An in-depth conversation on the stage of data in the medical world. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself as well as Life Image. Matthew Michela: I’m the President and...
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Managed by Q, the office management platform recently acquired by WeWork, has today announced the launch of Task Management.
The feature comes to Managed by Q by way of Hivy, a startup acquired by MBQ back in 2017, that focuses on connecting a company’s employees to the office manager that handles their requests.
Pre-Hivy, collecting requests and tracking projects across a large number of employees was a tedious, fragmented process. Hivy created a dashboard that organizes all those requests in a single place.
Since the acquisition, Managed by Q and Hivy have been working to integrate their respective platforms. Where Managed by Q connects office managers to the right vendor or MBQ operator to handle the job, the new Task Management system will connect office managers with the employees making the requests in the first place, essentially putting the entire pipeline in a single place.
Obviously, the path to full integration was a long one.
“What I think matters most,” said Hivy co-founder Pauline Tordeur, speaking about the process of intertwining two separate products, “is that we knew why we were doing this and what the future would look like when we integrate. Having this vision and outlook from the very beginning is important.”
The timing is interesting in that this is the first product announcement Managed by Q has made since it was acquired by WeWork.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling,” said Managed by Q co-founder and CEO Dan Teran of being acquired by The We Company. “There is a perception of WeWork from the outside, but since I’ve been spending a lot of time getting to learn the business firsthand, I think there is just so much potential.”
He noted that Managed by Q is indeed setting out to integrate with WeWork in a way that’s similar to the process Q just finished with Hivy.
“We set out to build the operating system for space, and one of the biggest things we missed is the space itself,” said Teran. “That’s actually the hardest part for most people. So now that becomes another ingredient we can deliver to our customers.”
Rivian today announced a major investment from Ford. The 115-year-old automaker is investing $500 million into the Michigan-based EV startup. Along with the cash, Ford announced plans to build a vehicle on Rivian’s electric vehicle platform.
“This strategic partnership marks another key milestone in our drive to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility,” RJ Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO, said in a released statement. “Ford has a long-standing commitment to sustainability, with Bill Ford being one of the industry’s earliest advocates, and we are excited to use our technology to get more electric vehicles on the road.”
This investment comes two months after Rivian netted $700 million from a funding round that was led by Amazon.
Rivian was founded in 2009 by Scaringe but operated in stealth until late 2018, when it unveiled its stunning electric pickup and SUV. Today, the company has more than 750 employees split between four development locations in the U.S. and an office in the U.K. The bulk of its employees are in Michigan to be close to an expansive automotive supply chain.
Today’s announcement stopped short about detailing the vehicle Ford intends to build on Rivian’s platform. It’s likely whatever Ford produces will have similar capabilities of the two products Rivian announced last year. Rivian’s five-passenger R1T pickup and seven-passenger R1S SUV both feature more than 400 miles of range and the startup previously stated they would be available in late 2020.
Ford already has several electric vehicles in production and in the works. Along with small electric vehicles, Ford is developing an electric version of its best-selling model, the F-150 pickup.
With this investment, Rivian will stay an independent company. Following regulatory approval, Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of Automotive, will join Rivian’s board.
Embrace, an LA-based startup that offers a mobile-first application performance management platform, today announced that it has raised a $4.5 million funding round led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital. This brings the company’s total funding to $7 million. New investors Greycroft, Miramar Ventures and Vy Captial also participated in this round, as did previous investors Eniac Ventures, The Chernin Group, Techstars Ventures, Tikhon Bernstam of Parse and others.
Current Embrace customers include the likes of Home Depot, Headspace, OkCupid, Boxed, Thrive Market and TuneIn. These companies use the service to get a better view of how their apps perform on their users’ devices.
As Embrace CEO and co-founder Eric Futoran, who also co-founded entertainment company Scopely, argues, too many similar services mostly focus on crashes, yet those only constitute a small number of the actual user experience issues in most apps. “To a large extent, crashes are solved,” he told me. “The crash percentages are often 99.8 percent crash-free and yet users are still complaining.”
