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Elsa Estrada, 6, received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a pediatric vaccine clinic in Santa Ana, California in November, 2021.
AP file photo/Jae Hong
COVID-19 vaccines for kids as young as 6 month old could be available next week.
First, the CDC has to give a final signoff.
Many experts are already expressing a preference for one brand, but both are good options.
Little kids, toddlers, and babies as young as 6 months old will likely be lining up for COVID-19 vaccines in pharmacies, doctor's offices, and vaccine clinics across the US in just a few more days.
The Food and Drug Administration gave its vote of confidence for shots from Moderna and Pfizer to start going into little arms on Friday. The move still requires a final signoff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this weekend, but the White House is already planning for vaccinations to start "as early as the week of June 20."
Because there are two different brands being offered, with different formulations, dose schedules, and side effects, parents are already weighing which shot is best for them and their children.
"Both are great options," ER doctor Jeremy Faust wrote in his Inside Medicine newsletter, expressing confidence in both Pfizer and Moderna.
However, Faust, along with public health expert Katelyn Jetelina and prominent parenting author Emily Oster have all decided that Moderna is the top pick for their own young kids.
Their reasoning boils down to the fact that, according to early data, Moderna's shot appears to pack a bigger immune punch, and it does the job faster. While short-term side effects are slightly worse with Moderna than with Pfizer, Moderna kids appear to gain protection against COVID in a matter of weeks, not months.
Faster protection with Moderna
Three year old Hudson (pictured with his mom) enrolled in Moderna's pediatric COVID-19 vaccine trial for kids as young as 6 months old in 2021.
Moderna's vaccine for babies and toddlers includes a bigger dose of mRNA than Pfizer's, which may be part of the reason why FDA data suggests Moderna's shot prompts faster protection with fewer shots.
"The three-dose Pfizer series takes nearly 90 days to go into effect," Faust said. "Moderna's two-dose series is considered effective by day 42. That means Moderna recipients get protection much sooner."
Faust even created his own model chart, forecasting COVID-19 illnesses in little kids, based on insights gleaned from the clinical trials. His model shows Moderna kids achieving some protection against COVID-19 illnesses about a month and a half before Pfizer kids do. But keep in mind that these are estimates, based on the available data we have so far:
Inside Medicine
According to FDA data sets, little kids who received Moderna in the company's clinical trials begin receiving some protection against COVID illnesses shortly after their second dose (administered at 30 days).
Kids under 5 who got Pfizer's vaccine didn't see much of a benefit kick in until they received their third dose, which means it took almost three months for them to achieve meaningful protection against symptomatic COVID.
Based on the FDA breakdowns, it looks like toddlers over 2 years old gain some immune protection a little faster than babies do, both with Pfizer and with Moderna. But generally speaking, it's about a month to a month and a half for Moderna, versus three months for Pfizer.
"Parents should feel comfortable getting either one of these vaccines," Dr. Peter Marks, who runs the FDA's vaccine division, said on Friday during a call with reporters.
"It may be that the Moderna vaccine brings an immune response slightly more rapidly," he said. "On the other hand, the three dose Pfizer regimen may also bring a greater immune response after the third dose."
Pfizer's 80% efficacy appears better than Moderna's — but Faust is skeptical about it
Pfizer said its three-shot vaccine was around 80% effective during trials. But this is a preliminary number, based on only 10 COVID cases observed over the course of 40 days.
Moderna's roughly 40% to 50% vaccine efficacy estimate for kids 6 months to 6 years old includes more kids, and a longer follow-up period of around 70 days.
Faust speculated that Pfizer's high effectiveness numbers might've been indicative of a "honeymoon phase" for the vaccine, where the three jabs initially provide outstanding protection against infection. While public health experts agree that 80% figure may fade, Faust is confident that protection against "serious outcomes" like hospitalization and death will "hold up over time."
"Infections were starting to occur in a few Pfizer recipients just at the end of the assessment period," he said. "It's likely that with a few more weeks of data, Pfizer's efficacy might have dropped some, leading to numbers closer to Moderna's."
Some parents might prefer Pfizer's milder side effects
Because Pfizer's vaccine is a much smaller, less potent mRNA dose than Moderna's, it appears to come with easier side effects in the days after vaccination. The main ones for babies are irritability and drowsiness.
For toddlers and pre-schoolers, arm pain was far more common for Moderna-takers than for those who got Pfizer.
"Pfizer also might be especially attractive to parents of children who have already had COVID," Faust said, since those kids may already have some immune protection.
Bottom line: there isn't a 'wrong' choice
Amy McCoy signs to a baby about food at her Forever Young Daycare in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.
Parents should be comforted to know that whatever vaccine they choose for their children is a good one.
"The correct answer here is: whatever vaccine your healthcare provider, pediatrician has, that's what I would give my child," Marks said.
Vaccines help prevent long COVID, and while they aren't flawless at stamping out infections, they still slow the spread of disease through communities by reducing the amount of time people are infectious, and by preventing some disease, especially (and importantly) the severe kind.
"It's nice for parents of young children to have two options in the fight against COVID-19, instead of none," Faust said.
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2022-06-18T14:29:46Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Pfizer Vs Moderna for Vaccinating Kids Under 5: Which Is Better?
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-vs-moderna-vaccinating-kids-under-5-which-is-better-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-vs-moderna-vaccinating-kids-under-5-which-is-better-2022-6
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Ryan Hogg, Beatrice Nolan, and Harry Kersh
Desperate times lead to desperate measures for Insider's Ryan Hogg.
Beatrice Nolan/Insider
Huy Fong Foods, the maker of the trailblazing Sriracha sauce, is suffering a chili shortage.
We lined up 10 of the most popular alternatives to find a worthy replacement.
Unfortunately, none come close to Sriracha and some are downright awful.
"Love is like a spice. It can sweeten your life – however, it can spoil it, too." Little did Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, know how much his words word resonate millennia later.
Huy Fong Foods has said it will suspend production of its flagship Sriracha sauce due to a shortage of chilis that it blamed on bad weather. The shortage could last for months.
For someone with Scottish and Irish heritage, the term "spicy" has been applied to anything from a peppered steak to an ambitious pasta sauce.
So I enjoyed pulling out the Sriracha as a sort of party trick, keen to boast to friends my comparative advantage of being moderately partial to spicy food. But the looming shortage means that is now under threat.
I needed to find an alternative, and fast. I tested some of the most popular hot sauce alternatives, as measured by Instacart, alongside Insider colleagues Beatrice Nolan and Harry Kersh from Food Wars.
We ranked those we could get our hands on using our own system, based on a weighted average of taste, consistency and adaptability, with prices as measured by Target.
Disclaimer: This is not a review for the connoisseurs, the scoville counters, or the chili heads. This is for the "spice-curious", keen to add a bit of flavor to their meal but uncertain where to turn as Sriracha begins to disappear from shelves.
Sadly, we have bad news. Little beats Sriracha for ease, and one red hot flag stood out in particular: why do none of the alternatives have a squeezy top? For more breathtaking insights, read on!
The control test - Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce
Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce.
Taste: 4.3/5
Consistency: 5/5
Adaptability: 4/5
Final score: 4.3/5
Our reference sauce is the one soon to be out of reach. The sweetness is well balanced against the spiciness. Massaging all the senses, it's adaptable and has become a cheat code to add depth to any meal. And let's hear it once more for the squeezy top! Good luck to the competitors.
9 - Taco Bell Hot Sauce
Taco Bell Hot Sauce.
Average score: 0.8/5
Disappointing. We classed this more as a salsa than a hot sauce, and not a very good one at that. It could only be regarded as a hot sauce because we left it above room temperature.
The tomato taste was unappreciated by the group, as were the violating chunks we bit into along the way. A low adaptability as I can't imagine using this anywhere else by choice.
Harry's quote: "Mild as hell."
8 - Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce
Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce
Taste: 1.25/5
A huge improvement on the Taco Bell hot sauce. Sadly, there wasn't much in the way of flavor and less in the way of spice. Vinegar overpowered any other notes and its runny consistency and electric red tones left it physically off-putting.
Ryan's quote: "Wasn't rushing back for more."
7 - Frank's Red Hot Original
Consistency: 2.5/5
Frank's is a classic party accompaniment, typically a stand-in sauce for buffalo wings. Another sauce that was slightly too vinegary, and the spice was a bit less than I'd go for. But a decent, reliable classic.
Bea's quote: "Not red hot."
6 - Texas Pete
Texas Pete hot sauce
This one had a nice balance of flavor and spice, not too overpowering that it could work with different cuisines. Sadly, its consistency, the runniest of the bunch, let it down.
5 - El Yucateco Green Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
El Yucateo.
Average score: 3/5
The most ambitious of hot sauces on the list. It's the spiciest and the greenest by a country mile. It takes a lot to stand out from the crowd, but sadly the flavor was slightly middle of the road, and not great as a dynamic table sauce alternative.
4 - Cholula Hot Sauce
Cholula took off alongside the rise of Chipotle and other Mexican food chains. We can see why. A deep smokey taste (Harry could taste the dry chilies?), and a decent amount of spice. The smokiness does hurt its adaptability, though, making it no Sriracha replacement.
Harry's quote: "I can taste the dry chilis" (See?)
3 - Tapatío Salsa Picante
Taptío Salsa Picante.
We had a good feeling about this before tasting and were broadly vindicated. Moreish and smokey, it was slightly nicer than cholula and considerably cheaper - I'll be adding it to my burritos from now on. Harry recommends as a dipping sauce for nachos.
Bea's quote: "The spice sits more at the back of the throat rather than on the tongue."
2 - Valentina Salsa Picante
Valentina Salsa Picante.
Beatrice Nolan/Insider.
This one surprised us. Silky and soup-like in a good way, it again had a smokey rather than vinegary flavor. A great consistency and understated taste meant we could imagine having it on anything. Decent option for a table sauce.
1 - Tabasco Pepper Sauce
Tabasco Pepper Sauce.
Coming in hot at number 1 is Tabasco. The official hot sauce of the Queen (according to the label) is acidic, nicely spicy and sweet like a dessert. Adaptability was a 5/5 because, in addition to the serving suggestions on eggs, pasta, and salads, it's a staple of the Bloody Mary cocktail. A versatile Queen.
The winner - Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce
The votes are in. Sadly, nothing comes close to Sriracha.
The good news? There are other Sriracha companies not hit by a shortage, any of which should be a better bet for everyday hot sauce.
The bad? They're likely to be more difficult to find, and more expensive too. Pass the Tabasco please...
More: Weekend BI UK Food Sriracha Hot Sauce
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2022-06-18T14:30:10Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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We Put 10 Sriracha Substitutes to the Test. Nothing Came Close.
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https://www.businessinsider.com/we-put-best-sriracha-replacements-to-test-nothing-came-close-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/we-put-best-sriracha-replacements-to-test-nothing-came-close-2022-6
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With fierce competition for wedding venues, these couples turned to museums and hot-air balloons instead
Megan Mikutis' wedding.
Courtesy of Megan Mikutis
As the demand booms in the wedding industry, competition for venues is fierce.
That's why some couples are turning to unexpected locations for their vows, like museums and hot-air balloons.
"Our wedding day was completely unconventional," bride Megan Mikutis told Insider. "It was more than I ever imagined."
There will be an estimated 2.5 million weddings in the US this year — the highest number of any year in nearly three decades — and competition for venues is fierce. But instead of delaying their weddings or choosing a less desirable date, some couples are outsmarting the competition by going somewhere no one expects.
One such couple is Stephanie Guerra and Mary Mayo, whose April wedding took place at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Stephanie Guerra and Mary Mayo's wedding.
Courtesy of Stephanie Guerra and Mary Mayo
"A lot of the places we were reaching out to over email to check out said they weren't booking weddings until late 2022 or even late 2023," Guerra told Insider. "Or, we had a lot of places say, 'I apologize, but we're not taking on any weddings at this time because we're not sure when we're going to be able to reopen and offer dates to our 2020 couples.'"
Searching for the perfect venue
After 10 of the 15 or 20 venues said they didn't have availability, Guerra and Mayo reached out to the museum. They fell in love with it on site.
"When we first stepped into the room, I looked at Mary and I think I said, 'We're getting married here,'" Guerra said. "I didn't even get fully through the door."
The couple had also looked at a carousel museum, aquariums, and other unique venues. But ultimately, they chose the air museum.
"It's an amazing museum," Guerra said. "Seeing all the vintage planes and all the restorations they've done and all the work they have yet to do. [Most] of their volunteers are also veterans who have flown some of these types of planes, so they're able to give you a lot of in-depth information and personal stories."
The destination of their dreams
Minnesota resident Spencer Yeomans and her fiancée decided to turn one of their bucket-list destinations into a wedding after hearing friends' negative stories of trying to plan a wedding in Minneapolis. They headed to Sitka, Alaska, instead of staying near home.
A portrait from Spencer Yeomans' wedding in Alaska.
Courtesy of Spencer Yeomans
"We figured that finding a venue in the area would be a hassle, so we decided to skip it entirely," she said. "A friend of mine got married [in Minneapolis] late last year, so we already had a heads-up that it would be an unpleasant experience.
"We decided to do things differently. The decision was made because of the high venue demand here in Minneapolis, but also because we're both adventurous people who wanted to break from tradition. The location we chose is a trail shelter high in the mountains."
The couple, who got married in early May, said they'd need to hike a few miles in full wedding garb to get to the venue. But once there, the views would "be hard to beat." They even limited the guest list to just 10 people to make it easier to reach the wedding site.
A surprise wedding location
Another bride, Megan Mikutis, decided to opt out of the planning process completely with her now-husband. They used vacation and elopement services to plan an exchange of vows at sunrise, a waterfall hike, and a sunset hot air balloon experience in Seattle, Washington — all without the bride and groom knowing any of the details beforehand.
"After navigating the pandemic, on top of trying to lead productive personal and professional lives, we wanted to roll the dice and see where we landed," she said. "Our wedding day — elopement, really — was completely unconventional and a total surprise. We decided to leave our wedding day to chance, and it was more than I ever imagined."
One of the services they used, Wander Kings, even managed the planning, finding an officiant, and hiring a photographer.
"We hiked in our wedding garb, my dress getting blissfully torn and tattered, but were able to fully immerse ourselves in the day and the experience with each other," Mikutis said. "No distractions. We were able to spend the entire day creating memories for the adventure of a lifetime.
"And, as the bride, I didn't have to worry about a single thing on my wedding day. The only thing I had to worry about was whether or not I was packing appropriately for the trip, since I didn't know what we were doing on our wedding day until the day of."
More: Destination weddings Marriage Travel Venue
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2022-06-18T14:30:16Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Couples Using Museums, Hot-Air Balloons As Wedding Venues
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https://www.businessinsider.com/wedding-venue-competition-couples-getting-married-museums-unexpected-destinations-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/wedding-venue-competition-couples-getting-married-museums-unexpected-destinations-2022-6
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Elon Musk says he is a free speech absolutist.
He compared his ambitions for Twitter to China's biggest social media app, WeChat.
"I think if we achieve that or come even close to that with Twitter, that would be a success," he said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk compared his ambitions for Twitter to WeChat, the most popular app in China, during his first meeting with Twitter employees on Thursday.
"Think of it like WeChat in China, which is great now, but there's no WeChat equivalent outside of China," Musk said in response to a question about why he wants to buy the social media app. "There's a real opportunity to create that."
He continued: "You basically live on WeChat in China because it's so helpful, so useful to daily life. I think if we achieve that or come even close to that with Twitter, that would be a success."
WeChat, which has over 1 billion monthly active users, is considered a "super app" because it combines instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment into a single platform. The popular Chinese platform has come under fire for various privacy and security concerns, as well as censorship issues that run contrary to the billionaire's free speech ideals.
"Transforming Twitter into a WeChat-like super app would be a massive undertaking for Musk," Jasmine Enberg, a principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, told the Associated Press. "Changing consumer behavior is hard — something that Meta (then Facebook) quickly discovered during its own super app ambitions."
The Tesla CEO also drew comparisons between Twitter and TikTok, owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, when discussing content standards on Twitter.
"The standard should be they are entertained and informed," Musk told employees. "TikTok is interesting, but you want to be informed about serious issues as well. And I think Twitter, in terms of serious issues, can be a lot better at informing people."
More: Elon Musk Twitter WeChat TikTok
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2022-06-18T16:00:50Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Elon Musk Wants Twitter to Become the WeChat of the Western World
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https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-twitter-could-be-western-wechat-china-superapp-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-twitter-could-be-western-wechat-china-superapp-2022-6
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John Fetterman has a 46%-37% lead over Dr. Oz in the latest Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network poll.
While Fetterman currently boasts a 45% favorable rating in the state, Oz has a 50% unfavorable rating.
Democrats see the Pennsylvania Senate race as one of their best pickup opportunities this fall.
Pennsylvania Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has a nine-point lead over Republican Mehmet Oz in the state's hotly-contested Senate race, according to a recently-released Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network poll.
The survey showed Fetterman with 46 percent support among likely voters in the Keystone State, while Oz stood at 37 percent; thirteen percent of respondents were undecided.
In the poll, voters from each political party were largely lined up behind both of their respective nominees; Fetterman attracted the support of 82 percent of Democrats, while Oz won the support of 76 percent of Republicans.
However, Fetterman is currently doing a better job of holding onto his base, as only six percent of Democrats cross over to back Oz, while ten percent of Republicans say they'll vote for Fetterman.
Fetterman also boasts a wide lead with independent voters in the poll, winning a 44 percent plurality, compared to Oz's 24 percent with this group. In the survey, 24 percent of independents said they were undecided.
At the moment, Fetterman is on positive ground with Pennsylvania voters with a 45 percent favorable rating, compared to 27 percent who view him unfavorably. Oz's current unfavorable rating stands at 50 percent, while 28 percent view him favorably.
Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon best known for his nationally-syndicated talk show, won a multicandidate GOP primary last month by only 951 votes out of more than 1.3 million ballots cast. While former President Donald Trump backed Oz, his top rival, former hedge fund chief executive David McCormick, very nearly captured the nomination.
President Joe Biden's standing in the state has deteriorated over the past year, as he now has a 43 percent favorable rating, while 53 percent view him unfavorably.
The president's job approval rating in Pennsylvania sits at 39 percent, while 54 percent disapprove of his performance.
And 50 percent of respondents said they want their vote this fall to "change the direction" in which Biden is leading the country.
But Fetterman — who has developed a personal brand as a nontraditional politician over the years and frequently campaigns in rural and exurban areas that have turned sharply against Democrats over the past decade — is so far outperforming Biden in the state.
While Republicans are poised to make major gains in Congress this year, national Democrats are optimistic about their chances in Pennsylvania, a state that Biden narrowly won in the 2020 presidential election after Trump eked out a win in the blue-leaning state in 2016.
The open-seat contest is a result of Republican Sen. Pat Toomey's decision to retire after two terms in office.
In the open Pennsylvania gubernatorial contest, Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro holds a 4-point lead — 44 percent to 40 percent — over his Republican opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano; thirteen percent of respondents were undecided.
Both candidates are holding members of their respective parties, with Shapiro earning the support of 82 percent of Democrats, while 83 percent of Republicans say they'll pull the lever for Mastriano.
While Shapiro ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, Mastriano defeated a slate of GOP candidates in a primary last month.
For months, Shapiro has sought to paint Mastriano as outside the political mainstream on major issues from abortion rights to election integrity, while Mastriano in recent weeks has begun to rally the conservative base around his general election candidacy.
The poll surveyed 500 likely general election voters from early to mid-June and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
More: John Fetterman Dr. Oz Josh Shapiro doug mastriano
Political Polls
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2022-06-18T16:00:56Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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John Fetterman Bests Dr. Oz by 9 Points in Pa. Senate Race: Poll
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fetterman-oz-pennsylvania-senate-election-poll-shapiro-mastriano-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fetterman-oz-pennsylvania-senate-election-poll-shapiro-mastriano-2022-6
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Walmart decided to stop selling MyPillow products in its stores.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell compared the retailer to Nazi Germany and claimed they had an "agenda."
Lindell said that it was "a battle of biblical proportions of evil and good."
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, compared Walmart to Nazi Germany after the retailer decided to pull his products from its shelves.
While appearing on the Right Side Broadcasting Network on Friday, Lindell described the move as a "battle of epic proportions, historic proportion."
"Evil reveals itself, and their true colors come out. Walmart, it just took until now, and they tried to just disguise it, and boom, here they are," Lindell said.
Lindell previously told Insider's Cheryl Teh that a Walmart representative told him the company would start selling MyPillow products only online and not in stores. He accused the retailer of "canceling" him.
"And it's not just Mike Lindell," Lindell told RSB Network in a rambling monologue. "Remember everybody that on January 7 of 2021, 1.2 million Americans got canceled, on YouTube, Vimeo , Zuckerberg's Facebook, Twitter, platforms all over the place."
Lindell appeared to be referring to moves by tech companies to deplatform groups linked to the Capitol insurrection.
"You know, it's kind of like back in Nazi Germany," he said, without clarifying what he meant by the comparison.
Lindell went on to muse that perhaps Walmart's board of directors or CEO were behind the decision to stop stocking his products as his sales were "going through the roof."
"We don't know that part. We do know there is an agenda behind it," Lindell said. "They say 'we don't want the money.' If they don't want it, there's another agenda."
"This is a battle of biblical proportions of evil and good," the MyPillow CEO said.
Walmart has joined several other retailers that have pulled MyPillow products, including Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond, QVC, JCPenney, and Wayfair.
Lindell continues actively promoting former President Donald Trump's conspiracy theories about election fraud.
He is currently funding a nationwide effort to stop using electronic voting machines and has had lawsuits filed against him by voting-technology company Dominion and voting-systems company Smartmatic.
More: Mike Lindell MyPillow Walmart UK Weekend
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2022-06-18T16:01:02Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Compared Walmart to Nazi Germany
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https://www.businessinsider.com/mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-compared-walmart-to-nazi-germany-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-compared-walmart-to-nazi-germany-2022-6
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Jordan Hart
A motorist fills up petrol at Shell.
Thieves are finding creative ways to get around paying for record high gas prices.
Police advise residents to park in a "well-lit and high-traveled area" to avoid theft.
Gas stations report thousands of stolen gallons nationwide.
Staggering prices have prompted a wave of gas thieves to become criminally creative in their efforts to avoid the rising costs of a gallon.
Although AAA reported a national average around $5 per gallon, earlier this month, a downtown Los Angeles station reached $8 - nearly $2 over the state average - for a gallon of regular fuel, according to The New York Post.
The West Coast leads in high gas prices with Washington, Oregon, and Arizona, in addition to California, all averaging more than $5 a gallon while states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana come in just under the national average, AAA reports.
This nationwide rise stirred panic and some have found illegal ways around the hefty price of a full tank. In Virginia Beach, two men were charged with grand larceny, conspiracy, and possession of burglary tool, accused of stealing thousands of dollars' in fuel this week from a closed local Citgo station, CNN reports.
According to the Virginia Beach Police Department, they used "devices" to take the gas from pumps - then sold it at a discounted price, advertising on social media.
Local news reported highly modified trucks "being used to steal tens of thousands of gallons" during the past few months from Las Vegas gas stations. Police grew suspicious of motorists spending over an hour at gas pumps - yet paying only $20 - and discovered they were filling hidden tanks.
In California, residents are being warned that their cars also are potential targets for fuel thieves. Gas theft could leave car owners with costly damage to their tanks as power tools replace rubber hoses to siphon out fuel, Fontana Police Department told KTLA.
In Utah this week, a man was captured on surveillance as he caught fire attempting to steal gas from a truck, Newsweek reports. Branch manager of Summit Fire and Protection, Travis Mills, told the local news station that the company's trucks have been targeted before.
"It's sad because times are tough for a lot of people, but it's not worth the $5 that he would have saved for the injury that the guy sustained," Mills told the station.
Although Florida's average cost of a gallon is below the national average, Tampa Bay-area police uncovered a gas theft ring in February. According to NBC News, the six men are in custody, accused of stealing at least $60,000 in fuel from several stations in the area.
A June report from AAA predicted continued pump price shock. "As crude oil prices remain volatile, the price per gallon for gasoline will likely remain elevated," it said.
More: Gas Station Theft Fuel Costs Cars & Trucks
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2022-06-18T20:32:52Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Fuel Theft Is Rising Along With the Price Per Gallon
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fuel-theft-rising-gas-price-per-gallon-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fuel-theft-rising-gas-price-per-gallon-2022-6
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Kari Lake is running for Arizona Governor.
A Phoenix drag queen says he was friends with Kari Lake, a Republican running for Arizona governor.
Richard Stevens said he performed in drag in front of Lake's daughter, who was 9 or 10 at the time.
Lake's campaign said Stevens claims were "full of lies" but said her daughter did see a Marilyn Monroe impersonator perform.
A popular Phoenix drag queen called out Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for governor in Arizona, over her comments about drag queens.
Richard Stevens, who has performed as drag queen Barbra Seville for decades, said in a Facebook post on Friday he and Lake used to be friends but her recent comments on drag queens showed she was a "complete hypocrite."
He included several photos of him and Lake and wrote: "I've performed for Kari's birthday, I've performed in her home (with children present,) and I've performed for her at some of the seediest bars in Phoenix."
In a text exchange with Insider, Stevens said he performed as Marilyn Monroe in front of Lake's daughter, who was around 9 or 10 at the time, and again said he performed inside Lake's home.
"I spoke up because her alarming rise to power under these new 'views' are scary and can lead to real harm to me and other marginalized people," Stevens said.
—Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) June 18, 2022
He spoke out after Lake waded into the latest target of conservative outrage: kids being exposed to drag queens. He included a screenshot of a tweet Lake had sent hours prior.
"They kicked God out of schools and welcomed the Drag Queens. They took down our Flag and replaced it with a rainbow," she wrote. "They seek to disarm Americans and militarize our Enemies. Let's bring back the basics: God, Guns & Glory."
On June 4, Lake's campaign also tweeted condemning drag queens. The account retweeted a video that showed a drag queen performing in front of kids in Texas and added: "This is grooming. This is child abuse. Maybe that's acceptable in Dallas, Texas. But it will not be tolerated in a @KariLake-led Arizona."
Lake did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
In a statement provided to KPNX reporter Brahm Resnik, Lake's campaign said Stevens' claims were "full of lies."
"The event in question was a party at someone else's house, and the performer was there as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator. It wasn't a drag show, and the issue we're talking about isn't adults attending drag shows, either. The issue is activists sexualizing young children, and that's got to stop," the statement said.
Lake's campaign told The Arizona Republic Lake "is pursuing legal action and anyone that prints those lies should be prepared for a legal fight as well." The outlet also reported the campaign appeared to differentiate between a drag show and a man dressed up as a woman as an impersonation.
When speaking to The Arizona Republic, Stevens got emotional when discussing Lake's friendship.
"Kari contacted me after my parents died," he said. "It meant the world to me, it really meant the world to me. So to see her just throw me under the bus for a vote, that's why I had to say something."
In December 2014, Lake posted a photo on Instagram of her and Stevens dressed in drag, along with the caption: "Half of what I know about makeup I learned from watching friends like @barbraseville."
She also posted photos earlier that year from a drag show.
More: Kari Lake Arizona Drag Queens
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Drag Queen Calls Kari Lake 'Hypocrite' Over Comments on Drag and Kids
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram he visited the southern regions of Ukraine, including Odesa.
"We will not give the south to anyone, we will return everything," Zelenskyy said in his post.
Zelenskyy warned in May that the blockade could lead to a global grain shortage.
Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that the Black Sea will return to Ukranian control after he visited the Southern regions of Ukraine and spoke to troops there.
His visits included the cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa, which are both part of Russia's effort to take control of the Black Sea Coast.
"I talked to our defenders - the military, police, National Guard, Terrorist Defense," Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post. "Their mood is sure, they all do not doubt our victory."
The president thanked troops for their service and handed out medals to soldiers, urging them to "take care of Ukraine" the BBC reported.
"We will not give the south to anyone, we will return everything - and the sea will be Ukrainian - it will be safe," Zelenskyy wrote.
Zelenskyy warned in May that Russian blockades of Ukrainian ports could lead to global food shortages, particularly of grain. Ukraine produces 80 million tons of grain each year.
"There will be a crisis in the world. The second crisis after the energy one, which was provoked by Russia," Zelenskyy said after meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa in Kyiv. "Now it will create a food crisis if we do not unblock the routes for Ukraine, do not help the countries of Africa, Europe, Asia, which need these food products."
Just days before Zelenskyy's trip to southern Ukraine, the president met with European world leaders in Kyiv, including French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron and Zelenskyy have not been on the best terms after Macron called for a "diplomatic solution" to the war.
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Zelenskyy Visits Odesa and Declares "We Will Not Give the South to Anyone"
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Claire Atkinson, Julia Hood, and Natalie Jarvey
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity convenes in person from June 20-24 on the French Riviera, after a two-year COVID-19 hiatus.
The festival features the prestigious Cannes Lions awards, an official conference, and fringe events in yachts, cabanas, and hotels.
The Insider at Cannes liveblog will chronicle the festival's daily gauntlet of panels, parties, and brand activations.
Where is the Amazon Port? It's at the actual port.
As Insider reported earlier this month, Amazon is going big at Cannes Lions this year, taking over the port with a huge activation that will include everything from morning workouts, to game nights, to concerts.
"They are embracing not only the c-suite, which lots of companies do, but they are smart enough to understand the day-to-day decisions are made by the younger set – the media buyer, the brand manager, the planners," Advertising Week Global CEO Matt Scheckner told Insider in a previous interview. "They recognize the importance of connecting and building their brand and their business by engaging with younger people."
With set-up still underway, though, I had a hard time finding anyone who knew where it was going to be. "I know I'm going there," said one guy, with a Cannes Official badge.
Registration is open, 8:00 am, Sunday, June 19. No lines...yet.
Palais de Festivals still a work in progress as it prepares for day 1 on Monday, June 20
Reddit promises a "surreal, custom-built clubhouse for all festival goers".
Reddit clubhouse at Cannes Lions 2022
Even as festival preparations are still being completed, Reddit's brand is already visible all along the Promenade de la Croisette.
The platform's three Explorers Club base camps will feature hangouts, speakers, and product demos to show advertisers how to connect with its audiences.
Putting final touches on Twitter beach on Saturday, June 18.
Putting final touches on Twitter Beach
Carlton closed for renovations.
No breakfasts on the InterContinental Carlton terrace this year, as the landmark hotel is closed for renovations until 2023.
Carlton Beach Club remains open, however.
More: Features Cannes Lions 2022 Cannes Festival of Creativity Advertising
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Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022 Live Blog
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CEO and founder of Creamalicious (L) with her ice cream.
Liz Rogers/Insider
Social media users drew attention to Creamalicious after Walmart launched its Juneteenth ice cream.
Creamalicious has become more well-known following that backlash.
But the Black-owned brand is focused on its ice creams, rather than politics, its CEO told Insider.
Last month, Walmart put out a new ice cream commemorating Juneteenth, a US holiday that marks the freedom of enslaved African Americans — but the response was icy.
Social media users were in a furor, lambasting the company for appearing to capitalize on the holiday and its history, prompting Walmart to swiftly drop the product and issue an apology.
Some users drew attention to Creamalicious, a Black-owned ice cream brand, and urged people to purchase their red velvet and cheesecake swirl flavor — the same flavor Walmart put out — instead.
Creamalicious has ridden high from that support, seeing increased buyers of its frozen desserts, said its CEO and chef Liz Rogers. But the founder of the Ohio-based ice creamery is more focused on churning out its unique ice cream flavor combinations — and less on making social or political statements.
"I'm an executive chef but I don't cook with politics," Rogers told Insider.
"I definitely don't want my story to be about race or the color of my skin, but more on my products in the stores and feeding the masses," she added.
Creamalicious, which launched in October 2021, can be found in major grocery chains across the US, such as Kroger, Target, Meijer, as well as Walmart. Rogers said that Walmart has been supportive of her company, and she didn't feel as if they stole anything from her by launching the Juneteenth ice cream.
"Our recipes are very different," she said of the red velvet and cheesecake swirl combination. "I didn't feel like they stole anything from me."
"Even in that moment, the buyer for Walmart was extremely supportive as well," she added.
Still, the event garnered mass attention towards Rogers' ice cream.
"When I saw so much going on on social media, it really was a great thing for Creamalicious because it did give us a lot of brand recognition," she explained. "It prompted people to go out, and support, and buy the ice cream."
Creamalicious draws fans because of its unique flavors. Rogers grew up in the southern US and decided to combine popular desserts from the region in creating the flavors, hoping to transport people back to the childhood nostalgia of cooling off in the summers with peach cobbler or sweet tea.
The brand carries eight flavors, which additionally includes caramel pound cake, banana pudding, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, and brown "suga" bourbon cake flavors. It features the flavors using names from "Porch Light Peach Cobbler", to "Slap Yo" Mamma Banana Pudding."
"[What] really sets us apart is … our flavors and our flavor combinations, and how we're combining these in a pint," said Rogers.
Rogers has upcoming partnerships that also include opening up a restaurant, for which she will be executive chef of, with retired NBA player Penny Hardaway.
"I really wanted to stay focused on my brand," she said. "We're new and we're still growing."
NOW WATCH: A daughter of NYC restaurant royalty Danny Meyer just opened an inventive ice cream shop
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Juneteenth: Black-Owned Ice-Cream Brand Won Fans After Walmart Fiasco
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Power Players: Meet 30 leaders driving the electric-vehicle revolution at white-hot companies like Rivian, GM, and Lucid
Nora Naughton and Alexa St. John
From Left: Deena Ahmed (Our Next Energy); Mayank Sikaria (Sibros); Douglas Alfaro (Wallbox); Melika Jahangiri (Cummins); Linda Zhang (Ford) | Tyler Le/Insider
Insider asked electric-vehicle companies to nominate the industry's most influential leaders.
Startups could nominate anyone, except their CEOs, and Insider received over 110 submissions.
Meet 30 EV power players and learn how they're changing the industry.
The automotive industry is barreling toward an electric future, with major automakers and startups alike planning to spend some $330 billion on electrification through 2025 alone, according to Alix Partners.
It's not just the cars and their propulsion systems that are changing with these massive investments. Every aspect of the automotive ecosystem is morphing, from new charging infrastructure and fleet-management operations to changes in the supply chain and recycling pipelines for new materials.
This shift away from a centuries-old business model is requiring the deft and innovative leadership of executives, engineers, and big thinkers from every corner of the manufacturing industry.
To figure out who, exactly, is leading this adventure, Insider looked not just at the big players like Rivian and GM, but at the outfits that have marshaled to support a new kind of supply chain, from pulling materials from the ground to helping drivers find a spot to plug in.
From more than 110 nominations, we selected 30 leaders as most likely to usher the automotive industry into its electrified future. Read on to meet them all.
You can also check out our EV-industry power players from 2021.
Mayank Sikaria, president and cofounder, Sibros
Sibros works with carmakers to develop better software, collect more data, and ultimately, use over-the-air updates to give their cars new capabilities, just like Tesla does.
Sikaria began his career in the semiconductor industry. He then joined the EV startup Faraday Future as one of its first system software engineers and eventually moved to manager of battery-management systems.
Sikaria cofounded Sibros Technologies after Faraday and first served as its chief technology officer.
Brendan Jones, president, Blink Charging
Jones started at Blink Charging as COO and was quickly promoted to president and added to the board in 2021. Now, he is responsible for sales, operations, growth initiatives, and investments in strategic alliances.
Under Jones' leadership, Blink recently acquired SemaConnect and the UK-based EV-charging company EB Charging. Jones also led the acquisitions of Blue Corner, BlueLA, and U-Go.
He also secured Blink's agreements with General Motors, Subaru, Ford, Audi, Porsche, and Bridgestone to provide EV charging to their dealerships and vehicle-service centers.
Jones developed a grants team that has secured $30 million in funding for Blink.
He previously served as COO (and was the first employee) at Electrify America. Before that, he was a board member and VP of OEM strategy and business development at EVgo. Jones previously spent 21 years at Nissan North America, where he worked on the Nissan Leaf.
Brendan Riley, president and director, GreenPower Motor
Riley has spent more than 28 years in business development, sales strategy, and operations in transportation and busing.
He leads GreenPower in executing its product development and delivery plans and has overseen the launch of dozens of commercial EV products.
The team credits Riley with helping to open GreenPower's new manufacturing facility in West Virginia. He's also secured a multiyear partnership with Workhorse.
Riley was previously the North American vice president of fleet sales for BYD Motors.
Claire Miller, director of technology and innovation, Octopus Energy
Octopus Energy is a renewable-energy group based in the UK, specializing in sustainable energy.
Miller is a leader in innovative thinking around EVs at Octopus, pioneering vehicle-to-grid power with customers in the UK through the "powerloop" program. Miller is also at the forefront of technical innovation in how EVs can integrate fully with the energy system.
Deeana Ahmed, vice president of strategy and government affairs, Our Next Energy
One is a Michigan-based battery startup focused on developing safer EV-battery chemistries that use sustainable raw materials. A social scientist by training, Ahmed's work here overlaps policy and business strategy.
With One's energy-storage technology, she helps build a foundation for the widespread adoption and accessibility to alternative energy sources.
She also assesses market needs and how to scale renewable energy. Ahmed helped One secure $90 million from major investors, including BMW i Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
She is leading One's search for its first North American battery factory and has facilitated partnerships with Piston Automotive to manufacture EV batteries locally.
Douglas Alfaro, general manager of North America, Wallbox
Charging startup Wallbox was founded in Barcelona in 2015. Alfaro joined the company upon it opening its first North American office in 2019.
Within his first year at Wallbox, Alfaro helped introduce the home use of its bidirectional charger (which can use the energy in an EV battery to power devices in a home), Quasar, to the North American market. He also helped launch the Pulsar Plus smarthome EV charger in the US in February 2021.
Alfaro has led Wallbox's development of sites — including opening two new warehouses in Mississauga, Ontario, and Burlington, North Carolina, along with its first US-based manufacturing facility in Arlington, Texas — expanded its reach across the US and Canada, and executed its partnerships with companies like Uber, Polaris, Best Buy Canada, and more.
The company says this is all "reflective of its ambitious global growth strategy" under Alfaro's "commitment, contribution, and leadership."
Eric Norris, president of lithium, Albemarle Corporation
Albemarle is one of the largest providers of lithium for EV batteries across the globe.
Norris focuses on accelerating the business' growth strategy while championing its sustainable lithium mining. Under Norris, Albemarle's salt-flat site in Salar de Atacama, Chile, was the first lithium mine in the world to complete an Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance self-assessment last year. It underwent a third-party audit in 2022.
It has more self-assessments and third-party audits coming up at sites in Australia.
The company says Norris' "approach balances customers' needs with the importance of ensuring responsible resource management and building a positive legacy."
Eric Gratz, chief technical officer, Ascend Elements
Ascend Elements
Founded in Westborough, Massachusetts, in 2015, Ascend Elements manufactures critical battery materials using elements recycled from spent batteries. Ascend can produce battery-ready materials at a lower cost and with lower greenhouse-gas emissions compared to those made with newly mined metals.
Gratz helped cofound and invent Ascend's technological process for this potentially critical part of the EV-battery supply chain.
He has also played a role in Ascend developing a process to recover 98% of the critical raw materials in used lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap. His tech can minimize the need for mining, which is harmful to the environment and the communities in which it operates.
Gratz is commercializing Ascend's tech, and leading the company in opening a North American battery-recycling facility later this year.
Farid Tariq, cofounder and chief technology officer, Addionics
At Addionics, a startup founded in London in 2018, Tariq invented an AI-based battery-optimization software. This can be used in battery assembly lines to accelerate time to market and reduce costs in the process.
Tariq's approach helps predict the best battery structure for a vehicle based on its use cases and requirements. It has drawn interest from automakers, suppliers, and battery manufacturers, as it improves key metrics for EV batteries made with any chemistry.
The company says this can increase a battery's energy density and power, enhance safety, and extend lifetime — all elements critical in the eyes of those stakeholders.
Prior to joining Addionics, Tariq was a materials scientist at Alstom Power and worked on energy production at Shell Global.
Fredrika Klaren, head of sustainability, Polestar
Klaren joined Polestar in 2020 to drive its sustainability initiatives and oversee the Polestar 0 project, the brand's target for developing a truly carbon-neutral car by 2030.
The Swedish electric-car maker, jointly owned by Volvo and its Chinese parent, Geely, is expected to go public via a $20 billion SPAC merger with Gores Guggenheim.
Klaren oversees all aspects of making zero-emissions vehicles, from minerals and metals extraction to manufacturing and innovating with the kinds of materials used.
She is also chair of the board for Agenda 2030 West, an organization bridging partnership between academia, business, civil society, and the public sector for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals call to action.
Before Polestar, Klaren held sustainability positions over the past decade at Ikea and Swedish fashion retailer KappAhl.
Gill Nowell, head of communications, LV = General Insurance
Gill Nowell
Nowell has been a relentless advocate for electric vehicles for more than a decade. Known for her commitment to driving the transition to zero-tailpipe-emission transport in the UK, much of her early work on EV-grid integration projects has resulted in major legislative change.
The My Electric Avenue, for which Nowell secured roughly $12.3 million in funding and a key strategic partnership with Nissan, was the first project of its kind to understand impact of EVs on the local electricity network, trial an early demand-control technology, and understand customer acceptance of smart charging. Nowell also founded EV education website EVclicks in 2019, and during the 2020 lockdown, she cofounded the Electric Vehicle Association England, a nonprofit offering a voice to EV drivers.
In her current role as head of EV communications, Nowell is positioning LV= as a leader in insuring electric cars. LV= is the first major insurer in the UK to offer an end-to-end solution for people thinking about making the switch to an electric car through its ElectriX proposition.
Giordano Sordoni, chief operating officer and cofounder, Xos
In 2016, Sordoni cofounded LA-based Xos, the electric-truck maker that now has partnerships with UPS, cash-transfer company Loomis, and more. Xos started with stepvans and quickly moved into the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle space.
Sordoni leads Xos' operations, product, and engineering teams. He has analyzed market needs and led customer conversations to optimize electric-commercial-vehicle development.
Sordoni cofounded Xos with business partner Dakota Semler after experiencing challenges as fleet operators firsthand, including how to move goods sustainably amid increasing emissions regulations and increasing maintenance and diesel costs.
Kevin Samy, head of policy and climate strategy, Volta Charging
Volta Charging
Volta Charging is a startup focused on commercial-real-estate EV charging networks. The company is hoping to foster EV adoption by centering charging stations in places where drivers live, work, and shop.
Samy, with a deep background in energy policy and Washington, DC, connections, is using his expertise to lead Volta's strategic policy, climate, and communications initiatives. His goal is to harness Volta's business model to ensure the shift to electric mobility is both equitable and inclusive.
Most recently, Samy helped construct and orchestrate Volta's deal with the state of Michigan and DTE Energy, an electric-power utility, in support of equitable, efficient, and accelerated deployment of EV-charging infrastructure. Michigan and DTE are funding the use of Volta's PredictEV software product to identify charging locations that would be most utilized within underserved areas, ensuring the most efficient use of public investment.
Kunal Phalpher, chief strategy officer, Li-Cycle
Li-Cycle, a battery-recycling company focused on recovering spent materials from lithium-ion batteries, was founded in Toronto in 2016. It went public early last year in a $1.67 billion special-purpose acquisition deal.
Phalpher joined Li-Cycle as an advisor in 2017, became a member of the board, and then was named chief commercial officer in 2018. He transitioned to chief strategy officer in November 2021.
He leads the company's strategic business planning and corporate development, including potential M&A activity.
Prior to joining Li-Cycle, Phalpher was director of product development at a residential solar company and director of business development for a lithium-ion-battery manufacturer.
Linda Zhang, F-150 Lightning chief engineer, Ford
Zhang, who has been an engineer with Ford for nearly 25 years, assumed the lead role for the electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck when development began in 2018.
Under Zhang's leadership, the Lightning team developed a battery-powered truck with more horsepower and payload than any gas-powered F-150. Along the way, Zhang and her team have navigated production constraints to ensure the smooth launch of the Lightning, which has nearly 200,000 reservations.
Zhang's father is a Chinese immigrant who brought her to the US as a child when he took a role researching transmissions for Ford. She holds a degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Matt Stephens-Rich, Senior Program Manager, Electrification Coalition
Electrification Coalition
The Electrification Coalition is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan group focused on advocacy to encourage policies that enable widespread EV adoption.
There, Stephens-Rich has led the development of various EV programs across the US.
This includes serving as the EV lead for Smart Columbus, working on an EV car share program in St. Paul, Minnesota, developing dealership programs to incentivize selling EVs in Orlando, Florida, and helping cohorts of cities looking to pass EV-friendly policies.
Mei Cai, director of battery systems research, General Motors
Cai is leading battery improvements including energy, range, and cost for future EVs as the director of GM's battery systems research. Cai has also worked on GM vehicles already on the road, like the GMC Hummer EV and the Cadillac Lyriq, which are both powered by GM's Ultium Battery Platform technology.
Cai and her team's work led to a breakthrough method that allows for the use of less cobalt in the battery pack, supplemented with aluminum in Ultium. This reduces cost and lessens the need for cobalt sourcing.
Cai holds degrees from Tsinghua University in China and Wayne State University in Detroit.
Melika Jahangiri, senior director of eMobility, Cummins
Jahangiri is the senior director of eMobility for the new power unit at engine manufacturer Cummins. In this role, she leads the commercial business to optimize go-to-market strategies for electrified products.
Jahangiri has had a diverse career in the automotive industry, previously holding electric and mobility-related roles at Ford Smart Mobility, Ridecell, and Hyundai. Her passion for sustainable transportation has made her an asset within companies looking to adopt electric and hydrogen-fuel cell technologies. She lives in Los Angeles without a car, and uses different transportation modes so she can bring a unique user perspective to new product deployments.
Jahangiri is helping Cummins achieve its zero-emission goals by 2050.
Nicole Antakli, chief business officer, Charge Enterprises
Charge Enterprises
Antakli joined Charge Enterprises in 2019 as director of administration. Now, she leads teams working with US dealerships, counseling clients, and managing new installations.
The New York-based company, founded in 2019 as TransWorld Holdings, wants to provide customers with everything they need for infrastructure installation, from charger selection to engineering, design, maintenance, and repair.
Antakli was previously president and COO of Intraco Corporation, which provides brand management, product marketing, sales specifications, and logistics to manufacturing firms.
Prashant Gulati, vice president of strategy, Faraday Future
EV startup Faraday Future is preparing to launch its flagship vehicle, the ultra-luxury FF 91 Futurist, in the third quarter of this year. Founded in 2014, Faraday Future is one of the best-funded EV startups in the market, investing several billion dollars in new technology, product development, and a factory in Hanford, California.
Gulati is responsible for Faraday Future's long-term strategy including its business plan, manufacturing strategy, corporate development, and mobility initiatives. Prashant is also a partner and board member of Faraday Future Global Partners.
