
"The Hating Game" by Sally Thorne
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can't understand Joshua's joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy's overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.
Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head, and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job… But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn't hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn't hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.
"Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood — those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.
To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and she is betrothed to one of his sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard — a growing Red rebellion — even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction.
"Beautiful Disaster" by Jamie McGuire
The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn't drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.
Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants — and needs — to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby's resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis's apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.
What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?
When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius ― his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper and more dangerous than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be?
"The Shadows Between Us" by Tricia Levenseller
Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:
1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.
No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King's power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she's going to do everything within her power to get it.
But Alessandra's not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen ― all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?
"The Viscount Who Loved Me: Bridgerton (Bridgerton Book 2)" by Julia Quinn
This time the gossip columnists have it wrong. London's most elusive bachelor Anthony Bridgerton hasn't just decided to marry — he's even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended's older sister, Kate Sheffield — the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate's the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...
Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands — and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate's determined to protect her sister — but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony's lips touch hers, she's suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself...
"The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Of course, I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered, and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. 10 years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans — especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him — and face the consequences.
"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte
Available on Amazon and Bookshop from $7.36
Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before. What unfolds is the tale of the intense love between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw.
Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal are visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.
"The Unhoneymooners" by Christina Lauren
Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: From inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion… she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas.
Olive braces herself for wedding hell — determined to put on a brave face. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren't affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there's a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo.
Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, 10 days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is… Olive doesn't mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.
"If I Never Met You" by Mhairi McFarlane
When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling — not only because they work at the same law firm, and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles, and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying.
When news of her ex's pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.
Jamie Carter doesn't believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It's the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind.
With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment — and jealousy — of their friends and colleagues. But there's a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend...
"Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove, #1)" by Shelby Mahurin
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation — marriage.
Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.
"The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2)" by Holly Black
You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring. The first lesson is to make yourself strong.
Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.
When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.
"Six of Crows (Six of Crows, 1)" by Leigh Bardugo
Ketterdam: A bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price ― and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction ― if they don't kill each other first.
"Bully (Fall Away, #1)" by Penelope Douglas
My name is Tate. He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me by a friendly nickname. No, he'll barely even speak to me. But he still won't leave me alone.
We were best friends once. Then he turned on me and made it his mission to ruin my life. I was humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got worse as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to stay out of his way. I even went away for a year just to avoid him.
But I'm done hiding from him now, and there's no way I'll allow him to ruin another year. He might not have changed, but I have. It's time to fight back.
"A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)" by Sarah J. Maas
When 19-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he's not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.
"To Kill a Kingdom" by Alexandra Christo
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of 17 princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most ― a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian's heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.
The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby ― it's his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she's more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good ― but can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind's greatest enemy?
"Punk 57" by Penelope Douglas
Misha: I can't help but smile at the lyrics in her letter. She misses me. In fifth grade, my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student, Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed. It didn't take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever… And that was the start. For the next seven years, it was us.
We only had three rules: No social media, no phone numbers, no pictures. We had a good thing going. Why ruin it? Until I run across a photo of a girl online. Name's Ryen, loves Gallo's pizza, and worships her iPhone. What are the chances? F*ck it. I need to meet her. I just don't expect to hate what I find.
Ryen: He hasn't written in three months. Something's wrong. Did he die? Get arrested? Knowing Misha, neither would be a stretch. Without him around, I'm going crazy. I need to know someone is listening. It's my own fault. I should've gotten his phone number or picture or something. He could be gone forever. Or right under my nose, and I wouldn't even know it.
"From Lukov with Love" by Mariana Zapata
If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one. After 17 years — and countless broken bones and broken promises — she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close. But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she's spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything. Including Ivan Lukov.
"From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash, #1)" by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy's life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.
The entire kingdom's future rests on Poppy's shoulders. But when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard, honor-bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.
"These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1)" by Chloe Gong
The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is 18-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang — a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette's first love… and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns — and grudges — aside and work together, for if they can't stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
"The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)" by Danielle L. Jensen
The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara's homeland. So when she's sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses. And the defenses of its king.
Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she's the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she'll save... and which kingdom she'll destroy.
"Paper Princess (The Royals, #1") by Erin Watt
Ella Harper is a survivor ― a pragmatic optimist. She's spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she'll climb out of the gutter. After her mother's death, Ella is truly alone.
Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons, who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to where she came from.
Reed doesn't want her. He says she doesn't belong with the Royals. He might be right.
More: Education Education & Personal Development E-Learning Books | 2022-06-07T17:23:10Z | www.businessinsider.com | The 32 Best Enemies-to-Lovers Books to Swoon Over in 2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/best-enemies-to-lovers-books | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/best-enemies-to-lovers-books |
Faye Bingham noticed that her medical backpack looked dull, so decided to create her own.
Faye Bingham
Faye Bingham tried to design a better backpack than the one she was given to support a feeding tube.
She sourced a backpack and adapted it to her needs — and she saw a market for the product.
This is how she grew her business from her spare room, as told to Amber Sunner.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Faye Bingham, a 26-year-old founder from Kidderminster, England, about starting the business. It has been edited for length and clarity. Insider has verified Bingham's sales with documentation.
From age 13, doctors misdiagnosed me with anorexia nervosa. I spent a lot of time in the hospital growing up because I was very underweight and very malnourished.
I was often put on feeding tubes during my prolonged hospital stays from 13 to 22. I had a gravity-fed nasogastric tube, or NG, a tube that carries food and medicine to the stomach through the nose.
In January 2019 I was fitted with a permanent NG tube to help me maintain a consistent weight. This one was pump-fed and required a backpack to carry the pump and feeding bag. At the time, I was 22 and studying at university.
I took my favorite Disney backpack and asked my husband to get some fishing wire and ribbon. I sewed the ribbon and wire into the top of the bag with a needle to hold my feeding tube and pump.
The hospital gave me a backpack to carry my pump, but it was black and boring
In February 2019, a month after being released from the hospital, I went to an adult eating-disorder unit in Glasgow. They discovered that my previous diagnosis of anorexia nervosa was wrong and correctly diagnosed me with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.
ARFID is a physical aversion to food that is separate from body image. This diagnosis meant I started getting the correct treatment I needed. I felt like I could finally be with friends and plan for the future, and I started going out more.
Every time I went out between March and June 2019, I had to carry around three backpacks because I couldn't fit all my feeding-tube supplies into one.
It was a hassle.
I wanted a bag that would make me feel more confident and own my diagnosis
During that time, I began designing a big-enough backpack for day-to-day living with a feeding pump. I wanted it to fit a laptop along with textbooks, pencil cases, and a spare change of clothes.
I tried backpacks and materials from a variety of retailers. I also researched how to create safe entry and exit holes for the tubing that connects the feed bag to the pump and the pump to the NG tube.
I bought a £20 sewing machine and started hand-making the bags with special adaptions. It took a few months to design the product.
I hand-make all of the backpacks from a spare room in my house. I watched a couple of YouTube videos to learn how to set up a business and paid a website-subscription fee to sell my bags on Etsy.
In July 2019, while I was still doing my master's degree, I launched Tubie Life, selling the adapted backpacks I had designed.
I made about £30 of profit in my first month — but I loved making the backpacks, so I kept at it, and sales picked up.
Having a tube on your face is noticeable
People stare.
I knew hospitals would tape children's IV lines with teddy-bear cannula dressings. I thought, why can't adults and other feeding-tube users have patterned medical tape to replace the boring white tape used on NG tubes?
In December 2020 I invested the money I'd made to buy specialist printers for personalized Tubie Tape — a patterned, medical-grade tape — to replace the boring white tape used on NG tubes.
I paid a graphic designer £150 to touch up the logo I had designed.
In May 2021 I created a Shopify website. I currently run both the Etsy and the Shopify sites, and I've expanded my product range into tape and stickers and bags.
The critical thing I have learned is to make your brand personable
I built brand recognition through Instagram.
The Tubie Life Instagram tells you who I am as the creator. I post a healthy mix of Reels, Stories, and in-feed posts, but Reels has been the most successful.
One of the first Reels I made was to audio of the days of the week showing seven NG tube tapes. I want to inspire people to feel confident and express themselves through their tapes.
We have seen an increase in sale conversion rates when I post a Reel of about 7% to 8%.
It was incredibly hard juggling university and Tubie Life. I dropped out of university in January 2022. I feel passionate about my business and want to devote myself fully to growing it.