That’s because there are plenty of other issues beyond code exceptions, which many tools focus on almost exclusively, that can force an app to close (think memory issues or the OS shutting down the app because it uses too many CPU cycles). “To users, that looks like a crash. Your app closed. But in no way, that’s a crash from a technical perspective,” Futoran noted.
Raising this new round, Futoran told me, was pretty easy. Indeed, Pritzker approached the company. “It was not fundraising,” he said. “They sat us down and said, ‘we want to fund you guys,’ which I find pretty unusual. So I’ve been calling it a pre-emptive round.” He also noted that having Pritzker involved should help open up the mid-west market for Embrace, which is mostly focusing on enterprise customers (though Futoran’s definition of “enterprise” includes the likes of digital-first companies like Headspace).
“We saw many organizations trust Embrace’s seamless and innovative optimization platform to quickly identify and resolve any user-impacting issues within their apps, and we’re optimistic about the future of the company in this growing market,” said Gabe Greenbaum, an LA-based partner for Pritzker Group Venture Capital. “We look forward to this next stage in the company’s growth journey and are honored to partner with Eric and Fredric to help them achieve their vision.”
The company plans to use the new funding to increase its go-to-market capabilities, and grow its team to build out its technology.
R/GA Ventures, a company that acts as the investment arm and startup incubator for R/GA corporate client work, announced plans to open a new studio in Portland devoted to encouraging startups working on enterprise blockchain projects.
R/GA itself has a three-pronged purpose. It helps companies like Samsung, Google and Verizon (which owns this publication) in the product concept and design phase. It will also sometimes build products conceived in the design phase for the same clients. As an extension of that work, the company, which is owned by Interpublic Group, a group of marketing and advertising agencies, opened the Ventures arm five years ago with the aim of encouraging startups to do some of that innovation work for them and extend the company.
The blockchain project is the latest piece, and the idea behind it is to connect these startups with their corporate clients, who are interested in developing enterprise blockchain solutions in verticals such as insurance, healthcare and sports — while building up a blockchain development center in Portland. The goal may be helping the corporate clients, but the startups are independent entities with their own sales and marketing approaches. The company also may invest a modest amount of money in the companies.
Nick Coronges, the global chief technology officer for R/GA, says they are looking at real-world applications of blockchain with the understanding that it’s still very early days for distributed ledger and blockchain applications, and they are looking for ways to explore the utility of it in business.
“I think one of the assumptions that we make going into this is that blockchain, as we currently understand it, is probably going to go through a lot of iterations. And it may be bigger in the next few years…we may talk about it as a kind of ecosystem or a set of adjacent technologies that are related to blockchain, and this idea of decentralized data processing systems,” he explained.
He added, “The main thing that we look for is cases where you have multiple participants in some type of workflow, requiring access and some kind of accountability, transparency and control over data.”
The company has partnered with several institutions on this project, including Moda, Umpqua Bank, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, Business Oregon, ConsenSys and blockchain research firm Smith and Crown.
The first cohort of blockchain startups will begin working at the end of July in an office space in Portland.
According to Market Research Future, the global customer analytics market is expected to grow 15% annually to $7.3 billion by 2023. Recently, San Francisco-based Segment.io announced its seventh...
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During this week’s roundtable, we had four serious entrepreneurs pitching from four distinctly different corners of the world. Social&Care Up first we had the recent winner of a 1Mby1M Basic...
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Drura Parrish: In manufacturing, margins are spread across a lot of players. In between all those players, there’re different collection fees at every point. On one hand for manufacturing,...
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is doubling down on her mission to break up big tech.
On Tuesday, Warren, who is running for president in the 2020 election, called out Amazon in a town hall speech, accusing the retail giant of using data that it collects from sellers and buyers to create its own private label products. The term private label refers to products sold under various brands belonging directly to Amazon. This practice would "knock out" the competition, Warren said.
"Giant tech companies have too much power," Warren tweeted. "My plan to #BreakUpBigTech prevents corporations like Amazon from knocking out the rest of the competition. You can be an umpire, or you can be a playerâbut you can't be both."