Gulati has played a critical role in helping Faraday Future raise a majority of its capital, including over $1 billion when the company went public via SPAC in July 2021.
Margaret Burgraff, vice president of software validation, Lucid
As Lucid Motors ramps up production on its flagship luxury electric sedan, the Air, software is a huge part of how it differentiates itself from its competitors like Tesla.
Burgraff is responsible for overseeing quality for all software inside the vehicles and overall software development. Before joining Lucid, she was a partner at the venture-capital and private-equity firm Continuous Ventures.
Prior to that, Burgraff spent six years at Intel, where she held multiple vice president roles, and 15 years at Apple, where she launched the first iMac and served as senior quality manager for Apple Macintosh engineering products.
Tuan Tran, senior manager of battery research and technology, Supernal
Tran is bringing years of EV expertise to the burgeoning electric vertical takeoff and landing industry, with more than four years at Tesla and three years at Rivian, before joining Supernal in 2020.
Supernal is an eVTOL startup focused on using the technology for mobility-as-a-service applications. There, Tran leads battery research and development, using his past experience to inform development of an advanced battery lab. His team is focused on long-term solutions for electrification in aviation.
Robert Barrosa, senior director of sales, business development, and marketing, Electrify America
Barrosa oversees the charging company's growth plans, innovation pipeline, and all business development across its public, home, and commercial-charging divisions.
Barrosa has driven Electrify America's strategy for its energy-management services, and oversees business agreements and negotiations with more than 200 utility partners across the US and Canada.
He helped launch the company's commercial business division and oversees business deals with business fleets and heavy-duty trucking entities like the New York Power Authority, Arizona Public Service, and NFI Industries.
He's helped grow Electrify America's network to nearly 800 charging stations and 3,500 chargers, signed partnerships with 17 different automakers to help customers charge, and manages Electrify Home, the company's home-charging-connected station.
Ryuta Kawaguchi, chief technology officer, FREYR Battery
FREYR Battery is a storage-battery-manufacturing company based in Norway. As CTO, Kawaguchi is helping develop clean, next-generation battery-cell production. He is also focusing on utilizing Norway's low-cost, nearly 100% renewable energy to produce battery cells for electric mobility.
Prior to FREYR, Kawaguchi led the battery-pack engineering team at Dyson's short-lived EV effort, responsible for all aspects of battery development, management systems, and safety. He also spent 15 years at Nissan, serving as the engineering team manager for battery packs for all Nissan EV models at the time.
Sarah Nielsen, executive director of electric vehicle programs, Consumers Energy
Consumers Energy is the largest energy provider in Michigan, the home of the US automotive industry. In her role as executive director of electric vehicle programs for the energy company, Nielsen is leading the charge to develop an ecosystem for convenient and affordable electric-vehicle ownership.
Most recently, Nielsen captained the company's EV strategy, which includes the adoption of a million EVs in Michigan by 2030. Her team has also developed and launched the Consumers' PowerMIFleet electrification program, a program designed to help fleet owners and operators reduce operating costs, eliminate emissions, and simplify vehicle maintenance by transitioning to electric vehicles.
Nielsen spearheaded the PowerMIDrive program aimed at increasing EV-charging capabilities around Michigan. Phase one of the program included providing 800 residential rebates, 200 Level 2 chargers, and 37 DC fast chargers around the state.
Mary Lou Lindstrom, chemical engineering manager, Redwood Materials
Lindstrom leads chemical engineering at Redwood, a battery-recycling startup founded by former Tesla CTO and Elon Musk righthand man, JB Straubel.
She leads a team responsible for designing and scaling hydrometallurgical operations, the water-based recycling process. This team recently constructed a first-of-its-kind system that Redwood says allows it to recover nearly 98% of the critical elements — such as cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel — from end-of-life batteries using only renewable energy, without any waste streams. Through this process, Lindstrom's team is able to use recycled material to make products that can go directly into anode foils and cathode product manufacturing.
Prior to working for Redwood, Lindstrom worked for Panasonic at the Tesla Gigafactory. However, her passion to create a closed-loop battery-manufacturing process encouraged her to join Redwood in 2020.
Kit Ahuja, head of operations, TeraWatt Infrastructure
TeraWatt Infrastructure is a charging startup based in San Francisco, focused on several aspects of the space. Ahuja leads operations for TeraWatt, which designs, operates, and owns on-site distributed-energy systems designed to take the cost and complexity out of EV-charging infrastructure.
Ahuja has worked for some of the biggest names in EV startups, including Tesla and Rivian. At Tesla, one of his most notable contributions was leading the creation of a relationship with local power authorities in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria to power humanitarian-relief efforts. At Rivian, Ahuja served as director of energy and charging, a critical department for the EV startup.
He also helped deploy a charging network spanning throughout South and Central America all the way to Los Angeles in about six months for the "Long Way Up" docuseries.
Jordan Neerhof, director of grants and government affairs, SparkCharge
At SparkCharge, a mobile EV-charging startup, Neerhof works to ensure portable and modular charging stations are part of public policy in national, state, and local infrastructure bills.
Neerhof has secured major meetings with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Vice President Kamala Harris, and numerous senators to make sure that faster, cheaper alternative resources for EV charging are understood and part of current and future policy plans.
Vidya Rajagopalan, vice president of electrical hardware, Rivian
Rajagopalan plays a critical role in the development of several core technologies for Rivian vehicles, including ADAS compute, cameras, radar, infotainment, network architecture, and wireless connectivity.
She leads a diverse team of electric, mechanical, and software engineers who have backgrounds in the automotive industry as well as Silicon Valley tech startups.
Prior to joining Rivian, Rajagopalan built several products for Xilinx, a semiconductor-manufacturing company. She also worked at Tesla, where she managed teams developing automotive electronics, ramped the Model 3 into production, sorted through the postlaunch issues, and worked on subsequent platforms.
Aaron Stein, chief technology officer, Resonant Link
Resonant Link
Resonant Link is a wireless-EV-charging startup using coil technology to increase performance while bringing down cost.
Stein and his team have developed the first commercially viable 19.2-kW wireless-charging platform for electric vehicles, which can improve performance while decreasing the cost significantly over more traditionally wired chargers. Stein and the company are currently working with several vehicle manufacturers to design wireless-charging systems ranging in size from 11-kW to more than 100-kW for passenger vehicles, material-handling vehicles, and autonomous vehicles.
More: Features Transportation Electric Vehicles
Xos Trucks Inc.
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Meet the Electric-Vehicle Industry's 30 Power Players
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Elon Musk said he would keep supporting Dogecoin, sending its price up by nearly 10%.
Like many cryptocurrencies the coin has lost most of its value this year following a huge selloff.
Bitcoin and Ethereum remained volatile after big losses on Saturday.
Dogecoin jumped nearly 10% off near-record lows on Sunday after Elon Musk said he would continue to buy the cryptocurrency.
The coin rose about 8.5% in the space of 24 hours after Musk tweeted: "I will keep supporting Dogecoin."
In response to another user telling Musk to "keep buying it then," he replied: "I am."
Musk's tweets caused the cryptocurrency to spike nearly 10% in the space of an hour to $0.056, helping to compensate for heavy declines over the past month.
It has aligned with a rebound in other cryptocurrencies as they struggle following significant losses.
After a record 12-day losing streak, Bitcoin was trading at about $18,300 on Sunday after sliding under $20,000 on Saturday, according to CoinDesk. It had been as low as $17,600.
Ethereum fell as low as $880 before rising to trade at about $965, according to CoinDesk.
The rises represent a fraction of the losses given up by cryptos this year, with Bitcoin down 70% and Ethereum down about three quarters this year. Dogecoin is down by two thirds.
Dogecoin was started by its creators as a joke, but has gained fans since Musk began to champion the coin in 2019.
The makers of Dogecoin told Decrypt last year they were working with Musk to make the coin a cheaper, greener alternative to bitcoin.
Its price has never recovered from a Saturday Night Live appearance in May 2021 where Musk jokingly labelled the coin a "hustle," sending it from record highs of $0.72 to $0.33 in a week. The currency also rallied after news first broke of Musk's plan to buy Twitter in a $44 billion deal.
Musk was this week sued for nearly $260 billion by a Dogecoin investor for allegedly running a "pyramid scheme", by pretending the coin has any sort of value to drive up its price.
More: Weekend BI UK Dogecoin DOGE-USD Elon Musk
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2022-06-19T10:26:22Z
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Dogecoin Spikes After Elon Musk Says He'll Keep Buying It
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https://www.businessinsider.com/dogecoin-spikes-after-elon-musk-says-hell-keep-buying-it-2022-6
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Harry Jowsey wants to be the next Ashton Kutcher, but will he be too hot for startups to handle?
Harry Jowsey.
Tyler Patrick Kenny.
Harry Jowsey is an influencer best known for appearing on Netflix's "Too Hot To Handle."
He plans to invest in companies behind dating apps, phone charging ports and gaming sites.
While some support his strategy, others say startups would be "foolish" to accept his backing.
Harry Jowsey is used to winning, sometimes by flouting the rules.
Rising to fame in 2020 on the first season of "Too Hot to Handle", the Netflix game show where physical contact resulted in steep financial penalties, Jowsey made his name burning through the prize money.
With more than 9 million fans on social media and a weekly live show on Spotify called Dating Harry Jowsey, he's now branching out into angel investing.
Australian-born Jowsey aims to invest in about 10 companies including dating apps and gaming sites. Venture capitalists, though, are divided on how startups should respond to his overtures.
Jowsey told Insider he was focused on building his brand and wealth after Too Hot to Handle, urging fellow contestants to make a website to understand who their fans are and how to sell to them.
He said: "It's really easy to get a brand deal and to make amazing money – but it's really hard to create a company or something that you're passionate about, and don't mind taking a loss on."
A social media extrovert with acting ambitions, Jowsey models himself on Ashton Kutcher, an actor and prankster-turned serial entrepreneur. He has become a successful venture capitalist through his company Sound Ventures, which has backed companies with hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Crunchbase.
'Value-add investor'
But becoming the next Ashton Kutcher is easier said than done, venture capitalists told Insider.
Like the actor, Jowsey has been backing companies he knows, funding startups linking tech and social media.
They include a TikTok-style dating app called Lolly; VersusGame, a betting game backed by Snapchat; a production company; and a phone charging business called ChargeFuze, run by one of his friends.
"I'm not going to randomly start investing in a hammer company because I don't use hammers," he said of his tendency to back social media-focused companies, where he feels he can offer insights on their marketing and wider direction.
Sanjay Wadhwani, founder and CEO of Podium Ventures, who has advised celebrities including pop star Robbie Williams on their investments, told Insider that Jowsey's strategy was not uncommon among influencers.
"The strategy here seems to be the right one - one where there is the opportunity to be a value-add investor and help grow the business beyond a small capital injection," he said. "In each of the cases the rounds have also been participated in by leading names or VCs, which also de-risks the opportunity."
Despite the upheaval in the tech sector, with startups including the Kutcher-backed Bird laying off large swathes of their workforce, Jowsy has not been put off.
"One of my friends said when there's blood in the street it's a good time to buy. There's opportunity wherever you look," he said.
'Idiot money'
This rise of "influencer investing," where schemes are fronted by a celebrity but operated by a team of professionals, can be a minefield.
In a withering assessment Iliya Ribchin, a partner at Elixirr Consulting, a management consultancy, said the value an influencer brings to a startup is minimal, and can even damage its reputation.
"Frankly, when evaluating a startup it's not as important to look at the startup's technology or business plan to predict success but whether this startup was foolish enough to take an investment from an influencer," Ribchin said, adding he "seriously questions" the business acumen of any founder that accepts an influencer's investment.
"I would say that when it comes to influencer investors, you can call it 'idiot money' because these vapid youngsters provide absolutely no value to a startup beyond hard abs, great hair, and a pretty smile," Ribchin said.
But Mark Peter Davis, founder of VC firm Interplay, said influencers can add value to their investments if they are surrounded by a good team.
Jowsey didn't respond to Ribchin's comments and the startups mentioned in this article didn't respond to a request for comment.
More: Weekend BI UK Harry Jowsey Netflix Influencers
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2022-06-19T10:26:40Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Why Influencer Harry Jowsey Wants to Become the Next Ashton Kutcher
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https://www.businessinsider.com/harry-jowsey-wants-to-be-angel-investor-startups-should-wary-2022-6
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Lego updates its classic Galaxy Explorer and castle sets to celebrate its 90th anniversary at LegoCon 2022
Lego Lions Knights' Castle will cost $399 and go on sale in August.
Lego revealed two new sets at LegoCon 2022 that reflect older fan favorites.
Lion Knights' Castle and Galaxy Explorer draw inspiration from its 1970s and 1980s models.
The world's largest toymaker is building a US factory to better serve one of its biggest markets.
Danish toy company Lego unveiled a revamp of its classic castle and Galaxy Explorer spaceship sets at LegoCon 2022 to celebrate its 90th anniversary.
The Lion Knights' Castle takes inspiration from the 1970s Yellow and Black Knight's castles, with some new design cues for a unique offering.
"We looked at a lot of old Lego castles and all agreed that one of the coolest ones was the Black Knight's Castle and borrowed a lot of inspiration from that," a designer said on Saturday at LegoCon 2022.
Lego Lion Knights' Castle comes with a Lady of the Castle.
The Lion Knight's Castle features a water wheel, balconies, lookout towers, and a drawbridge. The set also includes stables, a dungeon with fun throwback references to old Lego sets – and even a character playing with the Yellow Castle inside.
The set includes a host of cool features such as a "Lady of the Castle" who comes with a shield, helmet and horse to lead her troops wherever she decides.
Lego's latest model, made up of 4,500 bricks, resembles its earlier castle sets in the way that the walls are placed and how it all fits together.
It includes a twist on the 1980s Forestmen's River Fortress design with a tree and secret door that opens up to a hidden cave where forestmen characters can go to sneak into the castle.
Lego Lions Knights' Castle comes with forestmen and a secret entrance.
One of the designers said they drew upon Lego fan favorites and then made them bigger, even taking inspiration from real castles. The castle goes on sale in August for $399. The world's largest toy maker also revealed its recreation of the classic Galaxy Explorer spaceship model, which has 1,246 bricks and astronaut minifigures. The new set also goes on sale in August for $99.
Lego Galaxy Explorer Spaceship comes with a rover and four astronauts.
The spaceship, originally released in 1979, comes with beds, storage compartments, a cockpit and tools for the four astronauts to use as well as a rover that can be deployed using a ramp.
Lego Group last week announced plans to build a $1 billion US factory in Chesterfield County, Virginia, to better serve one of its biggest markets.
The new factory will create around 1,800 jobs, in addition to the 2,600 people it already employs in the US, with construction of the site expected to be completed by 2025.
More: Weekend BI UK Lego Toys Retail
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2022-06-19T10:26:52Z
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Lego Updates Its Classic Castle and Galaxy Explorer Sets for LegoCon
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https://www.businessinsider.com/lego-revamps-vintage-sets-lion-knights-castle-galaxy-explorer-2022-6
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Madison Hoff and Alex Ford
Americans are stressed out about inflation, which is at a four-decade high. They're seeing inflation's impact as they travel and spend money on goods and services like groceries, flights, and gas.
Jones pointed out to Insider one Gallup poll asking Americans how they rated their finances. For middle income, 55% said their finances were excellent or good in 2021, higher than the 41% of middle-income respondents who said this in 2022. Upper income saw the second-largest percentage-point drop but still had the highest share saying their finances are excellent or good like in 2021. Just under a quarter of lower-income respondents said their finances are excellent or good in the 2022 poll.
According to Gallup results, American adults living in lower-income households are the most worried about having enough for retirement, where three-quarters of lower-income respondents said this. Sixty-two percent of middle-income Americans also said this, similar to the share of middle-income respondents who said this last year. However, upper-income respondents are also worried about retirement funds, with 54% of these respondents saying this.
Tyler Bond, research manager at the National Institute on Retirement Security, said per a press release the middle class in the US "can no longer afford retirement."
"The average perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months increased by 0.4 percentage point to 11.1% in May," the New York Fed wrote in a press release.
With half of US adults in middle-income households as of 2021 according to a Pew analysis, we decided to see just how this group of Americans feel their and their family's finances are doing compared to a year ago.
Even though workers are reaping the benefits of wage gains, Americans are still not so sure about if they're earning enough amid 40-year high inflation. According to a Conference Board survey of US workers, mainly professional or office employees, just under two-thirds (62%) said they are worried about their pay being able to keep up with inflation. Inflation has continued to soar since the survey. A CNBC|Momentive Workforce Survey similarly shows a majority of US workers feel that pay growth isn't keeping up with rising prices.
The share saying "assets higher" as a reason they're better off has been trending downward, which could be related to the tumbling of stocks.
More: Features Economy Middle Income Middle Class
Lower Class
Middle class income
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2022-06-19T11:57:51Z
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Inflation: How Middle and Low-Income Americans Are Doing Financially
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https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-hurting-finances-middle-class-lower-income-americans-charts-2022-6
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While some Trump administration officials have been indicted for refusing to cooperate with the January 6 select committee's investigation into the deadly siege at the US Capitol, a half-dozen House Republicans (and counting) have, so far, sidestepped testifying before the congressional panel.
House Committee on Administration ranking member Rodney Davis defended Loudermilk a day later on social media, calling reports of GOP-led reconnaissance tours "demonstrably false" and urging the Capitol Police to release all security footage from January 5 to clear the air.
—House Admin. Committee GOP (@HouseAdmnGOP) May 20, 2022
Loudermilk responded on Twitter, lambasting the committee for "undermining the Capitol Police and doubling down on their smear campaign."
—Rep. Barry Loudermilk (@RepLoudermilk) June 15, 2022
Loudermilk's account of who was on the tour and what they were interested in has shifted over the past 18 months.
The select committee in a January 12, 2022 letter asked McCarthy to testify about his communications with Trump before, during, and after January 6, 2021 regarding challenging the election results. McCarthy has acknowledged having at least one conversation with Trump while MAGA supporters were swarming the Capitol, but has, so far, declined to discuss it with the committee.
Perry accused the "political witch hunt" of "fabricating headlines" in a May 12 press release, but didn't specify whether he'd testify.
More: Features Kevin McCarthy Jim Jordan Mo Brooks
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2022-06-19T11:58:09Z
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Here's the Reasons House GOP Have Given for Dodging Jan. 6 Questions
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Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican of Texas
One activist can be heard calling Crenshaw a "globalist RINO" and "eyepatch McCain."
Crenshaw took to Twitter to compare the activist to "angry little boys" who "can't get girlfriends."
"This is what happens when angry little boys like [Alex Stein] don't grow up and can't get girlfriends…," the congressman tweeted.
—Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) June 18, 2022
Far-right social media activist Alex Stein had shared a video on Twitter of himself confronting the Republican congressman and his staff while calling him a "globalist RINO."
Stein can be heard calling the Texas congressman "eyepatch McCain," and the video ends with a clip of Fox News host Tucker Carlson calling Crenshaw by that name.
Carlson coined the nickname earlier this year in reference to Crenshaw's support of US aid to Ukraine and compared him to the late Sen. John McCain, a well-known war hawk.
—Alex Stein #99 (@alexstein99) June 18, 2022
Another Twitter user also shared a video of himself confronting Crenshaw at the same event, calling him a "fraud" and questioning his involvement with the World Economic Forum– which is a major target of online conspiracy theorists.
—Alex Rosen (@football_56OL) June 18, 2022
Mediaite reported that a witness said Stein and others were escorted out of the building, and "some arrests" were made.
"They got physical with multiple people, including hitting them with cameras," a witness told Mediaite. "His campaign manager was assaulted by being pushed aggressively into a pillar."
Stein took to Twitter to deny the allegations that he assaulted anyone and claimed that he was the one who had been assaulted by "Dan Crenshaw's private police force."
Crenshaw has recently clashed with other conservatives after he voted in favor of Ukraine aid, which led him to say Republican arguments on the subject were "depressing" and "almost pro-Russia."
More: Dan Crenshaw Texas GOP UK Weekend
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2022-06-19T11:58:21Z
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Rep. Crenshaw Derides Far-Right Activist Alex Stein As 'Angry Little Boy'
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"We expect people to take advantage of weakness but showing your vulnerable side encourages support and social bonding," Jamie Whitehouse, research fellow at Nottingham Trent University's department of psychology, wrote in a summary of the findings for The Conversation.
Others suggest that by reframing the "fight or flight" response triggered by stressful situations as excitement rather than negativity can help a person overcome challenging situations.
Of course that doesn't mean we should broadly accept stress, nor encourage it as a means of making ourselves more likeable. When stress is chronic, it can lead to burnout and have negative mental and physical consequences.
More: Psychology Careers Weekend BI UK Stress
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2022-06-19T11:58:33Z
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Showing You're Stressed May Make You More Likable, Psychologists Say
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https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-stress-could-make-person-more-likeable-psychologists-say-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-stress-could-make-person-more-likeable-psychologists-say-2022-6
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Matt Turner, Sarah Belle Lin , Jordan Parker Erb, and Lisa Ryan
Don't move yet — soon there will be brand-new cities built around working from home.
Last year, the US federal government officially recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Many employers — including Insider — observe the day as well. And so, in honor of Juneteenth, here are three vital stories to read:
A conversation with Google's head of diversity: Shootings in New York, Texas, and California prompted Google's Melonie Parker, who is Black, to reflect on the company's DEI progress. Read on to find out how Google plans to improve its internal culture.
A Texas park founded by formerly enslaved people celebrates Juneteenth: Founded on June 19, 1872, Emancipation Park will hold its 150th anniversary today. Texas residents who lived by the park during the Jim Crow era shared memories with Insider.
With that, let's look at this week's top stories.
Remotevilles will need these three key ingredients before they're built.
The bubble has popped on the mighty index-rebalance trade.
Here's the salary breakdown for Harvard's most recent MBA class across industries.
The fracking boom has come to an end — and gas prices aren't immune.
This Bolt engineer borrowed $100,000 for stocks, and then he was laid off.
Plus: Keep updated with the latest business news throughout the week by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio-news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here tomorrow.
More: Newsletter Eleven Madison Park Finance Hedge Funds
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2022-06-19T13:29:01Z
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Inside the 'Chaos' at New York City's Eleven Madison Park
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https://www.businessinsider.com/eleven-madison-park-entrata-remote-work-2022-6
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Financial planners say they see people make the same 3 investing mistakes over and over during recessions
Violeta Stoimenova/Getty Images
Financial planners say investors typically make rash decisions out of fear during recessions.
Avoid investing in something trendy, like crypto, if you didn't understand it before the recession.
Don't sell everything out of fear without looking at your long-term goals.
An estimated 20 million Americans started investing in the stock market during the pandemic. That's a lot of new investors experiencing a bear market — and potentially a recession — for the first time.
It's not an easy thing to grapple with, says financial planner Pamela Capalad of Brunch & Budget."Recessions lead to a lot of potential desperation," she says, which often means mistakes are made.
Nicole Morong, a financial planner at Peterkin Financial, agrees and adds, "There's a lot of fear and people asking, 'Is this the right time to invest? Should I be waiting for the market to go down more before I put more money in?'"
If you're a new investor wondering how best to protect yourself from what may be a recession, Capalad and Morong have some advice.
1. Avoid investing in something you don't understand
Capalad says she's seen investors get into new, trendy investments during recessions, but that's a mistake. "Avoid anything that you didn't understand before the recession," she says.
For example, if you didn't know how cryptocurrency worked before, now might be a bad time to invest in crypto out of desperation. Capalad says, "Ultimately, it goes back to: Do you understand what you're investing in? Do you understand why you're investing in crypto? Do you understand how crypto works?"
"Crypto was one of the first things to take a dive when there was any hint of recession because crypto is currently all speculation," she adds. "It's really easy to ride a trend, especially when it's going up."
2. It's not the right time to try day trading
Morong says, "Any investments that claim you're going to get your money back fast, like day trading, I would avoid that. That's a bad idea any time."
Day trading is when you buy and sell the same securities multiple times during the day, with the hopes of capitalizing on any increases in the market throughout the day. While anyone can technically start day trading on their own, Markets Insider reported that 97% of day traders lost money over a period of 300 days.
Morong adds that the promise of making money quickly in a short amount of time makes day trading alluring, but that it ultimately isn't worth it.
3. Don't sell everything when the market is down
During a recession, many investors feel a sense of panic, especially if you're doing it alone without any accountability from a financial planner or financial advisor. Selling everything when the market is down is typically a fear-based decision, says Morong, which can hurt investors in the long run when the market corrects itself.
Morong adds, "It's easy to get really, really scared, and when you don't have someone to bounce ideas off of, you look at your portfolio and think, 'Oh my God, this is a slow bleed! This is all of my money! This is down 40%!' You might sell out or make rash decisions without understanding the macro perspective."
Instead, try a dollar-cost averaging strategy where you invest the same amount of money on a regular basis. You'll buy stocks at their highs, sure, but you'll also buy them at their lows while they're "on sale," which evens out your costs over time.
PERSONAL FINANCE 7 money mistakes that can make a recession even harder, according to experts
MARKETS These are the 3 biggest mistakes that investors can make during a stock market selloff, say 2 leaders at a $20 billion wealth solutions firm — and the overlooked reason why bitcoin will eventually be 'obsolete'
PERSONAL FINANCE What is a stock market correction? How to make sense of sudden drops in the market
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2022-06-19T13:29:31Z
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3 Common Investing Mistakes People Make During Recessions
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It expects Volkswagen to become world's biggest producer by increasing European and Chinese sales.
Tesla was an early entrant to the EV revolution, and accounted for 75% of all electric cars sold in the US in the first quarter of 2022, according to Kelly Blue Book. Competitors are slowly taking advantage of their scale to eat into some of that market share, though.
Ford has led the charge with its Ford F-150 Lightning, which has received 200,000 orders, while GM is pushing ahead on its next-generation "Ultium" batteries. Volkswagen is also considering of its sports car maker Porsche, which also has an electric model.
More: Weekend BI UK Tesla Volkswagen Ford
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2022-06-19T13:29:49Z
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Tesla to Lose Its Crown As Biggest Electric Car Maker by 2024: Study
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-will-lose-crown-biggest-electric-car-maker-2024-study-2022-6
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images; iStock; Rebecca Zisser/Insider
Donald Trump shunned computers, emails, and texts as he ran his hotel and golf resort empire.
Instead, he penned directives in Sharpie, often on soon-discarded Post-it Notes.
NY Attorney General Letitia James has sought these Trump business documents for two years — with limited success.
On Donald Trump's desk, high above Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, a pair of burgundy-colored letter trays sit side by side.
The left tray, if one is facing the desk, is the inbox; the outbox is always on the right. All day long for decades, a cadre of typically young, female assistants dropped manila folders into the inbox. And they carried away the manila folders from the outbox.
The folders held hard copy paperwork — contract and appraisal drafts, spreadsheets, printouts of emails and news stories, checks in need of signing — the life-blood of the Trump Organization, all flowing in and out of the ventricles of those burgundy boxes.
"I didn't think it was my position to look inside" those folders, Trump's longtime executive assistant, Rhona Graff, told investigators with the New York attorney general's office last month, describing the inbox-outbox system while testifying that her boss had no business-document retention policy in the decades before trading his Trump Tower desk for the Oval Office Resolute Desk in 2017.
AG Letitia James, now winding up a three-year probe of the Trump Organization, would very much have liked to look inside those folders.
She knows how vital hard copy documents are, given that the computer-averse Trump ran his multi-billion-dollar company as if in the mid-20th century, shunning email and text chains, and relying instead on spoken and handwritten directives.
But out of some 900,000 documents totaling 6 million pages now turned over to her probe by the Trump Organization, only ten — about 500 pages worth — bear Trump's Sharpie-scrawled handwriting, her lawyers have complained in court documents and hearings over the past 2 years.
Upon leaving the box on the right, any handwritten directives once inside those folders appear to have largely vanished.
And at least some of the handwritten, Trump directives that have been turned over to the AG are hardly smoking guns. A few appended to a recent court filing included Trump's terse, Sharpie markups of pictures of his properties and favorite golfers.
"Great," Trump wrote on a series of old news photos of golf stars Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
Marked "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," this 1962 Associated Press photo of golf great Gary Player is one of the few documents bearing Donald Trump's handwriting turned over to the New York Attorney General's probe of the Trump Organization.
NY Attorney General's Office
"HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," they read.
A former Trump Organization employee suggested that any more weighty documents bearing Trump's handwritten directives are unlikely to have survived.
"Is there a document retention policy on those documents?" the employee said, speaking to Insider on condition of anonymity.
"The answer is no. In most cases you either threw it in the garbage or you threw it in the shredder."
A stickies situation
Notably missing from the AG's assembled evidence are the leaf-pile's worth of Post-it Notes that Trump's top corporate lawyer, Alan Garten, has told probers his boss routinely stuck on documents when giving written orders.
"To my knowledge, we haven't seen any documents that have Post-its on them," Andrew Amer, a lawyer for the AG's office, said during a May court hearing.
"That's one of the odd things about the [document] production to date," he said.
"And quite frankly, we're still waiting."
At the same hearing, Trump attorney Alina Habba repeated, with evident frustration, that every Trump Organization document the AG has demanded has been turned over. There is simply nothing more to give.
Donald Trump at his desk in Trump Tower in Manhattan, NY, in 2012. Visible on the desk are his outbox and his stacks of yellow Post-it Notes.
Jennifer S. Altman/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
Any evidentiary stickies would have been scanned and submitted in compliance with the AG's many subpoenas, Habba added.
But she also pointed out, quite reasonably, that Post-its are, by design, transitory.
"I write notes to my assistants, I write notes to [law partner] Michael [Madaio], and I can assure you," she said, "these are not going anywhere but in the round receptacle." Habba declined to comment on this story, as did the AG's office.
The Manhattan judge presiding over the AG's probe, New York Supreme Court Arthur Engoron, is expected to rule soon on whether a costly, $10,000-a-day contempt-of-court order — Trump's penalty for failing to fully comply with James' subpoenas for his personal business documents — will be lifted.
So far, the contempt order has cost Trump $110,000 in fines, which the AG is holding in escrow pending Trump's appeal of the order. The cost to Trump could rise past $300,000 in the unlikely case of the judge retroactively re-instating the daily fine.
"I understand we have a slight difference of opinion," the judge told Habba at the most recent hearing on the matter, during which Habba again stressed that Trump has no more paperwork to turn over.
"I just think the opinion is a lot based on who my client is," Habba responded. "And that's concerning to me."
The prints were 'wiped'
As a Manhattan prosecutor, attorney John Moscow handled complicated white-collar criminal investigations. He's been following the public court filings in the AG's probe, and believes the lack of Trump documents is remarkable — and intentional.
Why else, Moscow asks, would a CEO run a multi-billion-dollar company on spoken commands and apparently long-vanished scraps and jottings, without creating a traceable, electronic record of his orders and decisions?
"The key takeaway from this is, he did business as if planning to defeat an investigation," said Moscow, now a defense attorney with Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss.
"You would expect to see fingerprints," given that Trump was by most accounts a hands-on CEO, Moscow said.
"If there are none — and there are nearly none — that is evidence of a policy of wiping the fingerprints."
Something big from the AG
Even without the contents of that outbox — and despite zero apparent incriminating cooperation from his C-suite — James is moving forward, and appears to be on the brink of filing something big.
She has alleged in court papers that Trump repeatedly fudged the values of his properties on financial statements, loan applications, tax submissions and other official documents, many bearing Trump's signature or that of his son, Eric Trump, who, as an executive vice president, signed the company's Statements of Financial Condition post-2017.
Trump continues to be the sole beneficiary of the Trump Organization, the AG says, alleging that this high-balling and low-balling of its properties' worth has earned him hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten loans and tax breaks over the years.
James' upcoming lawsuit against the New York-based company may seek to put it out of business entirely, and could well drop this summer, after Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., submit to questioning by probers in court-mandated, sworn depositions scheduled for mid-July.
Trump's lawyers have steadfastly denied wrongdoing; Trump himself has called the probe a politically motivated and "racist" witch hunt.
Part of a 'fraud mosaic'
"There's no New York law that says you have to keep your documents in general," said Diana Florence, another former Manhattan prosecutor who handled major financial fraud cases.
"Many closely held family corporations will not have the same document-retention policies as a Fortune 500 company," she told Insider.
"But what we have here is a company where the CEO was able to communicate exactly what he wanted without leaving a permanent record of it," noted Florence, a former Democratic candidate for Manhattan DA now in private practice.
"It's very 20th Century," she added. "Everyone does everything electronically now."
The AG won't find "an employee handbook saying destroy all Post-it notes," Florence joked.
Still, the lack of these notes, and of Trump's handwritten documents in general, suggests a pattern, tiles in a "fraud mosaic" that the AG pieces together to an eventual jury, she said.
The AG, too, has suggested that the lack of Trump documents may come back to haunt him.
AG attorney Kevin Wallace's voice turned ominous when Habba insisted during an April hearing — and for the umpteenth time — that "there's really nothing left in his custody" for Trump to turn over.
"I'll be frank," Wallace warned. "If that's all there is ... it raises a bunch of other issues."
More: Donald Trump Trump Organization Letitia James New York
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2022-06-19T13:29:55Z
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No Fingerprints: How Trump Kept His Hands Clean at the Trump Organization
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https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-business-documents-new-york-attorney-general-investigation-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-business-documents-new-york-attorney-general-investigation-2022-6
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The vial of blood that Jen Begakis found in her Amazon delivery.
Jen Begakis
An Amazon customer found a vial of blood in a chair she bought on the site.
Jen Begakis shared a video of the vial and an apology from Amazon on social media.
In an email shared by Begakis, Amazon offered her a refund and a $100 gift card.
An Amazon customer received an unexpected but very unwelcome bonus when opening the chair she bought from the online retailer: a vial of blood.
In a tweet on Thursday, Jen Begakis said: "If I told you the leather chair I ordered from Amazon was packaged with a blood collection tube that is ... full, would you believe me? because I'm lost for --- words."
In a later tweet, Begakis shared an email she received from Amazon, apologizing for the delivery and offering a $156.59 refund for the chair and a $100 gift card.
In the email, Amazon said: "First and foremost, I'm truly sorry for your experience! I can certainly understand the concern of receiving bodily fluids in your package. I've made sure the seller has been reported, and all appropriate actions have been taken to prevent this from happening again in the future."
Jen Begakis was offered a $100 gift card by Amazon after being sent an unwanted vial of blood with her purchase.
Begakis, a doctoral student at Cornell University, told Insider that the tone of the response was "almost laughable in its attempt at normalcy".
She remained unsure about how to dispose of the vial: "Tossing it in the trash seems about as wrong headed as hanging onto it."
Begakis added: "A $100 gift card is pretty paltry an apology if you ask me. Say with inflation, that's $75 'I'm sorry we shipped you a biohazard'."
Amazon operates with a range of third-party clients that sell through its website. The email Begakis received from Amazon appeared to confirm it was supplied by one of these vendors.
Amazon didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Weekend BI UK Blood Amazon Amazon Delivery
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2022-06-19T16:31:27Z
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Amazon Customer Found a Vial of Blood When Unpacking Her New Chair
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https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-customer-finds-a-vial-blood-when-unpacking-new-chair-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-customer-finds-a-vial-blood-when-unpacking-new-chair-2022-6
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The Rainbow Flag, a symbol of LGTQ liberation, flies beneath the American flag.
The Republican Party of Texas adopted its latest platform on Saturday at its biennial convention.
It includes a description of homosexuality as "an abnormal lifestyle choice."
The platform also proposes opposition to "all efforts to validate transgender identity."
The Republican Party of Texas adopted a platform that included explicitly anti-LGBTQ ideology at its biennial convention on Saturday.
The new 40-page platform contains a "Homosexuality and Gender Issues" section that describes being gay as "an abnormal lifestyle choice."
It calls for a policy of fighting against special status for members of the LGBTQ communities and protection against criminal or civil penalties for those who oppose homosexuality out of "faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values."
There is no federal law that protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination or grants them special status.
The section also includes calls for opposition to "all efforts to validate transgender identity" and a ban on medical practitioners from offering any gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 21.
The use of taxpayer funds for gender-affirming treatments is also opposed, and the platform pledges support for the protection of conversion therapy.
Elsewhere in the new platform, which was voted on and passed by delegates, public funding to "homosexuality, transgender or diversity-equity-inclusion centers" was also opposed.
Chris Halbohn of the Log Cabin Republicans of Houston, an organization that represents LGBTQ Republicans, called the language "unnecessarily gratuitous," the NPR affiliate KUT 90.5 reported.
Log Cabin Republicans of Houston is a sister group of Log Cabin Republicans of Fort Worth. The latter, as Insider reported, were not allowed to set up a booth at the Houston convention this weekend.
In a statement, on Friday, the national group called the decision "narrow-minded" and "politically short-sighted."
The decision to exclude the group attracted controversy, prompting Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, to criticize the decision.
"The Texas GOP should focus its energy on fighting back against the radical democrats and weak RINOs currently trying to legislate our 2nd Amendment rights away, instead of canceling a group of gay conservatives who are standing in the breach with us," he told Breitbart News.
According to KUT 90.5, the anti-LGBTQ sentiment was felt at Saturday's conference.
Anti-LGBT flyers were passed around, including one titled "Be Alert and Aware of the Homosexual Agenda."
Jack Finger of San Antonia, a precinct chair for the Texas GOP, protested a mention of the Log Cabin Republicans in a schedule. "Their ideas we consider are, quite frankly, evil," he said, per KUT 90.5. "We think their ideals will destroy our society."
Insider contacted the Texas GOP for comment.
The convention also saw Republicans embrace "The Big Lie," Houston Public Media reported. Convention attendees repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud, the media outlet reported.
"We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States," the resolution said, per Newsweek.
More: Texas Republican Party Texas GOP anti-lgbt LGBTQ
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2022-06-19T16:31:51Z
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Texas GOP's New Platform Calls Homosexuality 'Abnormal'
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https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-gops-new-platform-calls-homosexuality-abnormal-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-gops-new-platform-calls-homosexuality-abnormal-2022-6
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Insider's most innovative CMOs of 2022
Lindsay Rittenhouse, Zac Wang, and Michael Kaminer
JPMorgan; DoorDash; Savage X Fenty; Wendy's; Insider
Insider released its seventh annual list of the most innovative chief marketing officers.
These execs are rising to challenges presented by the pandemic, economic jitters, and privacy changes.
Their approaches are shaping their companies, industries, and the culture itself.
The pandemic, economic upheaval, and privacy changes have thrown new challenges companies' way. And it's fallen to their chief marketers to translate those hurdles for consumers to remain relevant and ensure continued growth.
Insider's seventh annual "Most Innovative CMOs" list presents 31 people who have risen to the challenge. Our picks — based on our consulting with industry experts and nominations from the marketing community, including Lola Bakare, Katie Klumper, and Kai D. Wright — represent a cross section of industries and company sizes.
They stand out for how they're messaging to ad-weary consumers in new ways, challenging timeworn conventions, and leading the way in the metaverse — shaping their companies, industries, and the culture.
Scroll down to read the list, in alphabetical order by last name.
Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, DoorDash
Amoo-Gottfried ensures DoorDash consumes the conversation on food delivery, and his marketing prowess has helped it dominate the space, as it accounted for 59% of all US meal-delivery sales in April, according to Bloomberg Second Measure.
Amoo-Gottfried, who was promoted to become DoorDash's first chief marketing officer in January, is always pushing DoorDash into new territory, like getting the platform its first Super Bowl commercial in 2021 — a "Sesame Street"-themed spot featuring the actor Daveed Diggs.
He uses sharp insights to inform advertising, featuring NFL draft picks including Desmond Ridder who are also former DoorDash deliverers in an April campaign. He also realizes the value of multicultural marketing, launching DoorDash's first custom Spanish and English multiplatform campaign targeting Latino audiences, "Antojo."
Kyle Andrew, Athleta
The Olympic gymnast Simone Biles rocked the sports world by leaving Nike for the smaller Athleta ahead of 2021's Tokyo games, saying the Gap brand better aligned with her values.
Athleta has been a bright spot for Gap, with fiscal year 2021 sales up 48% thanks to efforts by Andrew, its chief brand officer, to paint it as a champion of women and girls.
For athletes like Biles, Andrew reimagined the traditional sponsorship model. The "Power of She" campaign for Biles ahead of the Tokyo Games, for example, featured not only the superstar but also the community surrounding her on her journey to win four Olympic gold medals — a marketing move that Biles said secured her sponsorship deal.
Andrew is also behind the launch of one of Athleta's big bets: A wellness platform for loyalty members.
Andrea Brimmer, Ally Financial
To some consumers, financial institutions might seem like supervillains. But Brimmer has made Ally heroic, teaming with DC and Milestone Comics to champion diverse comic-book creators.
It's just one example of how Ally has made helping underresourced and overlooked customers central to its marketing. Ally eliminated overdraft fees in August, saying they mostly hit people living paycheck to paycheck or with low balances. It was part of a larger pandemic relief package that not only threw a lifeline but also meaningfully reinforced the brand's mission "to be a true ally" to customers, employees, and communities.
Brimmer, who serves as Ally's public-relations chief as well as chief marketing officer, also saves Ally money by running its programmatic marketing in-house. She estimated the effort had saved 25% in annual spend.
Jason Brown, Ntwrk
Ntwrk
Companies have had limited success with live shopping, but Ntwrk is an exception. Brown has helped make it a destination by blending exclusivity and pop culture, with collaborations with celebs like LeBron James and Billie Eilish, partnerships to get products in music videos with artists like Future and Doja Cat, and a nonfungible-token platform.
Last year, the platform hosted 12 livestream festivals where creators sold everything from collectibles to street art to luxury home goods. Top creators, like Ben Baller, also figured into Ntwrk's first ad campaign, "Shop. Watch. Connect." Helped by deep pockets (Ntwrk's latest raise last year netted $50 million from Goldman Sachs and others), Ntwrk has grown its users by 5,000% since 2019 to 3 million app downloads.
Tina Edmundson, Marriott International
Francois Nel/Getty Images for Marriott International
Under Edmundson and a new executive team, fusty Marriott has grown into a hospitality innovator with 30 distinct brands.
When the pandemic foisted an existential crisis on the industry, Edmundson and her team seized the moment to reinvent Marriott, leaping into the homeshare space dominated by Airbnb and helping make up for dwindling hotel bookings.
But Marriott Homes & Villas is less about competing with Airbnb and more about "extending the ability to earn and redeem loyalty rewards in any travel scenario," Bloomberg reported.
From that perspective, it's a marketing coup, as is Marriott's rebranding of the Caribbean's Blue Diamond resorts as luxury all-inclusives under the Ritz-Carlton, Westin, and other brands. The goal is to attract and retain a new generation of travelers, and the result should be continued dominance for Marriott.
Greg Fass, Liquid Death Mountain Water
When you're marketing bottled water, you're promoting — water. But Fass has managed to make drinking water seem like a transgressive act with marketing that ups the ante.
Instead of asking Tony Hawk, a Liquid Death brand ambassador, just for endorsements, the marketing vice president asked for the skate legend's blood to decorate a limited-edition board. The internet gulped it up.
Then, he recruited porn stars for a "Don't Fuck the Planet" campaign dissing single-use plastic bottles in favor of Liquid Death's cans (Joanna Angel, an adult-film actor, is also a brand partner).
"If we can make more people laugh more often, they'll be more likely to share Liquid Death with the world in place of large-scale media budgets," Fass said of the brand's emphasis on entertainment-first content.
Vicky Free, Adidas
Free has helped Adidas battle longtime rivals Nike and Under Armour as an early mover in the white-hot Web3 space.
Under the global marketing senior vice president, Adidas released a collection with the famous NFT brand "Bored Ape Yacht Club" and bought land in the virtual world The Sandbox.
She's also led Adidas' commitment to diversity in its marketing in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests in 2020 — when employees protested Adidas' corporate culture — with efforts like its "Impossible Is Nothing" campaign that featured athletes like the trans volleyball player Tiffany Abreu and the Indian sprinter Hima Das.
Dustin Godsey, Milwaukee Bucks
When Godsey joined the Bucks in 2012 as the team's first marketing hire, he was focused on getting people to the games. With a rebrand, the opening of the Bucks' home arena, Fiserv Forum, in Milwaukee in 2018, and the development of the surrounding neighborhood as the "Deer District," he has built up a massive global following for the team.
Thousands of people now crowd the Deer District for Bucks watch parties, and the space has become a cultural hub for the community, with other events, fitness programs, and festivals held there.
Coming out of a pandemic lull in 2021, about 18,000 fans packed Fiserv Forum to see the Bucks win their first NBA championship since 1971. Now, with a winning team and its superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Godsey has plans to turn the team into an even greater global content and entertainment brand.
Melissa Grady Dias, Cadillac
The Cadillac Automotive Co. was born in 1902. That alone should convey Dias' heavy lift when she became its chief marketing officer in 2019. Instead of getting mired in legacy, Dias has brought swagger to the GM brand.
For the relaunch of Cadillac's Lyriq all-electric crossover vehicle, she partnered with stars like Regina King under the "Be Iconic" tagline, offered Lyriqs to 15 North American universities with the challenge of making the cars better, and bolstered Cadillac's longstanding relationship with Black consumers through events and paid media.
The Lyriq's 2023 release sold out within minutes after it became available to reserve online.
"We have a clear vision of the Cadillac brand," Dias told Brand Innovators. "It's about big dreams, bold ambitions, and being entrepreneurial."
Natalie Guzman, Savage X Fenty
Behind Rihanna's fearless, confident, and body-inclusive line of lingerie is its copresident and chief marketing officer, Guzman.
She's at the forefront promoting those core tenets of the brand as it makes its foray into brick-and-mortar and, according to Forbes, eyes an initial public offering that could value it at $3 billion.
Guzman said she listened to Savage X Fenty's customers when the brand developed a lingerie line including satin boxers and lacy thongs for men and nonbinary people.
"Sensuality and how you express yourself is not gender-restrictive," she said of the effort.
On the tech front, Guzman has cited the use of Fit:Match, an app that uses 3D body scans to help customers find the right fit and make it easy to shop in stores.
Carla Hassan, JPMorgan Chase
Hassan became the chief marketer of JPMorgan Chase in October, at a time when Wall Street started upping its marketing to reach customers seeking more services from their banks.
In her short time there, Hassan has already had an influence, opening a branch in the metaverse and expanding its series of financial-education podcasts.
She'll also be key to attracting a new customer base keen on dining out with perks like credit-card rewards following JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of The Infatuation, the operator of restaurant-recommendation sites and apps, and its properties including the biannual food festival Eeeeeatscon.
Melissa Hobley, OkCupid
OkCupid started advertising in 2017 with the hiring of Hobley as competition heated up from rival dating sites.