Since last April I have made more than £61,000, almost $77,000, in revenue from my handmade products on my site and my Etsy store. Last month I made £7,000 in income.
I am proud that my job is increasing the quality of life of my customers.
More: contributor 2022 Health Business as told to | 2022-06-07T17:23:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | How I Used Etsy and Reels to Make $76k in Sales for My Small Business | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-start-small-business-etsy-instagram-reels-handmade-backpack | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-start-small-business-etsy-instagram-reels-handmade-backpack |
Former Lucid manager alleges the EV startup failed to report vehicle repairs made ahead of customer deliveries, sues for wrongful termination
This week's suit comes amid Lucid's rocky production ramp-up that's been hobbled by supply chain constraints, ongoing quality control issues, and two recalls of its vehicles.
A former Lucid employee in charge of pre-delivery fixes and recalls is suing the automaker.
The employee claims the EV startup failed to report pre-delivery repairs made to customer vehicles.
Here’s an exclusive look at the lawsuit.
A former Lucid Motors manager is suing the EV startup, alleging it failed to report repairs it made to vehicles before delivering them to customers, and wrongfully fired him after he raised concerns to CEO Peter Rawlinson.
The suit comes amid Lucid's rocky production ramp-up that's been hobbled by supply chain constraints, ongoing quality control issues, and two recalls of its vehicles. Lucid is also facing several shareholder suits and its stock price has been on a downturn since a November high.
The lawsuit was filed in a California court on Monday by Raul Guzman, who says he was formerly a Lucid recall manager responsible for developing safety protocols, from March to November 2021. He claims the company ignored his warnings about the importance of reporting pre-delivery corrections to vehicles made at the automaker's Casa Grande, Arizona factory.
"We couldn't just grab cars and fix them without needing to do certain reporting requirements," Guzman told Insider, noting Lucid had more leeway to pull back prototype and pre-production vehicles. "These were customer vehicles and they were subject to regulations. That's when, really, the resistance started."
The complaint details Guzman's attempt to raise alarms to Lucid manufacturing and quality leadership, including Rawlinson, about Lucid's alleged lack of reporting pre-delivery quality confirmations, which the complaint calls "the last line of defense against poor quality making it to the customer."
"There's this risk, I'm bringing it to their attention, and he's telling me that I'm, pardon my French, full of shit," Guzman told Insider of Rawlinson.
Lucid spokesperson Nat Lingo told Insider the company does not comment on pending litigation.
"Lucid Motors's business model requires the company to report any pre-delivery work done to customer cars to the government, and many of these reports should be safety recalls," the complaint alleges. In simple terms, this stems from the somewhat unusual way Lucid sells its cars: Where most automakers transfer the vehicle title to a customer at a dealership after the purchase, Lucid — which has no dealers — does so after the vehicle leaves the factory but before the customer actually gets the car. That means Lucid could have made safety-critical repairs while the customer technically owned the car, and therefore should know about such work.
But Lucid's model legally "left little opportunity to contain affected vehicles and remedy quality concerns before customer delivery," the filing alleges, particularly in states where the automaker is not yet licensed to sell directly to the customer. These fixes involved pre-production cars where the front suspension could separate, and repairs on pre-delivery vehicles that compromised their safety.
"Lucid Motors cares more about its profits than the safety of its customers," the filing claims. "To this day, Lucid Motors continues to violate the law by not reporting manufacturing defects, some of which have been corrected in secret, to the government."
The suit says Guzman felt the need to "whistleblow" to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the potential safety risks of Lucid vehicles because the company had not reported any of the corrections made on its customer vehicles prior to their delivery as of January 19, 2022, long after the date required to report the fixes that had been made.
A NHTSA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Allegations of cars 'ill-prepared for sale'
The complaint alleges one instance in which Lucid did not adhere to the pre-delivery vehicle correction process Guzman established at the company, and that some pre-production vehicles — used for engineering purposes, EPA testing, and media drives — "were suspected of having shipped from the factory with loose upper control arm bolts where the front suspension could separate causing a loss of steering control."
The suit also alleges the first 12 Lucid Air sedans "were so ill-prepared for sale that each vehicle had roughly 40-60 items that needed addressed [sic] before they could be delivered to customers."