Read more: Warren's plan to fight big tech directly threatens one of Amazon's most successful businesses
Amazon made a rare public response to her comments on Twitter later that day, saying that it does not use individual sellers' data to launch its own private label products. A spokesperson for Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Warren responded again, writing on Twitter: "When Amazon can tilt the online marketplace in its own favor, small businesses see an immediate impact in their profits. That can be absolutely crushing, it's not fair, and I'm fighting to end that."
Amazon has come under scrutiny in the past for its role as both a direct seller and a platform for other merchants to sell to those same customers. Bloomberg reported in 2016 that Amazon had been using sellers' data to create its own versions of best-selling items. It is under an initial probe by European regulators for its role as both direct seller and merchant platform as of December 2018, and may face a full investigation.
Warren has been hot on big tech for some time. In March, she announced her plan to break up some of the largest US tech companies, including Facebook, Google, and Amazon. In this proposal, she called out Amazon's Marketplace for third-party sellers and said it would "be split apart" from its private label "Basics" offering.
Amazon has argued that external sellers perform better than its own brands. Amazon Marketplace has been outpacing Amazon's direct sales for years, and this area of the business now accounts for more than half of Amazon's total sales on its website.
"Third-party sellers are kicking our first party butt," CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in the company's annual letter to shareholders in April.
Amazon's own private-label offering still accounts for a small part of its total business; roughly 1% of the company's total retail sales, according to a company spokesperson. However, it is making moves to grow this and has significantly increased the number of private-label brands available in recent years.
According to estimates from investment company SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Amazon's private-label business could generate $25 billion by 2022.
"Private label is one of the highly under-appreciated trends within Amazon, in our view, which over time should give the company a strong 'unfair' competitive advantage," the company wrote in a note in June.
The tension between the US and Huawei has reached fever pitch over claims the Chinese tech company acts as a backdoor for the Chinese government to spy.
The US gave a defence briefing at Mobile World Congress in Feburary, in which it called the Chinese phone giant "duplicitous and deceitful."
Read more: Here's a close-up look at Huawei's $2,600 folding phone, the Mate X
Meanwhile, Huawei chairman Guo Ping lashed out at the US while presenting at MWC, saying it has "no evidence, nothing," that the firm spied on behalf of the Chinese government. It used the tech show to parade its 5G network ambitions, including debuting its foldable 5G phone, the Mate X.
The US has been furiously lobbying its allies to freeze out Huawei's 5G network equipment, citing national security concerns. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned allied countries in mid-February that it would be "more difficult" for the US to partner with countries that didn't distance themselves from Huawei.
Its lobbying efforts have been met with mixed success. Here is a run-down of how allies have reacted.
Entrepreneurs are invited to the 442nd FREE online 1Mby1M mentoring roundtable on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST. If you are a serious...
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Prime Minister Theresa May will allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to supply equipment for the UK's upcoming 5G mobile network but will block it from providing "core" infrastructure, The Daily Telegraph first reported.
May reportedly gave the order after a meeting with ministers on the UK's National Security Council, although sources told The Guardian that some of the ministers present had pushed for a comprehensive ban on Huawei equipment.
A government spokesman said it would formally announce the decision on Huawei in due course.
May's reported decision flies in the face of American pressure on allies to bar Huawei equipment completely from their next-generation 5G networks on the grounds the company may enable the Chinese government to spy.
The US has exerted considerable political pressure on its allies to reject Huawei's 5G network equipment, arguing that the Chinese tech company could act as a backdoor through which the Chinese can spy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a warning to allied countries in February, saying it be "more difficult" for the US to partner with nations which allowed Huawei kit to be integrated into their networks.
May's decision comes just two months before President Trump's planned state visit to the UK in July, and risks creating political tensions.
Huawei has stolidly opposed the notion that it's a proxy for the Chinese government, with CEO Ren Zhengfei saying in March that he would sooner shut down the company than let it be used for espionage.
Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei. The Asahi Shimbun/The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images
The UK previously said it would be able to "mitigate" any security risks posed by Huawei's kit, although in February head of GCHQ Jeremy Fleming warned that the UK must be wary of the risks posed by Chinese firms.
Speaking to BBC Panorama earlier this month, technical director of GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre Dr Ian Levy said that his review of Huawei led him to conclude that its security risks were more to do with shoddy engineering than state interference.