She's helped bring acceptance to online dating with its cheeky "DTF" ads, reminding users that "the F should be your F to choose" and encouraging people to find partners by matching on the issues that matter to them, with profile badges that show their positions on Black Lives Matter, abortion, and the like. (OkCupid was one of a few brands to take a stand on abortion rights with its pro-choice badges as Roe v. Wade faced scrutiny by the Supreme Court.)
As a result, OkCupid reported a 700% increase in dates last year, which helped boost revenue 17% to $2.4 billion for its parent company, Match Group.
The global chief marketing officer has proved herself a dating expert in her own right, making various media appearances to relay the dos and don'ts of online dating — like, beware of typos.
Greg Joswiak, Apple
At a time when consumers are increasingly leery of tech giants, Joswiak has aggressively capitalized on Apple's pro-privacy stance to make the iPhone maker synonymous with privacy.
A new series of ads has gone to great lengths to show consumers how intricately they're tracked by apps and how Apple gives them control over how their personal data is collected, with tools like its 2021 App Tracking Transparency move that required app makers to ask permission from Apple-device users before tracking them across other apps and websites. Take that, Google and Facebook.
Since joining Apple in 1986, Joswiak has been a part of its biggest marketing moments, including the launch of the iPod. He took over as the senior vice president of worldwide marketing from Phil Schiller in 2020.
Soyoung Kang, Eos
"Bless your f#@%ing cooch." By leveraging that signature sign-off from an enthusiastic product reviewer, Kang built a TikTok presence for the skin-care brand Eos that's mushroomed to 4 billion views and counting.
Kang's relentless, highly strategic use of the platform has made Eos one of its first Culture Drivers, a dean's list of influential brands, while connecting Eos with a notoriously capricious Gen Z audience.
Eos' signature egg-shaped containers got another boost from its FlavorLab, which collaborated with influencers on capsule collections with feel-good tastes and smells like honey lavender. The line became a hit, with online commenters saying the products affected their state of mind.
At a moment of high anxiety for consumers, Kang told StyleCaster, "Applying lip balm is a small but frequent moment throughout the day, so why not make it a feel-good moment?"
Zach Kitschke, Canva
Australia's Canva, which provides free design software to everyday people and businesses, has become one of the hottest startups with a value of $40 billion, helped by Kitschke's massive efforts to boost awareness.
Founded in 2012, Canva took off during the pandemic when remote workers turned to its tools to develop online presentations. Kitschke doubled Canva's marketing department to 400 employees and built a 60-person in-house creative agency that handles brand marketing, social media, public relations, and other functions.
Two major campaigns last year, "With Canva You Can," which highlighted individual users, and "What Will You Design Today," focusing on business users, including Zoom , helped bring in more than 35 million new users in 2021 for a total of 75 million.
Carl Loredo, Wendy's
As the pandemic battered restaurants, Loredo helped Wendy's come out on the other side with a breakfast business worth more than $1 billion and hundreds of thousands of fans on Twitter and Twitch .
The chief marketing officer told Marketing Dive that constantly hearing customers' disappointment with fast-food breakfasts spurred Wendy's to push a new morning menu, even as competitors cut their offerings amid the pandemic.
He's also helped keep Wendy's relevant to young consumers — its gaming campaigns have made it one of the top streamers on Twitch, and its snarky tweets have earned it 3.8 million followers. (It's not all roasts: Last year, Loredo's team created an ad based on a story drawn by a boy who had tweeted it at the company.) And Loredo oversaw Wendy's expansion of its partnership with the cult cartoon "Rick and Morty," which involved custom Coca-Cola flavors and a restaurant pop-up.
Barbara Messing, Roblox
From its beginnings as a cartoonish video game for teenagers, Roblox has become the virtual platform of choice for brands to reach the elusive Gen Z consumer. Behind its appeal for marketers is Messing, who's masterminded collaborations with some of the most prestigious and popular brands.
Drawn to Roblox's 50 million daily active users, the likes of Gucci, Nike, the NFL, Spotify, and Chipotle jumped aboard in the past year, selling digital wearables, hosting virtual concerts, and more. Roblox is also causing marketers to rethink their playbook to stay relevant with a new generation.
"We are actually seeing this shift of focus on communities across the board with marketers making sure they involve their customers and fans in cocreating products, campaigns, and are sharing their IP with their communities," Messing said.
Kenny Mitchell, Snap
Snap has gotten millions of people using its augmented-reality features, but Mitchell has doubled down on AR, helping ensure Snap will continue to stand out from bigger rivals.
Touting the camera as an opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate, Snap launched an AR-driven ad campaign directed at users, followed by advertisers. Mitchell then led the platform to launch suites of tools for creators and an AR creative studio called Arcadia for advertisers.
The strategy is paying off: Snap reported in April that more than 250,000 creators worldwide had built upward of 2.5 million Snap lenses. While Snap has been part of a broader tech stock downturn, it still forecast revenue to grow 20 to 25% in the second quarter.
Ukonwa Ojo, Amazon Prime Video and Studios
The global chief marketing officer of Amazon's slate of titles across Prime and Studios, Ojo uses a mix of machine learning and human intuition to learn which characters and elements to highlight, delivering stunts that have kept Amazon in the conversation as competition for streaming viewers heats up.
For "The Wheel of Time," a fantasy series released on Amazon Prime Video, she worked with the London creative studio Amplify to create an anamorphic 3D campaign that had characters jumping off screens to touch passersby in high-traffic areas, including London's Piccadilly Circus and New York's Times Square, which attracted tons of media attention. It also featured a Twitch stream so anyone could experience the billboards.
"All of our efforts are focused on using marketing to drive larger conversations around culture and entertainment," Ojo said.
Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble
Pritchard is one of the most influential marketing leaders in the world as the chief brand officer of P&G, perennially a top global advertiser.
P&G spent $11.5 billion across its 65 brands, such as Gillette and Tide, in its 2021 fiscal year, and Pritchard uses his perch to promote inclusivity and oppose bias in the industry and the culture alike.
His latest anti-bias effort, "The Name," sparked a conversation on how to properly pronounce Asian American and Pacific Islander names. Last year, he pushed to get rid of the term "general market," which had been understood to mean white consumers, in favor of diverse, multicultural marketing. And amid economic jitters, Pritchard has helped sales soar despite inflationary price hikes by pushing superior-value claims for products.
Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard
"Consumers hate ads," Rajamannar has said. With that in mind, he has been laser-focused on discovering novel ways to get their attention.
Under his watch, Mastercard has helped demystify cryptocurrency, unveiled multisensory Mastercard brand identities — including scents dubbed Passion and Optimism — and embraced eco activism with its Priceless Planet Coalition, which hopes to restore 100 million trees.
Rajamannar has also distinguished Mastercard with inclusivity campaigns that mean something, like the Touch Card for people with visually impairments and the transgender-focused True Name feature, which lets users choose first names on cards without a legal name change.
Kate Rouch, Coinbase
Is crypto dead? Not yet — at least according to Rouch, who helped Coinbase win the Super Bowl ads battle with her unorthodox marketing efforts as the crypto exchange soared.
Spending almost $14 million on an ad depicting nothing but a dancing QR code might seem like a folly, but the stunt drove 20 million visits to Coinbase's site in under a minute and catapulted its app from 186th to 2nd place on the App Store.
Rouch is selective of where to deploy Coinbase's $6 billion war chest. A partnership with the NBA star Kevin Durant and one with the international art fair Art Basel were among the company's other rare marketing initiatives.
Recent layoffs after a fall in the market bring fresh questions for Coinbase. But the company has stood firm, releasing an ad in May focused on the obituaries written on crypto.
"It's easy to write an obituary. It's hard to bring something new to life," Rouch wrote in a blog announcing the ad.
Nathaniel Ru, Sweetgreen
Sweetgreen's IPO filing in October noted that a remote-work future could challenge its success, Quartz reported. But Ru, the salad chain's chief brand officer and cofounder, is rewriting that story by targeting Sweetgreen's core Gen Z consumer in new ways.
A redesigned ordering app lets people tailor their menu options; a seemingly nonstop roll of TikTok recipe videos reinforces the brand's "healthy-fast-food" message. Most notably, Ru created an in-house creative agency to "move at the speed of culture," as he put it. And the brand continues to master partnerships, with the Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker joining the tennis star Naomi Osaka as brand ambassador.
"Athletes speak to a new generation of eaters," Ru told Adweek. "Ultimately, Sweetgreen wants to be recognized for the ways we connect culture and food."
David Sandstrom, Klarna
From blue to hot pink: That's how Sandstrom characterizes Klarna's brand evolution from a staid financial institution to "consumer lifestyle brand and shopping platform with a fully licensed bank."
To get there, Sandstrom spearheaded envelope-pushing partnerships with stars like Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg, and cast Maya Rudolph as four tiny cowboys in a Super Bowl ad.
He's also aggressively expanded Klarna's relationships with retailers, cementing its primacy in the payment space, even as it faces losses and heightened competition. Klarna's Virtual Shopping platform, directed at replicating in-store experiences, counts Foot Locker, Macy's, and Sephora among its partners.
Shoppers are more than 20 times more likely to make a purchase when Virtual Shopping is involved, a Klarna spokesperson said. That includes categories like sex toys, Sandstrom has said, which consumers prefer to buy online.
Melissa Selcher, LinkedIn
While much of social media wrestles with civility problems, Selcher has gotten the message out that LinkedIn is a respectful, professional space.
As its senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer, she's promoted the platform as a safe place to get career support and promoted conversations on diversity, equity, and inclusion and the tolls the pandemic has taken on people's mental health.
In the pandemic, she helped make it OK for users to signal they're looking for work with LinkedIn's "Open to Work" profile-photo frame and launched a skills-assessment and career-explorer dashboard to help users identify transferable skills.
"Engagement and connection is necessary for our members to feel like they belong and know the information and people they're engaging with are real," Selcher said.
Cara Sylvester, Target
At a time when shoppers are increasingly fickle, Sylvester has helped build Target Circle into one of the biggest retail loyalty programs in the US, with 100 million members.
She's expanded the program to deliver more personalized deals for customers, while its shopper data has helped make Target's ad platform, Roundel, a rival to Walmart's.
Sylvester, executive vice president and chief guest-experience officer, has also built out Target Plus, a curated platform of products from third-party sellers that helped boost the retailer's digital business 20% in comparable sales in 2021, on top of a 145% lift the year before.
Musa Tariq, GoFundMe
"I believe the best brands in the world are built on an inherent human truth. GoFundMe is built on two: People need help, and people want to help others," GoFundMe's chief marketing officer said.
Tariq joined the crowdfunding platform in the beginning of 2021 amid the pandemic, which led to an influx of fundraisers. He's focused on destigmatizing the act of asking for help and has made GoFundMe a destination for entrepreneurs and small businesses in need of funds.
Tariq said he focused on promoting the deep, personal stories shared on GoFundMe and strategized how best to help each campaign reach its goal — whether it be to take a hyperlocal or global marketing approach. He's also driven global support for the "Stand with Ukraine" fundraiser from the actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, which has garnered more than $36 million.
Everette Taylor, Artsy
Taylor is helping democratize the art world as the chief marketer of one of the biggest online art marketplaces, while promoting inclusivity and price transparency in the industry — areas it's historically lagged in.
His campaigns have had a big influence on underrepresented artists and galleries, including one that raised $6.5 million for the Art for Justice Fund to support criminal justice and end mass incarceration.
In all, Artsy raised $16.5 million for charitable causes in 2021, double what it raised in 2020. The serial entrepreneur also pushed Artsy to make all the prices of its art public, something he says most galleries don't do and collectors consider a barrier to buy.
"The art market has traditionally been opaque and exclusive, and we are transforming the industry and legacy habits," he said.
Robert Triefus, Gucci
The Italian luxury brand has managed to retain its exclusive cachet over 100 years despite family feuds, a near bankruptcy, and multiple turnarounds. Last year, it reinvented itself yet again under the leadership of its chief marketer.
Triefus helped make Gucci relevant with new audiences with forays into Web3, including releasing sought-after NFTs in collaboration with the virtual artist Superplastic, setting up a Discord community, and even accepting crypto for in-store payments.
The marketing chief also kept Gucci top of mind with Gen Z through a collaboration with Roblox, selling a digital bag for more than $4,000, and a digital-clothing drop on the South Korean social-media app Zepeto.
Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan
Amid supply-chain breakdowns and chip shortages, Nissan Group still managed to grow unit sales 8.7% in 2021, helped by Witherspoon's aggressive embrace of e-commerce.
With shoppers unable or unwilling to visit dealerships in the pandemic, the Nissan chief marketing officer pushed her team to create the automotive category's first end-to-end e-commerce solution for consumers.
Built and launched in weeks, the Nissan@Home program lets consumers shop, drive, and buy a Nissan from home. The site has helped Nissan ramp up close rates for sales from 20% to 30%, the company reported.
Witherspoon also tapped e-sports' massive fan base. By making the 2023 Nissan Z sports car into an in-game car for the popular "Rocket League" game, her team vaulted Nissan into the company of Lamborghinis and "Fast & Furious" vehicles. Fun fact: Witherspoon, a "Game of Thrones" fan, likes to be called Mother of Dragons.
Deborah Yeh, Sephora
Yeh has harnessed her personal convictions in leading retail to be a force for change. She was behind Sephora's Racial Bias in Retail study that uncovered unfair treatment of people of color in retail and helped it become the first major retailer to support the 15 Percent Pledge to dedicate at least 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses.
Since then, the chief marketing officer of the Americas and global chief purpose officer led Sephora's first dedicated campaign for Black-owned brands and partnered with Google and the ad agency R/GA to help Black-owned beauty brands get found in online searches. And Yeh's marketing helped relaunch the Black-directed beauty brand Fashion Fair with a documentary on its comeback story. This May, she led Sephora to enact the "Open to All" pledge with 28 other retailers to combat racial bias.
More: Features BI Graphics procter & gamble
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2022-06-20T05:35:17Z
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31 Most Innovative Chief Marketing Officers of 2022
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https://www.businessinsider.com/most-innovative-chief-marketing-officers-of-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/most-innovative-chief-marketing-officers-of-2022-6
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Ukraine applied to join the European Union days after Russia's invasion in February.
The 27 EU leaders will meet this week to discuss the application, a unanimous decision is needed.
It's a "fateful" decision, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is entering a "historic week" as he waits to find out whether Ukraine's bid to join the European Union will be approved.
The EU's 27 member states must decide unanimously that Ukraine's candidacy request should be successful. The country applied to join the EU less than a week after Russia invaded in February.
"Tomorrow a truly historic week begins," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday June 19.
The European Commission has already approved the application, and the European Council will respond at the end of the week, he said.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, said she believes Ukraine's request to join will get the green light.
"I firmly believe that we will get a positive decision, that we will get support, that the course has now been set," von der Leyen told German broadcaster ARD, as per Al Jazeera.
Zelenskyy has also expressed confidence.
"I think it is obvious to everyone that since 1991 there have been few such fateful decisions for Ukraine as we expect now," he said in his address. "And I am convinced that only a positive decision meets the interests of the whole of Europe."
EU leaders will meet on June 23-24 to discuss Ukraine's candidacy, but German, French, Romanian, and Italian leaders have all given their blessing already, AP reported.
The war could 'last for years'
Not only Ukraine, but other European countries should expect "greater hostile activity from Russia," Zelenskyy said in his address.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that "nobody knows" how long the war could last, as Business Insider's Katie Balevic reported.
The comments come as the new chief of the British Army warned troops they must "prepare to fight in Europe once again," Business Insider's Bethany Dawson reported.
General Sir Patrick Sanders told soldiers they must be ready "to protect the UK and be ready to fight and win wars on land" and that there is a "burning imperative to forge an army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle."
More: Ukraine Russia EU Europe
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2022-06-20T07:41:17Z
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Ukraine Facing 'Historic Week' As EU Votes on Bid to Join: Zelenskyy
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-facing-historic-week-eu-votes-bid-to-join-zelenskyy-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-facing-historic-week-eu-votes-bid-to-join-zelenskyy-2022-6
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Top government agents who took down major crypto criminals now lead Binance's investigations unit. Here's why the exchange built out the 150-person team — and what it takes to nab a role in the secretive group.
Binance logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen
Crypto exchange Binance has been quietly building out a 150-person investigations team.
Leading the team are top government agents who helped bring down some of crypto's biggest criminals.
They share why they decided to join Binance and how to get a role in the under-the-radar team.
Some of those exploits will be chronicled in an upcoming book, "Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency" by Andy Greenberg.
Instead of taking it easy, however, Gambaryan and Price accepted a new challenge helping Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, crack down on crime.
The changing crypto landscape
Tigran Gambaryan, Binance's vice president of global intelligence and investigations
Both Gambaryan and Price gained their knowledge on crypto crime at the IRS. Gambaryan was the agency's "go-to" crypto expert through his role as a criminal investigator while Price worked as a special agent in the criminal investigation cyber crimes unit. He also spent time as a targeting officer in the CIA.
"Everyone we've brought into this team is our equivalent around the world," said Price citing other recent hires such as Europol's Nils Andersen-Röed.
"The company took the approach of, 'look, we really take this seriously, we really want to not only protect our customers, protect our platform, but blockchain as a whole, because if we're doing that it adds trust to the space," he added.
"Child sexual exploitation is a great example," Price said. "I don't think there's anyone on the planet that isn't willing to help with that."
"We developed the techniques to identify and take down the worst of the worst," said Price and Gambaryan in a blog post. "We even led the investigations targeting some of the same bad actors that those in the media insinuate Binance is responsible for enabling."
"As far as the other exchanges, I do think they are starting to follow that model. I don't think they're quite where we're at," Price said. "And unfortunately, for them, I think the crypto investigative community is very small. Most of the good folks have already been picked up."A "huge exodus" is occurring from the government into the private sector, Gambaryan said.
Binance's investigations team is already working with law enforcement and educating partners in the space.
Tracing illicit transactions
"When I started my career, I started out in Baltimore and some of the drug money laundering or fraud cases we worked, we'd have to literally sit there and surveillance in neighborhoods like 'The Wire' and try to watch people hand to hand cash," Price said. "Now, I can sit in front of a computer, and I can trace those transactions along the blockchain."
Matthew Price, Binance's senior director of investigations
In the past, Price and Gambaryan would need to essentially "create their own blockchains" by recreating a flow of funds based on records from banks. Now, with all these transactions publicly recorded on the blockchain, analysis tools can help investigators track the money faster.
"The crypto tracing is 10% of the case, the rest is knowing what else to do," Price said.
"The call I mentioned this morning, it was actually a finance customer that was the victim of theft," Price said. "And we worked to quickly identify where the funds were, we were able to restrain them and we're working with law enforcement to get that returned to our client."
Securing a role in the team
It's not necessary that these new hires come from a background of law enforcement.
"Some of the best investigators out there in this space have been doing it for two or three years," Gambaryan said.
Kids coming out of college could be just as equipped for the role as a 25-year veteran in financial crime because they've grown up with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, Price said.
"My perspective is that the two most important things for anybody in investigations are work ethic, you gotta be willing to sit there and do the boring, mundane work that any investigator anywhere in the world has to do," Gambaryan said. "And the other one is intellectual curiosity."
More: Investing crypto crypto exchanges
Binance regulation
Binance trading volume
crypto security
crypto crime
trading exchanges
government agents
Tigran Gambaryna
blockchain transactions
blockchain crime
crime analysis
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2022-06-20T09:46:18Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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How Binance Built a 150-Person Investigation Team Led by Top Agents
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-job-crypto-exchange-binance-secretive-investigations-regulation-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-job-crypto-exchange-binance-secretive-investigations-regulation-2022-6
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VCs are pumping millions into hypersonic flight as private startups take on tech long dominated by the military
A rendering of the hypersonic passenger plane startup Hermeus says will be able to carry 20 passengers across the Atlantic in 90 minutes.
Hermeus
VCs have poured millions this year into startups touting hypersonic passenger and cargo planes.
Some startups promise to fly passengers across the Atlantic in under two hours.
The field has long been dominated by the military and defense contractors.
In the decades since humans first cracked hypersonic flight — blazing at five times the speed of sound — the military and defense contractors have dominated research and development in the field. They're still pumping money into the field: The Pentagon requested $4.7 billion for hypersonic weaponry research for 2023 alone.
But lately, venture capitalists have joined in, focusing not on missiles but on commercial uses. They're giving millions to startups proposing hypersonic planes that could transport passengers or cargo across the world in less than two hours.
Hermeus, for example, raised $100 million in a series B round led by Sam Altman in March. The startup is developing a hypersonic passenger plane it says will be able to carry 20 passengers across the Atlantic in 90 minutes. Destinus, a Swiss startup developing a hypersonic plane for cargo deliveries, raised $29 million in a February seed funding round.
"There's been 50 plus odd years of science and technology development in this space, and we're sort of at the point where I would say that a lot of the science risk has been retired," Liz Stein, a systems engineer and partner at VC firm Prime Movers Lab, told Insider.
A transformation for passenger air travel
Three things have contributed to the influx of funding for hypersonics startups, said Robin Riedel, a partner at McKinsey who specializes in mobility and aerospace.
First, the industry has seen that startups can indeed compete with huge, established aerospace players. "SpaceX more than anything has created that belief," Riedel said. "Before, I think there was a bit of an understanding that this is a very established space."
Second, the aerospace industry is hungry for innovative technologies that could disrupt passenger travel. Commercial jets have been flying at pretty much the same speed — a bit below the speed of sound — for decades. "I think there's a real market demand and excitement for something that is faster that is also fueling this," Riedel told Insider.
Third, advances in computer and engine technology, as well as innovations in heat resistant materials, have made hypersonic travel much more feasible.
Hypersonics present opportunities beyond passenger flights
Several startups are trying to make hypersonic passenger flight possible, shortening long international flights. Stein said this is the area of commercial hypersonics that seems to have the strongest business case and will likely come to fruition first, since a lot of people would pay higher prices to get across the world faster.
Other startups are focused on moving time-sensitive cargo like vaccines and transplant organs. But Stein told Insider that studies from NASA have found that a commercial cargo market for hypersonics "isn't really there."
Space launch is another application for hypersonics, with several startups trying to create single-stage-to-orbit hypersonic planes to bring down costs of launching satellites and other cargo out of the atmosphere. But, the industry has been trying to create a single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle for a long time, and Stein said she doesn't think the technology is there yet.
Commercial operations likely still years away
Despite technological advances and millions in funding from VCs, it's going to be a while before the average traveler can take a 90 minute flight from New York to London. Making a piece of technology as advanced as a hypersonic passenger plane will require massive amounts of funding (likely in the billions rather than millions) so a big challenge for startups will be securing enough funding to see through their projects. Then they face the challenge of becoming a profitable business.
"The real challenge is, can you do this in a value creating way," Riedel said. "I think it will probably take us well into the next decade before we really have hypersonic passenger transportation."
More: Transportation Aerospace hypersonic aircraft
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2022-06-20T09:46:24Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Why Hypersonic Flight Startups Are Attracting Millions From VCs
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https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-venture-capital-pouring-millions-hypersonic-flight-startups-hermeus-destinus-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/vcs-venture-capital-pouring-millions-hypersonic-flight-startups-hermeus-destinus-2022-6
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After decades in quant trading, Daniel Morillo left Citadel to supercharge Opendoor's algorithmic homebuying business
Daniel Morillo, appreciated the tangible impact he was able to have on homebuyers at Opendoor.
Daniel Morillo spent decades developing quant trading research and models.
He left Citadel in 2020 to apply his skills to a new industry — algorithmic homebuying.
Having tangible impact on homebuyers was a compelling draw, Morillo said.
At its last two quarterly-earnings calls, Opendoor Technologies has reported record revenues, handily beating estimates from Wall Street analysts. Though its stock has fallen of late during the broader market selloff, the iBuyer — the moniker for tech companies that price and purchase homes from consumers with algorithms — was helped along by industry tailwinds, as well as the exit of a top competitor in Zillow, which suffered deep losses after its pricing models malfunctioned.
The firm's business also benefited from the addition of some senior quant-trading firepower.
Born and raised in Ecuador, Morillo came to the US in the mid-1990s to pursue his doctorate degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He joined PanAgora Asset Management in 2000 as a research manager, but after a few years jumped to BlackRock, where he ascended the ranks and ended up leading a global team of 30 employees responsible for portfolio management and modeling.
"The things that get me out of bed and always did were how innovation in modeling and forecasting can have a big impact," Morillo told Insider.
"I was always attracted to the idea that if I were to move on, it would have to be an opportunity where I could honestly be impactful with my skill set," he added.
With Opendoor, Morillo saw a company upending an old-school industry, and his expertise in data science and modeling for quant-trading research would directly translate.
Market making in homebuying is done at a high level, not dissimilar to quantitative trading, Morillo explained. Opendoor is like a market maker of residential homes, he said, forecasting and modeling to buy them at scale and provide liquidity to sellers while maintaining a diversified and profitable portfolio.
He also found the tangible, real-world impact his work could have alluding.
Trading provides quick and concrete feedback, but it can feel abstract. Homebuyers or sellers are often propelled by significant life changes — a new job, a baby, or downsizing after children leave home.
All-hands meetings at Opendoor start and end by highlighting the experience of real-life customers, something that resonated with Morillo after two decades of having a more nebulous impact.
More: Zillow Opendoor Real Estate
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2022-06-20T09:46:30Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Why Daniel Morillo Left Citadel to Supercharge IBuying at Opendoor
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https://www.businessinsider.com/why-daniel-morillo-left-citadel-to-supercharge-ibuying-at-opendoor-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/why-daniel-morillo-left-citadel-to-supercharge-ibuying-at-opendoor-2022-6
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The highest CD rates today: 11 online banks and credit unions with long-term CDs near 3% APY
TIAA Basic Certificate of Deposit
If you can deposit at least $1,000 upfront and don't think you'll withdraw money before the CD term ends
Alliant Certificate
More online banks are raising interest rates on CDs. For example, First Internet Bank of Indiana raised its CD rates this week, and now pays 0.35% to 3.09% APY for its terms.
Our best CDs guide can be a useful jumping-off point for learning about CDs. But if your top goal is to find a competitive CD rate above all else, then this list is for you.
What are the interest rates for CDs today?
The FDIC keeps tabs on national rates for interest-earning bank accounts.
For CDs, the average interest rate may depend on the term you choose. The average interest rate for a 1-month CD is 0.03% APY, and the average interest rate for a 60-month CD is 0.39% APY.
We've been checking over a dozen financial institutions to keep up with the new rate offerings. Our list includes accounts with much higher interest rates than the national average, since online institutions tend to offer high-yield bank accounts.
The most competitive CDs may offer up to 3% APY right now for a 5-year term. CDs usually have a fixed interest rate. This means you'll usually be locking in a rate for a specific period of time.
The Federal Reserve also has increased the federal funds rate three times since March, so savings interest rates are expected to steadily increase throughout 2022.
While the Popular Direct Certificate of Deposit didn't make it into any of our best CD 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.
You may like CFG Bank CDs if you're searching for the following CD terms: a 12-month, a 13-month CD, an 18-month, a 36-month CD, or a 60-month CD. You also can open a CD with a low minimum opening deposit.
No terms under 1 year or over 5 years
Several ways to become a member; the easiest is to join Foster Care to Success (Alliant will cover your $5 membership fee)
Terms ranging from 1 to 5 years
Early withdrawal penalty is dividends for the number of days the certificate is open. Up to 90 days dividends for terms of 12-17 months; up to 120 days dividends for terms of 18-23 months; up to 180 days interest for terms of 24 months or more; 7 days dividends if you withdraw during the 7-day grace period, even though no interest has accumulated yet
Interest compounded monthly
Federally insured by the NCUA
Alliant Credit Union stands out for its competitive interest rates and low early withdrawal penalties, but you'll need to become a member to open an account at the credit union.
Alliant makes it easy for anyone in the US to join. The easiest way is to join Foster Care to Success, and Alliant will cover your $5 joining fee. You may also qualify to become a member if you live in certain parts of Illinois or are an employee, retiree, or member of certain organizations.
PERSONAL FINANCE 6 signs you're using the wrong savings account
More: CD Personal Finance Insider PFI Reviews PFI Short Code
TIAA Bank
TIAA Basic CD
Alliant Credit Union Certificate
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2022-06-20T11:39:36Z
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The Highest CD Rates Today: June 20, 2022
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/highest-cd-rates-today-june-20-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/highest-cd-rates-today-june-20-2022-6
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Climate-tech VC World Fund just added PwC as an anchor LP to its $365 million fund. Check out the 17-slide pitch deck it used to land the deal.
World Fund partners Danijel Višević, Craig Douglas, Daria Saharova, and Tim Schumacher.
World Fund
World Fund has added PwC Germany as an "anchor LP" to its 350 million euros, or $365 million, fund.
The Berlin-based investor aims to create the largest climate-tech fund in Europe.
We got an exclusive look at the 17-slide pitch deck World Fund used to lure in the multinational.
The venture-capital firm created by the founder of Ecosia —tree-planting search engine — has secured investment from PwC for what is set to be the largest climate-tech fund in Europe.
Berlin-based World Fund — which Ecosia's Christian Kroll founded in 2021 — is raising 350 million euros, or $365 million, to back startups in the sector from the seed to Series B stage. World Fund, which has invested in alternative-protein company Juicy Marbles and food supply-chain startup Freshflow, writes checks for amounts between €1 and €10 million.
PwC Germany has joined Ecosia as an "anchor" limited partner in the fund, World Fund said. The German investor did not disclose the size of PwC's investment, but said that it came ahead of the fund's first close, which is due to happen soon. World Fund expects to reach final close by the beginning of next year, confirming its previously announced timeline.
"Despite the market sell-off, we have not seen any slowdown in LP or investor interest over the last three months or so," Danijel Višević, the cofounder and managing partner of World Fund, told Insider.
"If anything, LP interest is stronger than ever as LPs are looking for safe harbors in the economic storm, and climate tech is most certainly a safe harbor," he said.
The climate crisis provides a massive opportunity for startups, with the market for carbon tech valued at $5.91 trillion a year, according to Carbon180, an environmentally focused think tank. Investors have piled in on the maturing asset class, handing over $39.2 billion to climate-tech startups in 2021.
Each of World Fund's investments must have the potential to save at least 100 metric tons of CO2 or equivalent emissions per year. The firm will take advantage of PwC Germany's network, data insights, and due-diligence capabilities — which Višević said was "some of the best counsel any climate-tech VC could have access to."
The addition of PwC Germany to the fund was a "huge vote of confidence" for potential LPs that are still in discussions with World Fund, Višević said. The multinational company has entered as a founding investor after "comprehensive due diligence," Višević added. This sends out a strong signal to institutional investors who are set to invest in the fund's first closing.
The fund's existing LPs include FIFA World Cup-winning footballer Mario Götze, and VCs and operators from Europe's startup ecosystem.
World Fund has set itself a target of saving 2 gigatons of emissions by 2040 — the equivalent to 4% of all global emissions. PwC has committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030.
Check out the 17-slide LP deck below:
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2022-06-20T11:39:42Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Climate VC World Fund Adds PwC As Anchor LP to $365 Million Fund
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-climate-vc-world-fund-pwc-germany-lp-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-climate-vc-world-fund-pwc-germany-lp-2022-6
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How 19 CMOs at P&G, Roblox, and others are thinking about the future of their businesses
Lindsay Rittenhouse and Lucia Moses
Marketers are facing new hurdles while incorporating lessons of the pandemic and social upheaval.
They're dealing with new shopping habits, supply chain and inflation upheaval, and privacy changes.
19 top marketers from P&G, Cadillac, and others shared their top challenges.
While marketers incorporate the lessons of the pandemic and social upheaval, they've faced whole new challenges to adapt to.
They're dealing with changes in how people live and work, supply chain and inflation upheaval, and privacy changes that have made it harder to target ads to people.
We asked the people on Insider's new 2022 list of Most Innovative CMOs to reflect on the biggest change in their marketing this year and their industries.
They represent a range of industries and company size — from Nissan and Sephora to Klarna and Roblox — all of them experiencing different dynamics.
But some themes came up repeatedly. There's broad agreement that marketers have to embrace new areas like gaming, improve their data gathering, and stand up for social causes, even as some brands have gotten backlash for doing so.
Here's a sampling of their answers, edited and condensed for clarity.
Andrea Brimmer, Ally Financial: "Financial services continues to be one of the most disrupted industries."
The decline of linear TV consumption, explosive growth of streaming , demand for content, and ubiquitous appeal of the metaverse and gamified experiences will bring new considerations to the way we market this year.
To prepare for a post-cookie world, we have built an in-house content studio to provide personalized, interactive financial literacy experiences and collect first party data. We are breaking the ad-free model in streaming through partnerships that let our brand show up in high-profile programming, and will soon produce our own shows through a unique concept studio. We've found gaming to be a great way to engage consumers in increasing their financial literacy. A new gaming team will build out an Ally-exclusive space to gamify financial learning at all age levels.
Lastly, recognizing that women's sports receive less than 5% of coverage of men's sports, over the next five years, we will reach equal spending in paid advertising across women's and men's sports programming.
Financial services continues to be one of the most disrupted industries, with fintech players, tech brands like Apple and others offering financial products, and the emergence of financial education through platforms like Reddit and TikTok. Marketing must play a key role in maintaining the perception of Ally's digital prowess.
Melissa Grady Dias, Cadillac: "There is definitely a rising-tide-raises-all-boats effect as the combined efforts are changing customer sentiments faster than any brand could have done alone."
We bring the Cadillac LYRIQ to market this year. Some of our customers have never considered an electric vehicle. At the same time we've had over 200,000 customers express interest in our all-electric future. We've launched several platforms and experiences to bring the vehicle to life digitally.
We're definitely not the only OEM going all EV. However, there is definitely "a rising-tide-raises all-boats effect as the combined efforts are changing customer sentiments faster than any brand could have done alone. Furthermore, there is a greater emphasis on connected services, over-the-air updates, and software as a service with EV vehicles. GM projects annual software and services revenue opportunities in the $20 billion to $25 billion range from a projected 30 million connected vehicles by the end of the decade.
Greg Fass, Liquid Death: "If we can make more people laugh more often, they'll be more likely to share Liquid Death."
Health and sustainability-focused brands have been handcuffed by feeling the need to talk about ingredients, product benefits, or their environmental impact. If you look at the largest food and beverage companies in the world, the unhealthy brands typically have the funniest and most entertaining marketing. However, we're seeing a shift. Brands that are good for you and good for the planet, like Liquid Death, are competing with the cool factor of these unhealthy and unsustainable brands to the point where we can have a true impact.
We're going to continue focusing on making people laugh with entertainment-first content rather than traditional corporate marketing. If we can make more people laugh more often, they'll be more likely to share Liquid Death with the world in place of large-scale media budgets.
Melissa Hobley, OkCupid: "We have seen the pendulum shift away from being fully digital."
Measurement is more important than ever before and there's really creative, efficient solutions to proving your impact. On the other hand, we have seen the pendulum shift away from being fully digital. Out of home advertising used to be considered analogue or "uncool," but OkCupid's built a reputation of being bold and provocative through our billboards and subway ads.
We cannot disconnect business goals from corporate social responsibility. Take climate change. This is one of the most important issues Gen Z is activating around. That's why OkCupid has introduced new product features to help connect daters, fosters conversations on this issue, and partner with organizations working to combat global warming.
Soyoung Kang, Eos: "As a CPG brand, we are excited about retail media."
We'll continue to be to lead cultural conversations like our #ObligationCelebration campaign that opened "Hot Vax Summer '21"; creator collaborations like "Bless Your F*ing Cooch"; and educational content that entertains, like our "Vagnastics" exercise video series. Our marketing this year will continue to erase taboos and embrace risks in storytelling.
I look forward to seeing even more beauty brands leading the way for diversity in storytelling and representation, which is an imperative for Gen Z.
As a CPG brand, where much of our destiny is highly intertwined with retail, we are excited about retail media — the move to self-service and increasing convergence of in-store and digital. Our Gen Z consumer overwhelmingly prefers to shop and purchase in-store, so it's encouraging to see more opportunities for advertisers to support in-store brand building, connect the dots between IRL and digital discovery, and see the potential of unlocking valuable shopper data.
Zach Kitschke, Canva: "Screen fatigue and information and data overload are also accelerating a shift towards visual communication."
The visual economy is a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity. Every business is now a content business and today's consumers expect all marketing content and collateral to be beautiful, digestible and compelling. Screen fatigue and information and data overload are also accelerating a shift towards visual communication in the workplace as marketing leaders explore new ways to meet the needs of their distributed teams and inspire real-time collaboration, creativity and communication in remote and hybrid working environments.
Community-building continues to play an enormous role in how we market. One of our core brand pillars is to celebrate everyday people using Canva. This year, we'll continue our human-centric marketing approach to highlight ways Canva is impacting our community.
Barbara Messing, Roblox: "Some of the world's top brands and artists have introduced persistent virtual worlds."
We've been able to show the world how shared experiences in the metaverse can be about literally any things people do together in real life, from learning together to experiencing fashion, music and entertainment, sports, and even meditation . We are also quickly getting the message out that the Roblox platform is for all ages – our vision is to ultimately connect billions of people through shared experiences with optimism and civility. We are working on a really exciting global brand campaign that will help bring this to life.
We are actually seeing this shift of focus on communities with marketers making sure they involve their customers and fans in co-creating products, campaigns, and are sharing their IP with their communities. We also see marketers looking into creating more immersive, social experiences for their consumers. Over the past year, some of the world's top brands and artists have introduced persistent virtual worlds like Vans World, NFL Tycoon, and Nikeland. These partnerships are already changing how marketers think about their key future channels for consumer connections, and ways to drive broader social and cultural conversations.
Kenny Mitchell, Snap: "We are demonstrating the effectiveness of AR as an advertising tool that drives significant business impact."
The Snapchat Generation is more likely to be in broadband -only homes than our competition. As they grow older and gain spending power, it becomes ever more important for marketers to lean into innovative, engaging forms of advertising to reach them where they spend the bulk of their time and are most comfortable: on their smartphones.
In 2021, we launched "Open Your Snapchat," which drove an increase in active users in measured markets, and spawned campaigns by others that featured QR codes to drive action or a message. This year, with "Your Business, Augmented," we are demonstrating the effectiveness of AR as an advertising tool that drives significant business impact.
Ukonwa Ojo, Prime Video, Amazon Studios: "It's important to not fear failure."
This year has marked some of our most robust and category-defining work: the return of titles like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and new properties like "Thursday Night Football" and the upcoming "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" series. We listen to our customers to deliver impactful and authentic marketing campaigns that showcase our unique content — movies, series, sports — and tout our broad catalog.
It's difficult to predict what the landscape will be in any industry in five or ten years, but I think it's important for business leaders to focus on how to innovate and thrive in the current environment. It's also important to not fear failure. I don't worry about failing and neither should any other CMO. Marketers shouldn't use tech for the sake of saying they did or hop on trends that are not true to their brand. We must always put consumers first.
Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble: "There will be a heightened expectation of consumers really wanting the best products at the best value."
I would like the industry to focus more on its core fundamental reason for being, which is to be a force for growth. There will be a heightened expectation of consumers really wanting the best products at the best value, and it's incumbent upon us as an industry to make sure that we're communicating that to them and continuing to drive growth. It benefits our employees, suppliers, partners, communities, and enables us to expand and do even more good for society through equality and inclusion and for the planet through sustainability.
We're focused on mass reach but with greater precision and less waste and advertising that communicates the superior performance of our products. We will also continue to reach consumers through one-to-one engagement that create loyalty; focus on programmatic media to help find people with the highest propensity to buy and reach them without annoying ad frequency; and connect media directly to commerce while innovating to engage shoppers in a way that drives growth and value, such as livestreaming. Technology is giving consumers the chance to get more engaged in places like gaming and immersive virtual experiences.
Raja Rajammanar, Mastercard: "We need to find new and innovative ways of effectively cutting through the clutter."
A deluge of data, two dozen new and emerging technologies – Web3, AI, blockchain, AR, VR – and major cultural shifts are dramatically changing the world. The amount of advertising messages bombarding consumers today is increasing by leaps and bounds as their attention span decreases more and more each day. As marketers, we need to find new and innovative ways of effectively cutting through the clutter.
Multisensory marketing, which engages the five senses, can distinguish a brand's character from its competition and establish a firm multi-dimensional identity. And when consumers receive messages through various senses, they are more moved more deeply and develop a stronger connection with those brands.
Nathaniel Ru, Sweetgreen: "People want to know more about where their food comes from, and the impact it has on the environment."
The world of food sponsorships between athletes and brands have traditionally overflowed with unhealthy options, but our goal is to shape how future generations think about the importance of what they eat. We're continuing to partner with national icons who support our mission, like Naomi Osaka and NBA star Devin Booker. We're also investing more in our digital experience to meet our customers wherever they are. Over 66% of our Q1 total revenue came from one of our digital channels. We see a lot of runway to enhance the brand experience for our digital customers, whether that's partnering with creators on TikTok, testing loyalty with our Sweetpass pilot, or launching new store formats like Sweetlane and our Pick Up Kitchen.
People want to know more about where their food comes from and the impact it has on the environment. The food industry has been reported to drive as much as one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is why we are focusing on how Sweetgreen can be a bigger part of the solution.
David Sandstrom, Klarna: "Differentiating ourselves will be more important than ever."
We are working in a highly competitive environment with evolving consumer expectations. This is good as competition encourages everyone to create better and stronger products for consumers, but it also means differentiating ourselves will be more important than ever. We're going to see the biggest players within this space double down on the aspects of their business that make them stand out.
When I joined Klarna as CMO in 2017, we were yet another financial company competing in a sea of boring blue corporate logos and suits. But as we began to challenge the business models of these distrusted financial systems and predatory high cost credit card companies, I wanted to disrupt the category by challenging the norm. Choosing the color pink for the brand was the first small but symbolic step. Since then, we've leaned into content curation, personalization, and data to ensure they are working for the consumer, and our growing network has enabled an entirely new advertising business unit. We just recently unveiled Klarna's Virtual Shopping offering to elevate the e-commerce experience by bringing the brick-and-mortar experience of personalized advice from an in-store expert online.
Melissa Selcher, LinkedIn: "How a brand acts is as important as what they say, and the days of performative statements and actions are also over."
Work is interesting again. How, where, and even why we're working dominate media headlines. For every business, talent is a critical imperative as gaps have materially impacted performance, and we've seen customers shift significant budgets from customer to talent initiatives. Companies used to spend money to tell the world how to think about them. No more. How a brand acts is as important as what they say, and the days of performative statements and actions are also over. We're continuing to see the trust freefall for traditional institutions, with people turning more and more to companies.
We're almost certainly facing a bumpy economy ahead. To lead through it we're seeing an opportunity for companies that lead with humanity. We will lean even more to keep the humans we are serving at the forefront. This means ensuring our creative matches the moments we're in and everything our audiences are managing.
Musa Tariq, GoFundMe: "We've got to have the freedom to experiment, fail, learn and then lean into what's working."
Our vision is to be the most helpful place in the world. We are focused on highlighting the deep, personal stories shared on our platform to inspire others to feel more comfortable asking for help and to help others. That may be through a hyperlocal campaign or a global initiative to rally celebrities, corporations and individuals to take action — like we did with Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher's Stand with Ukraine fundraiser.
The world has changed dramatically the past few years – given the pandemic, global crises, etc. – and people have been through a lot. This affects the way customers think about brands, their time and relationships. No one has all the answers and we've got to have the freedom to experiment, fail, learn, and lean into what's working.
Everette Taylor, Artsy: "Removing barriers to entry into art collecting has opened doors to a new generation."
The art industry has historically safeguarded information, created barriers and lacked transparency, inclusivity and insightful data on art. As a result, many aspiring collectors and emerging artists find themselves shut out.
We are transforming the industry so people can purchase art in the way they've become accustomed to discovering and buying goods across other industries and online marketplaces. Removing barriers to entry into art collecting has opened doors to a new generation. As many brick-and-mortar art galleries temporarily closed and in-person art fairs were canceled due to the pandemic, we were the solution in allowing them to become fully digital overnight. The last 18 months have also seen an accelerated cultural and technological shift with interest in Web3, particularly NFTs, which has accelerated change in the digital art world.
Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan: "The supply chain issues will continue this year, but we've all become more agile."
During the last two years, we had an opportunity to throw out the old playbook and rewrite what is needed based on what consumers want, from how they want to shop, to what they are looking for in a vehicle, and how marketing best reaches them. The supply chain issues will continue this year, but we've all become more agile and better able to respond to interruptions. And we are hoping to be coming out of the worst of it toward the end of this year.
We will continue a brand-led approach that began during the pandemic and has developed into a new way of thinking about how we connect with our consumers, employees and dealer partners. For Nissan's all-new, all-electric Ariya crossover, we'll ramp up virtual and in-person experiential activities for consumer engagement. We will enhance our digital customer experiences to make things easier based on how consumers want to discover Nissan.
Deborah Yeh, Sephora: "Brands who promote their values and can deliver on speed, convenience, and personalization to meet the needs of their clients will come out on top."
We are telling stories with BIPOC beauty brand founders and Sephora voices to share the why and how behind the products. Storytelling with our actions and demonstrating our values is an effective way to bring clients along on our journey and build their trust.
We're experiencing a beauty renaissance as people rediscover their favorite products and explore new beauty routines after the pandemic. With this boom comes heightened client expectations. Brands who promote their values and can deliver on speed, convenience, and personalization to meet the needs of their clients will come out on top.
I am also energized by the spirited way that brands are telling stories today. We're having fun in TikTok and diving back into experiential again. I can't wait to see how these environments continue to inspire creativity.
More: Marketing Advertising Agencies Social justice
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2022-06-20T13:24:14Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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CMOs at Procter & Gamble, Cadillac, Others Share Biggest Challenges
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https://www.businessinsider.com/cmos-at-procter-and-gamble-cadillac-others-share-biggest-challenges-2022-5
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https://www.businessinsider.com/cmos-at-procter-and-gamble-cadillac-others-share-biggest-challenges-2022-5
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The sharp rise in energy prices is forcing governments to reconsider their climate agendas.
Germany has taken the "bitter" decision to fire up coal power stations as Russia throttles its natural gas supplies.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck said it's essential that Germany reduce its gas consumption ahead of the winter.
Russia's Gazprom last week cut supplies of natural gas via the Nord Stream pipeline by around 60%.
Germany has taken a "bitter" decision to fire up idle coal power plants to reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas, as Vladimir Putin throttles supplies to the country.
Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian energy company, cut natural gas flows through the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany by around 60% last week.
The German economy ministry said on Sunday that idle coal power plants are already being upgraded so they can soon start generating electricity again. It said emergency laws would allow Germany to boost the generation of electricity from coal for a limited period until March 2024.
"This is bitter, but it's essential in this situation to reduce gas consumption," Robert Habeck, economy minister and a senior member of the Green party, said in a statement.