The complaint also says a vehicle that was a pre-registered "Out of State" sale was damaged during assembly in November, and "that four holes were drilled into the B-Pillar to access the dent" to repair it. "This inappropriate repair compromised the safety of this vehicle and should not have been performed without prior authorization, which includes ensuring the vehicle maintained structural integrity," the suit alleges.
It claims the vehicle was delivered to the customer without notifying them of the potential safety defect. Lucid later took back the vehicle and sold that customer a new one, to avoid issuing a formal recall, the claim states.
Representing Guzman is Lawrance Bohm of Bohm Law Group, known for high-profile, single-plaintiff employment verdicts including the $167.7 million Chopourian v. Catholic Healthcare West ruling.
"While the filed complaint contains only one side of the story, the lawsuit makes serious allegations of employer misconduct and retaliation leading to termination, in violation of both state labor laws and state common law," said David Yamada, a law professor and director of the New Workplace Institute at the Suffolk University Law School.
"Mr. Guzman is taking a real risk here, as whistleblowers often find it difficult to obtain employment in their field, especially if the lawsuit gets widespread publicity. That said, while the identity of his lawyers does not prove the merits of his claims, it is noteworthy that a prominent plaintiff's law firm has agreed to represent him."
flagship product | 2022-06-07T17:23:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | Lucid Former Manager Alleges It Failed to Report Recalls Before Delivering Cars | https://www.businessinsider.com/lucid-manager-lawsuit-failure-report-recalls-nhtsa-wrongful-termination-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/lucid-manager-lawsuit-failure-report-recalls-nhtsa-wrongful-termination-2022-6 |
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy made $212 million last year while the company's median worker pay was under $33,000.
Richard Brian/Reuters
A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies look at how much CEOs and workers make.
Across the 300 low-paying firms IPS analyzed, CEOs make 670 times more than their workers.
Some lawmakers have suggested imposing extra taxes on companies with large CEO pay gaps.
Over the last year, the labor market has seen many new pandemic-era developments: Skyrocketing wages, labor shortages, and the Great Resignation.
One trend has gotten more extreme: America's lowest-paying firms for workers provide massive paychecks to their CEOs. At the same time, everyday costs for workers got a whole lot more expensive.
According to a new report from the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies, the gap between CEO and median worker pay stretched even further in 2021. Top executives made 670 times more than their workers at the lowest-paying companies — a widening gap from 2020, when they made 604 times more. In fact, at 49 of the 300 companies IPS looked at, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was over 1,000-to-1.
The following table shows the companies with the highest CEO-worker pay ratios among the 300 companies in the report:
High CEO pay isn't a new phenomenon. A report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that, in 2020, CEOS made 351 times more than the typical worker. From 1978 to 2020, according to EPI, CEO compensation has grown 1,322%. At the same time, the typical worker's pay rose by just 18% during that time. According to the IPS report, that gap is even starker for the world's lowest earners and their CEOs.
It also comes as pay raises are wiped out by even-faster rising prices. For 106 of the firms that IPS analyzed, the median pay for workers did not keep up with 2021 inflation. In fact, 69 of the firms saw their typical nominal worker pay drop.
The report only tracks inflation in 2021, which grew 4.7% on average. Prices have only gotten higher in 2022, with just a handful of workers seeing their wages keep pace with skyrocketing costs.
Some politicians have taken aim at what they think is "excessive" CEO compensation. In 2021, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — among other progressives — introduced the "Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act," aimed at companies that make at least $100 million. The legislation would impose an additional corporate tax on companies where CEOs make at least 50 times more than their median worker's pay. Companies where CEOs make 500 times more than their typical worker — like the ones IPS focused on — would owe an additional 5% in corporate tax.
"CEOs are being paid hundreds of times more than their average worker, whose wages haven't changed in years," Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts who co-sponsored the legislation, said in a press release at the time. "It is a national disgrace."
More: Economy Income Inequality Income Disparity CEO compensation
Income gap
minimum wage workers | 2022-06-07T18:14:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | CEO V. Worker Pay: When the Boss Makes 670 Times More | https://www.businessinsider.com/ceos-make-670-times-more-than-workers-inflation-raises-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ceos-make-670-times-more-than-workers-inflation-raises-2022-6 |
A woman waits to buy kerosene oil for home use at a fuel station in Colombo on June 07, 2022.
The World Bank sees much of the world sliding into a recession in 2022 as inflation stays high.