Digital Minister Margot James applauded May's decision on Twitter, saying she was right to act on the advice that the UK can minimise the risk.
A government spokesman said: "National Security Council discussions are confidential. Decisions from those meetings are made and announced at the appropriate time through the established processes. The security and resilience of the UK's telecoms networks is of paramount importance.
"As part of our plans to provide world class digital connectivity, including 5G, we have conducted an evidence based review of the supply chain to ensure a diverse and secure supply base, now and into the future. This is a thorough review into a complex area and will report with its conclusions in due course."
Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The current Nintendo Switch is a shockingly underpowered device, and it kind of has to be â it's essentially a tablet by design, which automatically constrains what it's capable of doing. Putting in more powerful hardware would require a more powerful battery, thus increasing the overall size of the device.
But in the two-plus years since the Switch launch, more powerful chips have arrived and battery technology has improved. It's entirely possible to improve the console's horsepower without having to make any major sacrifices.
To be clear, we're talking about a PlayStation 4 Pro/Xbox One X-esque half-step up â horsepower that makes existing games look better rather than an entirely new platform.
In releasing a more powerful version of an existing console, console makers can bolster horsepower without having to release an entirely new platform.
In the case of the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, both consoles offer sharper visuals and snappier load times, even though they're only intended to play standard PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games. Something similar with the Switch could be huge.
Holded, the Barcelona-based startup that offers a SaaS to help SMEs with a range of business tasks, has raised €6 million in Series A funding. The round is led by Lakestar, with previous backers Nauta Capital and Seedrocket 4Founders Capital following on.
Founded in 2016 by Bernat Ripoll and Javi Fondevila, Holded describes itself as a “Business Operating System.” The idea is to provide a single platform for small to medium-sized business owners to manage every aspect of their business.
The SaaS covers financial management such as accounting and invoicing to HR, CRM and project and inventory management. In addition, the customisable platform offers multiple integrations to connect with a number of popular payment and e-commerce solutions. They include Amazon, PayPal and Shopify.
Alongside this, Holded is able to “automate” a number of core business administration tasks via the cloud-based platform’s own AI. It also uses data garnered through the use of the software to benchmark business performance and provide managers and business owners with actionable insights with regards to how they might increase sales, reduce expenses and save time.
Ripoll says the company set out to develop next-generation Enterprise-Resource-Planning (ERP) software that addresses the needs of modern companies, which is something that appears to be resonating with SMEs. Since closing its seed round in early 2018, Holded has increased user numbers from 10,000 to 30,000, claiming to now be the leader in Spain.
Meanwhile, Holded says the new capital will be used to accelerate its expansion into international markets. The Spanish startup will also invest further in the development of the software’s core functionality.
“[We] now aim to replicate this [success] in other countries while continuing to consolidate the Spanish market,” says Fondevila, adding that the startup plans to roll out new product features and “country-specific” integrations.
President Trump met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Leah Millis/Reuters
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and President Trump met behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss social media ahead of the 2020 election. The meeting was held to discuss "the world of social media in general," Trump said in a Twitter post. Trump tweeted on the same day that Twitter is "very discriminatory," and said the social media company removes his followers. Trump has previously accused social media companies of anti-conservative bias. A teen is suing Apple for $1 billion and claims its facial recognition led to his false arrest. 18-year-old Ousmane Bah said he was arrested at his home in November and charged with stealing from an Apple Store in Boston. Twitter's first-quarter earning beats Wall Street on revenue and profit, but the company is still losing monthly users at a rapid clip. The company reported net income of $191 million, and earnings per share of $0.25. Snap beat Wall Streets expectations for Q1 2019. but its user growth stalled. The company saw $320 million in revenue for the quarter. Tesla announced improved battery ranges for some Model S and Model X vehicles ahead of first-quarter earnings. Both vehicles received drivetrain upgrades that Tesla said would improve the battery performance on the long-range version of both cars to 370 miles for the Model S, and 325 miles for the Model X. Tim Cook said Apple's fight with the FBI in 2016 was a "very rigged case," and he wishes it went to court. Cook said at the TIME 100 event on Tuesday that privacy has come a long way since Apple opposed the Justice Department's order to assist the FBI in unlocking a terrorist's phone. A bitcoin bet gone wrong reportedly cost SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son $130 million after he failed to heed Warren Buffett's advice. "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful," said the legendary investor Warren Buffett in 2004. After a superfan spent seven years re-creating "Super Mario Bros.," Nintendo shut it down. Nintendo swiftly shut down the project, and issued DMCA takedown notices soon after the re-creation was made available. Elon Musk says Tesla will develop an "electric leaf blower." Much like the Boring Company's "not-a-flamethrower," electric leaf blowers already exist.Have an Amazon Alexa device? Now you can hear 10 Things in Tech each morning. Just search for "Business Insider" in your Alexa's flash briefing settings. You can also subscribe to this newsletter here â just tick "10 Things in Tech You Need to Know."