Germany said it intends to cut the use of natural gas so it can fill its storage tanks ahead of the winter, when demand rises.
"The situation is serious," Habeck, who is also vice chancellor, said. "We are therefore further strengthening precautions and taking additional measures to reduce gas consumption. This means gas consumption must continue to fall, so more gas must be stored, otherwise things will get really tight in winter."
Germany's decision to turn back to coal power, which is highly carbon intensive, underscores how Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent surge in energy prices is threatening governments' climate policies. The German parliament passed a law in 2020 to phase out the use of coal entirely by 2038.
Russia has said Gazprom's decision to slash natural gas flows to Germany is the result of Canadian sanctions which have meant key pieces of equipment are stuck in Montreal.
But Germany has disputed this argument, pointing out that there are alternative pipelines that could be used.
The move has sent natural gas prices soaring and raised the prospect of shortages of the vital energy source during the winter. Germany imported around half of its natural gas from Russia in 2021.
Dutch TTF natural gas futures, the benchmark European price, were up around 5% Monday to 124 euros (or $130) per megawatt hour. That's a more than 500% increase from a year earlier.
Germany's economy ministry said the reintroduction of coal plants could boost production by 10 gigawatts. This would boost the country's use of coal for electricity generation by up to a third, according to the Financial Times.
The ministry also said it would introduce an auction system to encourage industrial users to save gas, and government-backed loans to encourage the gas market operator to fill storage facilities more quickly.
Read more: A 15-hour border wait and bar work: How a bright 21-year-old Ukrainian law student is building her career after fleeing the war and leaving her family
More: Germany Coal Russia Natural Gas
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2022-06-20T13:24:20Z
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Germany Fires up Coal Power Plants As Russia Throttles Its Natural Gas
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https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-coal-power-plants-russia-cuts-natural-gas-climate-energy-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-coal-power-plants-russia-cuts-natural-gas-climate-energy-2022-6
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LGBTQ+ families need to create healthcare directives ASAP.
Isabel Acalá/Getty Images
LGBTQ+ couples deal with three financial planning headaches straight couples don't have to think about.
Ryan Klippel, a gay financial planner, says LGBTQ+ couples need to create healthcare directives ASAP.
He also recommends looking into estate planning and second-parent adoption if you have kids.
Queer and trans couples and parents often have to deal with financial headaches that their heterosexual counterparts don't worry about.
Financial planner and head of social impact at Optas Capital, Ryan Klippel, says the financial planning approach for LGBTQ+ familes is different from the approach used for straight families. He tells Insider, "The legal structures in this country aren't made to consider different notions of how LGBTQ+ families are today." He adds, "I'm in the LGBTQ+ community as well, so I have some skin in the game."
Based on his experience specializing in LGBTQ+ financial planning, here are three issues that queer and trans families need to navigate differently.
1. Healthcare directives
According to the National Institute of Aging, a healthcare directive is a document drafted in case of a medical crisis where you might be too ill to make your own healthcare decisions. A healthcare directive outlines the kind of care you want to receive, how long you'd like to be left on life support, and who you trust to make decisions on your behalf.
Klippel explains, "Let's say, for example, if you're an LGBTQ+ couple and you have a husband, girlfriend, or domestic partner that you'd prefer to make those decisions, but you're not legally married to them. You have to identify them on your healthcare directive so that you can prioritize who it is you trust to make those decisions."
In the past, Klippel says that healthcare providers prioritized blood relatives, typically parents, over a queer or trans person's chosen family. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community face discrimination from their own blood relatives, which is why creating a detailed healthcare directive is important. "For many individuals, maybe you don't have a connection with your parents, or you don't want them making your decisions," says Klippel.
2. Second-parent adoption
According to Lambda Legal, a second-parent adoption is a legal proceeding that gives the partner of a biological parent joint parenting rights over their child. For example, a lesbian couple where one woman gives birth to their child might need to undergo second-parent adoption to make sure her partner is recognized as their child's legal parent.
"It's really important, again, for us to talk about the legal structure and how the current legal system is when it comes to second-parent adoption," says Klippel. "It varies depending on where you are in the country and on your local state rules."
Klippel says, "This is something that you can do with a financial planner in tandem with an estate-planning attorney to make sure those changes are implemented right away."
3. Estate planning
Estate planning is a strategy to safeguard your family and finances if you die or become incapacitated. Klippel says, "When it comes to estate planning, in terms of who's going to receive your assets, same-sex couples have to spend a lot more time being intentional with what what your wishes are because the current system isn't set up for LGBTQ+ families."
Typically, he says, a husband-and-wife couple's estate can be allocated in a straightforward way, or one's estate would be transferred to their next of kin. Klippel has heard stories of an LGBTQ+ person's estate going to their blood family because their wishes to leave their estate to a partner they were not legally married to were not respected by legal systems in their state.
Just like second-parent adoption, Klippel recommends consulting with a financial planner and an estate-planning attorney to make sure your bases are covered.
If you can't afford to hire an estate planner or financial planner, Klippel recommends doing due diligence on local procedures in your state. Try Googling "second parent adoption + Arizona" or "estate planning LGBTQ + Wyoming."
He also recommends thinking about the following topics to make the process easier:
The beneficiaries for your 401(k) after you die, or if you become incapacitated
Transfer of debt designation — this is who you want your debt to be transferred to after you die, or if you become incapacitated
Who you want your accounts transferred to after you die, or if you become incapacitated
Finally, Klippel says, "Make sure you have a file that has your most up-to-date records that you can periodically review, ideally on an annual basis. We recommend reviewing these sorts of things at least every five years."
PERSONAL FINANCE A 67-year-old gay widower was awarded $90,000 in backpay after experiencing discrimination from the Social Security Administration — and helped open the doors for other LGBTQ+ seniors
PERSONAL FINANCE For lesbians, major life events don't just happen — so if I ever want to retire, I have to start planning now
MARKETS The LGBTQ+ community faces a bifurcated experience when it comes to investing. Experts explain where the investment industry is successfully breaking down barriers, and where it's still failing to create equity.
More: LGBTQ Transgender Gay Lesbian
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2022-06-20T13:24:32Z
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What LGBTQ+ Families Need to Do Differently With Their Estates
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/lgbtq-parents-financial-planning-tips-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/lgbtq-parents-financial-planning-tips-2022-6
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By John Granger, senior vice president at IBM Consulting
The pandemic accelerated several business trends, from the hybrid workplace to contactless delivery, and hybrid cloud emerged as the prevalent IT architecture for business.
That last point is something we're paying close attention to at IBM, since 97% of organizations operate in a hybrid multicloud environment. It's no longer a question of whether you are all-in on hybrid cloud, but rather, how far along are you on the journey? Yet, with every journey there are speed bumps. Too often, cloud adoption loses momentum and stalls, which prevents organizations from taking advantage of a deeper, business-driven "mastery" of hybrid cloud.
As I speak with clients across industries, I've found five common challenges standing in the way of hybrid cloud mastery.
The pandemic created a sense of "get to the cloud" urgency, forcing companies to assemble a hodge-podge of public, private, and on-premises assets that weren't integrated. There was no cohesive structure to bind them.
Mastery means moving from a "hybrid of clouds" to a single, integrated hybrid cloud platform – like a chassis on which to mount car parts. Instead of discrete components that accomplish little on their own, it's the whole system that gets you where you need to go – meaning a dramatic improvement in software application development and production.
2. People and operations
When people from different cloud operations are cobbled together in different areas, it often leads to work getting done in silos. And talent shortages have left companies with too few developers and engineers to go around, leaving talent spread too thin to cover all areas.
Mastering hybrid cloud ensures employees have the critical cloud skills needed to do their work efficiently and effectively in an integrated way across a single hybrid cloud operating model.
Security concerns existed long before cloud, but now with unintegrated cloud components, the security risk is even greater.
Mastering hybrid cloud develops a unified security program that transforms a company's culture to be security-aware and security-first. This ensures the security policies, capabilities, and procedures across the hybrid cloud platform are consistent, allowing companies to see security incidents across operations and take quick action.
The cost of moving data is just one financial impediment executives face – with some stating costs could go up by as much as 50%. Additionally, when costs rise or become unpredictable, it makes it more difficult to manage cloud investments.
Hybrid cloud manages all cloud costs through a single view so businesses can see how and where cloud services are being consumed across the entire enterprise, allowing business priorities to be directly matched with optimized cloud costs.
5. Partner ecosystem
Businesses are overwhelmed by the amount of ecosystem partners involved in their hybrid cloud journey. Each group involved – whether internal or external – brings their own naturally competing interests. But no one can go it alone.
Mastering hybrid cloud brings all partners together in a voluntary way, aligned under one strategy for success. Picture a roundtable where each constituency of your hybrid cloud mastery journey (your hybrid cloud ecosystem) is represented by a senior "captain." These representatives work together in a collaborative, transparent way.
It's normal for companies to become stalled as they move beyond early cloud adoption, but they shouldn't be discouraged. Once businesses have mastered hybrid cloud, it will ultimately unlock a broad range of value propositions and become a central driver of innovation for years to come.
More: Sponsor Post Studios Enterprise Studios Tech Technology
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2022-06-20T13:24:56Z
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5 Challenges Businesses Face in Their Hybrid Cloud Adoption
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https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/5-common-challenges-of-hybrid-cloud-adoption
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https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/5-common-challenges-of-hybrid-cloud-adoption
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How a startup helps YouTubers like MrBeast and Dude Perfect grow their audience and revenue by dubbing their videos into other languages
Dude Perfect.
Stephen Lovekin/FilmMagic for YouTube)
Unilingo helps YouTubers like MrBeast, Dude Perfect, and Jubilee Media translate their videos.
The company takes a creator's existing content and dubs it in Spanish, French, and Hindi.
Insider spoke with the founder about how it works and the company's business model.
Jimmy Donaldson, known to the internet as MrBeast, only records in English — yet he has audiences all over the world, from India to Brazil, taking in his content in their native languages.
Entertainment startup Unilingo is giving new life to old YouTube videos through dubbing, allowing English-speaking creators to reach Spanish, French, and Hindi-speaking audiences, among others..
Unilingo's founder and CEO Farbod Mansorian launched the company in 2017 after translating a TedTalk for his mom from English into Farsi, one of three languages he speaks. While he was at it, he translated the same TedTalk into Spanish and uploaded it to YouTube. That video now now has 2.6 million views.
"The viewership took off," Mansorian told Insider. "I realized creators can expand their community by offering content in other languages."
Mansorian landed his first client — Derek Muller, who runs the science and engineering channel Veritasium — not long after. His pitch: Unilingo would translate Veritasium's videos into Spanish and launch a new channel, called Veritasium en español. That channel, which they launched at the end of 2018, now has 1.6 million subscribers and 190 million views — and Unilingo gets a cut of its ad dollars.
"We put a ton of time into every video for the English channel, and it feels a bit of shame that a lot of other people around the world can't access it," Muller said. "After a year or two it started to bring in revenue, and be able to reach a whole new audience."
The company still works in a similar way. Either it fronts the cost of translating existing content in exchange for a cut of a new foreign-language channel's future earnings, or a creator can pay for the services and Unilingo takes a smaller split.
Unilingo works with dozens of top creators like MrBeast, Dude Perfect, Steve O, and Jubilee Media. It has translated these creators' videos into several languages, including Spanish, Russian, and Hindi.
By translating a creator's content into other languages, Unilingo has helped creators expand their audiences, as well as generate more ad and sponsorship income. The company contracts translators, voice actors, and sound engineers, and its core team is made up of project managers, channel managers, and editors.
"Globalization is becoming more relevant everyday," Mansorian said. "Especially when you get to tens of millions of subscribers, you almost owe it to your audience to go global."
Screen shot of YouTube / Amanda Perelli
Unilingo takes care of everything — in exchange for up to 50% of future earnings
In Unilingo's business model, creators take on very little risk, something that has allowed the company to sign on top names.
"This revenue model works because the barrier to entry is low for creators," Mansorian said. "Turning a profit is inevitable because we are entering an untapped yet lucrative market."
When the company partners with a new creator, it will handle everything from hiring the localized voice actor (MrBeast and Spider-Man have the same voice actor in Spanish) to creating the new channel and uploading the content.
As soon as that channel starts bringing in ad revenue, Unilingo will split that revenue with the creator. If the creator pays for the videos to be translated, then Unilingo takes around 10% of the advertising revenue the channel earns, but if Unilingo fronts those costs, then it typically takes between 30% and 50%, Mansorian said.
"Not only are we doing very little work, but it is also paying for itself," said Ryan Hashemi, chief strategy officer of Jubilee Media. Its Spanish channel has 633,000 subscribers. "The opportunity outside of that is demographic specific sponsorships. If you're working with an advertiser who has a demographic-specific target, you can now bundle that."
Translating content on YouTube isn't a one-size-fits-all strategy.
At one point, Mansorian even had to move to Greenville — the hometown of Jimmy Donaldson aka MrBeast — to work beside his team on launching several new channels in Spanish (19 million subscribers), Portuguese (4 million subscribers), French (1 million subscribers), and Japanese (3,000 subscribers — this channel doesn't have any content yet).
"MrBeast remains to be one of our notable projects," Mansorian said. "I knew for a relationship as big as this one, you need to be close to the creator. I packed everything up and went to Greenville to make sure that this project was successful."
Unilingo suggests that creators launch in Spanish first, then Hindi and Arabic. For languages like Spanish and Arabic, the viewership is typically high, but the ad revenue is lower, Mansorian said. Other languages like French and Japanese don't have the highest viewership, but have a higher RPM rate — which is how much revenue a creator earns per every 1,000 video views (after YouTube's 45% cut).
Robert Sandie, cofounder and CEO of the creator analytics platform VidIQ, said working with Unilingo has helped the company gain new customers. Its Spanish-speaking channel has 216,000 subscribers, but Sandie did note that its Russian-language videos have suffered due to current restricted monetization features in Russia.
"I entered the space as a viewer," Mansorian said. "I cared a lot about the viewers. I wanted viewers to have access to good content, and good content is heavily under supplied in emerging markets."
More: YouTube Influencers Creators
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2022-06-20T15:08:19Z
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How Unilingo Helps YouTubers MrBeast, Dude Perfect Translate Videos
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-unilingo-helps-youtube-creators-translate-dub-videos-mrbeast-spanish-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-unilingo-helps-youtube-creators-translate-dub-videos-mrbeast-spanish-2022-6
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In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju prepare medicines at an unannounced place in North Korea on June 15, 2022.
North Korea is facing an "epidemic" of an intestinal disease, according to state media.
The outbreak of the "acute enteric disease" was first reported last week in the South Hwanghae Province.
This comes as the hermit country deals with a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases.
North Korea has been facing an "epidemic" of an intestinal disease as the hermit country deals with a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases, state media reported.
The outbreak of the "acute enteric disease" was first reported last week in the South Hwanghae Province, which is roughly 75 miles south of the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, according to the state news agency KCNA.
The term enteric refers to the gastrointestinal tract — and according to South Korean officials, the illness might be typhoid or cholera, Reuters reported.
At least 800 families have been affected by the outbreak and have gotten aid for it so far, Reuters reported.
Medicines and other "aid materials" have since been sent to the South Hwanghae Province, according to KCNA.
Medical crews were also dispatched to the region "to sterilize infected areas and conduct an intensive treatment campaign to cure patients in close collaboration with curative and preventive units in the areas," KCNA reported.
KCNA reported that "positive efforts are being made to build quarantine wards with greater accommodation capacity, improved closure and treatment conditions."
Additionally, medical specialists are examining "over 10 kinds of already developed antiviral medicines," the state news agency reported.
The outbreak comes as North Korea has been combating a COVID-19 wave.
Last month, the country said it had found its first-ever case of COVID-19, prompting a nationwide lockdown.
KCNA reported in a COVID-19 update on Monday that more than 4.6 million people in North Korea — which has a population of 26 million — have "caught fever" since late April. Seventy-three of them have died, the news agency reported.
More: Speed desk Breaking North Korea COVID-19
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2022-06-20T16:56:30Z
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North Korea Facing Intestinal Disease Outbreak Amid COVID-19 Surge
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https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-intestinal-disease-outbreak-covid-19-surge-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-intestinal-disease-outbreak-covid-19-surge-2022-6
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Former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, who resigned in 2018, is attempting a political comeback with a Senate run.
Eric Greitens ran an ad about "RINO hunting," which showed him storming a home along with armed men.
The ad was pulled for violating Meta's policies on "prohibiting violence and incitement," per Axios.
Regarding Meta's actions, Greitens said: "When I get to the US Senate, we are taking on Big Tech."
Eric Greitens, a Missouri Senate candidate, is railing against Facebook, after the platform pulled his ad touting a violent vision of dealing with "weak RINOs."
Over the weekend, Greitens ran an ad featuring a hunting expedition for RINOs, a term for "Republicans in name only." In the video, Greitens is seen storming a house with a group of men dressed in military attire, appearing to simulate an armed raid on a politician who is "surrendering to Joe Biden."
"The RINO feeds on corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice ... There's no bagging limit, no tagging limit, and it doesn't expire until we save our country," Greitens is heard saying in the video.
—Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) June 20, 2022
Axios later confirmed that Meta, Facebook's parent company, had removed Greitens' video from the platform on Monday afternoon. "We removed this video for violating our policies prohibiting violence and incitement," a Meta spokesperson said, per the outlet.
Twitter has also flagged the video in a notice displayed to viewers before they are allowed to play the video.
"This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about abusive behavior. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible," read Twitter's notice.
Responding to Meta's actions, Greitens wrote in a Facebook post: "Facebook CENSORED our new ad calling out the weak RINOs. When I get to the US Senate, we are taking on Big Tech. WATCH the new ad that Facebook doesn't want you to see."
Greitens is known for having resigned as Missouri's governor in 2018. Before stepping down, he was accused of blackmailing a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair. The woman also accused him of sexually assaulting her.
The former lawmaker's ad ran the same weekend that Rep. Adam Kinzinger — a GOP congressman who has been branded a RINO for his anti-Trump stance — spoke out about receiving a mailed threat against him and his family.
Per Axios, Kinzinger also described Greitens as a "very bad man" for posting the taken-down ad. The Illinois lawmaker joined his Democratic colleagues like Reps. Ruben Gallego and Joaquin Castro in slamming Greitens over the video.
Greitens is not the only politician who has gotten into trouble for posting violent imagery. Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar was censured in November for tweeting a violent anime clip of himself slaying New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.
More: Eric Greitens Missouri RINO Advertisement
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2022-06-21T05:31:28Z
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Facebook Pulls Senate Candidate's Ad on 'RINO Hunting' Fantasy
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https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-pulls-senate-candidates-ad-on-rino-hunting-fantasy-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-pulls-senate-candidates-ad-on-rino-hunting-fantasy-2022-6
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Veteran investor Saul Klein believes Europe can become the new Palo Alto. His VC firm just raised $500 million and pivoted to back founders at all growth stages.
LocalGlobe has rebranded to Phoenix Court.
Phoenix Court Group
Saul Klein's VC firm LocalGlobe has relaunched as Phoenix Court Group after raising $500 million.
The veteran VC believes Europe can be a "new Palo Alto" as investor appetite on the continent grows.
The firm will now oversee four separate funds that invest in startups from pre-seed to scale-up.
British venture capital veteran Saul Klein has revamped his investment firm after it raised $500 million in fresh funds to back startups across Europe.
Klein has invested in an array of top-tier startups at an early stage such as trading app Robinhood and payments firm Wise through his VC firm LocalGlobe, which has been rebranded to Phoenix Court Group.
The revamp goes beyond the new moniker with the investor broadening its focus to make bets on founders across all stages of the startup growth cycle, including their entry into public markets.
Europe's startup ecosystem has evolved from a hub for early-stage startups to the "new Palo Alto," according to Klein who said the shift had been 20 years in the making.
The region is home to a swathe of multi-billion dollar startups, including struggling buy now, pay later giant Klarna, London-based fintech Revolut, and online payments firm Checkout.com.
For Klein, the "new Palo Alto" region – which he describes as European regions within a four-hour train ride of London – has been underserved by investors, particularly at scale-up stages, leaving a funding gap that is not sufficiently filled when compared to the US and China.
"It took 20 years to get to the starting line and now it gets interesting in this geography," Klein told Insider. "All of this for us ties together in this vision for what the next 20 years of investing in innovation can be about, particularly what this ecosystem which we call New Palo Alto."
Phoenix Court Group now oversees four separate funds. Its four funds include seed and pre-seed focused LocalGlobe, Basecamp, a community of over 50 early-stage investors, Latitude, an investment vehicle for early growth stage companies, as well as scale-up fund Solar, which will support businesses all the way through to public markets, with the firm looking to hold onto stakes in businesses as they list.
The shift from Klein's VC firm to become a "life stage" tech investor after building its reputation as a seed specialist is the latest move by a VC to restructure their approach to fund management in a bid to capture opportunities in both young and more mature companies.
Heavyweight VC firm Sequoia has hired a number of general partners in Europe over the past year to back startups in the continent, with the firm's Sequoia Fund targeting investments at both seed and growth stages.
The $500 million raised marks an initial close for Phoenix Court Group, which will continue to have conversations with limited partners about raising new funds to invest into startups from seed stages onwards in what it describes as "the world's third-largest innovation ecosystem".
Despite the current market downturn that has wiped billions off the valuations of several tech companies, Klein remains optimistic about LP appetite for investment into VC funds given the longer-term horizon over which startup investments are made.
"Those that can't see beyond the next 2 years shouldn't be investing in this asset class, shouldn't be investing in science technology, or innovation because the innovation dividend is 10-20 years from now, not 10 days from now," he said.
Phoenix Group Court's investment team now comprises 13 partners after hiring Paul Bishop from the private markets team at UK pension fund Railpen, and will continue to expand as it eyes opportunities in sectors such as Web3 and enterprise infrastructure.
More: Europe Venture Capital Startups
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2022-06-21T05:31:40Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Saul Klein's VC Firm LocalGlobe Rebrands and Raises $500 Million
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https://www.businessinsider.com/saul-kleins-vc-firm-localglobe-rebrands-and-raises-500-million-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/saul-kleins-vc-firm-localglobe-rebrands-and-raises-500-million-2022-6
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A Putin spokesman this week declined to say if WNBA star Brittney Griner will be released soon.
She was detained in Russia earlier this year after officials said they found hashish oil in her bag.
Dmitry Peskov told NBC News that Griner is not a "hostage" and said she's being prosecuted for violating Russian law.
A top spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin this week denied that detained WNBA star Brittney Griner is a "hostage," while declining to offer any update on the athlete's possible release.
Dmitry Peskov in an exclusive interview with NBC News on Monday pushed back against the US State Department's posture that Griner is being held hostage in the country after Russian authorities detained the basketball player in February, saying they found hashish oil, which is a cannabis concentrate, in her luggage.
The charge carries a possible maximum penalty of 10 years in prison in the country.
Griner was traveling to Russia to play in the country's professional league amid the WNBA's offseason. When she arrived in Moscow, Russian authorities said they discovered vape cartridges with hashish oil in her bag.
Since her arrest more than four months ago, Griner's detention has been further extended three separate times. Earlier this month, Russian state news outlet Tass reported that she's set to remain in jail until at least July 2.
She was arrested on February 17, and shortly after, on February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, complicating diplomatic relations.
One legal expert previously told Insider's Meredith Cash that he fears her hearing will "never happen," and predicted that Griner will either be "clandestinely found guilty" or exchanged in a prisoner swap.
American authorities were quietly negotiating her release and safe return to the United States following her February arrest. But in May, the State Department moved her case to the agency's Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, reclassifying the situation as "wrongful" detention and ramping up their efforts to secure her release.
The new designation also offers Griner's supporters the opportunity to speak more freely about her detention and openly campaign for her release.
Peskov said Griner is being treated no differently than any of the "hundreds and hundreds of Russian citizens" that were sentenced for the same alleged crime.
"She violated Russian law, and now she's being prosecuted," Peskov told NBC News. "It's not about being a hostage. There are lots of American citizens here. They're enjoying their freedoms … but you have to obey the laws."
Neither Griner's team, nor the State Department immediately responded to Insider's request for comment.
Last month, Tass reported that Griner might be exchanged for Viktor Bout, a Russian businessman who was convicted in the US for dealing arms. Peskov refused to confirm the report when NBC News inquired about the possible exchange.
More: Brittney Griner Russia Detention WNBA
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2022-06-21T07:08:10Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Putin Rep Says Brittney Griner Not 'Hostage,' but Offers No Update
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https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-rep-brittney-griner-not-hostage-but-offers-no-update-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-rep-brittney-griner-not-hostage-but-offers-no-update-2022-6
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Two former Tesla employees have filed a lawsuit against Tesla, claiming its mass layoffs violated federal law.
In early June, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla needed to cut 10% of its staff, per Reuters.
The two former employees are looking to claim 60 days' worth of pay and benefits.
In a lawsuit filed Sunday, two former Tesla employees claim the electric carmaker violated federal law by laying off hundreds of employees on short notice.
On June 2, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent an internal email to executives saying he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy and saying the company needed to terminate about 10% of its workforce, according to Reuters.
Over the next few days, two workers at Tesla's Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, say they were terminated, according to a court document seen by Insider. John Lynch said he was notified of his immediate dismissal on June 10, while Daxton Hartsfield said he was informed on June 15 and terminated on the same day.
Lynch and Hartsfield, who filed the lawsuit, said at least 500 of their coworkers in Nevada lost their jobs at around the same time, the document showed.
The court document showed the plaintiffs stated Tesla's actions violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires employers to notify workers at least 60 calendar days in advance before shutting down a plant or laying off 50 or more workers at the same site.
"Tesla has simply notified the employees that their terminations would be effective immediately. Tesla has also failed to provide a statement of the basis for reducing the notification period to zero days advance notice," the court document said.
Lynch and Hartsfield are looking to claim 60 days' worth of pay and benefits. They are also seeking class action status for the lawsuit for those who were terminated in May and June without sufficient notice.
"It's pretty shocking that Tesla would just blatantly violate federal labor law by laying off so many workers without providing the required notice," Shannon Liss-Riordan, a Boston-based lawyer representing the workers, told Reuters on Monday.
Tesla employed about 100,000 people globally at the end of 2021, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Others have also claimed that they were fired on short notice
Others who claim to be former Tesla workers also have spoken up about being laid off on soon after Musk's internal email about firing 10% of Tesla's workforce.
A LinkedIn user based in Austin whose profile says he was a Tesla recruiter shared that the company recently fired him. A San Francisco user who claims he was a software engineer said he was laid off by Tesla four days ago. Christopher Bousigues, Tesla's Singapore country manager, said in a post last week that he was terminated. Bousigues declined Insider's request for comment.
Liss-Riordan and Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside of regular working hours.
More: Elon Musk Tesla
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2022-06-21T09:05:30Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Former Workers Sue Tesla for Mass Layoffs That Axed More Than 500
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https://www.businessinsider.com/former-workers-sue-tesla-mass-layoffs-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/former-workers-sue-tesla-mass-layoffs-2022-6
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Japan faces a labor shortage due to a rapidly aging society.
Japanese telco giant NTT will start treating office commutes as business trips, per Kyodo News.
Starting in July, NTT is slated to reimburse 30,000 employees for the cost of their commutes.
The flexible work program is aimed at attracting and retaining talents amid a labor crunch in Japan.
At Japanese telecommunications giant NTT, remote work is the new norm — and the commute is the new business trip.
Starting from July, NTT will reimburse domestic employees for their commute to the office — even if they're a plane ride away, Kyodo News reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. Employees can work from anywhere in Japan, and the company will pay for accommodation when employees need to return to the office.
The company will roll out the program to 30,000 of its employees in Japan before expanding it, per the report. NTT said in September that it was considering allowing all of its 320,000 employees worldwide to work remotely.
NTT's flexible work program is aimed at attracting and retaining talent amid a labor crunch in Japan, according to Kyodo. That's as Japan faces a labor shortage due to a rapidly aging society and a large pool of women who leave their jobs after marriage due to cultural expectations.
NTT's program also comes two years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the world's labor force to work from home, prompting some to rethink their priorities and purpose in life. This led to a Great Resignation in the US and other parts of the world. Many workers in Japan are also questioning the country's intense work culture and corporate life in the wake of the pandemic, The New York Times reported in April.
As the pandemic eases, corporate leaders are debating bringing the workforce back to the office after two years of pandemic-induced remote work.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said last week he was doing "everything" he could to get staff to return to the office — but that they're not returning "at the level" he wants. To get employees back to the office, Tesla CEO Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to executive staff earlier this month, telling them to return to the office or quit.
On the other end of the spectrum, Airbnb is allowing employees to live and work from anywhere forever, CEO Brian Chesky announced in April.
NTT did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Japan NTT Remote Work work from home
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2022-06-21T09:05:36Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Japan Telco NTT Makes Remote Work the Norm, Reimburses Office Commute
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https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-telco-ntt-remote-work-norm-reimburse-office-commute-plane-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-telco-ntt-remote-work-norm-reimburse-office-commute-plane-2022-6
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The quant who left Citadel for Opendoor
Hi, Aaron Weinman here. Let's talk quantitative traders, or "quants." They're arguably Wall Street's most-prized mathematicians.
They ply their trade at hedge funds or high-frequency trading firms, and they're known to pocket a pretty penny.
Take Daniel Morillo — he spent decades developing quant-trading research but in 2020 he became chief investment officer at Opendoor Technologies, the online buyer and seller of homes.
Morillo is the latest "quantrepreneur" in Insider's series about quants who ditched Wall Street for startups.
Let's dig into his story.
Daniel Morillo, CIO of Opendoor
1. Daniel Morillo helped supercharge the algorithmic homebuying business at Opendoor. His experience in algorithmic trading, data science, and modeling for quant-trading research has helped the antiquated online homebuying industry morph into a marketplace for a raft of property owners.
But his move to Opendoor came out of left field.
Born and raised in Ecuador, Morillo came to the US in the mid-1990s. He worked at PanAgora Asset Management, BlackRock, and in 2015 he joined Ken Griffin's Citadel. He was head of equity-quant research and had strong relationships at the hedge fund, where he managed 70 people.
And despite multiple attempts by Bay Area friends to snare Morillo's services, a move to the disruptive tech world seemed out of the question.
He was skeptical of some startups, and questioned whether they were truly innovative.
But Opendoor was different. It offered Morillo a chance to apply algorithmic trading to an industry in need of technological change.
Here's why Morillo — one of Wall Street's top quants — ditched the lucrative hedge-fund space for Opendoor, and helped turn the homebuyer into a market maker in its own right.
2. As the crypto market dips at a mile-a-minute pace, Binance has built a 150-person investigations team. Top government agents who have taken down criminals have flocked to the crypto exchange, and here they share what it takes to get in on the secretive group.
3. Crypto lender Babel Finance has stopped letting users take out their holdings. Hong Kong-based Babel said it was freezing withdrawals due to " liquidity pressures," becoming the second platform to do this after Celsius halted withdrawals earlier this month.
4. Trading firm Jump, however, is doing the opposite to most crypto businesses. Jump Crypto is hiring, not firing folks, and everyone's energized as summer interns arrive, according to Bloomberg.
5. Deutsche Bank has started installing Movius, an app that helps track communications, on its bankers' phones, the Financial Times reported. The installation is in response to regulatory probes that have bankers fretting over how they use their cell phones, particularly communications on unauthorized messaging apps like WhatsApp.
6. Klarna is in talks with investors about a deal that values the firm at about $15 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The valuation — a significant dip from $46 billion last June — comes after the BNPL fintech laid off about 10% of its staff in May.
7. Slaughter and May is letting its lawyers bring their doggos to work. The London-based "magic circle" firm is implementing the pooch policy amid a tussle for top legal talent.
8. On the subject of pets, Lex the horse was seized in a tax fraud case. But it was sold back to its owner after the authorities realized how costly it is to maintain a stallion.
9. A former partner at Apollo talked about the inner workings of private equity. But in the book "Two and Twenty," the author failed to support his argument with the relevant data, Jonathan A. Knee writes in this Insider opinion piece.
10. Wall Streeters are back on the road and are rekindling their love for frequent-flyer programs. Here are a few reviews, offers, and rewards for 21 of the best credit cards of June 2022.
Done deal:
Targa Resources will acquire natural gas processor Lucid Energy from Riverstone Holdings and Goldman Sachs Asset Management for $3.55 billion.
Keep up with the latest business news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.
Curated by Aaron Weinman in New York. Tips? Email aweinman@insider.com or tweet @aaronw11. Edited by Jordan Parker Erb and Lisa Ryan in New York.
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2022-06-21T13:13:10Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Wall Street: the Quant Who Left Citadel for Opendoor
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https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-wall-street-quants-trading-citadel-fintech-opendoor-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-wall-street-quants-trading-citadel-fintech-opendoor-2022-6
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JPMorgan Chase's CMO lays out how she's using content marketing to win on Wall Street
JPMorgan Chase CMO Carla Hassan.
Banks are using content to build trust, win new customers, and defend against fintech startups.
JPMorgan Chase CMO Carla Hassan sees perks and experiences as a competitive edge.
She discussed the bank's recent purchase of The Infatuation and what's next.
Traditional banks have ramped up their content marketing efforts as they try to rebuild consumer trust and attract new customers, while also defending their businesses against fintech startups .
With those efforts have come increased marketing spending, an analysis of financial-marketing spending data by EMI Strategic Marketing found. JPMorgan Chase, for example, has signaled it planned to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, while Citigroup — whose spending fell 20% in 2020 — increased its budget by 2% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2020, EMI found.
JPMorgan Chase has taken a broader view of content than some of its peers, buying restaurant-review site The Infatuation in a surprise move last year. It's also hired a new head of content for wealth management to attract "mass-affluent" clients to its investment services.
That work continues under global CMO Carla Hassan, who moved over in October from Citi, where she made a mark using advertising to spotlight social justice issues. She defines content as products and services that benefit clients and employees alike. And like many marketers today, she emphasizes the rigor that goes into identifying what customers are looking for and how the content performs.
"We're very careful about how we spend our marketing," said Hassan, whose efforts have landed her on Insider's 2022 Most Innovative CMOs list. "We have very sophisticated models. There are very few things that don't go through a rigorous exercise and funnel. And in a world with all the digital tools we have, we can do that."
With The Infatuation, JPMorgan sees a chance to offer benefits and experiences to food enthusiasts. At The Infatuation's food festival, Eeeeeatscon, Chase's Sapphire card members got perks like early access to tickets and entry to a lounge where they could sample signature dishes.
Later this year, it plans to launch Chase Travel, a full-service portal where card members can book travel. JPMorgan is expected to go after high-end travelers and rely on features like access to rare reservations and restaurant guides to distinguish itself.
"We know experiences are a way to add value, which can be a competitive advantage," Hassan said.
With wealth management, JPMorgan, like other banks, has been trying to cater to the so-called "mass affluent," who collectively have a lot of wealth and are looking for more sophisticated investment options. JPMorgan just hired a longtime marketing executive, Morgan Stanley vet Paul Halpern, to expand its wealth management arm.
To do this, JPMorgan has taken a more conventional approach to content, but with videos and articles that feature friendly bank employees and talk about life moments like buying a home rather than dry financial instruments. The bank last July hired David Moss, who oversaw Robinhood's content machine, to lead the effort.
"The reality is, our mass-affluent consumer has pretty low awareness that JPMorgan Wealth Management can serve them," Hassan said. "They may have a credit card with us, a savings account with us. We talk to them about things you wouldn't imagine a financial services company would talk about: We may talk about home lending; they talk about home ownership. It's a way to provide another service to them as they think about their lifespan and well being."
NOW WATCH: THE KRISTIN LEMKAU INTERVIEW: JPMorgan Chase's CMO explains how she deals with disruption on two fronts at once, why she's moving some ad dollars back to TV, and why it matters what your credit card feels like
More: JPMorgan Asset Management JPMorgan Chase Carla Hassan
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2022-06-21T13:13:28Z
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JPMorgan Chase CMO Shares Content Marketing Strategy
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https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-chase-cmo-shares-content-marketing-strategy-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-chase-cmo-shares-content-marketing-strategy-2022-6
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Major Conservative donor Lubov Chernukhin runs the gauntlet of booing protestors as members of the PCS Trade Union whom work in the culture sector protest at The V&A against the building being used for a Conservative Party fundraiser on June 20, 2022 in London, England.
Tory donors, grandees, and ministers dined and drank at the Victoria & Albert Museum on Monday.
They gathered at tables that cost up to £2,000-a-seat to raise funds for the Conservative Party.
A dinner with Boris Johnson, Theresa May, and David Cameron was auctioned for £120,000.
Conservative donors had fillet steak and drank "amazing" wine as they bid for prizes including a £120,000 dinner with Boris Johnson and former prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron at a glitzy London museum.
Ministers, party grandees, and donors attended the Conservative Party's summer fundraising dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Monday evening, greeted to the venue with boos and chants from protesting members of the museum's Public and Commercial Services union and Labour MP John McDonnell. Tickets for the event cost up to £2,000-a-head.
Some guests revelled in the jeers, exchanging remarks with the protesting staff.
Tory donor Lord Peter Cruddas brandished his invitations at protestors. A man on a penny farthing cycling past rang his bell in support of the protest.
After drinks and a speech from Boris Johnson in the V&A's Courtyard, attendees dined in the museum's Raphael Court, surrounded by the Raphael Cartoons, designs for Biblical tapestries by the Renaissance master.
Johnson's attendance was welcomed by guests who noted he had visited despite going under general anaesthetic for surgery Monday morning.
One said he gave "the most amazing speech", which amouted to a "huge list" of the party's achievements. Johnson left after around 30 minutes at the event.
Other ministers at the bash included Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Party Chairman Oliver Dowden, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, who Insider saw arriving late.
—Savitha Prakash (ಸವಿತ !) 🌈 (@SavvyPrakash) June 21, 2022
Ministers and donors had salmon tartare, fillet steak with asparagus mash, and passionfruit meringues, POLITICO reported.
One source, given anonymity due to their role, told Insider there were also cheese platters and truffles with "more developed" versions of gummy bears. As the attendees dined, catering staff had "very nice salami sandwiches" and some "standard chocolates", the source added.
"The food was fantastic, the wine was even better. They were amazing wines, best wines we've had," one attendee told Insider afterwards. One source told Insider most guests had only one or two glasses of wine.
Attendees bid on auction prizes including what The Spectator reported was referred to as the "dinner of the century" with Johnson, May, and Cameron, which went for £120,000, sources told Insider.
POLITICO reported the value of other prizes including a safari trip in South Africa for £65,000, a shooting trip in Market Harborough for £37,000, a wine-tasting lunch for £30,000, and tickets to Chelsea v Arsenal for £5,000.
With the event drawing to a close and guests spilling out the side entrance of the museum, Insider spoke with a number of donors and ministers.
Political strategist Lynton Crosby said it had been a "great event". Scotland Secretary Alister Jack asked where Exhibition Road, the street he was standing on, was.
Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey said there had been no "Coffee with Coffey" auctioned off.
Lubov Chernukhin, the largest female political donor in British history and wife of Putin's former junior finance minister, who has given more than £2.2 million to the Conservatives, said "no comment" when asked if she had won anything in the auction.
Maurizio Bragagni, the honorary consul to the UK for the micro-state of San Marino, attended the dinner.
Bragagni, who has been criticised for complaining about "foreign Muslims" in the UK, told Insider he was unhappy with recent media coverage, saying it was "because you are all communists."
Bragagni said the reports were "absolutely" incorrect and his meaning had been translated "the wrong way. That is what you are."
He said he "always" spoke to Boris Johnson and departed.
Conservative supporter Ashraf Chohan was initially happy to speak about the event when asked. "Of course you can! Walk with us, walk with us."
With him was donor and Lord Rami Ranger, given a peerage by May. "We love Boris," Ranger said, echoed by Chohan.
—Dr Ashraf Chohan (@DrAshrafChohan) June 20, 2022
After a member of the group advised Chohan against talking to Insider, he said: "Boris will be prime minister next time as well, and we'll make sure." He added there was "no auction. No money, no money. No, no, no money."
Christopher Harborne, who has recently started financially supporting the Conservatives again, after giving more than £10 million to what was Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, spoke with a protester supporting Julian Assange outside the museum before entering the event.
He told Insider afterwards: "Free Julian Assange. Free Julian Assange. Main message."
Harborne said he had not had the chance to speak about Assange's release with Johnson, Patel, or any other ministers, saying "dinners get busy".
Harborne said he had not bid on any auction prizes, and didn't want to talk about why he was giving money to the Conservatives again.
A Conservative party spokesperson said: "Fundraising is a legitimate part of the democratic process. The alternative is more taxpayer-funding of political campaigning, which would mean less money for frontline services like schools, police and hospitals – or else, being in the pocket of union barons, like the Labour Party."
More: UK Politics News UK Boris Johnson Lubov Chernukhin
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2022-06-21T13:14:04Z
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Tory Donors Drink and Dine With Johnson at Fundraising Gala
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tory-donors-drink-and-dine-with-johnson-at-fundraising-gala-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tory-donors-drink-and-dine-with-johnson-at-fundraising-gala-2022-6
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Musk's vision for Twitter includes authenticated payments with user fees
Elon Musk outlined his visions for the Twitter in a company all-hands.
He outlined his ambition to integrate authentication and user fees for payments on Twitter.
The news: Elon Musk reiterated his ambition to integrate payments into Twitter as the maverick billionaire businessman detailed his plans for the social media site during a Twitter all-hands meeting on Thursday.
In a leaked transcript of the meeting published by Vox, Musk said that money is "fundamentally digital at this point and has been for a while." As well, it would "make sense to integrate payments into Twitter so it's easy to send money back and forth."
He also heaped praise on Chinese social media and mobile payments app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok as possible examples of the direction he'd like to take Twitter.
His investor pitch to fund the acquisition involved generating as much as $15 million from a Twitter payments business in 2023.
Here's how it could work:
Authentication: Musk suggested a system where users would have to be authenticated by the company, like getting a blue verified badge, to use payments. Users could keep their profiles anonymous but would have to share their real details with Twitter to be authenticated for payments.
Fees: He said payments-based authentication could cost "three bucks a month." This would play into his plans to grow annual revenues at Twitter to $26.4 billion by 2028, jumping from $5 billion in 2021.
Embedding: Musk said PayPal, the company he helped build, had done a "great job" on payments, perhaps indicating he will seek partnerships with external payment firms to integrate their tech rather than building a new system from the ground up.
Super app status: The business magnate has hinted that he would turn the platform into a super app but also said that an app like this doesn't necessarily need to be adapted from Twitter; it could be something new, built from scratch.
The big takeaway: Musk could still try to back out of the $44 billion deal to buy Twitter after requesting more information on the platform's nonhuman accounts, but the recent all-hands provides valuable insight into what he envisages for payments on Twitter.
If he can harness both the Big Tech firm's vast user base and its ties to commerce, then payments on the site could attract new users who view it as a potential income generator—boosting Twitter's revenues.
Whatever form Twitter payments take, Musk sees them as a key feature of the platform's future.
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2022-06-21T14:44:33Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Elon Musk Wants to Integrate Payments Into Twitter—for a User Fee
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https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-wants-to-integrate-payments-into-twitter-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-wants-to-integrate-payments-into-twitter-2022-6
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How to work effectively from only a smartphone, according to experts
Created by Pedestrian Group with Optus
The past couple of years haven't been great, to put it mildly. But amidst the not-so-fun-times we've had to swallow, there have been shimmers of silver linings. When we look back at the early 2020s, we'll see a time of great calamity, but also of great innovation. Innovation, some would argue, that should've come long ago.
The early 2020s will be remembered as the era when the concept of working from an office full-time was finally eradicated from mainstream consensus as the default way of operating. Working from home became the new normal, and once we emerged from our lockdowns, "work from home" evolved to "work from anywhere".
As we've made this collective shift in approaching how we work, we've also shifted our collective view on the tools we use to get the job done, whatever that job may be. As we continue to evolve into a new mobile style of work, smartphones are becoming more and more prominent in the everyday worker's arsenal. And networks are levelling up to match the pace of hardware, with companies like Optus rolling out 5G coverage to meet the demand of this new way of working.
To gain a better understanding of how we can best utilise smartphones in this new era of work, we caught up with Vice President of Mobile at Samsung Electronics Australia, Garry McGregor.
"We no longer need to be tethered to a desk or a laptop to get on with the job, the shifting landscape post-pandemic has shown us that," said Garry. "Smartphones are much more than a device to receive calls or emails: They have the ability to extend the workplace to anywhere. From calls to meetings, mobile camera technology is helping us to communicate and connect smoothly as our workspaces increasingly revolve around video."
"A 2018 Deloitte report estimates 70% of workers globally aren't behind a desk all the time, and are moving away from PCs in favour of 100% mobile work. With that in mind, simplicity while on the go is key. With the exceptionally large and bright displays available on the market, working from a smartphone isn't so different from working from a tablet or a small laptop — now we just have fewer gadgets to juggle."
"As modern smartphone screens are getting bigger, and their displays are becoming more advanced, there is a clear shift towards interchangeability of devices within our workspaces."
Here are some top tips and productivity hacks for making the most of Samsung devices, from Samsung Electronics Australia trainers:
"Microsoft Outlook is the default email program pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and in partnership with Microsoft, it has some unique features only available to Galaxy users. A favourite is – simply highlight a portion of text from the email you have received and hit 'Quote' to automatically add it into a reply email back to the sender."
"Samsung has incorporated Auto Framing into many popular video call partners. Auto framing will ensure that you remain centre of frame during video calls, and will even expand the view when more people enter the frame. It is visually pleasing and removes the empty space around you, keeping you as the focal point."
Research tips
"While browsing the web on the S22 Ultra, if you find a piece of information that you like and want to save both the information and the link you sourced it from, simply highlight the text, drag it to the side, and open it into Samsung Notes. You can then go back to the website anytime you like, or keep a log of all your sources for your project."
"If you are looking to get more from your photos — for a presentation, your website or social channels for example — try the Expert RAW app from the Galaxy Store. It gives you pro controls such as ISO, shutter speed, and exposure, whilst using the phone's multi-frame image technology at the same time to give you the ultimate photo. It also saves it as a RAW file so you can tweak and edit it to your liking in post.
If you are looking to take professional-grade videos, try Pro Video Mode. Pro Video mode gives you the ultimate control over your content, and allows you to set the settings and even manipulate the way audio is recorded. Shoot in 8K, 4K, and even FHD in a rapid 120fps.
In our blended lives, we know people are using their handsets for pleasure as well as work, so have some fun with Single Take. If you are taking your kids out on the weekend to the beach or to a playground, switch the camera mode to Single Take and capture your kids living their best life. Single take can record for up to 20 seconds and captures up to 14 different photos and videos. It uses AI to pick the best photos and creates collages, boomerangs, and even a best shot."