The organization cut its 2022 global growth forecast to 2.9% from 4.1% in projections published Tuesday.
Developing countries stand to face the biggest downturns as their debt gets much more expensive.
The future of the world economy looks much worse than it did just months ago, and most countries will have a hard time avoiding downturns in the near future, according to a new report from the World Bank.
The global economy entered 2022 with a healthy tailwind. Vaccine rollouts and nationwide reopenings unleashed a wave of spending and extraordinary economic growth last year. That boost has now faded, and new pressures are hampering growth around the world. The Russian invasion of Ukraine exacerbated inflation for key goods like gasoline and food. Supply-chain snags continue to disrupt global trade. Lockdowns in China risk throwing the manufacturing sector into a new tangle.
Those factors all led the World Bank to lower its forecast for 2022 global growth. The organization now sees the world economy expanding 2.9% through the year, down from the 4.1% forecasted in January and the 5.7% gain seen through last year.
"For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid," David Malpass, president of the World Bank, said in the Tuesday report.
Among the biggest risks to the recovery is stagflation, he added. The term references periods of weak economic growth and persistently high inflation. The US last dealt with the phenomenon in the 1970s, and the high interest rates needed to cool inflation posed massive economic hardships on Americans.
Stagflation could reverse much of the progress made over the past two years, particularly if it emerges on a global scale.
"With inflation now running at multidecade highs in many countries and supply expected to grow slowly, there is a risk that inflation will remain higher for longer than currently anticipated," Malpass said, adding that "subdued growth" will likely last throughout the 2020s.
While the global outlook looks dim, the US economy continues to show signs of strength. The May jobs report offered an encouraging sign for the US economy, with the country adding a better-than-expected 390,000 payrolls last month despite rising interest rates. There "doesn't really seem to be strong economic evidence" that the US recovery is slowing "dramatically," Daniel Zhao, a senior economist at Glassdoor, told Insider.
Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in a Friday tweet that people should "dial back a bit of the negativity on the economic outlook," reversing course from more bearish statements made just weeks prior.
Still, a resilient US economy won't shield the rest of the world from a recession. Developing countries are the most exposed to downturn risks. The war in Ukraine is already slamming countries unable to pay for pricier energy and food. External public debt in developing countries also stands at record highs. As central banks rush to cool inflation with interest rate hikes, that debt will put serious pressure on emerging economies and could even spill over into middle-income nations.
Avoiding such an outcome will require policy action in five areas, Malpass said. Governments should limit the harm to those affected by the invasion of Ukraine through immediate aid and long-term relocation support. Boosting the supply of oil and food can calm some inflationary pressures, as can speeding up the transition to sustainable energy. Policymakers should also improve public health efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 and step up debt relief efforts to help low-income countries bridge the period of weaker growth.
"There is good reason to expect that, once the war in Ukraine stops, efforts will redouble—including by the World Bank Group—to rebuild the Ukrainian economy and revive global growth," Malpass said. "In the meantime, policy makers everywhere must fight the world's other development crises."
economic research | 2022-06-07T18:14:58Z | www.businessinsider.com | Recession 'Will Be Hard to Avoid' in Most of the World: World Bank | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-world-bank-economy-report-inflation-stagflation-gdp-risk-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-world-bank-economy-report-inflation-stagflation-gdp-risk-2022-6 |
Education Sec. Miguel Cardona.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told lawmakers the student-loan payment pause "could be" extended.
He said borrowers will get "ample notice" on whatever decision the department makes.
In the past, borrowers have gotten little notice on payment pause extensions.
Uncertainty continues to loom for millions of student-loan borrowers.
During a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona for an update on whether federal borrowers should plan to resume paying off their debt on September 1, which is when the current student-loan payment pause is set to expire. Cardona said that "we recognize that while the economy has improved, many Americans are still struggling to make ends meet."
"I don't have any information now to share with you about when it would end..." Cardona added, referring to the student-loan payment pause. "I know we have a date, and it could be that it's extended. Or it could be that it starts there. But what I will say is that our borrowers will have ample notice. And we'll communicate that with you as well."
Cardona did not specify what he meant by "ample notice," but in the past, millions of federal borrowers have been given little heads up regarding the payment pause extensions. With the most recent one, when payments were set to resume on May 1, borrowers were notified of the additional extension on April 5, less than a month in advance.