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been in contact with leaders of major tech companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter, as part of her push to slow the spread of violent content online.
Ardern announced on Wednesday local time that she and French President Emmanuel Macron will host a summit in Paris on May 15 to encourage industry and world leaders to commit to a pledge called the "Christchurch Call," which seeks to curb extremist content on social media.
The prime minister said she has received positive responses from leaders she has spoken to so far.
"No tech company â just like no government â wishes to see violent extremism and terrorism online," she told reporters on Wednesday. "So we have a starting point which is one of unity."
New Zealand has been eager to clamp down on malicious social media activity since 50 people were killed and dozens more injured in mass shootings in Christchurch on March 15. The gunman, a 28-year-old Australian man, livestreamed the attacks at two separate mosques on Facebook, and copies of the gruesome video quickly spread on that platform and others.
"The March 15 terrorist attacks saw social media used in an unprecedented way as a tool to promote an act of terrorism and hate," Ardern said of the shootings. "We are asking for a show of leadership to ensure social media cannot be used again the way it was."
Ardern said she spoke directly to the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who shared his condolences after the shooting. She did not elaborate on the details of their discussion.
I don't think anyone would argue the terrorist had a right to livestream the murder of 50 people," she said.
Facebook faced harsh blowback over the livestream video which was briefly hosted on its site. The company said it had removed 1.5 million videos of the attacks within 24 hours. Still, Business Insider was able to find numerous copies still circulating across social media in the days after the shooting.
Under New Zealand law, dissemination or possession of material depicting extreme violence or terrorism is prohibited, according to The New York Times. New Zealand's human-rights laws also forbid the incitement of what it calls "racial disharmony" through written or broadcast media.
New Zealand's censorship office last month made the possession and sharing of the 17-minute livestream illegal. According to Television New Zealand, those who distribute the video could face a maximum of 14 years in prison. Six people appeared in a New Zealand court last week on charges of illegally distributing video from the Christchurch shooting.
Tesla is touting a handful of improvements to the Model S sedan and Model X SUV.
Both vehicles received drivetrain upgrades that Tesla said would improve the battery performance on the long-range version of both cars to 370 miles for the Model S, and 325 miles for the Model X.
Previously, the Model S and Model X had maximum battery ranges of 335 miles and 295 miles, respectively.
The long-range Model S and Model X benefit from the extended ranges while using the same 100 kWh battery pack, according to a Tesla blog post published Tuesday. Both cars are now priced higher as a result: $78,750 (a $5,500 hike) for the S and $83,950 (a $6,000 increase) for the X.
The electric-car maker bundled a series of other announcements in its press release, including that it is bringing back the lower-cost Standard Range Model S and Model X, a month after they were quietly removed from the Tesla website.
Read more: Investors are looking for 3 things from Tesla's earnings
Additionally, the company introduced upgraded air suspension systems for both vehicles and said it is now offering a free Ludicrous Mode upgrade (normally a $20,000 option) for existing Model S and Model X owners who buy a brand-new Model S or Model X Performance vehicle, the priciest version of the cars in the lineup.
Following up on a promise made in early March, the newest S and X models can also take advantage of faster charging rates using Tesla's new V3 Supercharger and the existing V2 units.