Note-taking
"Taking notes in a long meeting or on the go needs to be as easy as possible. Ensure no crucial information is missed with Audio Bookmark. In the Samsung Notes app, whilst you are taking your handwritten notes with your Galaxy S22 Ultra's S Pen, you can record the meeting's audio while simultaneously writing your notes. Your handwritten notes will line up with the audio recorded so you can put context to your scribble."
Calendars and scheduling
"Calendar management needn't be a headache. If communicating about diaries via Messages, the app will prompt you to add your meeting directly to your calendar. This saves you time, keeps the meeting information accurate, and means you can carry on being productive."
Looking to take working from a smartphone to the next level? Check out the new Galaxy S22 series. Optus has a 5G Phone Price Match Guarantee where they'll match any competitor's upfront retail price on the GS22 Series. Head over to the Optus site to find out more.
5G Phone Price Match Guarantee: T&Cs apply. Excludes prices tied to other offers. Find out more at optus.com.au/5Gphonepricematch.
5G Network Capability: 5G available in selected areas and on select plans (excl. NT). See Optus website for offer and coverage details.
This post was created by Optus with Insider Studios.
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2022-06-21T14:44:39Z
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Experts Share Their Tips on Working From Your Smartphone
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https://www.businessinsider.com/experts-share-their-tips-on-working-from-your-smartphone
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https://www.businessinsider.com/experts-share-their-tips-on-working-from-your-smartphone
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UBS: Recession risks are soaring - but make these 6 investments to shield your portfolio from the downturn
Investors are starting to worry about a potential recession as the Federal Reserve implements aggressive interest rate hikes.
Stocks wobbled last week after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 75 basis points.
UBS became the latest bank to warn that rising rates could trigger a recession.
But the bank shared six investments that will protect a portfolio when economic growth slows.
Investors are increasingly worried about a potential recession .
Since the Federal Reserve announced it would hike interest rates by 75 basis points at its June meeting, Wall Street giants including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo have all warned that the US is increasingly likely to suffer two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
UBS became the latest member of that club Friday.
"The more aggressive line by central banks adds to headwinds for both economic growth and equities," the Swiss bank's chief investment officer Mark Haefele said in a research note. "The risks of a recession are rising, while achieving a soft landing for the US economy appears increasingly challenging."
Speculation of a looming recession has had a negative impact across asset classes.
Stocks tumbled after the Fed's meeting, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 sliding 5.8% and 5% respectively last week. There's also been a significant sell-off in bond markets this year, with 10-year Treasury yields - which move in the opposite direction to prices - up 179 basis points to 3.30%.
And cryptocurrencies - one of last year's success stories - have cratered in 2022. Bitcoin has crashed nearly 55%, while ethereum has fallen by over 68% year-to-date.
And Haefele doesn't expect the turmoil to end anytime soon.
"Policymakers will want to see a cooling of the labor market before signaling the potential for a slowdown in the pace of monetary tightening," he said. "Until then, we expect the Fed to continue to stress its inflation-fighting credentials."
Haefele shared six investments to make to shield a portfolio from the worst of the economic downturn.
Recession warnings will likely drive up stock market volatility , according to Haefele. The VIX - an index that measures the volatility of the S&P 500 - climbed from 26 to 33 last week as investors panicked after the Fed's interest rate announcement.
Investors should prioritize defensive sectors as volatility rises, Haefele said. He highlighted dividend-paying stocks and healthcare stocks as two pockets of the market that will outperform during a recession.
"To mitigate such large potential swings, investors can focus on more defensive parts of the market that could outperform in the event of recession," Haefele said. "We particularly like dividend-paying stocks and the healthcare sector ."
Read more: 2 investors who make thousands in passive income each month explain how to build a strong dividend portfolio
But it's also important not to lose sight of the bigger geopolitical picture, Haefele said. He believes that Russia's invasion of Ukraine will usher in an 'age of security' that will strengthen particular sectors.
"The increased willingness of Russia to use energy supplies as a political tool underlines our view that we are headed toward an age of security," Haefele said. "Governments and companies [will] place a higher value of security and safety."
UBS strategists believe that energy stocks, cybersecurity stocks, and defense stocks are all well-exposed to their 'age of security' theme.
Read more: What does Russia invading Ukraine mean for markets? 13 investing experts share their outlook
Lastly, investors should strongly favor value investing strategies as recession risks increase, according to Haefele. He said that UK stocks look particularly attractive as value investments.
The value-heavy FTSE 100 has suffered minimal losses this year, falling just 3.3% - in comparison, Europe's STOXX 600 is down 16.3% year-to-date.
"The UK market is heavily weighted to value stocks," Haefele said. "[It has] outperformed the broader market this year, and we expect outperformance to continue."
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2022-06-21T14:44:57Z
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Recession Investing Strategy: UBS's 6 Stock Picks As Interest Rates Rise
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https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-investing-strategy-stocks-to-buy-fed-interest-rates-ubs-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-investing-strategy-stocks-to-buy-fed-interest-rates-ubs-2022-6
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Sponsor content Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Energy
The future of lower-emission transportation fuels
Created by ExxonMobil with Insider Studios
For 30 years, Russ Green has worked primarily in ExxonMobil's fuels and lubricants businesses. Today Russ is focused on developing lower-emission fuels for the highest emitting industries. ExxonMobil recently spoke with Russ about the future of transportation and innovations he's working on to help lower emissions.
ExxonMobil: Russ, thanks for talking to us about the landscape of lower-emission fuels. Tell us a little bit about your career with the company.
Russ Green: For the majority of my career, I have been a part of our fuels and lubricants businesses. In those businesses I've helped develop and deploy products and customer solutions for our leading Exxon, Esso, Mobil, Mobil 1 and Federal brands. I've had the great privilege to work with partners like General Motors, Toyota, Porsche, Red Bull Racing in Formula 1, NASCAR and the NBA, as well as our fantastic distributors and branded wholesalers. Throughout my career, I've also had the opportunity to engage with our world-class technology and manufacturing teams, who drive our product differentiation and logistical expertise.
EM: Can you talk about what ExxonMobil is doing with lower-emission fuels and what that means for your role amidst the energy transition?
RG: We plan to play a leading role in how the world decarbonizes. We are investing in fuel production with lower emissions, including biofuels and eFuel, which is a synthetic fuel made from hydrogen and captured CO2, carbon dioxide from carbon capture. From our renewable diesel project in Strathcona, Canada, to our investment in Norway's Biojet AS, a company that turns wood waste into biofuel, we have a number of projects in motion that will one day serve many markets around the world.
Our customers are also looking to reduce their emissions, and we're partnering with them to deliver lower-emission fuel solutions as we all work to achieve society's net zero goals. It's exciting to be part of this effort. Like others I work with in ExxonMobil's Product Solutions Company and Low Carbon Solutions businesses, I'm applying the expertise we've developed over decades of working in traditional fuels along with new thinking to this new world of next generation fuels.
EM: You've outlined ExxonMobil's commitment in providing these solutions. Can you talk about how the company views the transportation sector?
RG: A key focus of ours is to identify some of the highest-emitting sectors of the economy to see how we can apply innovative solutions and products to help decarbonize them.
Today, transportation makes up 23% of the world's energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Of that, about 52% comes from heavy transportation, like trucks, planes and ships. So, within the transportation sector, we are looking to develop alternative fuels that lower emissions across the heavy-duty trucking, aviation and shipping industries.
In addition to progressing projects utilizing conventional biofeeds for production, we are also advancing toward the future deployment of scalable technologies to upgrade advanced biofeeds, such as forestry residues, or renewable liquids produced from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, into transportation fuels. It's our desire to be a leader and we are focused on delivering the fuels that our customers desire across all transportation sectors.
If you look at the "Advancing Climate Solutions" report, you'll see the commitment from the company. For example, we are planning to produce more than 40,000 barrels per day of lower-emission fuels by 2025 — and then approximately 200,000 barrels per day by 2030. Achieving those goals would help the world reduce more than 25 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
EM: That's an impressive macro look at the work being done and how it could apply to the world of transportation; can you talk specifics on what's in the works?
RG: Absolutely — let's look at aviation and the work we're doing within that industry. When most people consider emissions from transportation, they look to the road. But, when you think about the air, there's no practical way we can fly on electric planes today due to a whole host of reasons. And prototype hydrogen-fueled planes have some large technical challenges to overcome.
So, in order to reduce emissions quickly, the world will need to significantly increase the production of sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, at multiple locations around the globe.
EM: What is sustainable aviation fuel?
RG: When we talk about sustainable fuel, in general, we're really looking at how we refine sustainable feeds into fuels. Specifically, we're looking at making fuels from different feedstocks like vegetable oils, used cooking oils and forestry residues, among other renewable sources. These biofuels will play an important part in a lower-emission future and are a key area of our strategy.
In the aviation world, we're working closely with our airline customers to help ensure that SAF products, which are subject to strict quality regulations, are "engine ready" fuels that can be used in today's existing fleet. This means that they can be integrated easily into the current infrastructure that supports the aviation sector.
EM: That sounds like no small feat but certainly an important challenge to solve. How do you see ExxonMobil progressing this?
RG: We have the strategy and industry-leading capabilities needed to succeed. Today, through our expertise in the supply and distribution of jet fuel, we are working with third parties to deliver SAF to customers in France, Singapore and the U.K. to meet near-term needs. Over time, we expect to produce SAF in multiple locations around the world to more fully meet our customers' sustainable fuel needs.
As employees, we keep talking about how this is the right place to contribute to the energy transition because there are ongoing technical and market challenges that need continued innovation to scale up our production of lower-emission fuels.
EM: Sounds like exciting times ahead, for sure. Thanks for your time, Russ.
RG: My pleasure. We have great people who are ready to make it happen!
Learn more about ExxonMobil's dedication to lower-emission transportation fuels.
This post was created ExxonMobil with Insider Studios.
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2022-06-21T14:45:09Z
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Here's What the Future of Lower-Emission Transportation Looks Like
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https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/the-future-of-lower-emission-transportation-fuels
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https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/the-future-of-lower-emission-transportation-fuels
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Execs from fintechs iCapital and Rocket Dollar detail where investors are looking for returns as a recession looms
Single and multi-family units are a hot investment strategy for yield-seeking investors, according to the CEOs of Rocket Dollar and iCapital.
A rocky public market has led investors to move their money into other asset classes.
Yield-seeking investors are moving their money into private markets for better returns.
Alternative-investment fintechs iCapital and Rocket Dollar say investors prefer real estate.
When the economy doesn't look too promising, investors sometimes need to get more creative on where they park their money to still get returns.
The public markets are down: The S&P 500 has fallen roughly 20% since the start of the year and the Nasdaq is down nearly 30%, year to date. Some Wall Street professionals have decried a summer from hell is upon us.
When public markets are down, private markets historically go up. In recent years, interest in the private markets increased so much that fund raisings hit record highs. Last year saw $1.2 trillion in global raises compared to five years ago, in 2016, when the total was $873 billion, according to a McKinsey & Company report.
Startups like Rocket Dollar and iCapital have helped further accelerate that trend. iCapital, which has seen its global assets this year grow from $105 billion to $125 billion as of April, operates a marketplace where investors and firms can get an overview of alternative investments like private equity and hedge funds. Rocket Dollar, meanwhile, helps its users invest their retirement savings in alternative investments.
Insider spoke to the CEOs of both companies to see the types of investments clients' assets are flowing to in the midst of the market downturn.
Real estate has become a key landing spot
iCapital CEO Lawrence Calcano told Insider between April and June he saw investors crowd into yield-based products like private credit and real estate. But that was largely caused by the low interest rates of the recent past, he added.
"Private credit has provided an opportunity for people to get high yields on their fixed-income portfolio. Real estate is generating income and capital appreciation," he said. "Historically, in times of inflation, real estate has been a good holding."
Real estate is a hot asset class at Rocket Dollar, too, Henry Yoshida, cofounder and CEO of Rocket Dollar told Insider. Crypto led the category in 2021, but since the digital market has taken a nosedive in recent weeks, customer assets in crypto in the past month went from making up 33% of the assets Rocket Dollar custodies to 17%, he said.
The inverse is that single and multi-family real-estate properties continue to make up more than a third of its assets. Though the rise of interest rates hurt mortgage buyers, it helps lower the price of properties, which is a real advantage for investors buying into deals with cash.
"They just want a stable, tangible asset that's producing a very consistent return in the form of rent checks," Yoshida said.
Another area is growth-oriented investments like private equity and investing in later-stage private companies.
"A lot of companies are staying private a lot longer. And so, being able to access private capital is a way for investors to access that growth of companies that haven't gone public, yet are growing very quickly," said Calcano.
New public companies have seen the value of their shares fall after record highs. Robinhood went public in the summer of 2021 and saw its share price peak shortly thereafter at around $55. It's stock price now sits at about $8. Affirm, a buy now pay later fintech that went public at the beginning of last year, saw its share price break $160 this past fall before dropping to around $21, where it currently sits today.
Despite the private markets having higher returns than public, they're still undergoing their own market correction, meaning investors will be able to invest in certain private companies at a discount.
Calcano said he is curious if a recession would give rise to interest in distressed types of investment strategies where investors swoop in to buy companies or properties in financial trouble.
Some companies have been having a tough go of things since 2020 when the pandemic wreaked havoc on many industries. A potential recession threatens to take many over the edge.
In mid-June, cosmetic giant Revlon filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy to stave off its crippling debt and loss of market share from competitors in the midst of supply-chain issues paired with inflation. Many of the movements into these products are coming from "yield-seekers" who were in bonds, said Yoshida. Since bonds have lost their value in the storm of hiked rates, investors are looking for yield wherever they can find it.
More: Fintech alternative investments iCapital
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2022-06-21T16:15:50Z
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Real Estate Tops Investment Strategies at ICapital and Rocket Dollar
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https://www.businessinsider.com/alternative-investment-strategies-during-recession-according-execs-icapital-rocket-dollar-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/alternative-investment-strategies-during-recession-according-execs-icapital-rocket-dollar-2022-6
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The new head of Microsoft's revamped cybersecurity unit just hired away fellow ex-Amazon Web Services exec Shawn Bice, internal email shows
Shawn Bice
Charlie Bell has hired fellow ex-AWS exec Shawn Bice to help run his new security org at Microsoft.
Bice will become corporate vice president of cloud security, according to an internal email.
Bell recently laid out his vision for the cybersecurity team in an internal email.
Charlie Bell, the Amazon Web Services cofounder who joined Microsoft last year, has hired another ex-Amazon executive to run his new cybersecurity organization.
Shawn Bice, formerly the vice president of databases at AWS, will become a corporate vice president of cloud security at Microsoft under Bell, according to an internal email viewed by Insider. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bice confirmed his hiring at Microsoft in a LinkedIn post later on Tuesday.
"It may sound impossible to some, but alongside my teammates at Microsoft, we hope to rid the world of ransomware and stall out threat actors. We recognize its immense value to society," Bice wrote in that post.
Bell, who surprised many when he left Amazon in August after 23 years and joined Microsoft soon after, recently laid out his vision for the new cybersecurity organization, according to an email viewed by Insider last month.
"Last October we came together as the Security, Compliance, Identity and Management division, which reflected the incredible opportunity in front of us and was an acknowledgment of the amazing work all of you have done over many years," Bell wrote in a May 11 email to his organization viewed by Insider. "This was an important first step."
Bice oversaw AWS databases services like Amazon Aurora and Amazon DynamoDB for five years before leaving in June 2021 to join Splunk as president of products and technology. During his time at Amazon, Bice played a key role in moving the online retailer's IT infrastructure away from rival Oracle's database software, in favor of its home-grown alternatives.
Bell's email also discloses that Bharat Shah, a 33-year Microsoft veteran and corporate vice president of Azure Cloud Security, is leaving the company. Insider previously reported Shah's planned departure as part of the broader reorganization of the cybersecurity unit.
Per the May email, Bell spent his first eight months at Microsoft as an observer and is now reworking his leadership team, making organizational changes, and introducing a new set of "organizing principles" to dictate the structure of the unit.
Soon after Bell's reorganization, Microsoft announced plans to significantly slow hiring across the company even more than expected, notably cutting the growth plans for Bell's organization.
Bice's hiring comes after Teresa Carlson, who spent more than a decade at Amazon as vice president of worldwide public sector and industries (and a decade at Microsoft before that), also joined Microsoft from Splunk this month. Carlson is now a corporate vice president and executive-in-residence. The Information reported she reports to business development boss Chris Young.
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2022-06-21T16:16:08Z
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Ex-Amazon Exec Shawn Bice Joins Microsoft
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-amazon-exec-shawn-bice-joins-microsoft-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-amazon-exec-shawn-bice-joins-microsoft-2022-6
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I sell cult US beauty brands like Olaplex and Physicians Formula in China. Here's what the market is like.
Julian Reis.
Courtesy of Julian Reis
Julian Reis is a former hedge-fund manager and the founder of the beauty company SuperOrdinary.
SuperOrdinary helps cult US beauty brands like Farmacy and Olaplex get a foothold in China.
Here's how his business works, as told to writer Claire Turrell.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Julian Reis, the founder of SuperOrdinary. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Getting into a market like China, which has strict import border controls, is really daunting if you don't speak the language and don't have local connections, but in February 2018 I found myself doing just that.
I'd moved from the US to Hong Kong to take a laser-facial brand Skin Laundry, which I'd launched in California in 2013, global. Now I was looking at taking it across the sea to mainland China, where there's no access to LinkedIn, Google, or WhatsApp. While I was working out how to do this, I noticed that many of the cult brands we have in the US weren't available in China.
This was what inspired me to launch SuperOrdinary, a beauty company that serves as the country partner in China for 110 cult US beauty brands. While challenging, I was used to starting new businesses. I cofounded the hedge fund Bluegold in London after working for Tudor Investment Corporation in Singapore. Now I've turned SuperOrdinary into a multimillion-dollar company of 600 employees working with big-name brands like Olaplex, Physicians Formula, and Malin+Goetz.
I created a company that wouldn't be a marketing arm but an invested brand partner
We started as a company that was focused on building brands in complex markets, such as China and Southeast Asia. Our business model was that we would buy products from beauty brands at a discounted US price and handle all the marketing expenses needed to launch it in a new country.
We buy product, which we store in warehouses in the country, because we feel it's important to own inventory and be financially invested in its success. The first brand that we worked with was Farmacy, whose founder, David Chung, I'd met during my time launching Skin Laundry. Others we would headhunt, but now brands also approach us.
The million-dollar question is: Will the brand resonate in China? There are indicators.
To begin with, we look for a brand that's been around for at least five years, as it shows they've been able to grow infrastructure. We also look for brands that are doing at least $25 to $50 million in gross revenue, as to reach that level you would need to have built a team and put the infrastructure in place to be able to handle larger orders.
A Ouai ad in China.
Another rule of thumb that we use is, does the brand have a unique selling proposition, or USP, that would resonate in China? You could've come to the market five years ago with clean ingredients or green packaging, but so does everyone else now. You need a point of difference.
We also look for an authentic founder — someone who's passionate about the product. Typical questions that we ask a potential brand focus on products and innovations, its mission and what it represents, and how committed they are to the Chinese market.
My hedge-fund skills have proved useful in building a brand in the beauty industry. Working as a hedge-fund manager helped me develop an intense dedication to understanding data and looking at it through the lens of how it's moving. It really helps us make better decisions about where we should be spending our resources.
Secondly, as a trader, I learned to stay focused. When you're trading, it's important not to lose focus of why you put that trade on in the beginning. They say, "Plan the trade, trade the plan." That's something I think about a lot.
We've learned that each city in China has a different buying style
An Olaplex ad in China.
China is a fragmented market. A large city, such as Shanghai, has the same size population as Australia and a GDP of $680 billion, while a smaller city like Nanning has a population of 7.2 million (more than Los Angeles and Chicago combined) and a GDP of $76 billion.
The people who live in a larger city, such as Shanghai, would shop on retail sites like Tmall and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok that's more advanced in ecommerce, while our early analysis found that those who live in smaller cities were more likely to use the online shopping platform Taobao. However, this has already since changed since we launched in China and people living in the smaller cities are now using social-media companies like Douyin to discover the brands, too.
We've created centers of excellence for TikTok, Douyin, and more
Each of our beauty brands has its own team and so does each platform we use. For instance, we have individual centers of excellence (departments) for each of the social-media sites. Each of these centers comprise up to 50 people who are experts in each format, and they share their learnings with all brands. Things can change so quickly in China that you need to be ready, otherwise you can be left behind. A marketing campaign that worked well one week might not work as well the next.
If we launched a brand a year ago, we might have spent 2-3% of our revenue on TikTok, and now we may spend 50% on video content produced by influencers. We work with around 70,000 influencers globally to help raise awareness of these brands.
We think global, but act local
When we launched Farmacy at the 2021 Double 11, or Singles' Day, shopping festival (China's equivalent to Black Friday ), it was the No. 2 selling skincare brand on Tmall.
We started small by focusing on two of its hero products, or bestsellers, in the US: the Honey Potion Plus mask and the Green Clean cleanser. We found that a very focused market entry allows us to concentrate our resources and effort. It also helps the consumer quickly understand what the brand represents and if it would interest them.
We used sites such as the beauty review site the Little Red Book to create awareness. When we shared the brand with influencers, we kept focusing on the same message that Farmacy uses cutting-edge science to harness the healing power of ingredients found in nature. For advertising imagery, we localized it with the help of Chinese history, opera singers, and ballet dancers.
Are you a founder who wants to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@insider.com
More: BI-freelancer China Chinese markets
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2022-06-21T16:16:20Z
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How I Started a Company Selling Cult US Beauty Brands in China
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-started-company-selling-cult-us-beauty-brands-china-superordinary-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-started-company-selling-cult-us-beauty-brands-china-superordinary-2022-6
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Kevin Rose is going to the moon
Eighteen years after news-aggregator website Digg, Kevin Rose is staking his redemption on Proof, a new kind of media company.
Vicky Leta/Insider
Melia Russell and April Joyner
Kevin Rose jolts awake in the middle of the night in Portland, Oregon. He can't sleep, his mind turning over an idea like a Rubik's cube. He grabs his phone off the nightstand and jots down the idea so he doesn't forget in the morning. Then he opens Twitter and posts, "3:30am here, just woke up with a new idea that's so good I can't sleep. Excited to be building in this space 😊🚀 LG."
These early morning flashes of creativity happen a lot for Rose. Two decades ago, Rose's after-hours brainchild was Digg. Rose, then 27 years old, founded a website where people could vote for news stories they liked so that popular stories floated to the top. It wrenched control of what gets read from print and broadcast corporations and gave it to the people, fueling a new era of the internet known as Web 2.0. When Rose got bored, he built apps. He blogged. He invested early in Silicon Valley's buzziest startups at the time, like Facebook and Twitter. By all accounts, he's a human firehose of ideas, with a thick mop of brown hair and kind eyes.
But where his friends and contemporaries like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey went on to build the most successful and enduring tech companies in history, Rose's idea fell short. Digg lost to Facebook and Twitter, the very companies he had personally backed. And Rose went from Web 2.0 poster boy to one of tech's prolific startup investors, funding other people's ideas.
Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose speak during a taping of "Diggnation," an internet television show where they discussed the top stories on Digg, in Las Vegas in 2009. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
"Diggnation" hosts Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht join actor Russell Brand on the couch during an interview with Jimmy Fallon in 2009. Dana Edelson/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
In that time, a new internet started to take shape. The crypto industry pitched a version of the web on the blockchain — a digital record of all the transactions involving crypto — that sucks power from big tech corporations and returns it to the masses. It intrigued Rose.
This past winter he founded a members-only club, called Proof, for people who buy and sell one-of-a-kind art on the blockchain. For months, the company lingered at the fringes of the internet, mainly unnoticed even by crypto enthusiasts. Then, in April, Proof dropped a set of 10,000 images, each featuring a pixelated owl character. They sold out in hours and are now traded for tens of thousands of dollars. The collection went on to become one of the top-selling non-fungible token, or NFT, projects of all time, according to data-analytics firm DappRadar. And just like that, Rose, now 45, put himself back on top as a pioneer of the new-new internet.
"People know when they talk to Kevin, they're talking to the future," Ron Conway, an angel investor who invested early in Google and Facebook and a longtime friend of Rose's, said. "He always has his finger on the pulse of what is next."
Proof released a set of images, called Moonbirds, for people to use as their profile pictures on social media. Proof
The images depict owls, a nod to the collective wisdom of the "Proof" podcast's guests and listeners. Proof
Each owl features randomized traits and characteristics. Proof
Now, the sagacious founder spends his days in a modern, low-slung home in Portland, hatching plans for his new crypto company. His idyllic goal for Proof: becoming a de facto public square for digital-art collectors. In this way, it's the culmination of Rose's career, staging digital communities where tech-news junkies, watch aficionados, and intermittent fasters gather. The market for NFTs exploded to $41 billion last year, inching closer in value to the traditional art market. Still, some things lie beyond his control. In recent weeks, a broader crypto crash has spooked investors, leading them to sell assets and putting prices in freefall.
Interviews with more than a dozen colleagues, friends, founders, and investors suggest that Rose's trial and error over the past two decades has prepared him for this moment. Can he now execute? Rose thinks so.
"I feel more confident in what I'm building now than I have my entire career," Rose said. "Everything I've built up until this point has led me to this place."
Diggmania brought Rose fame and occasional death threats from disgruntled users. So, in 2008, the company hired a pair of former Israeli soldiers to accompany him across the country at live tapings of "Diggnation," a weekly talk show Rose hosted, said Jay Adelson, Digg's first CEO. After a show in Chicago, Rose and Adelson flew back to the Bay Area to make an afternoon meeting at Google's headquarters. But this was no ordinary meeting. The internet-search giant had recently issued a term sheet to buy Digg for $180 million. Rose and Adelson hoped to close the deal.
But Rose had a bad feeling. Google had gone quiet the past few days.
Kevin Rose holds a term sheet from Google to buy Digg for $180 million.
Jay Adelson
During Rose's flight, Marissa Mayer, the Google executive who shepherded the deal, left him a voicemail. The deal to buy Digg was off, she said. The reasons Google walked aren't entirely understood, but sources say Google looked closer at Digg's underlying technology and passed.
From that day on, Rose said he learned not to count on a good thing before it happens.
Born in 1977, Rose grew up in suburban Las Vegas, where he taught himself to code and spent his paychecks from working at Olive Garden on computer magazines. The dot-com boom drove Rose to pursue a degree in computer science from the University of Nevada, but he dropped out his sophomore year after landing a job at a online office-furniture store in San Francisco in 2000.
In the Bay Area, Rose found his people. He became a production assistant at TechTV, a tech-news cable network, and within a few months, Rose went on the air as the resident hacker. The talk show, "Screen Savers," sat Rose across from geek celebrities like Adelson, who at the time ran a leading data-center company, Equinix.
Before long, Rose succumbed to the startup bug. His idea at the time: a news-aggregator site where readers could rate submissions, voting them up and down the page. The killer feature, his pièce de résistance, was a "digg it" button for liking submissions. The more clicks a link got, he reasoned, the higher it climbed on the site.
In 2004, he quit his job at the network to focus on Digg. While Rose focused on building the product, his friend Adelson ran operations. The site racked up tens of millions of users, and hosted crowdsourced interviews with public figures, fully a year before Reddit had Ask Me Anything. Its first guest was Nancy Pelosi, who answered a question about legalizing weed.
Kevin Rose crowd-surfs at a party at South by Southwest in Austin in 2011.
Andrew Choy
The media glommed on to Rose, especially as his startup began to raise gobs of money from venture capitalists and field acquisition offers. BusinessWeek placed him — wearing a backwards hat and flashing two thumbs up — on the cover at 29 years old. In 2009, when a person signed up for Twitter, the site suggested they follow Rose, in the company of Lance Armstrong and Britney Spears. Instagram named a filter after Rose's mini Labradoodle, Toaster.
The more I was put on a pedestal as this entrepreneur that was defining the future, the more I was scared to tell people that secretly I had a lot of blind spots. Kevin Rose
But as Rose's profile climbed, Digg's traffic started to crater. Product overhauls backfired, users revolted, and profits remained elusive. Staff started to notice Rose's absence at the office. He tweeted more than he posted on his own site. The board fumed as their starry-eyed founder withdrew. Eventually, Rose scaled back his duties, then left the company altogether.
Looking back, Rose said he used to punt responsibility to hide that he didn't know everything.
"The more I was put on a pedestal as this entrepreneur that was defining the future, the more I was scared to tell people that secretly I had a lot of blind spots," Rose said.
BusinessWeek put Kevin Rose on the cover in 2006, leading his team to redecorate his cubicle.
Owen Byrne
In 2012, the team sold Digg for parts. Wired's headline announcing the acquisition by the New York startup studio Betaworks read: "After raising $45 million, Digg sells for pennies on the dollar."
After Digg's demise, Rose founded a mobile-app studio that Google bought for millions of dollars, then took his first job in venture capital at the search giant's venture arm. Later, he built a Digg-like news aggregator for watch enthusiasts and designed an app for intermittent fasting, inspired by a friend who beat cancer after taking up the practice.
That friend, Mike Maser, recalled having doubts after Rose described his fasting app, Zero. But Zero went on to have 9.4 million installs worldwide, and Maser took over as its chief executive.
"Kevin loves to try a lot of things," Maser said, "but not every green shoot flourishes into a tree."
Investing made Rose more money than he'd ever dreamed of having. San Francisco became flooded with money from both investors who made big profits on backing Facebook, Twitter, and other tech giants, and from founders and early employees who saw their stock double or triple in value after IPOs. Rent prices rose so dramatically that the city became unaffordable to many. Privately, in his million-dollar home in the Potrero Hill neighborhood, Rose blamed himself for the culture clash.
"I was part of the problem," Rose said.
That tension bubbled over in 2014, when anti-tech protesters picketed his house. But they didn't know Rose's secret.
Two months earlier, in February of 2014, Rose withdrew thousands of dollars from his personal checking account and traded it for dogecoin, an early digital token that people used to "tip" others for making good online content. Then Rose made a pseudonymous Twitter account and gave away dogecoin to people who needed it to pay their bills or rent. He walked the city in a green hoodie, a nod to Robinhood, taping up $20 bills and fliers allowing anyone to scan a QR code and receive dogecoin. The giveaway made headlines, though the media never cracked who was responsible.
The experience stirred something in him, Rose told Insider, speaking to the press for the first time about his secret donations. He noticed how people used dogecoin — whose value hung around one-thousandth of a penny that year — to do good, not to get rich.
Protesters picket Kevin Rose's house in San Francisco in 2014. Indybay
Kevin Rose hung fliers with QR codes that anyone could scan to receive a donation in dogecoin. Kevin Rose
Rose dabbled in the crypto market for a few years, both as an angel investor and general partner at the venture firm True Ventures. He bought equity in blockchain companies and invested directly in digital tokens. But it wasn't until early last year that he kicked his involvement into high gear. Rose joined a DAO — a loosely formed group on the blockchain — that focused on collecting digital art and assets called Flamingo DAO. In chat rooms, he marveled at how the group's collectors went out to the fringes of the market and came back to report cool projects to invest in. It reminded him of Digg.
Looking to dive deeper, Rose did what he knows best. He made content. In March of 2021, he started a crypto-focused podcast and spun out a second crypto podcast, "Proof," five months later. "Proof" focused on NFTs at the same time the market exploded, with trading volumes spiking 21,000% year-over-year. It surfaced the most interesting sets of digital assets and interviewed the creators.
"We're much more along the lines of a Wine Spectator," Rose said. "You come in and you'll see quality, not quantity."
Rose's ambitions grew in pursuit of crypto's promised land. Last fall, he began to imagine Proof as a token-gated community for digital-asset diehards, where a membership pass gave them access to exclusive content and meetups. It would drop digital assets that members could hold and cherish, or sell, allowing them to easily recoup the price of admission. In this way, the club paid out assets like dividends.
In December, Proof quietly sold out a thousand digital black cards, minting a new kind of status symbol.
The TED conference draws hordes of idea-hungry elites from media, technology, and finance to Vancouver each spring for a week of talks and parties. In years past, Rose would have mingled with entrepreneurs and lunched with Bill Gates. But in April of 2022, when the conference returned for the first time since the pandemic, he hardly left his hotel room.
Only days later, Rose would raise the curtain on Proof's owl avatars, Moonbirds, and he had lots to do. The team decided at the last minute to change how people won the images from a Dutch auction to a raffle. The images still needed to be checked by hand; the code rendering the owls made mistakes, like trying to fit devil horns in a space helmet. Then Rose had tweets to write.
He sat at his laptop for the entire five days of TED, cranking in his hotel room while his wife Darya, a neuroscientist and former TED Talk speaker, attended the conference.
There's some part of him that wants to prove that Digg was not a fluke, but what more it could have been. Alexis Ohanian
The responsibilities mounted and so did the hype. The crypto sphere buzzed about Moonbirds online, speculating over how the floor price could rise in the secondary market. Generally, projects affiliated with a popular public figure sell out quickly, said Modesta Masoit, the head of finance and research at DappRadar. "It gives assurance for the investors, maybe it's going to be the next big thing," she said.
Friends say finding the next big thing is Rose's superpower.
Daniela Del Valle sells crocheted Moonbirds keychains on her website, Craft my NFT. Daniela Del Valle
Walter Torezan makes 3D images of Moonbirds. Walter Torezan
Justin, who goes by his first name, wears his Moonbird tattooed on his sleeve. Justin
Rose and Alexis Ohanian, Reddit's cofounder and now a venture investor, spent the better part of a decade at war, competing for traffic at their news-aggregator sites. "I hated his guts," Ohanian said. But then they started talking last year, when Rose took a hard turn into crypto, and Ohanian asked Rose to invest in his new venture fund. Their friendship bloomed. Ohanian knew what it took to spin up a community, as did Rose. In fact, he'd trained his entire career for it.
"There's some part of him that wants to prove that Digg was not a fluke, but what more it could have been," Ohanian said. His firm, Seven Seven Six, went on to invest $10 million in Proof, in its first and only venture round so far. True Ventures also participated.
Moonbirds took flight on a Saturday morning in April. The images had a mint price of 2.5 ether each, or about $7,600 at the time of sale. They sold out in hours. It set off a frenzy in the secondary market, quadrupling the average sale price over the first day. That night, he and Darya put their two daughters to bed and popped a bottle of Champagne.
The fine print on the collection's smart contract — lines of code on the blockchain — says that Proof takes a small cut on each secondary sale. The money flows back to Proof as revenue, which it then uses to cover salaries and other costs of building products. Later this year, the startup wants to release a metaverse where members display and discuss digital art, Rose said. A Proof metaverse, he said, will feel "a lot closer to a Digg or Reddit than a World of Warcraft."
Friends say that with Proof, Rose has never been closer to having a big hit. But this time, he's set out to disrupt an industry that's as fickle as it is controversial.
Many have debated the merits of digital collectibles. Enthusiasts say they're the key to unlocking the next stage of the internet. Detractors, sometimes called right-clickers, argue that most collections are worthless. And the opportunity for bad actors has never been greater, said Phil Libin, a serial tech entrepreneur and outspoken critic of the broader crypto industry.
Even with Rose's involvement, Moonbirds has seen a significant correction in the recent crypto crash. The floor price has fallen to about $22,000, down from an all-time high of $100,800 in April, according to DappRadar. The project has lost over half of its market capitalization since then (Rose said a single-day price surge in April skews the numbers). But Moonbirds still ranks eighth in terms of sales in the past seven days, behind famous collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks, on OpenSea, an online marketplace for NFTs. One owl has sold for over $1 million.
This time, it's not just venture investors putting their money on Rose's beliefs. It's the general public that's chasing the crypto rocketship. People buy and "nest" their owls — a mechanism for locking the assets so they can't be sold in order to earn rewards — in part because they have confidence in the team. If Rose moves on, the project's value could diminish, DappRadar's Masoit said.
Rose insists he's not going anywhere. He estimates it will take at least 10 years to turn Proof into a full-fledged business, with hundreds of thousands of people using its products.
Rose said that since people have seen his successes and failures over the years, "they're willing to place their confidence in me as a product builder. And I look at this as my time to shine and really take all those learnings — the good, bad, and everything in between — and apply them to what we're doing now."
In tech, being too early is just as consequential as being too late. Historically, Rose has been too early to the party, but this time, he said, he's nailed the timing. And not just for the ripeness of the market, but the arc of his career.
"This could be my life's work. This could be my big push," he said. "That's perfect timing for me."
More: Startups Venture Capital Kevin Rose
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2022-06-21T16:16:44Z
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Inside Kevin Rose's Journey to Web3 With Proof and Moonbirds NFTs
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https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-rose-digg-proof-moonbirds-nfts-web3-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-rose-digg-proof-moonbirds-nfts-web3-2022-6
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Morgan Stanley just co-led a $140 million round into this cloud hosting startup. Check out the 20-slide pitch deck Platform.sh used to raise the fresh funds.
Fred Plais, CEO and cofounder of Platform.sh.
Web infrastructure startup Platform.sh has raised $140 million in Series D funding.
The company will use the funding to hire 100 staff following the injection from Morgan Stanley.
Check out the 20-slide pitch deck the startup used to raise the fresh funds below:
The tech investment arm of US banking giant Morgan Stanley has co-led a $140 million round into web infrastructure startup Platform.sh.
The Paris-based startup, which was founded in 2015, aims to reduce the complexity IT teams face when they launch new web apps. The company's platform enables users to trial features in multiple languages and frameworks before they are released to the public.
Platform.sh cofounder Fred Plais, who previously set up Infloclic and Commerce Guys, said his new company had seen considerable growth at "every subsection" of its market.
"This has been driven by two major factors, the first is a well-documented factor and that is the coronavirus pandemic which accelerated rapid digitization," he told Insider. "The second is the growing complexity of cloud and web infrastructure that all organizations must grapple with today."
Plais also said the environmental cost of building out new apps had become a significant issue and that his company had developed a multi-cloud solution that used servers in regions with the lowers carbon impact. Platform.sh estimated this can reduce the carbon impact of similar workloads by up to 10 times.
The Series D round was led by Munich-based Digitial+Partners, Paris investor Revaia, and Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. BGV, Eurazeo, Hiinov, Eurozeo, and Partech also joined the round.
The new capital will go towards product expansion and increased automation of the company's platform, Plais added. The company is fully remote as it stands with 340 employees across 36 countries with the aim of bringing in another 100 staff by the end of 2022, particularly in Europe and the US.
Check out Platform.sh's pitch deck below:
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2022-06-21T16:16:56Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Platform.sh: Developer Tools Startup Raises $140m in Fresh VC Funding
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https://www.businessinsider.com/platformsh-developer-tools-startup-raises-140m-in-fresh-vc-funding-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/platformsh-developer-tools-startup-raises-140m-in-fresh-vc-funding-2022-6
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A new startup is offering Instagram hacking insurance to influencers. Here's how it works.
Notch.
An app called Notch is offering "digital insurance" for Instagram influencers who get hacked.
Notch will pay up to $100,000 or three months income for anyone who gets locked out of their account.
The company also says it has a team of experts who monitor and help users get their accounts back.
As hacking schemes get more elaborate and rampant on social media, a new app says it has a solution.
Notch, which touts itself as "the first insurance for digital assets," according to its website, launched in three states this month. Notch is offering protections and payouts to anyone with an Instagram follower count ranging from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands in the event that they get locked out of their accounts.
Cofounder and CEO Rafael Broshi spoke with Insider ahead of the launch about how this new type of insurance works.
"By having your digital presence out there, your social media account is your digital storefront," Broshi said about Instagram creators. "When you think about that, you see that that's the part that needs protecting."
Notch says it can be a 'financial safety net' for influencers whose incomes are also locked if their accounts are hacked
A template example of the onboarding process to obtain an insurance quote.
Essentially, Notch is offering Instagram influencers coverage up to $100,000, or three months of payments, if their account is hacked. Every premium and rate will be different based on the influencer's account size and income.
"Our products fits individually-owned businesses or small businesses that don't have an IT department that protects them," Broshi said.
In addition to what the company calls this "financial safety net," the app also says it has a dedicated team of experts to assist and offer advice for clients who are locked out of their accounts. Currently, the only connection the app has to Instagram itself is an account representative (one that anyone advertising on Instagram has).
Broshi and two other partners founded Notch in 2021. Most of its current 20 employees are based in Israel. Broshi told Insider in April that the startup had raised over $20 million, including securing big US investments ahead of the recent launch. Veteran YouTuber Casey Neistat is one of its investors.
Because Notch is an insurance company, there are stringent regulations in the US that also vary state-to-state. Notch has been given the green light to launch in Illinois, Arizona, and Florida so far, and it's targeting more states over the next few months. The company has partnered with national insurance group Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB), which will be providing the actual funds and insurance.
"We're structured as a managing general agent — or a broker with a lot more authority," Broshi said. "We handle the customer/client relationship and underwriting, and together with HSB, we handle claims and adjudication."
For every account or premium, Notch and HSB share the revenue.
Broshi walked Insider through the process of acquiring a Notch insurance plan: After submitting your handle and account size, you answer a few quick questions about your account's hacking history. From there, the app generates a quote for you based on your account size, projected earnings, and your local state taxes. The tailored quote includes three options of a monthly policy rate, and what you would be paid out daily in the event of an account lock out.
Digital insurance may have its moment as digital deceptions are on the rise
In recent years, fraudulent activity on social media seems to be becoming more prolific. Research conducted by digital marketing agency ThoughtLab found that cyberattacks, specifically ransomware , had increased by over 15% year-over-year in 2021. And tactics to seize accounts are becoming more deceitfully clever.
From impersonations to extortions, many users are susceptible to having their account stolen if they click on a bad link, or engage with a bad faith actor online. But for creators whose livelihoods and incomes depend on Instagram, falling prey to these scams is a lot more threatening. That's why many influencers have demanded that Instagram take more measures to protect them.
But in the meantime, services like Notch and Aligned are trying to offer a lifeline and cash in on these new vulnerabilities.
"We tend to offer our best resources to get the account back by any means necessary, but we cannot guarantee it," Broshi said. "What we can guarantee is we can be there when something happens — we know very very quickly if something happens. We monitor your account, and we don't need your password. We pay you for any business interruptions so you know you'll be able to pay rent that month."
More: Instagram Startup App Insurance
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2022-06-21T16:17:02Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Startup App Notch Is Offering Instagram Influencers Hacking Insurance
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https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-app-notch-is-offering-instagram-influencers-hacking-insurance-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-app-notch-is-offering-instagram-influencers-hacking-insurance-2022-6
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Elon Musk / Mark Cuban
The Supreme Court won't hear a case challenging SEC gag orders brought by a former Xerox executive.
Elon Musk and Mark Cuban filed an amicus brief in support of the challenge in April.
The petitioner argued that gag orders pose a "sweeping restriction on freedom of speech."
The Supreme Court won't hear a challenge to a case about the US Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to impose a gag order, a court order list released Tuesday said.
The SEC has been able to impose a gag rule on anyone who settles a civil suit with them since 1972, and Reuters reported in April that the case the Supreme Court shot down ties back to a 2003 case involving former Xerox executive Barry Romeril.
Romeril, along with five other former Xerox executives, agreed to pay $22 million in 2003 to settle SEC fraud allegations connected to using unapproved accounting devices to accelerate Xerox's revenue and pre-tax earnings. As part of the settlement, the executives did not admit or deny the SEC's allegations.
By 2019, Romeril asked the Us District Court for the Southern District of New York to overturn the gag rule that was imposed as a part of that settlement because he wanted to speak out about his case, Reuters reported.
The district court rejected Romeril's challenge, and the rejection was upheld by a second circuit panel in 2021.
In March, Romeril challenged the case with the Supreme Court. He argued that the gag rule was a "sweeping restriction on freedom of speech," Reuters reported. The New Civil Liberties Alliance now represents Romeril.
Mark Cuban and Elon Musk have voiced support in challenging the gag rule, urging the Supreme Court in April to hear the case, Reuters reported.
The pair, along with two hedge funds managers and the Investor Choice Advocates Network, filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging them to hear Romeril's challenge.
There is "no compelling public policy reason to enforce SEC 'gag orders' against defendants who settle with the SEC," they wrote in the brief, according to Reuters.
"In fact, the opposite is true," they wrote, Reuters reported. "In the statutes and regulations the SEC is responsible for enforcing (and by its own actions, public statements, and admissions), the SEC requires full transparency and disclosure for the benefit of participants in securities markets."
"There is no compelling justification for the SEC to break from this responsibility and single out for concealment and opacity information from defendants who settle with the SEC," they added. "To the contrary, preventing these settling defendants from speaking freely deprives the securities markets of potentially material information and so may harm the very market participants for whose benefit the SEC pursues transparency and disclosure."
The Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday to not hear Romeril's case means the SEC's gag order will remain in place.
More: Speed desk Breaking Elon Musk Mark Cuban
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2022-06-21T16:17:08Z
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SCOTUS Denies Challenge to SEC 'Gag Orders' Backed by Musk, Cuban
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https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-denies-challenge-sec-gag-orders-backed-musk-cuban-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-denies-challenge-sec-gag-orders-backed-musk-cuban-2022-6
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Regional and community banks can attract younger customers with digital experience
A recent study shows that developing a strong digital customer experience could woo younger generations still searching for their primary bank.
The younger demographic desires opportunities to improve their financial literacy but fears traditional financial institutions misunderstand their needs.
The news: Regional and community financial institutions (FIs) should focus on their digital experience to snag younger generations not yet sold on a bank, according to a study by Alkami.
The study included 1,500 US participants who have a bank account and use digital banking and was weighted according to the 2020 US Census for age, region, gender, and ethnicity.
By the numbers: The study reveals links between a quality digital customer experience and customer stickiness.
Only 27% of regional and community customers believe their relationship will grow with their institution over the next year, as opposed to 51% of neobank customers, and 53% of fintech customers.
But 40% of current regional and community customers would be willing to try, use, or engage with more products if they had a satisfying digital banking experience.
Regional and community institutions have room to grow when it comes to new customer acquisition and competing with neobanks and fintechs.
45% of baby boomers and 38% of Gen Xers use regional and community FIs, versus 16% of Gen Zers and 18% of millennials.
40% of millennials and 38% of Gen Zers use neobanks, fintechs, and Big Tech compared with 6% of boomers and 21% of Gen Xers.
The digital experience: By focusing on developing a better digital experience, regional and community institutions can nab younger generations that haven't found their primary financial institution.
25% of Gen Zers and 21% of millennials don't think or are unsure if they'll be with their primary FI in one year.
And these generations are quicker to make a change. Almost half (48%) of all Gen Zer and millennials have opened an account with a new financial provider due to a frustrating digital banking experience, the study found.
What to do? Our "US Gen Z Financial Behaviors" report found that the cohort desires opportunities to improve their financial literacy but fears traditional banking institutions misunderstand their needs.