Now, with both a student-loan payment pause extension and broad student-loan relief on the table, there's a lot of information borrowers don't yet have. Recent reports have suggested Biden is considering $10,000 in relief for borrowers making under $150,000 a year, and the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that decision will likely not be made until July or August, closer to when payments are set to resume.
In April, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out the Education Department for the lack of notice on student-loan repayment.
"I think some folks read these extensions as savvy politics, but I don't think those folks understand the panic and disorder it causes people to get so close to these deadlines just to extend the uncertainty," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter in April. "It doesn't have the affect people think it does."
—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 5, 2022
Cardona also made clear that even if another extension is to come, borrowers should still expect to begin making payments on their debt again "at some point." For now, many Democratic lawmakers want to ensure Biden delivers on broad relief, and soon.
"If @POTUS cancels student debt, millions of hardworking Americans will get the chance to start their own businesses, buy their first homes, and save for retirement," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter. "Let's get this done." | 2022-06-07T18:15:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | Student-Loan Payment Pause 'Could Be' Extended: Ed. Secretary Cardona | https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-payment-pause-could-be-extended-ample-notice-cardona-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-payment-pause-could-be-extended-ample-notice-cardona-2022-6 |
I quit my job as a Goldman Sachs VP to write romance novels at 28. If I never changed careers to go all-in as an author, I knew I'd regret it.
Lindsay MacMillan.
Lindsay MacMillan is a former VP at Goldman Sachs. She now writes love novels.
She left Wall Street to pursue her passion during the Great Resignation.
MacMillan advises people to follow their hearts over following a "succesful" life track.
I left my job at Goldman Sachs to pursue my lifelong dream of being an author. After spending nearly six years there, I was promoted to vice president at age 28 — and then quit a month after my promotion.
In the age of the Great Resignation, the story of quitting a corporate job isn't new. We know all about employee burnout and existential crises and how the pandemic has reshaped what we want from our careers.
Running away from soul-crunching jobs has been well documented. But we're not as familiar with the narrative of running towards life-giving dreams.
It would've been easier to leave Goldman if I'd been miserable and working hundred-hour weeks, per the stereotypes. But I wasn't.
In my last few years at the firm, I had an uncommonly good work-life balance for Wall Street, logging only about fifty hours a week. The work was intellectually stimulating, and I met wonderful mentors and friends. I got to live in NYC and London and learn about the business world from the best of the best.
But I didn't want writing to be just a hobby
I didn't hate my job by any means. I just loved writing so much that I couldn't justify keeping it as a side hobby any longer.
At age six, I decided I wanted to be an author, and at 18, I wrote my first 450-page fiction manuscript to help me through my parents' divorce. In the years that followed, I kept writing more books and unsuccessfully pitching literary agents, the publishing gatekeepers. (For as difficult as it was to break into Goldman Sachs, breaking into the traditional publishing world was infinitely harder.)
When I was 26, I finished a new manuscript about a young Wall Street woman figuring out life and love in her twenties and leaning on female friendships to keep smiling through the emotional volatility of the dating market. It was entirely fiction, though inspired by my own life season, and I knew it was stronger than anything I'd written before. The years of trial and error had helped me hone my prose and find my voice.
Agents seemed to agree. After receiving several offers of representation, I signed with my wonderful agent Abby, who understood my vision for the book and my writing career. She pitched the publishers and about six months later, we landed two book deals with an NYC imprint sold through Penguin Random House.
In the midst of the rejections and self-doubt in the years leading up to the book deals, I was grateful for my Wall Street job. Not only was the financial stability an incredible gift, but it also kept me from obsessing about writing 24/7.
In many ways, my finance job made me a better novelist
Perhaps surprisingly, my corporate career actually enhanced my creative pursuits.
I was exposed to so many more ways of living and thinking than I would have if I'd been sequestered away as a solitary writer. These experiences strengthened my storytelling. And my demanding schedule forced me to be disciplined with the time I carved out to work on manuscripts.
Every morning, I arrived at Starbucks at 6am — no excuses — and wrote for three hours before heading into the Goldman office.
I was a modern-day Hannah Montana, my friends joked, balancing my double life as a Wall Streeter and a writer.
I didn't talk about my publishing ambitions at work. If my colleagues knew how passionate I was about writing, I was worried they'd question my commitment to my day job.