All of this news comes a day after CEO Elon Musk hosted an event â dubbed "Autonomy Day" â for investors on Monday. During the presentation, Musk touted Tesla's progress on its autonomous-driving technology.
The new-and-improved Model S and Model X also dropped just hours before Tesla is set to deliver its first-quarter earnings report. Wall Street analysts expect the automaker to swing to a loss after two straight profitable quarters, the Business Insider transportation correspondent Matt DeBord wrote earlier on Tuesday.
Musk said previously that Tesla would likely have a muted first quarter. The market has taken note of that projection, pricing in the expected loss accordingly.
You've got to give Evan Spiegel credit for one thing.
Sure, his company, Snap, beat Wall Street's expectations with its first-quarter results. And yes, his company no longer seems to be in free-fall.
But, perhaps more importantly, he's managed to condition his shareholders to expect such bad things from Snap that when the company delivers even slightly-better-than-abysmal-news, his investors jump for joy.
That's what happened on Tuesday afternoon. In the immediate wake of the company's first-quarter report, Snap's stock soared 12%. Shareholders eventually settled down, and the stock was up a more modest â but still positive â 4% after the conference call.
Read this: Snap beat Wall Street's expectations for Q1 2019 but its user growth is still stalled
At first glance, there were a few things to cheer â or at least to not frown about. Snap's revenue grew 39% from the same period a year earlier, while the company cut its cash burn by 71%. After three straight quarters in which the user base for its Snapchat app either declined or stagnated from the prior period, sequentially, the app's number of users actually grew. And the company has finally opened up out the long-in-the-works Android version of its app to all users.
But the fact that such announcements sparked a buying frenzy â if only a short-lived one â is a good indication of just how beleaguered Snap's shareholders have become. Because viewed from some distance, this was not an impressive report.
Snap lost almost as much money in the quarter ($310 million) as it recorded in revenue ($320 million). Its daily active user count (190 million) is still a million users below what it was a year ago and only grew by 2% from the fourth quarter of last year. And even after the big reduction in cash burn, the company's free cash flow was still in the red to the tune of $78 million.
Dwell on those numbers for just a minute. This is a company that's been public for two years and in existence for more than seven. It has tens of millions of users. Its only immediate costs for providing the service are what it pays Google and Amazon each month to host its software. Other than its sideline business of selling video-camera glasses, it has no real physical inventory to maintain, no warehouses to operate, no supply chain to manage. Because its service is hosted by the big cloud operators, it doesn't even really have a data center to maintain.
And yet, at this late date, Spiegel and his team still hasn't figured out how to get Snap to generate cash â much less a profit.
Maybe they'll figure it out eventually. But after years of bleeding cash, disappointing investors, and frustrating users, there's good reason to doubt that. And the company gave investors more reason Tuesday to worry that they won't ever figure things out.
The company has been able to boost revenue essentially by convincing advertisers to allocate more of their budgets to its service. Worldwide, Snap saw about $1.68 in revenue for each of its users in the first quarter, which was up 39% from the same period a year ago.
But you have to wonder how long advertisers will continue to up their budgets â particularly to that extent â on a service that reaches fewer users today than it did a year ago.
Snap's spending in the quarter is another cause for concern â and not for the reason you might think.
Part of the way that Snap was able to cut its cash burn was by reducing or restraining the rise in some of its costs. Its spending on property and equipment plunged by 67%, and its sales and marketing budget fell 4%. Meanwhile, its research-and-development expenditures rose only 8%.
Normally, it's a good thing for companies that are losing lots of money to find ways to cut costs. But the cuts Snap made could come back to haunt it.
A company whose user base is stagnating might want to increase its marketing to lure in new users through marketing, rather than to cut it back. A company that faces stiff competition from a much-better funded rival â i.e., in the form of Facebook-owned Instagramâ might want to be ramping up its research-and-development efforts to stay competitive.
Snap also reduced its cash burn by giving employees more of their pay in stock rather than cash. About 58% of its $216 million in Q1 R&D expenses was stock compensation. A year ago, the stock portion of its R&D was 49%.
That's a tried-and-true method in the tech industry for conserving cash. But it immediately dilutes current shareholders' stake in the company and reduces the company's earnings per share from what they would otherwise be. And many companies end up spending real cash later on to soak up all those shares they handed out to employees.