This gives neobanks and fintechs that lead with a digital approach an advantage, but younger customers will respond to FIs that are honest and transparent while offering a strong digital experience.
With bank tech spending expected to increase steadily over the next few years, regional and community banks would be well-suited to focus on attracting these younger customers by developing exceptional digital channels: Regional banks, community banks, credit unions , and neobanks will make up 48.5% of total US bank tech spending in 2024.
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2022-06-21T17:47:31Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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How Regional and Community Banks Can Attract Younger Customers
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-regional-and-community-banks-can-attract-younger-customers-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-regional-and-community-banks-can-attract-younger-customers-2022-6
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Signing up for a $120 Costco membership saved me over $1,000 on a Caribbean vacation for my family of 4
Holly Johnson
The author's kids on vacation in the Dominican Republic.
Costco Travel offers hotel stays, vacation packages, and rental cars, often at highly discounted rates.
However, you have to be a member. So even though I rarely shop there, I paid $120 to sign up.
The cost was more than worth it: I saved over $1,000 on a trip to the Dominican Republic.
With prices for hotels skyrocketing and the cost of plane tickets up as much as 28% when compared to pre-pandemic pricing, comparison shopping for travel is more important now than ever before. High prices or not, there's no reason to pay more than you have to for a getaway with friends or a family vacation, especially when some basic price shopping can help you find a better deal based on your destination and dates.
Fortunately, I am very much accustomed to shopping for deals whether I am planning to book a trip with cash or paying fully or partially with credit card rewards. Depending on the trip, I usually compare similar options in three or four comparable destinations for several sets of dates that work with our schedule.
That's exactly what I was doing earlier this year when I was shopping for our summer family vacation for June of 2022. And that's when I started digging deeply into Costco Travel and all this portal has to offer.
Joining Costco saved me $1,000 on a trip to the Dominican Republic
I was not a Costco member at the time, but my work as a travel writer means I was acquainted with checking the portal for various vacation packages and car rental deals. Once I started looking at all-inclusive resort deals on Costco Travel, however, I was hooked.
Several Costco searches for different destinations and dates yielded results that cost less than booking direct or through travel booking sites like Expedia and Travelocity. Not only that, but many of the vacation packages through Costco came with bonuses like a Costco gift card, resort credits, or free airport transfers to boot.
One of the destinations I was considering for an all-inclusive resort getaway was the Dominican Republic, and I quickly zeroed in on a vacation package at the Royalton Bavaro, which is just 30 minutes from the Punta Cana International Airport.
After searching several sets of dates for this resort, I found that I could book the exact room I wanted with upgraded Diamond Club amenities for more than $1,000 less through Costco travel than through other travel sites.
During my preferred set of dates, eight nights in a Luxury Presidential One Bedroom with Diamond Club access was going for $6,252.40 on the Royalton booking website.
Royalton Bavaro
In the meantime, the exact room with Diamond Club access was going for less than $5,000 ($4,967, to be exact) on Costco Travel including taxes and fees. On top of that, this vacation package through Costco also came with a $438 Costco Shop Card that we received a few weeks after returning home from our trip. We also got private airport transfers from the airport to our resort included in the package.
When you compare the cost of these packages, the price difference in cash is a whopping $1,285.40. Add in the value of the Costco Shop Card ($438) and the round-trip airport transfers ($100+), and the disparity in these two vacation packages stretches even further.
Of course, I was not a Costco member at the time, but that changed quickly once I found this vacation package. I quickly headed to my local Costco to join and I opted for the Executive membership ($120 per year) since this tier of membership would net me 2% back in rewards on the trip and everything else I buy. Booking this vacation package alone would net me almost $100 in cash back, which almost paid the full Costco membership fee.
I rarely shop at Costco, but my membership is worth every penny
Since finding out Costco has such amazing deals on resort stays, I have found several other awesome deals similar to this one. In fact, I already booked the Royalton Bavaro through Costco Travel for spring break of 2023 with a similar discount, and I have my eye on other bookings in destinations like Antigua, Hawaii, and Mexico.
Even though I rarely make it to Costco to shop, having access to Costco Travel has already proven to be well worth the cost of admission. If you're searching for ways to save money on your next getaway, you should definitely check it out.
Holly Johnson is a credit card expert, award-winning writer, and mother of two who is obsessed with frugality, budgeting, and travel. In addition to serving as contributing editor for The Simple Dollar and writing for publications such as Bankrate, U.S. News and World Report Travel, and Travel Pulse, Johnson owns Club Thrifty and is the co-author of "Zero Down Your Debt: Reclaim Your Income and Build a Life You’ll Love."
PERSONAL FINANCE I'm a diehard Costco shopper, and there are 5 unexpected reasons it's my favorite store
PERSONAL FINANCE I got an all-inclusive week in Mexico for less than $1,500 from Costco, and the cancellation policy is what really sold me
More: Costco Costco Travel Dominican Republic Travel
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2022-06-21T17:48:02Z
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A $120 Costco Membership Is Worth It for the Travel Discounts
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/costco-membership-travel-discounts-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/costco-membership-travel-discounts-2022-6
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How do I know if I'll get approved to refinance?
This week's student loan refinancing rates: June 21, 2022 | Most rates drop from two weeks ago
Average interest rates on most refinanced student loans have decreased since two weeks ago, according to Credible. Only 10-year fixed undergraduate rates have gone up. Rates on 10-year graduate loans have dropped a small amount, and rates on all five-year loans are down.
Laurel Taylor, CEO and founder of student debt fintech company FutureFuel.io, says that over the last 20 years, it's been uncommon for rates to rise so significantly over such a short period of time. However, Taylor says borrowers shouldn't be too worried about the jump in federal rates.
Note: While you can refinance your federal loan into a private one, private loans usually come with higher interest rates and without perks like the current repayment pause — which almost always makes federal loans the better option.
Refinance rates on 5-year variable-rate undergraduate student loans have dropped this past week, decreasing by 39 basis points from two weeks ago to 4.08%.
Refinance rates on 10-year fixed student loans this past week have increased a little bit from two weeks ago. Undergraduate rates have gone up by 16 basis points, while graduate rates have dipped by just one basis point. Rates have gone up substantially from one year ago.
Your credit score impacts the rates you get substantially. You'll usually get a better rate the higher your credit score. Below, we've listed the 10-year fixed student loan rates by credit score:
How do I know if I'll get approved to refinance my student loan?
Generally the best barometer of loan approval is your credit score and history. Lenders like to see that you have a track record of reliably paying back your loans on time, so the better your credit score, the more likely you are to qualify for a low rate as well. Additionally, most lenders will run a soft credit check when you apply (which doesn't impact your credit score), so you can find out from an individual lender if you'll get approved at no harm to you.
How do I choose between a 5-year and 10-year loan?
Both types of loans are right for different types of borrowers.
If you want a lower interest rate and you're able to pay off your loan more quickly, a 5-year loan term could be a great 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 overall, 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.
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2022-06-21T17:48:14Z
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This Week's Student Loan Refinancing Rates: June 21, 2022 | Most Rates Drop From Two Weeks Ago
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-tuesday-june-21-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-tuesday-june-21-2022-6
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Internal Amazon email shows huge operations shake-up, including departure of top fulfillment executives, after appointment of new retail CEO
An employee handles packages at the Amazon's Bretigny-sur-Orge warehouse in France.
Alicia Boler-Davis, SVP of Global Customer Fulfillment, is leaving Amazon, after just three years of leading the company's sprawling fulfillment network, Insider has learned.
Dave Bozeman, VP of Amazon Transportation Services, is also leaving.
The changes come after Amazon announced Doug Herrington as its new retail CEO on Tuesday.
Amazon's operations business, which covers all of its logistics and transportation network, is undergoing a massive shake-up, following Tuesday's appointment of Doug Herrington as the company's new retail CEO.
Alicia Boler-Davis, SVP of Global Customer Fulfillment, is leaving Amazon after just three years of leading the company's sprawling fulfillment network, according to an internal email seen by Insider. Boler-Davis, who spent nearly 25 years at General Motors before joining Amazon in 2019, was promoted to senior vice president in 2021 and was once rumored to be a leading candidate for the retail CEO position.
Boler-Davis was also the only Black member of Amazon's top leadership council, the S-Team.
Dave Bozeman, VP of Amazon Transportation Services, is also departing, the email said. Bozeman was key to expanding Amazon's delivery network during his five years there.
It's unclear where Boler-Davis and Bozeman are headed to next. Amazon's spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
"I want to thank Alicia and Dave for their remarkable contributions to the company and our employees. They scaled our operations, launched new capabilities and programs, and demonstrated relentless passion to make our operations better each and every day," Amazon's SVP of Global Delivery Services, John Felton, said in the email.
The change comes amid a major organizational change at Amazon's retail division. On Tuesday, the company announced that longtime executive Doug Herrington would be its new retail CEO, replacing Dave Clark, who abruptly resigned last month. Felton, another longtime executive at Amazon, was promoted to lead the entire Operations organization on Tuesday, reporting directly to Herrington.
Amazon has gone through a breakneck leadership shake-up in the last year, and a string of executive departures have become a top issue for CEO Andy Jassy. In 2021, the company lost at least 50 people at the VP level or higher, in part due to low pay and competitive offers elsewhere, Insider previously reported.
Felton also announced other changes within his team. Udit Madan, VP of Last Mile, has been promoted to run a new Amazon Transportation team that will combine the last mile and middle mile delivery services. Stefan Perego, VP of EU Customer Fulfillment, will now lead both North American and EU fulfillment centers.
Following the change, Felton will have 9 direct reports under him, he said in the email.
Heather MacDougall (Workplace Health and Safety)
Stefano Perego (North America and EU Customer fulfillment teams and Ops Engineering)
Udit Madan (Amazon Logistics and Amazon Transportation Services)
Joe Quinlivan (Global Robotics and Fulfillment Tech)
Akhil Saxena (APAC/MENA/LATAM and Customer Service)
Adam Baker (Global Mile and Global Transportation Services)
Deepak Bhatia (Supply Chain Optimization and Technology)
Russ Allgor (Chief Scientist)
Becky Gansert (leadership development for our field Operations, and unifying, simplifying and delivering on our goal to be Earth's safest employer).
Here's a copy of Felton's full email to his team:
Following Andy's announcement, I wanted to explain how we will be organizing WW Operations.
First, I want to share that Alicia Boler-Davis and Dave Bozeman have decided to explore new opportunities outside Amazon. Alicia joined in 2019 only months before the pandemic began and has been an impressive and impactful leader through an unprecedented time. Dave has been with Amazon for over five years and helped rapidly expand Amazon Transportation, particularly during Covid. He has been instrumental in building and developing our middle mile network and setting us up for success. I want to thank Alicia and Dave for their remarkable contributions to the company and our employees. They scaled our operations, launched new capabilities and programs, and demonstrated relentless passion to make our operations better each and every day. Please join me in wishing them both well on their next adventures.
As we look forward, I am making organizational changes that I believe will position us for continued success in this next stage of Operations. My philosophy is to unite teams and ensure that our most important initiatives and opportunities get the right level of focus and resource. Therefore, I am organizing our teams around Safety, Fulfillment Centers, Transportation, Emerging Countries, Robotics, Supply Chain Technology, and Global Transportation.
Stefano Perego has recently been asked to run our North American and European Fulfillment Center network and now will also take on the Ops Engineering organization, with Dean Fullerton and his team. Few people understand our fulfillment operations like Stef, and he is a great hands-on leader who understands the employee experience, what shop floor leadership truly means, and what optimal flow looks like in our fulfilment centers. In just a few weeks since the organizational change, his impact has already been felt across the world.
I've also decided to combine our Last Mile and Middle Mile transportation teams to enable us to make even more progress in our ambitious transportation goals to build the safest, fastest, highest quality, and lowest cost transportation business in the world. By bringing these teams into the same organization, they will be able to work more closely together and help scale and further improve what we can deliver for customers. I am excited to announce that Udit Madan will lead this new Amazon Transportation team. Udit is a 14-year veteran of Amazon who first joined as a software development engineer and then was Technical Advisor to Dave Clark as he led Worldwide Operations. Udit moved to have leadership of the Last Mile organization in 2018, and since that time, the organization has grown to hundreds of thousands of employees and partners working on this mission and scaled to deliver billions of packages a year. Udit is one of the most capable leaders I have worked with. He has an amazing ability to get to the right answer across a broad array of areas while always optimizing for the customer, employees, partners, and the long term.
We have a strong and deep leadership team throughout the Operations organization, and with these changes, my directs will be Heather MacDougall (Workplace Health and Safety); Stefano Perego (NA and EU Customer fulfillment teams and Ops Engineering); Udit Madan (Amazon Logistics and Amazon Transportation Services); Joe Quinlivan (Global Robotics and Fulfillment Tech); Akhil Saxena (APAC/MENA/LATAM and Customer Service); Adam Baker (Global Mile and Global Transportation Services); Deepak Bhatia (Supply Chain Optimization and Technology); Russ Allgor (Chief Scientist); and Becky Gansert (leadership development for our field Operations, and unifying, simplifying and delivering on our goal to be Earth's safest employer).
I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to continue to innovate and build for both our customers and our employees. I know this team shares my commitment to making every day better for employees, which is what allows for a world-class experience for our customers. We have come a long way already, but it is still only Day 1; we have much more to do.
Thank you all for what you do for customers and employees each day. I am honored to be part of this organization.
-John
More: Amazon Doug Herrington Alicia Boler Davis
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2022-06-21T19:15:43Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Amazon Shakes up Retail, Operations Business After Herrington Appointment
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https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-executive-shake-up-retail-operations-herrington-boler-davis-bozeman-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-executive-shake-up-retail-operations-herrington-boler-davis-bozeman-2022-6
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Rep. Russell Bowers asks a question as Arizona House members receive mandatory sexual harassment and other ethics issues training on the House floor at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, in Phoenix.
Russell Bowers, Speaker of Arizona's House of Representatives, testified at Tuesday's January 6 hearing.
Trump released a statement accusing Bowers of alleging the presidential election was "rigged."
Bowers vehemently denied the allegation.
The Arizona House of Representatives speaker, Rep. Russell Bowers, said that President Donald Trump lied in a statement on Tuesday and that the speaker never said the election was rigged.
Trump issued a statement on Tuesday morning ahead of the fourth public hearing from the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, claiming that Bowers told him in November 2020 "that the election was rigged and that I won Arizona."
To begin the public hearing, committee member Rep. Adam Schiff asked Bowers if the former president's statement held water.
"Anywhere, anyone, anytime, who said that I said the election was rigged, that would not be true," Bowers said on Tuesday, directly refuting the 45th president.
Bowers testified on Tuesday that members of Trump's legal counsel repeatedly attempted to convince him that thousands of undocumented immigrants and dead people voted in the presidential election.
Bowers said that Trump personally told his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, in a phone call to "Give the man what he needs," to prove the election fraud allegations, though Bowers said the president's legal team never passed along any evidence of voter fraud.
Bowers said that Trump and his team asked the speaker to allow an "official committee at the (Arizona) capitol so they could hear" their evidence of election fraud. He refused.
"I did not feel that the evidence, granted, in its absence, merited a hearing and I didn't want to be used as a pawn," Bowers said on Tuesday.
Bowers also said that he was told that he had the power to "remove the electors of President Biden and replace them," a tactic the House select committee alleges Trump and his team readily tried to push to battleground states across the nation.
When pressed about his ability to do such a thing, Bowers said he told Trump's attorneys they were asking him to do something against his oath to the constitution and Arizona law.
More: INSIDER Data Capitol Siege Russell Bowers
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2022-06-21T19:15:50Z
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Arizona's GOP House Speaker Rejects Trump's 'Rigged Vote' Claim
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https://www.businessinsider.com/arizona-official-said-trump-lied-he-never-said-election-rigged-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/arizona-official-said-trump-lied-he-never-said-election-rigged-2022-6
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Amazon Music Unlimited is free for 4 months as part of an early Prime Day promotion — here's how to claim the deal
Best early Prime Day deals on Amazon Music Unlimited
Is Amazon Music Unlimited worth it?
Amazon Prime Day 2022 isn't set to officially being until July 12, but members can already snag a great deal on Amazon Music Unlimited. The ad-free music streaming service offers subscribers access to millions of songs for a starting price of $9 a month.
New subscribers typically get a 30-day free trial, but Amazon has extended its trial to up to four months as part of its special early Prime Day promotion. This limited-time deal matches what we saw last year, and even non-Prime members can take advantage of an extended trial.
Amazon is running an early Prime Day deal on its Music Unlimited streaming service. As part of the promotion, new Music Unlimited subscribers can get an extended free trial of up to four months. The regular trial only lasts 30 days, so this is a great opportunity to snag three extra months for free.
The four-month trial is now available to new Music Unlimited subscribers with an Amazon Prime membership. After the trial ends, the service costs $9 a month. If you don't have an Amazon Prime membership, you can get an extended three-month trial instead. Non-Prime members will then pay $10 a month after the trial ends.
Amazon Music Unlimited (Prime Member Plan)
Amazon Music Unlimited lets you stream more than 90 million songs ad-free and millions of podcasts. Right now, new subscribers with an Amazon Prime membership can get four months for free. After your trial, the service costs $9/month.
Originally $8.99Save 100%
In the lead up to last year's Prime Day event, Prime Members could also get six months of Music Unlimited free with the purchase of select Echo devices. As of writing, it's not clear if Amazon will bring this deal back in 2022.
Best Amazon Music Unlimited Prime Day deals FAQs
Amazon Music Unlimited is an ad-free music streaming service that has a library of 90 million songs. The service also includes lossless HD and Ultra HD music, plus spatial audio in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality formats at no additional cost.
Amazon Music Unlimited costs $9 a month for Amazon Prime subscribers. A standalone Music Unlimited subscription is also available for $10 a month without Prime.
You can listen to Amazon Music Unlimited on smartphones, tablets, Fire TV devices, and on Alexa-enabled products like Echo speakers. You can also stream Amazon Music Unlimited on web browsers.
Amazon Music Unlimited is one of our picks for the best music streaming services you can subscribe to. Members get access to tons of songs, and lossless audio quality is included without having to pay extra.
Music Unlimited is an especially good choice for Prime subscribers thanks to its discounted pricing for members. It's also an excellent service to pair with Amazon devices and Alexa since it integrates seamlessly with Amazon's ecosystem.
That said, we still think Spotify is a better overall music service for listeners who don't care about lossless audio or the Prime member discount. Spotify has better curation, playlist and sharing features, and a superior free streaming option.
More: Insider Reviews 2022 Insider Picks IP Deals Amazon Prime Day
music streaming service
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2022-06-21T19:16:02Z
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Best Prime Day Amazon Music Unlimited Deals 2022
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https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/amazon-music-unlimited-prime-day-deals
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https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/amazon-music-unlimited-prime-day-deals
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How much a TikTok creator with nearly 560,000 followers makes selling courses and coaching sessions
Sunny is an astrology content creator on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.
Courtesy Sunny
Sunny MF Money is an astrology TikTok creator with about 560,000 followers.
He sells courses and coaching sessions through Snipfeed, a creator monetization tool.
Here's how much he's made using Snipfeed so far this year.
When Sunny, a content creator based in Minnesota, was a child, he would read his mother's horoscope aloud to her each day.
"My mom didn't really know English, so she would have me read the newspaper," Sunny, who goes by Sunny MF Money online, told Insider.
Now, as an adult, reading other people's Zodiac charts is Sunny's full-time job.
With nearly 560,000 TikTok followers and thousands of fans across his other social-media platforms, Sunny has built a loyal audience in two years. On his TikTok, he posts videos about astrology. In one video he teaches his followers how to "manifest with astrology," and in another he talks about which sign will "most likely (absolutely) go viral all summer on social media."
Sunny has a number of income streams — from a Patreon page offering an "encyclopedia of astrology" to the TikTok Creator Fund — but a bulk of his earnings come from selling courses, coaching sessions, and other services that revolve around astrology. To market and sell these offerings, Sunny uses Snipfeed, a creator monetization and link-in-bio tool.
Sunny lists several different offerings on his Snipfeed page.
Screenshot/SunnyM
From January 1 to the end of May, Sunny earned $63,778 through Snipfeed sales. (Insider verified these numbers with documentation.)
Typically, Snipfeed takes a 15% cut of sales from creators using its free plan and 2% of sales from creators using its premium offering, which costs creators about $30 per month. Sunny uses the pro plan, but because he is a Snipfeed ambassador and helps the platform recruit more creators, he doesn't have to pay the 2% cut.
"We are essentially, at our core, a link [and] monetization platform that allows creators to grow and sustain their business directly on top of their social channels," said Shira Leona, head of talent at Snipfeed. These monetization options include online courses, tipping, and livestreams, she added.
For Sunny, Snipfeed's most lucrative offering is one-on-one coaching sessions and livestreams group sessions. TikTok followers often sign up for these after seeing his consistent content.
"Most people know I'm going to show up because I show up every day on their For You Page," Sunny said. "When you show up every day, seven days a week, it's hard to ignore that person."
Sunny's more in-depth coaching offerings occur weekly and help clients develop a business plan, understand TikTok trends, build an online community, and apply astrology to their businesses.
The most important part of your astrology chart to look to? The North Node, Sunny said. "Your North Node in your chart shows the direction that your purpose is."
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2022-06-21T19:16:14Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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How Much Money a TikToker Makes: Astrology Creator Who Sells Courses
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-money-tiktoker-makes-selling-courses-astrology-snipfeed-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-money-tiktoker-makes-selling-courses-astrology-snipfeed-2022-6
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Average cost of travel insurance by trip
Average cost of travel insurance by most popular destinations
What does travel insurance cover?
Average cost of travel insurance by age
Weekly travel insurance rates: June 21, 2022 | Average trip cost rises as summer approaches
Summer is here, which means warm weather and increased traveler spending. The average trip cost rose by about $200 since June 2021, according to data from SquareMouth, a travel insurance agency.
As of June 20, 2022, the average premium for travel insurance is $256.47 per trip. Of course, several factors will influence your premium. Older travelers, trips with more travelers, and expensive trips will increase the cost of travel insurance.
Travel insurance weekly rates at a glance:
Average premium: $256.47 (per trip)
Average trip cost: $5,939.39
Average trip length: 17 Days
The more you spend on your hotels, flights, and pre-booked activities, and the longer you're traveling, the more you'll spend to insure your trip.
"Travel insurance generally costs from 4% to 8% of the total trip. Cost is based on the length of trip, destination, and age of the policyholder," says the US Travel Insurance Association.
Average days between purchase to trip
Average trip cost
Average cost of travel insurance
Domestic 38 $4,407.21 $176-$353
International 52 $4,057.81 $162-$325
Source: SquareMouth
When controlled for cost, the destination doesn't change how much you'll spend to insure your trip. It's worth noting that some countries are naturally more expensive with flight and lodging costs, which could ultimately increase your travel insurance costs.
Here's how the prices stack up:
United States 65 $4,408.47 $176-$353
Italy 98 $5,817.17 $233-$465
Mexico 91 $2,841.75 $114-$227
Philippines 62 $1,799.12 $72-$144
Israel 93 $2,155.63 $86-$172
France 55 $4,664.54 $187-$373
Spain 82 $4,555.67 $182-$364
Canada 86 $3,022.37 $121-$242
United Kingdom 125 $4,569.08 $183-$366
Greece 119 $5,527.72 $221-$442
When people are buying travel insurance
According to an AAA travel survey, 88% of travelers say that reimbursement after a trip cancellation is the most valuable benefit of trip insurance.
According to data gathered by SquareMouth in the last six months, travelers tend to purchase cancellation travel insurance 53 days before their trip. Meanwhile, travelers without cancellation insurance will purchase a policy approximately 64 days before their trip.
Policy type Average days between purchase to trip Average Trip length (days) Average trip cost Average cost of travel insurance
Cancellation 53 14 $5,301.55 $301.11
Non-cancellation 64 20 N/A $82.85
A traveler's age is a significant factor in determining the cost of travel insurance. The older a traveler is, the more cost is associated with the trip. For instance, senior travelers may need more insurance for health-related emergencies than a millennial.
When calculating your travel insurance premium, travel insurance providers consider the likelihood of a medical emergency.
Generation Average cost of trip Average cost of travel insurance
Gen Alpha (born 2013 or later) $1,321.23 $53-$106
Gen Z (born 1997 through 2012) $1,889.99 $76-$151
Millennial (born 1981 through 1996) $1,890.49 $76-$151
Gen X (born 1965 through 1980) $2,119.80 $85-$170
Baby Boomers (born 1946 through 1964) $2,733.77 $109-$219
Silent generation (born 1945 or before) $2,837.25 $113-$227
Travel insurance can help reimburse you for non-refundable parts of your trip or help you if you're injured or face an emergency. Travel insurance policies cover six main things:
Trip cancellation or interruption
Trip delays
Medical costs while traveling
Baggage damage, delays, or loss
Emergency transportation
Rental car damage
If you have a credit card, you may already have access to some of these coverages without purchasing a separate travel insurance policy. Many airline credit cards or travel credit cards come with trip cancellation, delay coverage, and baggage coverage. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred cards both come with some travel coverage, including trip cancellation, interruption, and delay coverage, baggage delays, rental cars, accidental death, and dismemberment coverage.
Before getting a travel insurance policy, it's essential to make sure that the terms match your needs or concerns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that's especially important — each travel insurance company has unique reimbursement rules and cancellation rules due to this event. Read the fine print of any travel insurance policy before purchasing.
PERSONAL FINANCE The average cost of travel insurance by trip cost and destination
PERSONAL FINANCE Medical payments coverage (MedPay) supplements your auto insurance if you or your passengers are injured
More: Squaremouth Personal Finance Insider pfi PFI Guide
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2022-06-21T19:16:32Z
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Travel Insurance Rates Today: June 21, 2022
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/travel-insurance-rates-today-june-21-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/travel-insurance-rates-today-june-21-2022-6
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Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Drew Angerer and Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson tried to hand Mike Pence slates of alternate electors from Michigan and Wisconsin on January 6.
That's according to a string of text messages revealed by the January 6 committee on Tuesday.
"Do not give that to him," said Pence legislative director Chris Hodgson in a text to Johnson's chief of staff.
According to a series of text messages first displayed by the January 6 committee on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin sought to deliver a slate of "alternate" electors to then-Vice President Mike Pence ahead of the counting of votes during a Joint Session of Congress.
Those "alternate" electors were from two contested Midwestern states that Democratic nominee Joe Biden had narrowly carried: Michigan and Wisconsin.
"Johnson needs to hand something to VPOTUS please advise," wrote Sean Riley, Johnson's chief of staff, at 12:32pm on January 6, 2021.
"What is it?" replied Chris Hodgson, a legislative aide to Pence.
"Alternate slate of elector for MI and WI because archivist didn't receive them," Riley replied.
Text messages displayed by the January 6 committee on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.
"The vice president's aide unambiguously instructed them not to deliver the fake votes to the Vice President," said Casey Lucier, an investigative counsel for the January 6 committee, in a pre-taped video aired Tuesday. "Even though the fake elector slates were transmitted to Congress and the executive branch, the vice president held firm in his position that his role was to count lawfully submitted electoral votes."
Pence and his aides viewed the vice president's role in the election certification process as the ceremonial responsibility to count all certified state votes unless any of them were blocked by Congress, and thus did not have authority to introduce electoral states not certified by a state — as Trump and his conservative adviser John Eastman pressed him to do.
While Johnson was originally among dozens of Republican senators who planned to object to the 2020 election results on January 6, he and several others later decided not to go forward with it.
"Obviously in light of events, there's a little bit of a different attitude," he said at the time, according to CBS.
Johnson's Senate office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Congress Mike Pence Ron Johnson january 6
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2022-06-21T19:16:50Z
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Ron Johnson Tried to Give Fake Electors to Pence on Jan 6 but Was Rebuffed
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https://www.businessinsider.com/republican-ron-johnson-alternate-electors-mike-pence-january-6-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/republican-ron-johnson-alternate-electors-mike-pence-january-6-2022-6
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McMahon at "SmackDown" on June 17.
WWE/Fox
Vince McMahon made his first public appearance on Friday since stepping away from his WWE CEO role.
He didn't acknowledge misconduct allegations against him on "Friday Night SmackDown."
WWE's board is investigating the allegations and payments McMahon reportedly made to former female employees.
Vince McMahon made his first public appearance on Friday since stepping away from his duties as WWE's CEO. But he did not address allegations of misconduct against him, nor the investigation by WWE's board into hush payments he allegedly made to former female staffers.
McMahon, as his on-stage persona "Mr. McMahon," stepped into the ring for barely a minute during WWE's "Friday Night SmackDown" to an enthusiastic audience.
"It is a privilege, as always, to stand before you here tonight, the WWE Universe," McMahon said. "Especially a privilege to stand here, in this ring, in Minnesota."
He said that he was there to "remind" the audience of "what we call the WWE signature."
"Those four words are 'then,' 'now, 'forever,' and the most important word is, 'together,'" McMahon said.
He then exclaimed "Welcome to SmackDown!" before throwing the microphone and leaving the ring.
McMahon also made a brief appearance this week during "Monday Night Raw," where he similarly didn't acknowledge the investigation. He only announced that John Cena would be returning to the ring during next week's show.
The Wall Street Journal first reported last week that WWE's board was investigating payments McMahon made to former female employees, some of whom had accused McMahon and the head of talent relations John Laurinaitis of misconduct. The payments prohibited them from speaking out about the agreements, The Journal reported, citing people familiar with the investigation.
The inquiry started in April after the board received a tip about a $3 million payment to a former female paralegal that McMahon is alleged to have had an affair with, The Journal reported. A WWE spokesperson told The Journal that McMahon's relationship with the former paralegal was consensual.
McMahon's appearance on "SmackDown" came only hours after WWE confirmed on Friday that a special committee of the board was investigating misconduct allegations against McMahon and Laurinaitis.
The company also announced McMahon was "voluntarily" stepping away from the CEO role during the investigation, and that his daughter and the company's brand chief, Stephanie McMahon, would step in as interim CEO. He is still overseeing the company's creative content, though.
More: WWE Smackdown Vince McMahon TV
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2022-06-21T19:17:08Z
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McMahon Doesn't Address Allegations at WWE 'SmackDown'
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https://www.businessinsider.com/vince-mcmahon-first-appearance-since-allegations-wwe-smackdown-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/vince-mcmahon-first-appearance-since-allegations-wwe-smackdown-2022-6
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Bryan Metzger and Lauren Frias
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed the framework last week, and ten Republican senators have already announced their support for the framework, increasing the chances that the bill would survive a filibuster and clear the Senate's 60-vote threshold.
"We have good evidence that tells us that separating people who are violent toward their intimate partners from guns when they are subject to a domestic violence restraining order makes a difference in terms of victim safety," Shannon Frattaroli, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Insider.
The bill will also allocate $8 million — with $50 million in grants — toward increasing access to mental and behavioral health services for youth and families in crisis via telehealth , or consultations with medical professionals via phone and video calls.
More: Congress Chris Murphy John Cornyn gun violence
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2022-06-21T23:57:26Z
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Text: Here's What's in the New Bipartisan Senate Bill on Guns Restrictions
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https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-in-new-bipartisan-senate-gun-bill-legislative-text-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-in-new-bipartisan-senate-gun-bill-legislative-text-2022-6
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Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert and Bryan Metzger
US Capitol in Washington DC.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act advanced in the Senate on Tuesday.
Fourteen Republican Senators, including Mitch McConnell, voted to support the gun safety measures.
The bill includes support for states enforcing "red flag" laws and offering mental health services.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act advanced in the Senate on Tuesday following a 64 to 34 vote, with 14 Republican senators — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voting in support of the bill.
The gun safety bill, which provisions include federal support for states enforcing "red flag" laws, additional funding for mental health services, and closing the "boyfriend loophole," required 60 votes to advance and will now be subject to debate among the Senators.
The full text can be read here.
The 14 Republican senators who voted to advance the bill were:
The bill's co-sponsor, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina
Sen. Shelley Capito of West Virginia
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina
Sen. Todd Young of Indiana
Senators Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who helped come up with the bill's framework and released a statement in support of the bill, and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota did not vote.
McConnell released a statement on Tuesday signaling support for the bill, saying: "Our colleagues have put together a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens."
The bill will be debated by the Senate before a final vote is taken and it moves to the House of Representatives.
More: Politics gun safety Gun Control Gun Control Legislation
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2022-06-22T02:57:19Z
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Here Are the 14 Republican Senators Who Voted to Advance Gun Safety Bill
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https://www.businessinsider.com/the-14-republican-senators-voted-advance-gun-safety-bill-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/the-14-republican-senators-voted-advance-gun-safety-bill-2022-6
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Pornhub just lost two top execs.
MindGeek CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo have both resigned, as first reported by Variety and confirmed to various outlets by the company.
"Antoon and Tassillo leave MindGeek's day-to-day operations after more than a decade in leadership positions with the company," a MindGeek spokesperson told Variety.
MindGeek denied the timing of Antoon and Tassillo's departures was linked to the article in a statement to The Washington Post, and a MindGeek spokesperson told Variety their resignations have been in the works since early this year.
"The New Yorker had the opportunity to seriously evaluate what works in fighting illegal material on the internet by looking at the facts, comparing the policies of platforms, and studying the results," a MindGeek spokesperson told The Post.
MindGeek did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment on Antoon and Tassillo's departure.
NOW WATCH: How a $9 billion startup deceived Silicon Valley
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2022-06-22T12:12:11Z
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CEO and COO of Pornhub Parent Company Mindgeek Resign
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-coo-mindgeek-pornhub-parent-company-resign-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-coo-mindgeek-pornhub-parent-company-resign-2022-6
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Instagram was paying creators up to $400 a month for using its affiliate tool. Now the opportunity is coming to an end.
Sydney Bradley and Amanda Perelli
Instagram launched its native affiliate marketing program for creators in 2021.
Since then, the platform has incentivized creators to use the tool by paying them extra cash.
Now the platform is discontinuing those payments.
Instagram Affiliate is ending its incentive program on June 30.
Instagram Affiliate, one of several monetization
that the Meta-owned platform has launched in the last year, is the platform's native affiliate marketing tool that allows creators to earn a commission off of sales they drive.
For several months, eligible creators were given the opportunity to earn extra cash on top of the affiliate commissions.
As with other products on Instagram — like Reels — the platform paid a bonus to select creators who used the new feature. Other platforms, like Amazon, have also leaned into this incentive model to get influencers to use their software.
Instagram offered to pay creators a maximum of $400 per month if they shared 10 in-feed posts or live videos using the tool — or $40 per use — according to the company's help desk. That's in addition to any commission earned from the brand.
Meta declined to comment on the status of its affiliate incentives. However Instagram's help center says the program will come to an end on June 30 and that all earnings made prior will be paid out.
The platform was also offering creators a one-time incentive of $200 to post affiliate-enabled Reels. Instagram did not comment on if this incentive will also end on June 30.
'I was banking on that income'
Instagram's affiliate program has become a lucrative tool for Bethany Everett-Ratcliffe, a full-time creator with 63,000 Instagram followers.
On Tuesday, she saw a notification in the app that read, "Content and commission incentives from Meta will no longer be available after June 30."
The incentive was a reliable bonus on top of her affiliate earnings, Everett-Ratcliffe told Insider.
"You kind of become almost dependent on it, like when you're budgeting," she said. "I was banking on that income."
Meanwhile, Camille Carter, a creator with 28,000 Instagram followers, told Insider that the incentives have helped her cover administrative expenses and photographer fees.
"Although these have been small financial incentives, it felt good to finally get some kind of reward for posting free content for brands, even if the brands themselves weren't directly paying me," Carter wrote in an email.
Another creator with about 200,000 Instagram followers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Insider that the change won't affect their income since they have only used Instagram's affiliate tool on Stories, which aren't included in the bonus program.
This isn't the first time Instagram has put an end to or drastically changed a monetization program. Earlier this year, four creators told Insider they were making less money than before from the Reels Bonus program, without much of an explanation from the platform.
While Everett-Ratcliffe will continue using Instagram's affiliate feature regularly (in addition to other affiliate marketing platforms, like ShopStyle), she said she won't feel pressured to create 10 affiliate posts in a month for the sake of maximizing the incentive.
"It's just a reminder that you should never put all your eggs in one basket," she said.
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2022-06-22T12:12:23Z
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Instagram Is Ending Its Affiliate Marketing Incentive for Creators
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https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-ending-affiliate-marketing-incentive-bonus-for-influencers-creators-2022-6
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This montage shows examples of striking images of the solar system taken by Voyager 1 and 2 on their missions.
NASA/JPL/Insider
The voyager probes wizzed through the solar system taking unprecedented pictures.
A timelapse taken by Voyager 1 as it approached Jupiter in 1979.
Jupiter and two of its moons, as seen by Voyager.
A false-color image of Jupiter's ring, discovered by Voyager.
A picture taken by the Voyager probes uncovered volcanoes at the surface of Io.
Three Voyager 2 images, taken through ultraviolet, violet and green filters, were combined to make this photograph.
Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, is seen by Voyager.
Voyager 1 looked back to Saturn on November 16 1980 to give this unique perspective on its rings.
Voyager 2 captured these images, in true colors (left) and false-color (right) of Neptune in 1986.
Miranda, Uranus's moon.
Neptune, seen in false color by Voyager 2 in 1989. Here's the red or white color means that the sunlight is going through a methane-rich atmosphere.
Neptune, seen by Voyager 2 in 1989
Triton, seen by Voyager 2 in 1989
Neptune's rings.
The solar system's portrait was provided by Voyager 1 in 1990.
This is the Earth, seen from 4 billion miles away.
This artist's concept shows the general locations of NASA's two Voyager spacecraft. Voyager 1 (top) has sailed beyond our solar bubble into interstellar space, the space between stars.
A collage shows the two sides of NASA's golden record, which is onboard the Voyager probes.
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2022-06-22T12:12:41Z
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NASA Voyager Probes: 18 Best Pictures As 45-Year Journey Nears Its End
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https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-voyager-pictures-45-year-journey-neptune-uranus-saturn-earth-2022-6
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Southwest Airlines pilots picket outside Dallas Love Field airport on Tuesday.
David Koenig/AP
Southwest pilots protested over pay and conditions at a Texas airport, per Dallas Morning News.
Photos show pilots from the airline's union formed a long line and held signs in high temperatures.
Union president said Southwest has enough pilots but was misusing them, per Dallas Morning News.
More than 1,300 pilots working for Southwest Airlines protested over pay and conditions outside a Texas airport on Tuesday, despite soaring heat.
The Dallas Morning News first reported the protest.
The pilots, who belong to the Southwest Airline Pilots Association, stood in their uniforms in a long line for hours outside Dallas Love Field airport, the newspaper reported.
Photos below show them holding signs that read "Southwest's operation: From first to worst," "Our passengers and pilots deserve better," and "Summer of luv: Delayed, rescheduled, cancelled."
Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, speaks at Dallas Love Field airport on Tuesday.
The picket took place as temperatures hit almost 100 degrees in Dallas, according to weather trackers.
The union, which represents almost 10,000 Southwest pilots, was protesting over the company's scheduling practices, including unfair working conditions and low pay, according to Dallas News.
The pilots' association has said it's in contract negotiations with the airline but has made little progress.
Casey Murray, its president, said Southwest has enough pilots but was not using them effectively, per the Dallas Morning News.
He also said Southwest's flight schedule could lead to more delays and cancellations in the busy summer season.
The union posted a statement on its website on Tuesday detailing the six reasons for its protest. They included statistics such as the number of times pilots in the association have volunteered to fly on their days off in the past year (164,084) and the number of times their schedules had changed over the past 12 months (312,084).
The pilots' association and Southwest didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
A Southwest spokesperson told the Dallas Morning News the company was aware of the protest and respected employees' rights to "express their opinions." They also told the newspaper the protest shouldn't have disrupted flights.
The protest comes as a pilot shortage hits the airline industry during the summer travel rush.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom recently said the carrier had grounded about 100 regional jets due to a shortage of pilots.
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Pictures: Southwest Pilots Protest in Texas Over Unfair Pay and Work
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https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-airline-pilots-union-protest-pay-work-soaring-texas-heat-2022-6
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Airbnb and Spotify use this startup to give gifts to employees and customers. Check out the 15-slide deck &Open used to raise $26 million.
&Open cofounder and logistics director Mark Legge, cofounder and buying director Ciara Flood, and cofounder and CEO Jonathan Legge.
&Open
Irish corporate gifting startup &Open just raised $26 million in a round led by Molten Ventures.
The startup handles gifting for the likes of Airbnb, Peloton, and Spotify.
Check out the 15-slide pitch deck &Open used to raise its Series A round below.
A startup that manages corporate gifting for companies like Airbnb, Peloton, and Spotify has raised $26 million in fresh funds.
Dublin-based &Open, which was founded in 2017, has developed a platform that enables businesses to send gifts at scale to both customers and employees in a bid to increase consumer spending and improve worker retention. Users can send everything from flowers and food and drink to digital subscriptions and carbon offsetting through the site.
The Series A round was led by listed investment firm Molten Ventures, an investor in fintech giant Revolut and second-hand car marketplace Cazoo. Additional funding came from US firm First Round Capital and Saul Klein's LocalGlobe, which has recently revamped its investment strategy.
Hayley Barna, a partner at First Round Capital, said &Open brought a lot more "care and consideration" to the $242 billion gift-giving industry, which she said can be "thoughtless" and involve "mass-produced merch."
Companies can deliver gifts at scale through &Open to both individuals and groups in their business ecosystem globally with options to send gifts at scheduled times or when certain milestones have been met.
"All companies gift – be it their employees, customers, prospects, or partners," Jonathan Legge, cofounder and CEO of &Open, said.
"Companies gift because people power businesses and those relationships need to be nurtured. Today, more than ever, loyalty matters."
The Irish startup operates a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model where companies pay a fee to use the gifting platform. The fresh funds come as &Open launches an on-demand platform that will allow it to expand its offering to small and medium-sized businesses. These businesses will not have to sign an annual contract or pay a SaaS fee, the company said.
&Open plans on opening an office in New York this year, while also investing in its engineering, product, and client success and sales teams. The company claimed its annual recurring revenue had increased by over 376% in the past year.
The Series A round, which also included investment from Tribal VC and Middlegame Ventures, brings the company's total funding raised to $33.2 million.
Check out the 15-slide pitch deck &Open used to raise its Series A below:
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2022-06-22T13:43:33Z
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Gifting Startup &Open Raised $26 Million With This Pitch Deck
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https://www.businessinsider.com/gifting-startup-open-raised-26-million-with-this-pitch-deck-2022-6
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See the 11-slide presentation that sold General Catalyst on a 21-year-old founder's at-home lab-testing platform for Latin America
Examedi's founders. From left: Juan Pablo Zepeda Nuñez, COO; Andrés Kemeny, CTO; Ian Lee, CEO; and Alberto Albagli, CSO.
Examedi
Examedi is helping patients in Latin America get lab tests at home for a fraction of the cost.
The Chilean startup raised a $17 million Series A round led by General Catalyst.
CEO Ian Lee said it's taking a page out of Uber's book by bringing nurses to patients' homes.
Ian Lee's first year of college lasted only three months.
Living in Chile but taking remote classes at a university in Canada, he spent his free time working on a healthcare solution for his dad, a smoker who desperately needed a blood test but hadn't gotten one in years.
Getting a blood test in Latin America, Lee said, is time-consuming and expensive. In his experience, patients spend hours waiting in retail labs for tests that take 10 minutes, and the labs frequently mark up the prices 300% or more, he said.
So he dropped out of school to focus on simplifying the process.
"My mentality was, as long as my dad can use it, I'm happy," said Lee, who's now 21.
Just over a year later, Examedi, the at-home-testing startup that he started with three other young entrepreneurs, has banked $17 million in Series A funding led by General Catalyst, bringing its total funding to almost $21 million.
Angel investors — including Jamie Karraker, a cofounder and co-CEO of Alto Pharmacy; Thomaz Srougi, the founder of Dr. Consulta; and Sebastian Mejia, a cofounder of Rappi — also participated in the Series A, building on top of seed funding that Examedi raised in graduating from the startup accelerator Y Combinator in 2021.
The Chilean government offers free healthcare to all residents, which about 78% of the population takes advantage of, while most of the remainder opt into private insurance plans to skirt crowded hospitals with long wait times. Still, the prices of different lab tests, paid out of pocket or not, vary wildly depending on the lab where the patient receives the service, and the costs can add up fast as doctors often ask patients to undergo multiple tests.
Through Examedi, Lee, the company's CEO, wants to bring the ease of ride-hailing apps, such as Uber, to healthcare delivery in Latin America. Patients can order a COVID-19 test, blood test, or even a vaccine, and nurses choose to come to each patient's house to provide the service like an Uber driver accepting a ride.
Then Examedi ships tests off to the lab for analysis and charges patients a fraction of the going price. Where a typical round of blood tests might cost about $100 in Chile out of pocket, Lee said, Examedi charges about $40. After the lab takes a fraction of that and Examedi pays the nurse who administered the test, the startup takes home $12 on average of the $40, he said.
The startup also offers STI tests, plus kinesiology sessions for uses such as muscular rehabilitation, which was added to the platform upon popular demand, Lee said. The startup is working with user feedback to test out more services to offer.
Examedi is available in Chile and Mexico, with patients in dozens of cities — but most seek services in the capital cities Santiago and Mexico City. The startup plans to use some of the funding on product development and the remaining capital to expand into new areas, with its eyes set on breaking into Colombia by the end of the year and into Peru in 2023.
In the long term, Lee said, Examedi plans to go beyond lab testing and connect patients with other healthcare services, including medication delivery and primary care.
See the 11-slide presentation Examedi used to raise $17 million in Series A funding.
Examedi provides on-demand lab tests and other healthcare services to people in Latin America in their own homes.
The startup offers COVID-19 tests, blood tests, and vaccines, and it recently added kinesiology sessions, which are typically used to rehabilitate muscles.
The COVID-19 tests take about five minutes to complete in a patient's home, while blood tests take about 15 minutes, Lee said. Kinesiology sessions runs closer to an hour.
In Chile, Lee said, patients can spend months on a waiting list before getting a lab test. Then the retail labs, where patients receive the test, charge up to 400% of what the test costs, he said.
Patients using Examedi can schedule to receive a test or service for the next day from the comfort of their homes.
Examedi charges about $40 for each visit, a fraction of the cost that retail labs usually charge for tests in Chile and Mexico, Lee said.
After tests are sent to the lab for analysis, the lab takes about $18, Examedi pays its nurses about $8 per visit, and the medical supplies the nurses use cost the startup about $1. That leaves Examedi with $12 per visit on average, Lee said.
Nurses on Examedi's platform can choose which visits they want to do, which allows them to set their own schedules and add as many visits as they want on top of their full-time jobs — or to work full-time hours with Examedi instead.