And my book was about love, pretty much the most touchy-feely, feminine topic — completely opposite to the buttoned-up masculinity that often succeeds in finance.
I worried what colleagues would think
The last thing I wanted to be known as was the girl who wrote about love in her spare time.
In my first job at Goldman, I'd been the only woman investor on my NYC team of twenty men. I'd learned to dress like the guys, talk fantasy football, and mute my bubbly laugh so that I sounded more serious.
Even though I now worked in a role with much greater female representation, those early years stuck with me, and I thought that revealing my novelist side might make me look weak and overly emotional.
So in the office, I talked about deals and market volatility and economic outlooks, keeping creative writing to myself as a side hustle. This balance worked okay for a while, until things started picking up and publishing a book was no longer just a pipe dream.
With my debut novel coming out in June, and my second slated for next summer, I knew in my soul it was time to take the leap and pursue writing full-time.
Leaving was scary
But even though I had two book deals, I was still scared to leave Goldman. Scared to give up the prestige of the job title and the comfortable salary. Scared to draw on my savings (it's common knowledge that royalties from writing fiction don't cover your bills). Scared to get off the promotion track and potentially close doors that I'd worked so hard to open.
Those were the practical fears, but the poetic ones haunted me more. I was terrified by the idea that in twenty years I might still be talking myself out of reasons to take a chance on myself. What if I never went all-in as an author and gave it 100%? I knew I'd regret it.
So, once the fear of staying was heavier than the fear of leaving, I quit.
More than I'd expected, my colleagues were overwhelmingly supportive when I told them the news. As they asked about my book, I sensed a wistfulness in their voices, as if they were wondering where their lives might be if they, too, had chased down their childhood desires. Wondering if they still might be able to…
And I think that's what this next wave of the Great Resignation is about. It's why we're leaving lucrative corporate jobs to be scrappy entrepreneurs and artists and van lifers.
My story and our stories aren't about quitting, but rather of not quitting
It's about holding onto our dreams for dear life and knowing when it's time to take leaps of faith that make us feel free.
Starting out on a conventional career path can be a smart decision to give ourselves a sturdy foundation. But eventually, if we keep feeling that tug in our heart pulling us towards a different passion, we need to bet on ourselves by stepping off the "successful" track and into our own truth.
Lindsay MacMillan is an author and former banker. Her first novel, "The Heart of the Deal," comes out in June 2022. | 2022-06-07T18:59:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Why I Left Banking to Become an Author Amid the Great Resignation | https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-vp-great-resignation-romance-author-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-vp-great-resignation-romance-author-2022-6 |
You'll soon be able to use an iPhone as a webcam, but there's already an app for that
Apple's Continuity Camera feature lets you use your iPhone as a webcam with a Mac.
Apple's Continuity Camera feature will let you use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac.
Continuity Camera will come with macoS Ventura and iOS 16 when they're released this fall.
But, you could already do this with the Camo app, which also supports Android and Windows.
During its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022 event, Apple announced a new feature in the upcoming macOS Ventura and iOS 16 operating system updates that will let you use your iPhone as a webcam with a Mac computer.
It's called Continuity Camera, and it wirelessly and automatically connects your iPhone to your Mac when it's nearby with FaceTime, Zoom , Microsoft Teams, or Webex in use.
Continuity Camera also includes Apple's Center Stage feature, which keeps the camera's focus on you when moving around — plus, Portrait Mode blurs the background. Finally, a new "Desk View" feature will use your iPhone's ultrawide camera to give the viewer an overhead view of your desk and show your face simultaneously.
All you need is an iPhone 11 or newer running on iOS 16 and a Mac running on macOS Ventura, which are both releasing this fall. But to use Apple's Studio Light iPhone camera effects, you'll need the iPhone 12 or newer.
However, this isn't really anything new.
There's an app that does the same thing for Android and Windows users.
Camo lets you use almost any iPhone or Android phone as a webcam for Mac and Windows computers.
Continuity Camera is easily the best choice if you have an iPhone 11 or newer and a Mac computer. But the Continuity Camera only works with Macs and iPhones.
Thankfully for Android, Windows, and older iPhone users, there's an app for using your smartphone as a webcam on your PC or Mac, called Camo. The desktop version of the app for Windows and macOS, called Camo Studio, is also required.