Of course, Snap investors would be lucky to have that problem, because it assumes that the app maker would be generating enough cash at some point to actually buy back its stock. And right now, it's still a long way from doing that.
Every week we bring you an overview of the most important executive changes from the past week. Last week, JPMorgan named a new CFO and moved finance chief Marianne Lake to a new role. Read more about this and other notable executive changes.
JPMorgan Chase appoints Jennifer Piepszak Chief Financial Officer
JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced that Jennifer Piepszak will be replacing Marianne Lake as Chief Financial Officer of the company. Lake will become Chief Executive Officer of Consumer Lending, which includes Card Services, Home Lending and Auto Finance. The move could be a sign that Lake is a frontrunner to replace CEO Jamie Dimon when he retires. Lake has been CFO of JPMorgan since 2013 and this will be her first time running a business unit of the bank.
Google Cloud hires former SAP executive to grow enterprise business
Robert Enslin is joining Google Cloud as President of Global Customer Operations. Enslin spent the last 27 years at SAP in leadership roles across sales and operations, most recently as the President, Cloud Business Group and Executive Board Member. He will report to Thomas Kurian who recently took over as CEO of Google Cloud from Diane Greene.
Flexport hires Chief Data Officer from Salesforce
Flexport announced the appointment of Mehmet H. GÓ§ker as Chief Data Officer and Kevin Paige as Chief Information Security Officer. Prior to Flexport, GÓ§ker was most recently Vice President of Data and Analytics at SurveyMonkey and VP of Business Data Science at Salesforce. The C-suite expansion strengthens Flexport's commitment to unlocking vital supply chain data that can help clients monitor, optimize and grow their operations. GÓ§ker will be responsible for strengthening and scaling Flexport's data and analytics functions.
Corie Barry will become Best Buy's first female CEO
Best Buy has announced that Corie Barry, currently Chief Financial and Strategic Transformation Officer, will become the company's next Chief Executive Officer effective in June. Hubert Joly, the company's current CEO, will transition to the newly created role of Executive Chairman of the Board. Barry will become the 30th female CEO in the Fortune 500. Barry joined Best Buy in 1999 and has held a variety of financial and operational roles within the organization, both in the field and at the corporate campus. She became CFO in 2016 and, prior to that, served as the company's Chief Strategic Growth Officer.
Scott Friedman steps down as Chief Compliance Officer at Robinhood
Stock trading app Robinhood announced several changes to its management team. Most notably, Scott Friedman is stepping down as Chief Compliance Officer and taking a new advisory role as VP of Compliance Affairs. John Castelly will succeed Friedman as Chief Compliance Officer who is transitioning out of day-to-day operational management. Castelly joins Robinhood from Personal Capital, where he served as Chief Compliance Officer. He has also worked in senior legal roles at TD Ameritrade, and the SEC.
Christian Wylonis is the co-founder and CEO of The Org, where you can meet the people behind the world's most innovative companies, explore organizational charts, stay updated on team changes, and join your own company.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says his company is planning to develop a new creation â only this time, it won't be rolling on four wheels.
It's a leafblower:
Musk followed up that tweet with a pun:
The statements come on the heels of Musk's other viral non-automotive related creations, such as The Boring Company's "Not-a-Flamethrower" flamethrower.
The 20,000 flamethrowers Musk sold were essentially roofing torches encased in an air rifle shell. They were valued at $500. They sold out in five days.
Musk later called the contraption "a terrible idea."
"You shouldn't buy one," Musk said in the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast in September. "I said don't buy this flamethrower. Don't buy it. Don't buy it, that's what I said. But still, people bought it. There was nothing I could do to stop them. I could not stop them. I said don't buy it, it's a bad idea."
"It's dangerous, it's wrong. Don't buy it," he added. "Still, people bought it. I just couldn't stop them."
Like the flamethrower, electric leaf blowers already exist. And judging by videos, they still emit quite a bit of sound.
Electric leafblowers on Amazon. Amazon
Business Insider has reached out to Tesla for comment on Musk's proposed electric leaf blowers.
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