Examedi's services are available in Chile and Mexico, with hubs in the capital cities Santiago and Mexico City. Lee said the startup plans to expand into Colombia by the end of the year and into Peru in 2023.
Examedi is fully connected to both private and public health insurers in Chile and Mexico, Lee said. The startup also wants to work with companies to simplify necessary healthcare services for their employees, including drug testing.
Almost 30% of all healthcare costs in Latin America are paid directly by the patient.
Lee, now 21 years old, was named one of this year's Thiel Fellows. Started by the tech investor Peter Thiel, the two-year fellowship awards $100,000 to young entrepreneurs.
Examedi's long-term vision is to connect all of the stakeholders in healthcare in Latin America to give patients easier, at-home access to whichever services they need.
While patients pay for each service individually, Examedi plans to create a subscription model for those who need more regular testing.
Examedi is also working on some partnerships, including with pharmacies, that focus on patients with diabetes. The idea is to bundle the necessary medications provided by the pharmacy, plus lab tests required by the patient, and send them to the patient's house on a routine basis.
Lee said Examedi is testing out other healthcare services to add.
More: Features Dispensed Examedi
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2022-06-22T13:43:39Z
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The Pitch Deck Examedi Used to Raise $17 Million From General Catalyst
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-general-catalyst-examedi-lab-testing-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-general-catalyst-examedi-lab-testing-2022-6
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Shopify's latest moves reveal a focus on in-person retail as the pandemic e-commerce boom fades — and even the NFTs are offline
Madeline Stone and Ann Gehan
Shopify unveiled a suite of products on Wednesday as part of a release called Shopify Editions.
The new products reflect a renewed focus on in-person retail.
E-commerce growth has slowed after surging during the height of the pandemic.
Shopify unveiled a suite of tech products on Wednesday, many of which reflect a renewed focus on offline retail as e-commerce has slowed.
New features included the launch of "tap to pay" on iPhones in the US and local inventory search with Google. The company also announced "tokengated" commerce allowing merchants to use nonfungible tokens to offer their biggest fans access to exclusive perks and experiences.
The announcements were made as part of a semiannual release the company is calling Shopify Editions. In addition to the new products, the release highlighted more than 100 software updates and releases that Shopify made in the past six months.
Shopify's launches come as e-commerce as a whole has fallen from its pandemic heights. By diving into new ways of blending online and offline retail, Shopify is attempting to remain relevant to its merchants' needs as the market evolves.
"I think they kind of want to be all things to all people, and the only way to do that is to have a very compelling offline product and service offering," Anthony Chukumba, a Loop Capital analyst, told Insider.
Shopify's other announcements included additional support for business-to-business and wholesale commerce, as well as shopping features for Twitter users and a more flexible back end for developers.
Bridging the gap between online and physical retail
Shopify's point-of-sale software will soon include support for Apple's new tap-to-pay feature in the US, which allows Apple devices to serve as a contactless card reader without additional hardware. Kaz Nejatian, Shopify's vice president of product for merchant services, said the functionality would allow smaller merchants to assess accepting payments in person without committing to purchasing hardware.
"This is a really big deal for merchants who want to test offline retail with things like pop-ups or people who are just getting started," Nejatian said.
Point of sale is an area where the Canadian e-commerce company is not considered a category leader and faces more direct competition with players like Square and PayPal. The latest point-of-sale hardware Shopify released came in 2020, with a product that replaced one created in 2013.
Shopify is emphasizing its physical-retail capabilities.
But analysts say that point of sale offers a big opportunity for Shopify to grow. Shopify generates most of its revenue from processing the payments made to purchase merchants' products. Josh Beck, an equity-research analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, said many of the world's merchants still used legacy checkout solutions not connected to cloud-based software.
"I think the bigger opportunity for them is to basically help new business formation and to help them have modern tools, help them have capabilities that would be similar to what enterprise would get you but at a much, much lower price point," he told Insider.
Shopify is further seeking to bridge the gap between online and physical retail by allowing merchants to sync their store inventories with Google, allowing shoppers to search for items that are in stock at stores closest to them.
Responding to increased in-store demand has also been a priority for Google — at its Marketing Live conference in May, the tech giant said searches for "near me in stock" had risen more than 90% year over year. It has also launched other features like 3D and augmented-reality visualization and enhanced visual search tools to help shoppers blend in-store and online browsing.
"When shoppers returned to stores, they did so without decreasing their digital usage," Bill Ready, Google's president of commerce, payments, and next billion users, said. "When shoppers decide to go into the store, their search doesn't stop at the door — it continues. The digital habits from the past two years are continuing."
'Blockchains are going to win on a scale that is actually hard to imagine'
Shopify also announced the launch of what it calls "tokengated commerce," doubling down on its earlier investment in NFTs and other Web3 capabilities. NFT holders will be able to connect their crypto wallets to a Shopify merchant's store and unlock exclusive perks from merchants, like early access to new products and exclusive collections.
Shopify experimented with tokengated commerce at South by Southwest in March, when its tech powered an immersive in-person pop-up with the NFT shop Doodles.
Tokengating will also seek to bring Web3 offline through the new point of sale's capabilities.
"You can imagine a world in which you can go to a store that has Shopify's all-new point of sale, and an NFT will unlock a room that's not available to the public, and I think that's just going to be kind of a weird and gnarly experience," Nejatian said.
With tokengating, Shopify continues its foray into the world of NFTs. In July, it announced users would be able to buy NFTs directly through Shopify storefronts with debit or credit cards.
Other retail-tech companies have similarly launched ways to use NFTs to build customer loyalty.
Try Your Best, the latest venture of the Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney, allows retailers to use blockchain tech to reward their most loyal customers with NFTs, virtual coins, and discounts. Glow Labs, founded by two JPMorgan veterans, hopes to help Web3 companies develop customer loyalty and rewards programs and is backed by the likes of Forerunner Ventures and Harlem Capital.
Shopify's product heads appeared bullish about the potential for Web3 technologies — especially when it comes to commerce — despite the crypto market's recent downturn.
"At their core, blockchains are a new kind of computing abstraction for representing relationships between people. And this matters a lot because the whole world is built on relationships between people," Nejatian said. "If these abstractions are actually a better way to represent these relationships, then blockchains are going to win on a scale that is actually hard to imagine."
Beck said Shopify's enthusiasm for Web3 fit well with the company's recent history.
"They've always been early to embrace emerging channels or emerging modes of commerce," Beck said, pointing to Shopify's summer 2021 entrance into TikTok as a social-commerce channel.
'The north star has always been to help the merchant be successful'
The e-commerce landscape has undoubtedly changed in the first half of this year. Many companies expected the pandemic-induced shift to e-commerce to stick, but shoppers have returned to stores in droves so far in 2022. E-commerce stocks have fallen dramatically from their pandemic heights, including Shopify's.
Shopify isn't the only e-commerce company to bet on brick-and-mortar retail as pandemic habits have shifted. Many digitally native brands are exploring wholesale retail partnerships as the direct-to-consumer model fails to generate profits.
Analysts say Shopify will ultimately do whatever will be helpful to its merchants.
"For them, the north star has always been to help the merchant be successful," Beck said. "In this environment that we're in, that's the combination of digital channels, like online and social, and the in-person element of it."
Glen Coates, the vice president of product for Shopify's core platform, echoed that sentiment.
"The thing that we're trying to do here is allow merchants to say yes to that opportunity," Coates said. "And it's one click in the software that they already use."
More: Retail Shopify eCommerce
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2022-06-22T13:43:51Z
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Shopify Product Updates Focus on Physical Retail, NFTs
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https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-product-updates-focus-on-physical-retail-ecommerce-slumps-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-product-updates-focus-on-physical-retail-ecommerce-slumps-2022-6
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Squarespace is launching a new tool to mint and sell NFTs through its link-in-bio app Unfold. Here's how it compares to rivals.
How NFT minting will look on Unfold.
Unfold.
Unfold, Squarespace's content editing and link-in-bio app, is launching NFT minting and selling.
Users will be able to mint NFTs directly in the app and display them on their link-in-bio for sale.
Unfold is the latest creator economy company to get into NFTs.
Unfold, a Squarespace-owned editing and link-in-bio app, is the latest creator economy company to release NFT capabilities, allowing users to mint and sell NFTs directly in the app.
The company announced the product today during NFT.NYC, the annual NFT industry event taking place in New York City this week, but it said the feature will not roll out to users until later this summer.
The move comes at a difficult time for the NFT market. After a very positive 2021, weekly sales have declined by more than 80% from a January peak of nearly $1 billion, data from NonFungible.com shows. In mid-June, the crypto market dropped below $1 trillion in value for the first time in 16 months.
Unfold was launched in 2018 as an app providing social media templates to creators. Since then, it's expanded its offerings, and now creators can use the app to edit and schedule social media posts, as well as to create link-in-bio landing pages.
With the new integration, users will be able to mint NFTs on the app by uploading content from their phones' camera rolls or pulling content from their Instagram and TikTok feeds. Users will connect or create crypto wallets to collect the profits from sales.
"This is another layer adding to the all-in-one toolkit that we already offer," Alfonso Cobo, the cofounder of Unfold, told Insider. "We're adding that more personal aspect when it comes to strengthening [a creator's] community, engaging them through ownership, belonging, and exclusive access down the line."
Unfold said they will be adding NFT storefronts to their link-in-bio service later this year.
For now, sales will happen on Rarible, an NFT marketplace which operates on the Ethereum blockchain. Both rarible and Unfold, which operates on a freemium model, will collect a percentage of NFT sales.
For users on a free plan or on a Plus plan — which costs $19.99 a year or $2.99 a month — Unfold will take 2.5% of sales, Rarible will take 2.5%, and creators will keep the rest.
Pro users — who pay $99.99 a year or $12.99 a month — will not have to share a cut of their sales with Unfold, but Rarible will still take a 2.5% cut.
Unfold is not alone in venturing into NFTs
Several creator economy companies have recently entered the NFT space.
Like Unfold, link-in-bio apps such as Linktree and Koji have launched NFT integrations. Linktree allows users to showcase NFTs through an integration with NFT marketplace OpenSea, while Koji, like Unfold, keeps the full process, from minting to selling, within the app.
In February, creator merch company Spring launched an NFT feature called Mint-on-Demand. Creators can mint and add digital collectibles directly to their product store, and customers can purchase them even if they don't have a crypto wallet thanks to a partnership with blockchain company Forj (previously known as Bondly).
All the while, tech behemoths like Twitter and Meta have added NFT showcasing to their features in some capacity.
Twitter launched NFT profile pictures for its Twitter Blue users in January. And at the beginning of May, Instagram announced they were beginning to test digital collectible showcasing in the app with select US-based users.
Video platform YouTube, on the other hand, is still figuring out how to approach the space. In February, YouTube's Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan wrote in a blog post that blockchain and NFTs could provide "a verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, art, and even experiences from their favorite creators," but that "there's a lot to consider in making sure we approach these new technologies responsibly."
But while the investments in NFTs have kept coming, the market, itself, in in the midst of a downturn. Between May 18 and June 17, weekly sales of digital collectibles dropped from $247 million to $151 million, according to data from NonFungible.com.
Still, Cobo is confident that this is a passing moment.
"We know that crypto and blockchain is volatile," he said. "But I don't think that should sacrifice the ability for companies and technology to keep innovating and looking for solutions to solve real problems and look for real opportunities that can create new value for creators."
NOW WATCH: WATCH: The CMO of American Express explains why advertising has come full circle, and why it's so important to hire diverse talent
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2022-06-22T13:43:57Z
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Squarespace Is Launching a New Tool to Mint, Sell NFTs Through Unfold
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https://www.businessinsider.com/squarespace-launching-nft-minting-and-selling-link-in-bio-app-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/squarespace-launching-nft-minting-and-selling-link-in-bio-app-2022-6
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The Tesla Model Y.
Cars.com released its annual American-Made Index, which ranks the most American car models.
All four Tesla models made the top 10, with the Model Y topping the list.
The Tesla Model 3 came in second place.
If you need a new car and will only consider buying American, a Tesla may be your best bet.
The electric-car maker sells the most American vehicles on the market, according to a new study released on Tuesday by Cars.com.
Tesla's Model Y SUV topped the car marketplace's 2022 American-Made Index, followed by the Tesla Model 3 sedan. The company's Model X and Model S land at the fifth and sixth spots, respectively.
Cars.com ranked 95 vehicle models built and bought in the US by how American-made they are, analyzing them based on five factors: assembly location, parts content, engine origin, transmission origin, and US manufacturing workforce.
Tesla builds all four of its models at its original plant in Fremont, California. It also assembles Model Y SUVs at a new factory in Austin, Texas, where it's based.
The Honda Ridgeline.
Honda nabbed four of the top 10 spots with vehicles built at its Alabama plant. Lincoln and Jeep (brands of Ford and Stellantis, respectively) also made the top 10. General Motors' vehicles accounted for 20% of the overall index.
See the top 20 most American-made vehicles below:
3. Lincoln Corsair
5. Tesla Model X
7. Jeep Cherokee
10. Honda Pilot
11. Chevrolet Corvette
12. GMC Canyon
13. Chevrolet Colorado
14. Acura MDX
15. Acura RDX
16. Acura TLX
17. Ford Ranger
18. Ford Bronco
19. Dodge Durango
20. Ford Expedition
The rest of the index is available on Cars.com's website.
More: Transportation Tech Tesla Electric Cars
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Tesla Model Y SUV Is the Most American-Made Vehicle
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-y-3-most-american-made-car-2022-6
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There's more pain to come for Wells Fargo's mortgage business. Analysts break down why — and where the bank's home lending unit fits into CEO Charlie Scharf's master plan.
Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf testifies before a House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Wells Fargo has long been one of the largest mortgage lenders in the US.
But CEO Charlie Scharf has recently signaled the bank will trim its mortgage footprint.
Wells is reconsidering its mortgage business as it invests in growth areas, like investment banking and credit cards.
Wells Fargo has long billed itself as Main Street's bank. Founded in 1852 — and "re-established in 2018" — the San Francisco-based financial firm often touts its depth of relationships with a broad swathe of American consumers.
But recent comments from CEO Charlie Scharf have called into question the premise that Wells Fargo is, or should be, the bank for everyone, everywhere — at least when it comes to mortgages, long a major profit center for the company.
At an industry conference this June, Scharf said that Wells Fargo was reconsidering the size of its footprint in home lending. Mortgages "won't be as large as we were historically," Scharf said, adding that the days when home lending served as a "standalone profit generator" within the bank were "long gone."
The comments come amid a larger transformation of Wells by Scharf, including among vast swathes of its executive leadership team. Other changes include the bank's effort to talk up big bets on historically smaller revenue drivers like credit cards and investment banking in a push to compete with industry giants like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citi. At the same time, it's paring back traditional strengths for Wells, like mortgages, that have also come with regulatory scrutiny and have now been buffeted by a downturn in the mortgage markets as interest rates rise.
All of these changes have raised questions about what the bank will look like down the road and how seriously it will cut back its mortgage business. Insider spoke to three industry experts to help explain this transformation, including what it will mean for Wells' mortgage employees. They all say they expect more home lending cuts to come as the bank's downsizing of its mortgage business is being driven by more than the level of interest rates or broader consumer lending trends.
"As Wells really concentrates on who it's going to be, I suspect a smaller footprint is simply the inevitable outcome of that," R. Scott Siefers, senior research analyst at Piper Sandler, told Insider.
The carnage so far
Wells doesn't break out staffing numbers for its mortgage business specifically, but even before rates started rising in 2022, the bank was cutting back in consumer banking and home lending. Between 2020, Scharf's first full year helming Wells, and 2021, consumer banking and lending headcount at the bank fell 10%, according to its latest annual report.
Then the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in an effort to slow the economy and combat soaring inflation.
Like other major mortgage players this year, Wells Fargo has been hit hard by a downturn in home lending as interest rates rise at their fastest pace in decades. This April, the bank reported that mortgage revenues in the first quarter of 2022 had fallen by 33% compared to the year prior.
Just weeks later, Insider reported that Wells was laying off a wide array of teams in home lending operations — including underwriters and loan processors — across at least five major markets like Des Moines, Phoenix and San Antonio.
Wells Fargo's head of home lending, Kristy Fercho, later said at an employee town hall that the layoffs may have been worse had the bank not worked to place employees — including 300 underwriters — in other teams, Insider reported.
This year, many mortgage lenders have signaled their desire to cut costs by reducing headcount and expenses. But Wells, whose own expenses have been particularly scrutinized against the backdrop of Scharf's efforts to transform the bank, has been more vocal than others, Gerard Cassidy, head of US bank equity strategy at RBC, told Insider.
"Wells has been at the forefront of telling investors that they have to — and they're planning to — align their expenses more tightly with the lower amounts of revenue that are being generated from the mortgage business," said Cassidy.
Wells Fargo declined to specify the scope of the mortgage job cuts this spring. But industry analysts, and even a top Wells Fargo exec, have said more downsizing is likely yet to come this year as rates continue to rise.
This June, Wells Fargo CFO Mike Santomassimo predicted at another industry conference that mortgage income at Wells this quarter could fall 50% from the first quarter.
"I think all big mortgage providers or all mortgage providers are still in this process of rightsizing capacity for what everyone expects to be a smaller market," Santomassimo said, according to a transcript of his remarks from data provider Sentieo.
Apart from market conditions, Wells Fargo is also still feeling the reputational effects of a fake account scandal first unveiled six years ago — one that led Scharf to the top of Wells in the first place, where he has orchestrated a sweeping overhaul of the bank's top ranks.
Speaking in June, Scharf said the criticism the bank has received over allegations of unfair lending practices for conforming home loans could cause the bank to trim its mortgage business further. "There are some things like that which do put you in a difficult position, which we do need to be very thoughtful about from a reputation perspective," Scharf said.
Wells Fargo is still operating "under a microscope" relative to peers and non-bank lenders, RBC's Cassidy told Insider. It's a spotlight made all the more pressing as Wells faces stiff competition from large nonbank mortgage lenders like Rocket and loanDepot, a fact also highlighted by Scharf this June.
"The banks have an extra level of scrutiny that the mortgage originators do not, which is the bank regulators," Cassidy said. "Therefore the mortgage operations inside a bank have to go through extra levels of analysis and risk controls due to the banking regulators and the banking regulations ."
And Wells Fargo's own, transforming "risk profile" under Scharf has also been cause to re-assess the bank's mortgage business, said Piper Sandler's Siefers. "That's probably a good thing for them, to take a second look and decide exactly who they want to be in the mortgage lending environment," he said.
Long-term transformation
The sheer scale of the mortgage market will limit Wells's desire to step back "super meaningfully" from home lending, according to Siefers.
But even when interest rates decline again, Wells Fargo might choose to continue to focus on new investment areas as the bank sets its sights on growing historically smaller revenue drivers.
"I just don't think they're trying to be all things to all people at this point," Siefers added.
According to Ken Leon, director of equity research at CFRA, Wells is looking to lean on a number of businesses that could be growth engines for the bank as it charts a new strategy under Scharf — from credit cards to capital markets to wealth management. Home lending isn't among them.
"If you're looking for this to be a bull case scenario or a turnaround coming from the volumes or the mortgage markets where Wells Fargo was a leader, the answer is no," Leon said.
At the same conference where Scharf discussed Wells Fargo's mortgage footprint, he also said the chance to provide investment banking services to existing customers is a "$1 billion opportunity."
Wells is unlikely to make any major moves in investment banking for the short-term, analysts said. For one, the asset cap and consent orders imposed by federal regulators in the wake of the accounts scandal are likely to inhibit investments or acquisitions. Another inhibitor is this year's market slowdown, which has hit all investment banks and slowed dealmaking to a crawl.
"Once the asset cap is lifted and cease assist orders are lifted, that gives [Scharf] more flexibility and optionality. It wouldn't be surprising if he pursues a more aggressive growth strategy in the capital markets businesses, as he competes against the larger banks like Bank America and JPMorgan," RBC's Cassidy said.
More: Wells Fargo Mortgage Wall Street
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2022-06-22T13:44:21Z
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Wall Street Analysts Detail Wells Fargo's Rough Road for Mortgage Biz
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https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-analysts-rough-road-ahead-wells-fargo-mortgage-business-2022-6
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2 crypto VCs and an angel investor at NFT.NYC break down what they're looking for in their next investment amid market carnage and a prediction that most projects will die off
NFTs in Time Square.
Phil Rosen / Business Insider
Amid the broader crypto market downturn, NFT floor prices have followed suit.
Blocktricity Capital's Amro Shihadah told Insider he invests in "high-impact, low-ego" founders.
A product manager at Meta explains how NFTs are used as a "funding vehicle."
Crypto markets have experienced a continued downdraft, with the nascent space's market cap slashing $860 billion of its value over the past three months.
Ethereum has declined 64.97% in the same time frame, per crypto research firm Messari, along with major altcoins like Solana and Polygon off more than 85% from their all-time highs. The global crypto market cap notched an 18-month low under $1 trillion last week.
Solana, Polygon, and Ethereum are all used to mint and purchase NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. The value of these blockchain-based collectibles, therefore, have taken hits as well. The floor price, or the lowest price paid, for NFTs in a collection like Bored Ape Yacht Club has declined by 49.72% in the past month, per data from nftpricefloor.com. Collectors, who include the likes of Justin Bieber and Post Malone, paid a minimum of $429,000 worth of ether for the avatars at their peak, but these prices have fallen as low as $94,455.
VC interest, however, has continued with Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden announcing a $130 million Series B round on Tuesday.
Sagar Barvaliya, a principal at blockchain investment firm Blockrocket, recommends founders take a "sustainable and realistic approach" to monetizing their NFT ventures.
In bull markets, Barvaliya says, there is so much hype in the space that founders may set their expectations too high or set an unrealistic price point for their rounds and valuations, instead of considering how risk-averse larger institutions and funds may be. In March, NFT creator Yuga Labs announced a $450 million seed round at a $4 billion valuation. The average seed round, however, is $1 - $4 million, per data from Finmark.
"Don't come up with a moonshot valuation," Barvaliya said on a panel at the NFT.NYC conference on Tuesday. "If you're an NFT founder or if you're building in the crypto space, I think we just have to create that kind of attitude."
Amro Shihadah, an angel investor and co-managing director at Blocktricity Capital, said he invests in specifically what he refers to as "high-impact, low-ego" founders. His previous investments include Oculus, Apptek, and LinkLabs.
"If you look at any startup, if you look at any company, you will find that nine out of ten that don't succeed, have CEOs who only have vision and no ability to execute," Shihadah said.
The market for NFTs is incredibly saturated, per crypto angel investor and Meta product manager Harish Komaragiri, leaving most projects to die off during the crypto winter. He says initial NFT sales for a collection are used as a "funding vehicle" for projects and that airdrops may alternatively be a better way for securing capital.
"There are going to be people who try and fail, who will just take your money and bounce," he said, adding, "but that's where the project's team and the community really matters."
More: Investing NFT.NYC NFT NYC
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2022-06-22T15:14:51Z
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NFT NYC: Crypto VCs Share Opportunities in Projects Amid Winter
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https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-nft-nyc-vc-investments-predictions-angel-investor-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-nft-nyc-vc-investments-predictions-angel-investor-2022-6
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Greylock's Mike Duboe shares the top Solana blockchain projects on his radar
Mike Duboe, a partner at the VC firm Greylock, gave Insider his top picks for Solana projects.
Solana is becoming a popular alternative to Ethereum because of its lower costs and faster speeds.
Insider spoke with Mike Duboe, a VC at Greylock, about his picks for top projects on Solana.
The Ethereum blockchain is the foundation for many popular crypto projects, such as Bored Apes Yacht Club and The Sandbox. But it has a couple of big drawbacks, some Web3 developers say: It's not built to process enormous numbers of transactions, and when there's heavy demand, the usage costs, known as gas fees, can skyrocket.
Other blockchains have been built to tackle this problem. Among the fastest-growing is Solana, which is designed to keep transaction costs low and speeds high. Though Solana has its downsides — it has had several outages in the past few months — its proponents say it is an important alternative to Ethereum for high-demand applications such as non-fungible tokens and gaming.
Mike Duboe, a partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners, has invested in the Solana-based companies Magic Eden and Portals. Insider asked him for his top picks for getting started on the blockchain.
Quotes have been condensed and slightly edited for clarity.
Magic Eden, an NFT marketplace
"At least one area I've been excited about over the last year or two has been NFTs. Digital collectibles are an easy concept to understand if you're not crypto-native. Obviously I'm biased on this, but part of the reason that I got so excited about Magic Eden is it has been a great entry point to a lot of people into Solana, given that these are lower-price, lower-cost NFTs. It's a super-friendly consumer experience."
Portals, a metaverse
"The term 'metaverse' is overused, but I think of Portals as a kind of digital space where people can hang out but also highlight what they've collected on Solana and elsewhere. Different brands can participate, and consumers can participate in this digital space. I think Portals has made the most immersive and accessible metaverse on Solana. Similar to if you look at The Sandbox or Decentraland on Ethereum, that's what Portals is doing."
Raydium, an investment platform
"The other entry point for a lot of people is around DeFi. With Terra's collapse, I think there's a rightful hesitancy to treat these yields as totally safe, but I think there are a number of people — and this is not me; I personally am less focused on this — who come into crypto just looking to earn better yields on different stablecoins or tokens. For something like that, you could look at some of the leading decentralized exchanges. Raydium is one of the bigger ones. There's also Mango Markets, Serum, and Saber."
Phantom, a crypto wallet
"Wallets are a necessary step if you want to do any of this other stuff. Phantom has the most share. There's another one called Glow that is starting to gain share. It's a very scary experience to start transacting on crypto and setting up your wallet, and I feel like the experience on Solana — it's become much more seamless and intuitive than a lot of the stuff I see on Ethereum."
"Some of that is just driven by speed. You don't have that period of time where you're just waiting for a transaction to go through, and hopefully you didn't screw something up. On Solana, things are much more immediate, which is what we're used to on the internet these days."
Solana Pay, a payments system
"I actually have to spend more time in this area, but Solana Pay is interesting. They're actually trying to integrate with traditional merchants to allow people to pay on Solana rails. So that's an exciting area where I think people are going to experience Solana without consciously knowing it at some point. I think that's an area worth keeping an eye on and looking into. They're working with Circle on some of this stuff. Checkout.com, which is an e-commerce product, is now accepting Solana payments."
More: Master Your Crypto Venture Capital Startups Solana
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Greylock VC Mike Duboe Picks Top Crypto Projects on Solana
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https://www.businessinsider.com/greylock-vc-mike-duboe-top-crypto-projects-on-solana-2022-6
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How Sweetgreen is winning Gen Z with TikTok videos that push personalization
Sweetgreen wants to be the "Starbucks of salads."
Sweetgreen is trying to grow its appeal with Gen Z after establishing itself with millennials.
Cofounder Nathaniel Ru laid out his approach, which involves TikTok, personalization, and sampling.
But in-person marketing continues to be a big part of Sweetgreen's strategy, too.
After establishing itself with millennials, Sweetgreen is on a mission to grow the salad chain's appeal to Gen Z.
"Our goal has always been to figure out how to connect the next generation to healthy eating," said Sweetgreen Cofounder and Chief Brand Officer Nathaniel Ru, one of Insider's 2022 Most Innovative CMOs.
To do that, he's made a big push on TikTok, where Gen Z lives, partnering with Gen Z icons like tennis champion Naomi Osaka and NBA star Devin Booker.
Ru said 65% of Sweetgreen customers personalize their salads, which led to the idea for creator-led videos on TikTok that break down its salads' ingredients and played to Gen Z's sense of fun. The effort is starting to pay off: A "Create Your Own" ad directed by food content creator Owen Han on TikTok, starring Booker and Osaka, got a click-through-rate of 24% from users aged 13 to 17, more than any of its campaigns.
The company has also been pushing out digital features to capitalize on an increase in online ordering during the pandemic.
It introduced a $10 subscription service, Sweetpass, that gave users a $3 credit per day for 30 days on certain orders. Sweetgreen sold 16,600 subscriptions in the three-week period they were available; 90% of subscribers surveyed by Sweetgreen expressed interest in repurchasing them; and 60% of subscribers were new, lapsed or low-frequency customers.
To drive app downloads, Sweetgreen pushed out exclusive offers through the app like Osaka's and Booker's custom salad bowls.
Sweetgreen built an in-house agency that's helped it make these marketing decisions quickly. It's expanding, having hired its first executive creative director.
"It's this small, scrappy team that's really there to help us find ways to continue to tell the Sweetgreen story," Ru said.
The company hasn't abandoned in-person marketing — it's selling its food at music festivals to introduce itself to Gen Z, for example. Other efforts have included bringing food samples to high schools and yoga studios.
"We're always trying to find ways to tell our story that strike a tone with that generation and have a deeper meaning behind it," Ru said. "We can do that on social, but it's equally as powerful in person."
More: Sweetgreen Marketing TikTok
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How Sweetgreen Is Marketing to Gen Z Using TikTok
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-sweetgreen-is-marketing-to-gen-z-using-tiktok-2022-6
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My eBay clothing company made $1.35 million in revenue last year. Here's how my co-founders and I turned a side hustle into a successful business.
Sarah Dean and her cofounders started Go Thrift in 2019.
Sarah Dean was working 50-hour weeks in hospitality when she started a vintage-clothes side hustle.
She cofounded a vintage-clothes business in 2019 with three sellers and went full time in 2020.
Here's how they scaled to make $1.4 million in revenue on eBay last year, as told to Amber Sunner.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Sarah Dean, a 31-year-old founder in Lancashire, England, about starting an eBay store. It's been edited for length and clarity. Insider has verified Dean's revenue with documentation.
I worked in hospitality for 10 years as an area manager for a group of bars and restaurants. I started selling vintage clothes in 2018 as a side hustle.
Sam, a friend, joined forces with me, and we sold clothes via Asos Marketplace, Depop, and eBay. We wanted to work together to scale the hustle and eventually leave our day jobs.
Go Thrift was started in early 2019 when Sam and I partnered with two other cofounders. We all met through vintage selling. Two of my cofounders used to sell me stock. We resell vintage clothes, which we buy from wholesalers, at competitive prices on eBay and our website.
We knew we would be more successful joining forces than we would be as individual sellers and wholesalers in the vintage industry, especially since we all had day jobs.
As a team, we had supplier contacts, e-commerce experience, product knowledge, large operations, and people management.
We didn't spend any money on Go Thrift at first
The stock we used to start with came from one of the warehouse's cofounders, who ran a wholesale business. All the stock was washed, steamed, and photographed. We rented a small warehouse in Darwen in October 2019 to keep our stock in one place.
We started listing our clothing online in December 2019 and generating an income. Our initial revenue covered the £500 a month cost of the unit.
We didn't have any wages to pay because we still had our day jobs. The profits stayed within the business to fund stock, bills, eBay fees, and the warehouse.
I was still working 50 hours a week in hospitality and fitting in Go Thrift on my two days off
I also worked two to three nights a week, so I'd work on Go Thrift during the day before going into the bar for a night shift.
When we started Go Thrift, we sold only on eBay. On eBay, customers are more focused on the product, not on who the seller is, so it took us a while to build our name on the platform.
We focused on presenting good-quality products and listings on eBay. Any minimal damage, marks, or defects are stated on the listing. We also include clear descriptions, measurements, and good photography.
We had to really focus on pricing our products competitively because lots of people sell secondhand clothes on eBay.
Focusing on small details helped customers remember us as a high-quality seller
Though eBay charges a small percentage in seller fees per item sold, it's worth it. It has fantastic support in terms of its customer service and a worldwide platform for our items to be seen on.
We transitioned to sourcing our clothes from the US and Europe at the start of 2020. Our cofounder shut his wholesale business, so we had to find another option for sourcing stock.
Large clothing plants across the US and Europe receive unwanted clothing donations from around the world. The plants resell them in bulk cheaply. This helped us scale.
In March 2020, as COVID-19 shut down England, I left my hospitality job to work full time on Go Thrift. It was quite a risk, but the hospitality industry was forced to close, so I took it as an opportunity.
It was exciting and terrifying to leave an industry I'd worked in for so long, but COVID-19 gave us the time to concentrate on the business.
After quitting, I worked 10 hours a day at the warehouse, and we all tried our best to push the brand. My cofounders and I washed clothes, steamed, and photographed the clothing. We manually uploaded all our items to eBay.
When the High Street shut down, it accelerated our growth because it pushed people into online shopping
We hired our first member of staff in April 2020. All the founders were now working on the business full time in specialized sectors, so we'd benefit from an extra pair of hands. I work as the operations director at the company.
We started working on a website for the business in October 2021, and it launched in April. The website cost about £17,000, but we're still getting most of our orders from eBay.
We wanted to scale dramatically. So in April, we secured investment from One Planet Capital, a sustainable investment company.
The investment will help us move into a 30,000-square-foot warehouse and hire up to 20 staffers.
Last year, Go Thrift turned over £1.1 million, about $1.35 million, in revenue from selling on eBay alone
The advice I'd give to anyone looking to start an eBay store is to take the leap and go for it. Make sure you do your research first, based on the area where you're looking to sell. Have a good eye on your competitors, and do it better than they do.
More: contributor 2022 as told to UK Freelance
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How a Secondhand-Clothes Company Made $1.35 Million on eBay Last Year
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-ebay-sell-secondhand-clothes-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-ebay-sell-secondhand-clothes-2022-6
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CEO and Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre speaks at the group’s annual convention in Houston, Texas on May 27, 2022.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was unveiled Tuesday and will likely pass both chambers this week.
Both the NRA and House Freedom Caucus announced their opposition within an hour of the bill's release.
14 Republican senators broke ranks and voted to advance the legislation on Tuesday evening.
Senators unveiled on Tuesday evening the much-anticipated Bipartisan Safer Communities, which will enact the most significant new federal gun restrictions since the 1990s.
Within the hour, two major conservative groups declared their opposition.
"This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians," declared the National Rifle Association in a release sent less than 30 minutes after the legislative text became available on Tuesday.
—NRA (@NRA) June 21, 2022
The hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus declared it "will oppose any legislation that implements, funds, or expands unconstitutional and ineffective red flag laws," the group said in a statement sent less than an hour after the bill's release.
—House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) June 22, 2022
Lawmakers released a framework last week outlining key provisions authored by a bipartisan group of senators, including Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona alongside Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Conservatives quickly began registering their opposition.
On Friday, Cornyn was drowned out by boos from members of his own party amid anger on the right over the bill's new provisions.
But in the Senate, the legislation has ultimately garnered significant bipartisan support. After McConnell expressed support for the framework last week, he and 13 other Senate Republicans voted late on Tuesday to tee up a Thursday vote on the bill.
That included three Republican senators — Todd Young of Indiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — who weren't among the ten who had initially announced their support for the framework.
Still, most Senate Republicans voted against the measure, and it's not expected to garner significant GOP support when the House takes up the bill later this week.
—Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 22, 2022
Both the NRA and the House Freedom Caucus took issue with the "red flag" law provision of the bill — according to the text, $750 million is allocated to support states and tribes in enacting these laws, which give authorities and courts the power to temporarily confiscate guns from individuals if they are deemed to pose an immediate threat to themselves or others.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia currently have some form of red flag laws. But both the NRA and the House Freedom Caucus say that those measures infringe on Americans' Second Amendment rights.
"These laws are ripe for abuse as they give government the power to decide who is deemed mentally fit to own a firearm based on the say-so of any accuser, and that should concern every American," said the Freedom Caucus.
The caucus also called on Republican senators to "use every procedural tool at their disposal" to slow the process down.
Meanwhile, the NRA's objection to the bill was more general, arguing that the legislation "leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisions."
Tellingly, the NRA's statement against the bill included a photo of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — not the group of senators, half of whom were Republicans, who worked on the bill.
More: Congress NRA National Rifle Association House Freedom Caucus
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2022-06-22T15:16:10Z
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The NRA Bashed the Bipartisan Senate Gun Bill Right After Its Release
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https://www.businessinsider.com/nra-freedom-caucus-opposed-senate-gun-bill-less-than-hour-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/nra-freedom-caucus-opposed-senate-gun-bill-less-than-hour-2022-6
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Aaron Rigsby has been chasing storms for more than a decade.
Twin tornadoes over Pilger, Nebraska in June 2014.
Aaron Rigsby
On the day of a chase, I use real-time data and surface observations to adjust my target area. If there are multiple storms forming, I have to decide which one is going to produce tornadoes, big hail , or any kind of structure that I want to get pictures of.
A Tornado over Chapham, Kansas in May 2016.
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2022-06-22T15:16:22Z
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I'm a Pro Storm Chaser Who Films Extreme Weather for the News
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https://www.businessinsider.com/storm-chaser-job-live-salary-news-extreme-weather-hurricanes
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https://www.businessinsider.com/storm-chaser-job-live-salary-news-extreme-weather-hurricanes
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In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo Amy Kremer, founder and chair of Women for America First, speaks in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump.
A leading conservative activist told Politico that Trump is "disconnected from the base."
"I think he's getting bad advice from the people around him," said Women for America First leader Amy Kremer.
Trump's picks in Republican US Senate primaries have put him at odds with some right-wing activists.
A leading conservative activist and organizer of the Save America rally on January 6 said former President Donald Trump is "disconnected" from the GOP base and "getting bad advice" after he switched his endorsement in an Alabama Senate race.
Katie Britt, who Trump backed shortly before the runoff after initially endorsing and then un-endorsing her opponent Rep. Mo Brooks, won a Republican primary runoff for an open US Senate seat in Alabama on Tuesday.
"Donald Trump is disconnected from the base," Amy Kremer, leader of Women for America First and a Brooks supporter, told Politico for a story about Tuesday's Alabama Senate runoff.
"I don't know what has happened there," Kremer, also a longtime activist in the Tea Party movement, told Politico. "I think he's getting bad advice from the people around him, and I think it's unfortunate, but it's time for those of us in the movement to get back to basics, back to our first principles."
"We were here long before President Trump came along, and we're going to be here long afterward," she said.
Brooks was one of Trump's top allies in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Congress and he secured endorsements from a slew of Trumpworld figures in his Senate campaign.
But after Brooks' fundraising sputtered and he faltered in the polls, Trump pulled his endorsement, saying that Brooks "went woke" over the 2020 election.
"It's quite clear that Donald Trump has no loyalty to anyone or anything but himself," Brooks fumed in an earlier interview with AL.com.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a longtime Brooks supporter, similarly said Trump turning on Brooks had "certainly a sense of bad irony."
"Many of us were conservative, slash libertarian, slash constitutionalists well before there was a Donald Trump," Paul said on a campaign call in support of Brooks, according to Politico. "We were glad Donald Trump was with us on so many things, but it doesn't make him the end-all of everything."
"I would say, without question, Mo Brooks is probably the most loyal person to Donald Trump than probably all of the congressmen I can think of," Paul added. "And there's certainly a sense of bad irony that the president didn't repay that loyalty. And I'll never understand it, and never justify it."
Some of Trump's other endorsements so far this cycle, like his backing of Dr. Mehmet Oz and JD Vance for open Senate seats in Pennsylvania and Ohio, have rankled some Republicans in those states and spurred a feud between Trump and an influential Republican group, the Club for Growth.
In other cases during the 2022 primary cycle, Trump has swept in at the last minute to endorse a candidate, like his backing of Britt after he un-endorsed Brooks, and his 11th-hour endorsement of Doug Mastriano for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in Pennsylvania.
And two more of Trump's endorsed US House candidates in Georgia, former state Rep. Vernon Jones and Jake Evans, also lost in Republican primary runoffs on Tuesday.
Jones' and Evans' defeats continued a losing streak for Trump in Georgia, where his chosen candidates to challenge Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger lost outright in May.
But their losses aren't an all-out repudiation of Trump given that the victors, Mike Collins and Rich McCormick, also embraced Trump's brand of politics. In one campaign ad, for example, Collins is seen driving a truck with "TRUMP AGENDA" painted on the side and a Trump bobblehead on the dashboard.
"At this point in time, the Trump endorsement is neutral. It's not a plus and it's not a negative," Gordon Rhoden, chairman of the Athens-Clarke County Republican Party, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "People are moving beyond that."
More: Amy Kremer Donald Trump 2022 midterms GOP
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2022-06-22T15:16:28Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Top Conservative Activist Says Trump Is 'Disconnected From the Base'
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https://www.businessinsider.com/top-conservative-activist-says-trump-is-disconnected-from-the-base-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/top-conservative-activist-says-trump-is-disconnected-from-the-base-2022-6
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Arizona state House speaker Rusty Bowers is sworn in before the January 6 committee on June 21, 2022.
Bowers offered emotional testimony to the January 6 committee on Tuesday.
The Republican legislator detailed the harassment he faced incited by Trump's election lies.
But Bowers said he would vote for Trump again if the former president runs for reelection in 2024.
Russell "Rusty" Bowers, the Republican speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, offered emotional testimony to the January 6 committee on Tuesday in which he detailed the harassment he endured as President Donald Trump pressured him to reverse the state's 2020 election results.
But despite facing that pressure, and cooperating with a committee that's investigating the former president's actions surrounding the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Bowers says he would vote for Trump again if he runs for reelection in 2024.
"If he is the nominee, if he was up against Biden, I'd vote for him again," Bowers told the Associated Press this week. "Simply because what he did the first time, before COVID, was so good for the county. In my view it was great."
Bowers' statement of cautious support for Trump — as well as the acknowledgement that he may again face a choice between him and President Joe Biden — underscores both his identity as a conservative Republican, and the nature of America's two-party system.
Just recently, Republican Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina — who lost his primary to a Trump-backed primary challenger after voting to impeach Trump and comparing the former president to a dictator — said he might vote for Trump again if he apologized for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot.
Following the 2020 presidential election, Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, sought to pressure Bowers to call the legislature back into session in order to "recall" the state's electoral votes after Biden was declared the winner.
On Tuesday, Bowers spoke at length about the effects of that pressure campaign. "We received... in excess of 20,000 emails and tens of thousands of voicemails and texts, which saturated our offices," he said.
He went on to detail harassment at his home from Trump supporters and others who believed the election had been stolen.
"It is the new pattern, or a pattern, in our lives to worry what will happen on Saturdays," said Bowers. "Because we have various groups come by and they have had video panel trucks with videos of me, proclaiming me to be a pedophile and a pervert and a corrupt politician."
—CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 21, 2022
"There was one gentleman that had the three bars on his chest and he had a pistol and was threatening of my neighbor," said Bowers, apparently referring to the insignia worn by members of far-right "Three Percenter" militias.
He also spoke of how the harassment outside his home affected his daughter, who was sick at the time with a terminal illness and died on February 1, 2021.
"We had a daughter who was gravely ill who was upset by what was happening outside," said Bowers. "And my wife ... is a valiant person. Very very strong, quiet, very strong woman."
"So it was disturbing, it's disturbing," he added.
More: Congress Rusty Bowers january 6 Trump
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2022-06-22T16:18:43Z
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Rusty Bowers Says He'd Back Trump Again Despite 'Disturbing' Pressure Campaign
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https://www.businessinsider.com/arizona-house-speaker-rusty-bowers-vote-trump-again-pressure-campaign-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/arizona-house-speaker-rusty-bowers-vote-trump-again-pressure-campaign-2022-6
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'A trillion dollars will come into this market overnight': Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary outlines how crypto regulation could propel the industry to new heights, and breaks down his strategies for investing in cryptocurrencies
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary is bullish on crypto, and sees regulation as the key for huge capital investment.
REUTERS/Gus Ruelas
Shark Tank investor Kevin O' Leary is a former crypto skeptic turned true believer.
On the Bankless Podcast, O'leary said clear legislation will drive up crypto's value.
He shared his strategies for intelligently investing in cryptocurrencies.
Back in 2019, Kevin O'Leary went on CNBC and called bitcoin "garbage," a "useless currency," and said that when it comes to bitcoin investment, "there is nothing here except raw speculation. No different than when I put my money on black or red at a casino."
"When people put real money into this they make no interest, they can't pay their taxes with it, the regulators don't like it which is always problem for compliance, and where's the long term value," O'Leary asked bitcoin bull Anthony Pompliano on an episode of CNBC's SquawkBox later in 2019.
But in the years since, the "Shark Tank" judge and O'Shares Investments chairman has completely changed his mind on crypto.
In fact, O'Leary has become a vocal crypto bull, and recently visited members of Congress in Washington DC currently debating the merits of Senator Lummins' crypto bill to lobby on behalf of the industry to Congress.
O'Leary recently went on the Bankless Podcast, where he shared his optimism about crypto despite the market's recent downturn, and why he thinks that with clear regulatory frameworks in place crypto could become the "12th sector of the economy."
Why regulation matters
Crypto has traditionally been seen as a fringe aspect of the financial world, largely due to the lack of regulatory oversight in the industry. Just last year SEC Chief Gary Gensler called crypto the "wild west" of investing, and said that crypto needs more investor protection.
For O'Leary, it was the fact that crypto could see itself getting regulated by authorities that made him change his mind.
"What turned me around, what changed me completely was when the Canadians, the OSC (Ontario Securities Commission), granted the very first crypto exchange license attached to a dealer broker, a compliant platform. It wasn't rogue anymore," O'Leary explained to the Bankless hosts.
"They were moving forward with policy — that was regulated — and I immediately started investing in that because I saw it coming. I saw the writing on the wall," O'Leary continued.
O'Leary said regulation in Canada could spur other countries to adopt their own crypto rules. And while regulation is important for protecting crypto investors, what O'Leary's really excited about is how regulatory oversight will create clear rules that allow sovereign wealth funds and pension plans — where he says the majority of the world's capital is held — to begin investing in cryptocurrency.
"I always ask these institutions and these sovereign funds, what allocation would you put into bitcoin? Just bitcoin — what would you allocate if you could? And they said, well, we can't because our compliance department won't allow it because the SEC hasn't ruled on it yet," O'Leary said.
O'Leary said that once regulations are adopted, the people who he knows who manage funds for sovereign wealth funds and pension plans would "allocate 50 to 100 basis points" to crypto. While that may not be a huge number, considering that the funds O'Leary's describing have billions, if not trillions in funds, that's very big money for the crypto industry.
"And that's a huge amount of demand that would come into the market," O'Leary said. "And as bitcoin prices went past that 1% allocation, let's say, they'd sell it back down to 1%, but just importantly, if it dropped below 1%, they'd buy it back up. So there'd be an internal bid forever. The volatility would drop dramatically. There'd be price appreciation in bitcoin. It would be good for everybody involved in crypto, but we can't do it without policy."
"I'm talking about bringing the real money into crypto, the real sovereign wealth," O'Leary continued. "And so for everybody that used to criticize me about saying, let's get this thing regulated, now they understand why they wanna get it regulated too. It's the trillion dollars that'll come into this market overnight when it's regulated."
O'Leary's investment strategy boils down to two main concepts: diversifying your crypto investments, and focusing on companies that are building crypto infrastructure.