Camo is even ideal for older iPhones, iPads, or even an iPod Touch, as it supports iOS 12 or later. Android users can use an old phone running Android 7 or later.
There's a free version of the Camo apps, which is limited to 720p video resolution, use of either your phone's selfie camera or main camera, and use of your phone's microphone.
The paid version of Camo costs $39.99 a year, or $4.99 per month. There's also a $79.99 lifetime license that makes sense if you plan to use Camo for more than two years.
That fee grants access to every lens, including telephoto or ultrawide lenses. You also get Portrait Mode on phones that support it, control of your phone's flash, up to 1440p video resolution, and various other controls. You can check out the full list of features you get with the paid version of Camo here.
However, Camo isn't as seamless or fully featured as Apple's Continuity Camera.
This phone clamp made by Belkin will let you easily mount your iPhone to your Mac’s screen.
Where Camo falls short compared to Continuity Camera is that you'll need a wire to connect your phone to your computer. It's not the worst drawback, as any regular webcam usually needs a wire.
Current iPhone clamps for computer screens also aren't as elegant as Apple's teased iPhone clamp made by Belkin. From the teaser, it looks like Belkin's clamp uses the iPhone's MagSafe magnets to attach, and a small lip keeps the phone perched on a MacBook laptop's screen.
As for Android and Windows users, Camo has some solutions for users, like tripods and flexible arms, but they're simply not as turnkey. Regardless, you don't have to wait for iOS 16 to use your iPhone as a webcam with your Mac.
Download the iOS version of Camo here, and the Android version of Camo here. | 2022-06-07T18:59:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | Camo App: a Third-Party Alternative to Apple's Continuity Camera | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/iphone-android-as-webcam-with-camo-app | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/iphone-android-as-webcam-with-camo-app |
Target announced a plan to offload excess inventory and cut its Q2 profit-margin forecasts.
The stock had dipped more than 4% as of Tuesday afternoon as a result.
Target said it will put more items on sale and cancel orders to clear space for in-demand products.
Get ready for more sales at Target.
The retailer announced Tuesday that it's taking steps to deal with excess inventory, including markdowns, clearing out extra products, and canceling orders. Target cut its profit-margin forecasts for the fiscal second quarter as a result, sending shares down more than 4% as of Tuesday afternoon.
CEO Brian Cornell said in a statement that Target has been monitoring consumer buying behavior amid the current economic climate and opted to act now in order to "remain nimble."
"While these decisions will result in additional costs in the second quarter, we're confident this rapid response will pay off for our business and our shareholders over time, resulting in improved profitability in the second half of the year and beyond," Cornell said.
Target plans to focus on merchandise that remains popular with customers — items like beauty products, household essentials, and back-to-school supplies — while offloading goods that shoppers no longer want, like home goods or cumbersome patio furniture, which Target worked to clear out with a sale during Memorial Day weekend, Cornell told CNBC's Melissa Repko.
Target warned during its fiscal first-quarter earnings in May that it was dealing with a glut of inventory in "bulky categories" like kitchen appliances, TVs, and outdoor furniture, Cornell said during a conference call with investors.
"While we anticipated a post-stimulus slowdown in these categories, and we expect the consumers to continue refocusing their spending away from goods and services, we didn't anticipate the magnitude of that shift," he said.
But Target isn't the only retailer experiencing whiplash: Walmart, Kohl's, Gap, American Eagle, and Urban Outfitters reported during their recent earnings calls that inventories were up significantly compared to a year ago as pandemic-era products languished on shelves.
Which means that retailers are stuck with too many products and only two options for what to do with it all: pack it up and hold it for next year, or put it on sale.
As Insider previously reported, some of those discounts likely won't go into effect until later this year, given lingering supply-chain challenges for several retailers. But others are already clearing the way for in-demand goods — which means shoppers should prepare for more products shuffled to the sale rack.
Do you work at Target? Do you have a tip to share? Contact Insider senior reporter Avery Hartmans by email (ahartmans@insider.com) or Twitter DM (@averyhartmans).
More: Target Inventory Management Brian Cornell Walmart | 2022-06-07T19:00:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | Target Markdowns Coming Amid Excess Pandemic Inventory | https://www.businessinsider.com/target-markdowns-extra-inventory-pandemic-products-2022-6 | https://www.businessinsider.com/target-markdowns-extra-inventory-pandemic-products-2022-6 |
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