"I own 32 positions, 32 chain projects, 32 different coins of tokens," O'Leary said. "I have no idea which ones will win over the next five years, but I don't need them all to win. I just need a few to win, that's what diversification's all about."
Some of the specific cryptocurrencies O'Leary has invested in include bitcoin and ethereum — where he says he's focused most of his investments — as well as the altcoins solana and polygon.
O'Leary then explained why he believes infrastructure bets are important for his crypto investing thesis.
"I've made some investments in the infrastructure, you know, that old adage about the gold rush, you were better off owning and selling picks and shovels and jeans than you were trying to find gold."
O'Leary is an investor and paid spokesperson for FTX, the crypto exchange founded by wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried. He described FTX as the "first compliant institutional platform" that his auditors have allowed him to use.
O'Leary is also an investor in Circle, the company behind the stablecoin USDC. And he's involved with WonderFi, a Canadian crypto-trading platform.
"I don't invest in projects that I don't use. I don't care whether it's a product or it's a crypto product or whatever. You don't see me in a lot of these very speculative tokens because I don't use them," O'Leary said.
While he doesn't see much clarity prior to the American midterm election, O'Leary said that after the House is settled, Congress will turn its attention to setting cryptocurrency policy.
Specifically, O'Leary thinks stablecoins should be the first sector of the crypto world to be regulated, and he has some ideas about what those regulations should look like.
"It's gonna look like this: 30 day audit on the assets underneath it. You can bring any kind of stablecoin you want, but there's gonna be a 30 day audit. No assets supporting the token or coin with a duration more than 12 months. So if you're gonna use T-bills, they gotta be short duration, probably average of six months duration, and that's very much like a money market," O'Leary said, specifically addressing the criticism that stablecoins — like Tether — lack solvent assets backing their stablecoin.
O'Leary ended the discussion on a positive note about crypto, despite the bear market that has crushed digital investments over the last few months.
"I think what happens is you get a binary increase in the value of crypto, the minute people even sense policy, and that's gonna happen sometime in January, February, and March. So I wanna be positioned before then," O'Leary said.
"It's like being involved in the internet in its most early days," O'Leary continued. "Same thing is going on here. Long term, it's a great investment, but boy volatility. Yeah. It's tough. 50% up, 50% down, 60% swings. Well, that was Amazon 12, 15 years ago. Now it's bitcoin today."
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crypto accountant
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2022-06-22T16:18:49Z
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Cryptocurrency Regulation Will Bring Big Money: Kevin O'Leary
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https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-investing-regulation-ethereum-bitcoin-stablecoin-polygon-gensler-kevin-oleary-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-investing-regulation-ethereum-bitcoin-stablecoin-polygon-gensler-kevin-oleary-2022-6
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A fintech VC is disclosing a decade of return data showing a billion-dollar gain. Now he is challenging other VCs to open their books.
Dovi Frances is the founding partner of Group 11, a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles.
Most VC firms carefully guard their returns as if they were state secrets.
But Dovi Frances, the founding partner of Group 11, thinks VCs should be more open.
Frances shared his returns with Insider, which showed more than $1 billion of paper gains.
If you want to know whether a venture fund is making money from its investments in tech startups, good luck. Most venture-capital firms carefully guard their returns on their investments as if they were state secrets. Unlike many other financial institutions, VCs are not required to open their books.
"I do think it has been mostly cultural as to why VCs haven't shared more nonconfidential performance information publicly," said Beezer Clarkson, who leads the venture strategy at Sapphire Partners and is the creator of the website OpenLP. "Historically the venture industry has been quite opaque."
But Dovi Frances, the founding partner of Group 11, a financial-technology-focused venture firm in Los Angeles, thinks VCs should show more of their cards, and he is happy to take the lead.
"There are almost 3,000 players in the venture-capital industry, and almost none of them are transparent," Frances said.
"I think it's good to be transparent, he said, adding: "We're not a Sequoia or Andreeseen yet." Frances was mentioning two of the most storied venture firms, which have been investing for decades. He believes that transparency is a way to set his firm apart from the competitors, he said.
Frances shared his returns with Insider, which showed more than $1 billion of unrealized gains and strong returns over his five funds.
For instance, thanks to early bets on Sunbit, EquityBee, Papaya Global, and Tipalti, 2019's Fund IV has returned a 123% gross internal rate of return, which measures the annualized rate of return for a given investment. That puts it in the top quartile and well above the 46% median return, according to Cambridge Associates. (IRR tends to be higher during the early years of a fund and flatten over time.)
Fund IV's total value paid in, which measures what a fund has produced for investors relative to the amount of money contributed, was 2.479, also in top quartile and well above the 2019 median.
Frances says the first thing he does when he meets with founders is show them his past performance, which he thinks is a good indicator of future success in venture.
Frances, who believes in intuition and eschews group decision-making, founded Group 11 in 2012 after a career in financial services and remains its only general partner. He was born in Israel and spends about six weeks a year there. Seventy percent of his portfolio has either Israeli founders or some presence in the country.
Frances is critical of not only his fellow VCs' lack of transparency but also their investment choices. He dismisses cryptocurrencies as a passing fad and says valuations in many companies have gotten overheated because of "financial engineering." He said half of the 1,346 unicorns — startups valued at more than $1 billion — were fake.
"The real ones will become massive companies," Frances said. "The fake one will die of violent death."
Naturally, Frances puts the seven unicorns in his portfolio in the first category. They are HomeLight (which Group 11 was the first investor in), Sunbit (it was the first investor and led the seed and most recent Series D round), Tipalti (it led the Series A funding round), TripActions, Papaya Global, Next Insurance, and Addepar.
Frances is adamant that the market downturn that is likely to bring a wave of pain for many VCs has spared his portfolio.
"When companies are well capitalized and have remarkable market opportunity, they don't respond to the hiccups that we're seeing in the public market," Frances said. "But definitely certain companies, if they were public companies, would be subject to pretty significant markdowns. That's the benefit of the private market."
Clarkson of OpenLP praises Frances' openness but cautions about reading too much into paper gains since the only true measure of venture performance can take over a decade to show up: by selling a company or taking it public.
"Venture-fund returns take many years to go from paper returns to distributed capital, so reading too much into interim marks can also be misleading both on the positive and the not so positive side, which, I think, has also contributed to investors not wanting to share publicly," Clarkson said.
Frances started raising a sixth fund in February and said he's about halfway to his $150 million target.
"It's not a fun environment to raise in, but if anyone can do it, it's a top-performing manager," Frances said.
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2022-06-22T16:19:07Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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A Fintech VC Is Sharing a Decade of Return Data
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https://www.businessinsider.com/los-angeles-vc-investor-sharing-return-data-startups-venture-capital-2022-5
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https://www.businessinsider.com/los-angeles-vc-investor-sharing-return-data-startups-venture-capital-2022-5
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Paul Borrow-Longain with Ilma Bogdan at a Help for Heroes Carol Concert in December 2019
Paul Borrow-Longain is under investigation by the Conservative Party over alleged "disreputable" behaviour.
Since Insider's investigation, further sources said they too were pressured to take out loans.
One Tory source said he was banned from their affiliate after he emailed diplomats seeking money.
Paul Borrow-Longain is being investigated by the Conservative Party for a possible breach of the party's code of conduct, as yet more allegations about him pressuring people to take out loans surface.
Last week, Insider revealed that Borrow-Longain — whose original name is Paul Langan — had repeatedly urged young people to seek startup loans for businesses, from which he would take "directors expenses".
One person is taking him to court, while another complained to police saying she had been left £10,000 in debt and is pursuing complaints with the police and the lender.
Since publication, Insider has been approached by multiple other sources – individuals, a charity, and MPs – who described similar experiences with Borrow-Longain.
'He slowly started taking control'
One was David Baum, founder of PTSD organisation The 365 Challenge and exercise campaign Move for Wellness.
Baum's story echoed what other sources told Insider previously: he was contacted by Borrow-Longain via social media and invited to the Carlton Club to discuss Borrow-Longain's involvement with his organisation.
Borrow-Longain also introduced his then-employee Ilma Bogdan as someone who "worked closely" with Prince William. Bogdan could not be reached for comment for this story.
After the meeting, Borrow-Longain "slowly started to take control," Baum said.
He initially offered to invest in 365 and "develop it into a proper business", Baum said.
But instead Borrow-Longain then asked him to take out a loan, through Virgin Startup, as "we would need more than he anticipated". This is the same bank that others said they were encouraged to approach.
Baum said he was rejected for a loan because of his credit rating. Then, he said, Borrow-Longain encouraged his son to try. Baum said this was also unsuccessful because of a pre-existing loan.
Instead, Baum says, Borrow-Longain proposed to make £10,000 "available" for costs to do with the company, which Baum would repay over time. This is supported by documents seen by Insider.
Borrow-Longain held the sum and paid suppliers, Baum said. Most of the costs, such as for a web developer and social media, were for companies Baum said he later discovered were owned or part-owned by Borrow-Longain.
Baum said that after he missed one repayment, Borrow-Longain threatened to take him to court, although Baum successfully resisted this. Baum said he asked to see the balance of the loan, but that Borrow-Longain refused.
Two weeks before Insider's investigation was published, Baum made a complaint to the Conservative Party. He received a response after the story was published.
In correspondence seen by Insider, a Conservative official said the party was investigating whether Borrow-Longain has committed "a disciplinary offence under the Party's code of conduct".
"We are interested if he has used his Conservative Party connections to take improper advantage of others because that would be disreputable. That includes what he does in his business life."
Seeking money from diplomats
Separately, sources told Insider that Borrow-Longain used his connections at a Conservative affiliate where he was a member in an attempt to obtain money from diplomats. He was dropped from the organisation as a result.
One Tory source, who asked not to be named for fear it would harm their career, said: "He claimed to have connections with the party and was emailing diplomats saying 'I can give you close access – you need to pay this amount and I will connect you'.
"But he wasn't close to anyone at all…. He infringed all sorts of diplomatic protocols."
Borrow-Longain also organised a birthday party at the Carlton Club where he pressured people to give him money, the same source said.
"His birthday party was a farce. He said 'come to the Carlton Club', and when we got there there was one envelope per person saying 'can you contribute £100 towards your dinner or help my charity'. We were under really high pressure to contribute… he was saying 'please leave a cheque, please leave me money'."
'Everything was about politics'
More political angles have also surfaced since the initial article was published.
Borrow-Longain was also seeking to "lobby" a UK government department to receive a contract for one of his firms, two sources said.
One said they cut ties with him at this point, over concerns it would be illegal to lobby without being on the official register.
"It was all poo-poohed" by Borrow-Longain, one source said, "almost as if those are rules for little people and the Conservative Party doesn't follow that."
"Everything was about politics," another said.
Sources said it was shared on the Tory WhatsApp group, as several Conservative MPs had come into contact with Borrow-Longain. They also asked not to be named for fear of professional repercussions.
At least one MP said Borrow-Longain offered them a £10,000 "grant", which would take the form of credit to use with Borrow-Longain's startup ADR Technology. The MP told Insider they did not accept this offer.
Two sources told Insider that Borrow-Longain had claimed to have bought several dinner tickets to a fundraising event for Nicola Richards, MP for West Bromwich East, equivalent to a donation of just under £1,000.
However, after speaking with some of the guests later, Richards realised that the majority of Borrow-Longain's group covered their cost themselves.
She told Insider: "Paul was one of many guests that came to my dinner last year, we spoke briefly and he left very early after he donated £10 in the raffle. Our last communication was shortly after to confirm payment of the tickets that were yet to be paid at the time of the event."
'He needs to be stopped'
Multiple sources have now told Insider they knew Borrow-Longain under his prior name, Langan. they said they believe he changed his name in 2013 or 2014. Several described him as a "Walter Mitty character", a reference to the fictional daydreamer and fantasist.
Paul J Langan in 2010
Two expressed concern that other people may still be at risk of being pressured into taking out loans or may have already done so.
"He needs to be stopped and I don't know how to stop him," said one source.
Borrow-Longain had not responded to repeated requests for comment at the time of publication.
A CCHQ spokesman confirmed that an investigation was underway, but declined to comment further until it concluded.
Two Conservative members said the Carlton Club has revoked Borrow-Longain's membership, but the business did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
More: News UK Scammer Conservative Party
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2022-06-22T16:19:25Z
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Tories Investigate Donor Borrow-Longain After Insider Investigation
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tories-investigate-donor-borrow-longain-after-insider-investigation-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tories-investigate-donor-borrow-longain-after-insider-investigation-2022-6
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Passengers wait for boarding at LGA.
Chaos at US airports has become the norm, with cancelations on key weekends happening four times as often when compared to 2019.
US airlines delayed or canceled more than 35,000 flights over the Juneteenth and Father's Day weekend.
Travel analyst Henry Harteveldt told Insider that weather and staffing issues are driving the disruptions.
Travelers hoping for a smooth journey after nearly two years of COVID disruptions are being confronted with a nightmare at the airport: Airlines have canceled flights four times as often on key travel weekends this year when compared to 2019, according to an Insider analysis of US flight data.
It's making for a chaotic summer travel season as demand surges toward levels last seen before the pandemic.
And things are only going to get worse, some experts and airline industry leaders say. They blame a series of issues conspiring to bottle up the system: pilot shortages, a lack of staff at air traffic control centers, and bad weather.
"The system doesn't bend anymore when there's a problem," Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group told Insider. "It just snaps."
This year, airlines canceled 5% of all US-scheduled flights on May 27, the Friday before Memorial Day weekend — and 26% of flights arrived late. In 2019 over the same weekend, only 1% of flights were canceled on that Friday, while 17% of flights were late, according to FlightAware data.
The situation did not improve over the past weekend, with the long Juneteenth holiday. Airlines canceled more than 35,000 flights — 6% of the total scheduled on Thursday and 5% on Friday.
Busy holiday weekends have jammed up the system most so far this year, but flight cancelations have risen to 3% of all US-scheduled flights in 2022 compared to 2% in 2019, according to FlightAware data. Delays are on the rise, too. Experts say these are the issues to watch before you head to the airport this summer:
Dark clouds of a thunderstorm above an airport.
Issarawat Tattong/Shutterstock.com
Harteveldt explained the "biggest unknown" affecting airlines is the weather, especially with the upcoming hurricane season.
Airlines have been searching for solutions, like allowing aircraft to fly at lower altitudes below storm systems, according to a report from CNBC, but that strategy would increase the amount of fuel they burn — and with jet prices skyrocketing, that can put stress on airlines' bottom line.
Meanwhile, American Airlines has created a program called HEAT that tracks potential disruptions so the carrier can proactively adjust its schedule.
"We can start hours in advance, in some cases five, six hours in advance of what we believe the storm is going to be," American chief operating officer David Seymour told CNBC. "We've got to be able to be very nimble and adaptive to the scenario as it plays out."
Air traffic control staffing
Air traffic controller.
Burben/Shutterstock
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has blamed air traffic control, or ATC, for the mass disruptions in the US, saying staffing shortages have caused issues at its Newark, New Jersey hub.
"We've had weekends recently where [ATC] is at 50% staffing, and those controllers are working their tails off to be successful," he said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday. "But, when you're at 50% staff with 89 operations scheduled, and they had us on a perfect clear blue sky day at 36 operations per hour, it's a nightmare for customers, for employees, and the airlines."
To combat the issues in places like Florida, Texas, and Newark, the FAA has launched its "Be ATC" campaign to "hire the next generation of air traffic controllers." The application process opens on June 24 to eligible US citizens, but the window of opportunity is only open through June 27.
The pilot shortage is another factor driving delays and cancellations, Harteveldt told Insider. During the pandemic, airlines lost a significant number of pilots due to early retirement. They're now struggling to hire, train, and retain enough pilots.
Regional carriers have been particularly affected because their pilots are being scooped up by bigger airlines that pay more. However, some American wholly-owned regional carriers, like Envoy and Piedmont, are nearly doubling their pilot salaries as a way to keep them flying.
Possible government intervention
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
If operations don't get better, Harteveldt said that the federal government has a responsibility to step in to "make sure the industry is serving its customers fairly."
On Saturday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the Associated Press that there may be consequences for airline flight disruptions, particularly after his own flight from Washington, DC to New York was canceled on Friday.
Buttigieg said he's asking airlines to "stress-test" their schedules to make sure they can operate as advertised, the AP reported. That could mean even more cancelations if airlines determine they don't have enough staff to cover their scheduled flights.
More: Airlines Aviation Pilot Shortage FAA
flight disruptions
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Flight Cancellations: Weather and Staffing Shortages Cripple Airlines
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https://www.businessinsider.com/weather-and-staffing-shortages-flight-cancellations-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/weather-and-staffing-shortages-flight-cancellations-2022-6
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North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer says he'll be 'doling out a lot of left-handed fist bumps' after yard work accident that could result in amputation of his fingers
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota at a hearing on Capitol Hill on May 10, 2022.
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota injured his hand while doing yard work over the weekend.
He says he'll be missing votes this week and may need to have his fingers amputated.
He said he expects "to be doling out a lot of left-handed fist bumps" when he returns.
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said on Wednesday that fingers on his right hand may need to be amputated after a yard work accident over the weekend.
"While working in the yard over the weekend, I sustained a serious injury to my right hand, which required immediate surgery," Cramer said in a statement. "I continue to remain in North Dakota close to medical care as there is a high risk of infection and the possible need for amputation."
Molly Block, a spokeswoman for Cramer, told Insider after initial publication that his fingers, rather than his entire right hand, may need to be amputated.
Cramer was one of two senators that was absent for a procedural vote on a new bipartisan bill to address gun violence on Tuesday night.
"I am alert and in good spirits. Although I am missing this week of votes and hearings, I am monitoring Senate business closely and in constant contact with my colleagues and staff," he added.
Cramer added that he plans to return to Washington, DC, after the July 4 recess and expects "to be doling out a lot of left-handed fist bumps."
—Sen. Kevin Cramer (@SenKevinCramer) June 22, 2022
More: Congress Kevin Cramer North Dakota Yardwork
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GOP Senator Says His Fingers Could Be Amputated After Yard Work Accident
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https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-cramer-hand-amputated-yardwork-accident-left-handed-fist-bumps-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-cramer-hand-amputated-yardwork-accident-left-handed-fist-bumps-2022-6
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Ukrtelecom is owned by Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.
Michael Gottschalk/Photothek/Getty Images
Ukrainian telecom employees destroyed equipment in Russian-occupied areas to avoid Russian control.
Ukrtelecom is the largest fixed-line operator in Ukraine, its CEO, Yuriy Kurmaz, told Bloomberg.
Some of the company's facilities have been destroyed or damaged during Russia's war in Ukraine.
In Ukraine's occupied territories, workers at one of the country's leading telecommunications providers destroyed equipment to avoid Russian control of internet and phone services.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Ukrtelecom's chief executive officer, Yuriy Kurmaz, said employees at the company have experienced threats and some have been imprisoned by Russian forces throughout occupied territories in southern and eastern Ukraine.
As Russian forces try to take over parts of Ukraine, Kurmaz told Bloomberg they've tried taking over parts of Ukrtelecom's network through hacking and cyberattacks, which the company has endured since March.
But instead of letting Russian forces take control of the network, employees at Ukrtelecom facilities in the occupied territories "decided to delete crucial files from computers," Kurmaz told Bloomberg.
"They put pressure on our employees to obtain the technical details of our network infrastructure," Kurmaz said about Russian personnel in the area. "But they failed."
Kurmaz told Bloomberg that his employees "completely destroyed the software," so the Russians couldn't connect their own equipment to Ukrainian networks.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February, Russian forces have refocused their efforts to the eastern part of Ukraine since it failed to capture the capital city of Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been asking the West for more weapons, while his senior adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, told the BBC that the country was losing 100 to 200 soldiers each day.
Ukrtelecom is Ukraine's largest fixed line operator, according to Kurmaz, and is used by the public, the Ukrainian military, and some Ukrainian government agencies.
The telecom provider is owned by Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.
During Russia's war in Ukraine, Kurmaz told Bloomberg that more than 30 of Ukrtelecom's facilities have been destroyed, and about 100 others have been damaged. But, Kurmaz said the company's been able to continue serving customers in over 80% of localities where it operates.
In an interview with Ukrinform, a state information and news agency in Ukraine, Kurmaz said Ukrtelecom was able to restore its landline phone network in over 1,200 settlements, and more than 350,000 households have communication services.
Due to the war, Ukrinform reported that telecom service is not available in the Luhansk and Kherson regions of Ukraine.
Bloomberg reported that some smaller internet providers in occupied parts of Ukraine are operating under Russian control, but Ukrtelecom disconnected its networks in those parts of the country.
"Our strong position is we will never collaborate," Kurmaz told Bloomberg.
More: Ukraine Russia Technology Ukraine Conflict
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2022-06-22T16:49:20Z
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Telecom Workers in Ukraine Destroyed Software to Avoid Russian Control
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https://www.businessinsider.com/telecom-workers-ukraine-destroyed-software-avoid-russian-control-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/telecom-workers-ukraine-destroyed-software-avoid-russian-control-2022-6
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Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell testifies about 'monetary policy and the state of the economy' before the House Financial Services Committee on March 02, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Interest rate hikes are the Fed's best tool for slowing inflation.
But Fed Chair Powell said Wednesday that rate hikes won't provide quick relief for soaring food and gas prices.
Whether the Fed can quickly cool inflation will depend on some factors "we don't control," he added.
The Federal Reserve is in full inflation-fighting mode, but it has a problem. Slowing the price surge in the goods slamming Americans' wallets the most requires a scalpel, and the Fed's best tool acts much more like a hammer.
The Fed's move to higher interest rates aims to cool inflation by broadly weakening demand. They translate to pricier mortgages, car loans, and credit-card debt, and such increases tend to slow Americans' spending.
Yet the prices hurting Americans the most are flying under the radar. Food and energy prices surged again through May as the war in Ukraine continued to hamper supply. Gasoline prices leaped 4.1% through the month while food costs soared 1.2%, according to the Consumer Price Index.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell appeared in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday for a semiannual hearing on monetary policy, and lawmakers were quick to lay out the mismatch plaguing the central bank. The Fed started raising interest rates in March and has since accelerated its hiking plans. Officials approved a 0.75 percentage point rate increase on Wednesday, marking the largest hike since 1994.
When Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked whether rate increases will quickly ease gas prices, Powell was clear.
"I would not think so, no," the chairman said, adding that higher rates wouldn't immediately cool food inflation either.
The discrepancy strikes at the biggest economic risk facing the US. With rate hikes serving as a relatively blunt tool broadly targeting investment and consumption across the economy, economists fear the Fed could go overboard with weakening demand. A sudden pullback in consumer spending could lead companies to cut costs by laying off workers.
In economists' worst-case scenario, the US enters a recession that features high inflation, high unemployment, and slow growth, a harmful phenomenon also known as "stagflation." Several Democrats on the committee urged Powell to keep the Fed's maximum-employment goal in mind, arguing an aggressive hiking cycle could erase some of the labor market's rebound.
"The risk is that the measures you're taking will slow down other parts of the economy without getting us the benefit of lower prices," Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told Powell.
For now, the Fed is acting fast in an attempt to start cooling inflation. Prices broadly rose 8.6% in the year through May, surpassing experts' forecasts and reflecting the fastest price growth since 1981. The reading erased hopes that inflation peaked in March and stoked new fears that the elevated pace could become a permanent feature of the US economy.
The chair reiterated his view on Wednesday that the economy is "very strong and well positioned to handle tighter monetary policy." Much of that strength comes from the labor market, which remains "extremely tight," Powell said. There are still about two job openings for every available worker, signaling demand for employees continues to outstrip supply at a historic rate.
Cooling price growth with higher rates could levy some pain on workers, but the country needs to get to more sustainable inflation levels "so we can have the labor market that we really want," Powell said.
"There are parts of the economy where demand exceeds supply and that's where we think our tools can help," he said, later adding. "The question of whether we're able to accomplish [a soft landing] is going to depend, to some extent, on factors that we don't control."
More: Economy Fed Federal Reserve Central Bank
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2022-06-22T18:21:57Z
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Fed Rate Hikes Fighting Inflation Won't Fix High Gas and Food Prices
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-rate-hikes-wont-fix-high-gas-food-prices-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-rate-hikes-wont-fix-high-gas-food-prices-2022-6
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How to make a Nether Portal or an End Portal in Minecraft to teleport between dimensions
Portals aren't always easy to make in Minecraft.
Mojang; Emma Witman/Insider
There are two major kinds of portals in Minecraft: The Nether Portal and the End Portal.
To make a Nether Portal, you'll need at least 10 obsidian blocks and some way to light them on fire.
You can find End Portals already built in strongholds, but you'll need Eyes of Ender to activate them.
In Minecraft, there are three "dimensions" you can play in: The Overworld, the Nether, and the End. Every game starts in the Overworld, and that's where you'll spend most of your time.
To get to the other dimensions, you have to build portals — or find the pre-built portals scattered around the Overworld.
How to make a Nether Portal in Minecraft
The Nether is a bit like Minecraft's version of hell. It's filled with lava, fire, and undead warriors. But it's also the only place you can find important items like blaze rods and glowstones.
To make a Nether Portal, you'll need two things: Obsidian and some way to set the obsidian on fire.
There are a few ways to get obsidian. Obsidian blocks spawn whenever water flows into lava, and you can mine it with a diamond pickaxe. You can also find them spawned naturally in some woodland mansions or ocean ruins.
Obsidian blocks made by water flowing into lava.
When it comes to the fire, you should use a flint and steel tool. Combining one iron ingot with one unit of flint (which you can find by mining gravel) gives you a flint and steel. Use the flint and steel on any block to set it on fire.
You only need 10 obsidian blocks, but getting 14 blocks makes building the portal frame easier. You only need one flint and steel.
Once you've got your obsidian, use it to build your portal frame. Depending on whether you have 14 obsidian blocks or 10, there are two ways to make the portal frame.
If you have 14 obsidian blocks, the frame should be four blocks long and five blocks tall. Place four blocks in a row on the ground, then stack four blocks on both sides of that row. Use your last two blocks to connect the pillars at the top.
A full Nether Portal takes 14 blocks of obsidian.
You can make the same portal with only 10 obsidian blocks by cutting out the corners. Build your portal in the same way as above, but replace the corners with any type of block. Once you're done, feel free to destroy those corner blocks.
You can cut out the corners, and the frame will still work.
You've now got your portal frame. To activate the frame and turn it into a real portal, use your flint and steel on any of the blocks.
A purple haze will fill the frame. Jump into the haze and stand there for a few seconds, and you'll be transported to the Nether.
Quick tip: You can also find half-built Nether Portals scattered naturally around the Overworld. You'll need to replace the missing pieces and activate them, but they work just as well and can save you some work.
These half-built portals are called “Ruined Portals.”
How to make an End Portal in Minecraft
Unless you're playing in Creative Mode (where you have access to every block in the game), there isn't any way to build an End Portal from scratch. Instead, you'll need to find one that's already been partially built inside of a stronghold, and finish it using Eyes of Ender.
Quick tip: In Minecraft: Java Edition, every stronghold has a partially built End Portal. In Bedrock Edition, you won't find them in every stronghold.
You can find strongholds by throwing Eyes of Ender into the air, and moving in the direction that they fly. Once you find the portal, activate it by placing an Eye of Ender into all twelve portal frames.
For more details on how to craft Eyes of Ender or find a stronghold (and how to make an End Portal in Creative Mode), check out our full article and video on how to make an End Portal.
Most End Portals you find in strongholds will have a few Eyes of Ender already placed inside.
How to make other portals in Minecraft
There are a few other kinds of portals in Minecraft. Two of them — the Exit Portal and End Gateway — can't actually be crafted. You can only spawn them by killing the Ender Dragon, or by using console commands.
The last type of portal is the Funky Portal. Added as an April Fool's joke in 2020, you could make a Funky Portal by throwing a book into a Nether Portal. Once you stepped inside, the Funky Portal would teleport you into one of 2.1 billion randomized dimensions.
You can't make Funky Portals in the current version of Minecraft. If you want to see them, you'll have to open the Launcher, click Installations at the top, click New installation, then pick Snapshot 20w14infinite from the Version drop-down menu.
TECH How to make green dye in Minecraft and how to color your items with it
More: Tech How To Minecraft Portal Minecraft Items
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How to Make a Nether Portal or End Portal in Minecraft
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-a-portal-in-minecraft
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-a-portal-in-minecraft
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How Golden Bank works
Is Golden Bank trustworthy?
Golden Bank vs. Comerica
Golden Bank vs. East West Bank
Golden Bank is an Asian American-led financial institution with branches in California and Texas.
The bottom line: Golden Bank is an Asian American-led bank in California and Texas. It might be a good match if you'd like to open a checking account with a brick-and-mortar bank. Its savings accounts aren't as strong, though.
Feature Insider
Checking 3.5
Money market accounts 3
Asian American-led financial institution that serves its local community
Great interest rates on CDs
Branches only in select cities in CA and TX
Monthly service fees on savings and money market account
Golden Bank Regular Savings Account
Free ATM card
Limit of 6 free withdrawals per quarter
$1 excess withdrawal fee
Asian American-led bank with 9 branches in California and Texas
Fee-free withdrawals at Cirrus or Pulse ATMs
To waive monthly service fee, keep at least $100 in your account daily
$1 excess withdrawal free for each withdrawal that exceeds the quarterly limit
May receive up to $25 per month in ATM refunds
Interest compounded daily, deposited monthly
The Golden Bank Regular Savings Account may be worthwhile if regularly keep at least $100 in your account — that way, you won't have to pay a $5 monthly service fee.
Keep in mind the Golden Bank Regular Savings Account only permits six free withdrawals per quarter. If you exceed the quarterly limit, you'll have to pay $1 for each additional transaction.
Golden Bank Opportunity Checking Account
May receive up to $25 in out-of-network ATM refunds
10 free debit card transactions per month
$0.50 fee for each transaction that exceeds the monthly transaction limit
No overdraft protection
Limit of 10 free debit card transactions per month
$0.50 fee for each transaction that exceeds the monthly limit
The Golden Bank Opportunity Checking Account might be a good choice if you'd like to avoid some common bank fees. The checking account doesn't have monthly service fees or out-of-network ATM fees.
Be mindful of the monthly debit card transaction limit, though. If you make more than 10 debit card transactions per month, you'll pay a $0.50 fee for each extra transaction.
Golden Bank CD
Good interest rate
Standard CD early withdrawal penalties
No terms over 3 years
Terms range from 14 days to 3 years
CD early withdrawal penalties depend on the amount deposited and term chosen; call your nearest branch for more information
You might find Golden Bank CDs appealing if you have at least $1,500 for an initial deposit. You'll earn a competitive rate for CD terms ranging from 14 days to 3 years.
If you're searching for long-term CDs, consider reading our best 5-year CD rates guide.
Golden Bank Money Market Plus Account
Tiered interest rate: Earn a higher interest if you have a higher account balance
Limit of 6 free withdrawals per month
$5 excess withdrawal fee for each withdrawal that exceeds the monthly limit
The Golden Bank Money Market Plus Account could be a decent choice if you need to make more frequent withdrawals from a savings account. The Golden Bank Money Market Plus Account lets you make six withdrawals per month, while the bank's savings account only permits six withdrawals per quarter.
That said, the Golden Bank Regular Savings Account will likely be easier to manage because it has a lower minimum balance requirement and monthly service fee than the money markey account.
Golden Bank is an Asian American-led bank with nine branches in California and Texas.
Customers may make fee-free withdrawals from Cirrus or Pulse ATMs. The Cirrus network has over 2 million ATMs worldwide, and the Pulse ATM network has over 40,000 ATMs in the US. You may also receive up to $25 in out-of-network ATM refunds per month.
Customer support is available by phone from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT on weekdays and 9 a.m to 3 p.m. CT on Saturdays.
The bank's mobile app is rated 3 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.3 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.
Golden Bank is FDIC insured. Up to $250,000 is secure in an individual bank account.
Golden Bank is designated as both a CDFI and minority depository institution. The bank provides services in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. It also has a financial literacy program with a local elementary school in Texas.
Golden Bank trustworthiness and BBB rating
We include ratings from the Better Business Bureau so you may see how the bank deals with customer issues. The BBB gave Golden Bank an NR ("No Rating") rating because it doesn't have enough information about the business to assign a rating.
BBB ratings aren't necessarily the be-all and end-all. Consider reading online customer reviews or speaking with bank customers to see if Golden Bank might be suitable.
On the bright side, Golden Bank hasn't been involved in any recent public scandals.
We compared Golden Bank to another regional bank in the same states: Comerica.
Golden Bank
CA and TX
AZ, CA, FL, MI, and TX
If you're looking to open a checking account, you'll likely prefer Golden Bank to Comerica. The Golden Bank Opportunity Checking Account doesn't charge a monthly service fee or out-of-network ATM fee, while you'll need to be mindful of both with the Comerica Access Checking Account.
For savings accounts, it'll be a close race between the two banks. Both savings accounts pay low interest rates and have a $5 monthly service fee unless you qualify to waive it.
Comerica may be worth exploring if you'd like to choose from a variety of CDs. Terms range from seven days to 10 years.
See how Golden Bank stacks up to another Asian-led bank in the same states: East West Bank.
East West Bank
CA, GA, MA, NV, NY, TX, and WA
Golden Bank will likely be a better option for avoiding monthly service fees on a checking account. The Golden Bank Opportunity Checking Account doesn't have monthly service fees. In comparison, the East West Bank Value Checking Account has a $5 monthly service fee unless you meet specific requirements.
East West Bank may stand out if you'd like to open a CD. It has a variety of CD terms available — from 32 days to 5 years. The minimum opening deposit for a CD is also lower at East West Bank than at Golden Bank.
Is Golden Bank FDIC insured?
Yes, Golden Bank is FDIC insured. When a bank is FDIC insured, money deposited into your bank account is protected even if the bank shut down.
Where is Golden Bank located?
Golden Bank has locations in California and Texas. You'll find a local branch in the following cities:
Harwin, TX
Rowland Heights, CA
What is a minority depository institution (MDI)?
An MDI is a financial institution that is part of the FDIC's Minority Depository Institution Program or the NCUA's MDI Preservation Program. To receive designation as an MDI, a financial institution must be primarily owned or led by Black Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, or Asian Americans. Financial institutions may also be required to serve these respective groups in their communities.
PERSONAL FINANCE Here's everything to know about minority depository institutions — from how they're defined to who they serve
PERSONAL FINANCE You can have two checking accounts at the same bank — but here's what to consider beforehand
PERSONAL FINANCE You can cash a check at brick-and-mortar banks even if you're not a customer — but you may have to pay a fee
More: Golden Bank Golden Bank Regular Savings Account Golden Bank Opportunity Checking Account Golden Bank CD
Asian American-owned bank
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2022-06-22T18:22:25Z
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Golden Bank Review: Asian American-Led Bank, Free Checking Account
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/golden-bank-review
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/golden-bank-review
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3 things every investor should do to thrive during a bear market, according to a financial planner
Anthony Carlton
The author, financial planner Anthony Carlton.
Investors need to accept that crashes and bear markets will happen. Have a plan for "buying the dip."
For typical investors, I recommend 90% ETFs and 10% "moonshots" — i.e. specific, strategic bets.
During a bear market, you can buy quality businesses at a discount, so make the most of it.
A bear market, when stocks are down 20% or more from recent highs, is always a double-edged sword for investors.
On one side, you have fear and panic. On the other side, opportunity. One investor understands how to leverage both sides better than anyone: Warren Buffett.
I've long admired Buffett's "be greedy when others are fearful; fearful when others are greedy" advice. He's used this strategy to add more than $50 billion to his net worth since 2008.
Today, you have an opportunity to leverage these same principles to achieve financial freedom. Here are three core principles for buying during bear markets with modern updates for investors in their 20s, 30s, and 40s
1. Accept that market crashes are part of investing
Since 1929, there have been more than two dozen bear market periods.
The best thing you can do as an investor is to plan ahead for them. The economy goes through cycles, and you'll likely see a recession or market crash a few times over the course of your investing journey.
Planning for a crash doesn't mean timing the market. If you pay attention to headlines, "experts" wrongly predict when the next crash will happen on a weekly basis. Nobody knows when the next one's coming.
But, you can always be prepared by:
Having plenty of cash
Building an "all-weather" portfolio
Planning ahead with your advisor
You want to win during good and bad markets. To do that, you'll want a strategy in place before the crash.
2. Have a strategy for 'buying the dip'
Don't just blindly follow Twitter's advice to buy the dip. Have a plan for buying.
Here are a few things to think about ahead of time.
Are you buying individual stocks?
Are you buying the entire market?
What's your timeline for buying?
For the average investor, I like a balanced approach to investing that is roughly 90% ETFs and 10% "moonshots."
ETFs allow you to buy the entire stock market at a discount without putting your eggs in one basket. The 10% "moonshots" are strategic bets on individual stocks, industries, or asset classes.
And no need to put all your cash to work at once. Spreading out your investments by dollar-cost-averaging into the market helps you take advantage of the dip while smoothing out the continued ups and downs.
To find the right investing approach, get clear on your goals and tolerance for risk.
A financial advisor can be a valuable guide.
3. Buy quality businesses with an 'economic moat' at a discount
If you are going to buy individual stocks, follow Buffett's strategy of buying great businesses that are on sale. He's a student of investing to this day, poring over companies' financial statements to find the best opportunities.
What makes a great business?
Healthy balance sheet (debt ratios tell you a lot)
Competitive advantage; large market share
Learn how to identify these companies ahead of a crash. And when you buy, think about the 10-year potential. Don't get too fixated on where the price will be one month or even one year from now.
You're aiming for long-term growth over 10 to 20 years.
Lastly, remember that you're not alone on your financial journey
Partnering with a financial advisor to build an "all-weather" plan can relieve a lot of anxiety, and even turn panic into opportunity.
Anthony Carlton, CFP, is vice president wealth advisor at Farther, a fintech startup disrupting traditional wealth management. Reach out to him on Linkedin with your questions about homebuying and personal finance. To read more of his content on money and entrepreneurship, or to explore working with him, reach out to him on Linkedin or at anthony@farther.com.
PERSONAL FINANCE Read the email a financial planner sent her clients outlining 4 ways to squeeze the most out of the bear market
More: Investing Bear Market Financial Planner Personal Finance Insider
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2022-06-22T18:22:31Z
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3 Things Every Investor Should Do During a Bear Market
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investor-do-bear-market-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investor-do-bear-market-2022-6
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The upcoming Polestar 3 SUV.
Polestar is a Swedish electric-car startup that sells vehicles online and ships them to customers.
Its CEO thinks going to a traditional dealership and haggling for a deal is a hassle.
Polestar plans to list on the Nasdaq on Friday.
Buying a new car used to mean going to a dealership and browsing dozens of vehicles to find the one that kind of, sort of, mostly met one's wants. Next came negotiating and hoping one was getting a good deal.
But times are changing.
Tesla flipped car buying on its head by foregoing dealerships and selling its electric cars directly to customers, who custom-order vehicles online and take delivery at their doorsteps. It's more like ordering a Casper mattress or pair of Warby Parker shades than the conventional car-buying experience.
Polestar, a Swedish electric-car startup that spun out of Volvo in 2017, is following suit with a similar strategy. For CEO Thomas Ingenlath, selling cars without traditional dealerships takes the headache out of the old process and is clearly the better way for all parties involved.
The startup doesn't operate a pure direct-to-consumer model in the US like it does in other countries, but rather a hybrid. It sells vehicles to Volvo dealers that operate its showrooms, who then pass those cars on to customers. But the end result is the same: Buyers can order exactly the car they want online in a few clicks, see transparent pricing, and take delivery at home, all without setting foot in an old-school dealership.
Customers don't have to wonder if they're getting ripped off, and, since vehicles are largely built to order, Polestar doesn't need to figure out how to get rid of excess production, Ingenlath told Insider in an interview.
"The predictability for the people who invest into the brand is very clear, the prices that customers see are real, and there is no dumping or whatever happening. So I think all sides recognize that this is a very modern and good and profitable way forward," he said.
The 2022 Polestar 2.
This transparency in pricing (the prices Polestar lists online are exactly what buyers pay) may be even more welcome as a low supply of vehicles in the US encourages dealers to charge hefty markups on top of sticker price.
Polestar sells two models: The $155,000 Polestar 1 hybrid and the $48,400 Polestar 2, a fully electric sedan. And it has grand plans to launch three more vehicles and boost annual sales tenfold by 2025. The company plans to list on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker PSNY.
Ingenlath takes pride in Polestar having a more direct relationship with its customers, aided by its Polestar Spaces, minimalist showrooms where potential buyers can get acquainted with the company's vehicles without being hassled by salespeople. He thinks the auto industry as a whole will move in the direction of direct sales.
"We believe that this is the modern way," he said. "Will it all be exactly the same? No. But generally the detachment that existed between the car producer and the end customer — I don't think that anybody is happy about this detachment."
Indeed, budding electric-vehicle startups like Lucid Motors and Rivian Automotive both ship vehicles directly to customers. And even longtime players are making moves away from the old way. Moving forward, Ford wants more people to custom-order cars online and wait several weeks to take delivery.
More: Transportation Tech Polestar Auto Industry
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2022-06-22T18:22:37Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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CEO of EV Startup Polestar on the Future of Car Buying
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https://www.businessinsider.com/polestar-electric-ggpi-stock-tesla-ev-car-buying-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/polestar-electric-ggpi-stock-tesla-ev-car-buying-2022-6
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Oleksandr, 38, drives a tractor as he mows grass on a field of a farm in southern Ukraine's Mykolaiv region, on June 11, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A Russian missile strike hit the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
The attack hit a vegetable oil export terminal owned by Viterra, a major agricultural trader.
A Viterra spokesperson told Bloomberg that "its Everi terminal was hit and is currently on fire."
A vegetable oil export terminal at a major agricultural port in Ukraine was hit Wednesday during a Russian missile strike on the city of Mykolaiv, Bloomberg reports.
The terminal, owned by major agricultural trader Viterra, exports up to 1.5 million tons of vegetable oil a year. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered cooking oil shortages around the world, as Western officials accuse Putin of instigating a global food crisis by attacking Ukrainian ports and blocking vital exports.
"Viterra can confirm that its Everi terminal was hit and is currently on fire," a company spokesperson told Bloomberg, adding that nobody was killed at the facility. The Everi terminal is one of the company's six port terminals shipping grain and oil seeds to 60 countries around the world, according to its website.
Russian forces have repeatedly launched rocket attacks against Mykolaiv, home to one of the largest seaports in Ukraine. Seven missiles hit the southern portion of the city on Wednesday, the Regional Governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram. The attack killed at least one person and damaged several buildings including a school, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said, per a Reuters report.
Known as the world's "bread basket," Ukraine and Russia collectively ship 30% of global wheat exports and around around 75% of sunflower oil exports, causing experts to worry that Putin is "preparing to starve" countries dependent on those exports in order to win the war.
"The Russian government seems to think that using food as a weapon will help accomplish what its invasion has not – to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people," US Secretary of state Antony Blinken said in May.
More: Russia Ukraine Agriculture Wheat
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2022-06-22T18:22:55Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Ukraine Port Terminal 'on Fire' After Russian Missile Strike
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-agriculture-port-terminal-on-fire-russian-missile-strike-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-agriculture-port-terminal-on-fire-russian-missile-strike-2022-6
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Rohit Prasad, Amazon's head scientist for Alexa.
An Amazon executive said his team has been teaching Alexa to mimic voices with short audio clips.
The capability can help people remember loved ones who died from COVID-19, the exec said.
Many Twitter users have voiced concern over potential abuses of the technology.
Amazon is teaching Alexa to mimic anyone's voice, dead or alive, from just a one-minute recording of that voice.
Rohit Prasad, Amazon's head scientist for Alexa, said at a live event on Wednesday that his team has been instructing Alexa to pick up a voice from a short audio clip and convert it into longer audio output. Prasad was presenting at Amazon's re:Mars conference in Las Vegas.
He showed a short video of how people could use Alexa's voice-changing capability in real life. In the clip, a boy asks: "Alexa, can grandma finish reading me the Wizard of Oz?"
The smart speaker confirmed the request in its default chirpy voice, then transitioned to a less robotic voice that narrated an excerpt from the children's novel.
"This required inventions where we had to learn to produce a high-quality voice with less than a minute of recording versus hours of recording in the studio. The way we made it happen is by framing the problem as a voice-conversion task and not a speech generation path," Prasad said.
Prasad said Alexa's ability to impersonate familiar voices is particularly crucial now, as many people lost loved ones to COVID-19.
"While AI can't eliminate that pain of loss it can definitely make their memories last," he said.
Prasad did not say when Amazon would introduce Alexa's voice-imitation capability to the public. An Amazon spokesperson declined Insider's request for comment.
Alexa's ability to mimic voices is a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that Prasad called "generalizable intelligence." The ability helps Alexa adapt to different situations and acquire new knowledge from the experiences with little supervision, he said.
It's different from the "all-knowing, all-capable" artificial general intelligence, or AGI, that aims to understand human tasks and intellect to solve problems, said Prasad. Organizations including Google's DeepMind and Elon Musk's OpenAI are both focused on perfecting AGI.
Amazon is not the only company working on developing tech that can imitate human voices. Last month, Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy debuted a voice-shifting, egg-shaped device called Coemo that copies adults' voices and uses them to read stories to children.
Many are spooked by AI's ability to imitate human functions
On Twitter, people were divided over Amazon's plans to teach Alexa to mimic human voices.
One person, who uses the Twitter handle "Maltese Mama," said Alexa could keep their parents, who have dementia and live far away, mentally active. "We have caregivers going daily but being able to peak (sic) in or even better drop in with a video call is amazing," they tweeted in response to Prasad's presentation.
But many others voiced concerns about the technology.
"Umm, so how soon will criminals be able to use it to call your family members begging them to Venmo cash? Or ask them for social security numbers? Or bank information?" tweeted a user with the handle bitty_in_pink.
Others, including a Twitter user who goes by "Luke," said they were creeped out by the thought of it.
"It's sweet but at the same time incredibly creepy… I lost my mum last year in August and would die to have one last proper conversation with her but I wouldn't do it for a goddamn circular device," he wrote.
—Luke (@LukeyGearSolid) June 23, 2022
Experts have long been concerned about AI's ability to imitate human functions. In 2015, Musk funded several AI projects, including OpenAI, to ensure that researchers were using the technology only for beneficial purposes. Earlier this month, an engineer claimed that a Google chatbot had become sentient, but AI experts said it was far from being self-aware.
More: Alexa Amazon Artificial Intelligence
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2022-06-23T06:42:52Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Amazon's Plans for Alexa to Mimic Any Human Voice Splits Twitter Users
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https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-alexa-ape-human-voices-dead-alive-pandemic-reactions-2022-6
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https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-alexa-ape-human-voices-dead-alive-pandemic-reactions-2022-6
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