If the startup sector cools off in 2020 it could be bad news for tech giants.Bank of America analyzed six key startups that IPO'd in 2019 and found that the growth of their total ad spend is rapidly dropping.If this is representative of the broader startup ecosystem, it could mean Facebook and Google will start to lose an easy source of revenue growth.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

A slowdown in the startup sector in 2020 might not just be bad news for entrepreneurs and investors — it may also throw an unexpected wrench into Facebook and Google's businesses.

A report published by Bank of America analysts earlier this month makes the case that the markets' rough treatment of newly-public startups could — if it continues next year — translate into a broad slowdown in ad spending by startups. That, in turn, could crimp revenue for the advertising-based business which rely on those startups.

The report underscores the interconnectedness of the modern tech sector, and how events in one corner can ripple out and affect the broader market in unpredictable ways.

To make its case, BofA analysts took six major startups that IPO'd in 2019 — ride-hailing firms Uber and Lyft, social network Pinterest, fashion company RealReal, fitness company Peloton, and pet food retailer Chewy — and looked at their ad spend as a percentage of their total revenue.

On average, this dropped over the last 12 months — from 28% in 2018 to 24% expected for 2019. The financial services firm anticipates it'll drop again next year, down to 22% in 2020.

"If this deceleration in ad spend is reflective of start-up sector," the analysts wrote, "Facebook and Google could see an unanticipated slowdown in ad spend in 2020."

Of course, that's not guaranteed. The six startups identified may not be truly representative of the broader ecosystem, and the disappointing IPO results that the industry did see in 2019 may not be repeated in 2020. 

BofA also doesn't attempt to precisely quantify the size of the hit Google and Facebook will take, but it will by no means be ruinous. All six companies are modeled to continue to grow their total sales and marketing spend year-on-year from now through the end of 2021, albeit at successively slower rates.

Bank of America

But what it does mean is that an easy growth engine for the advertising giants is at the risk of drying up — an unanticipated complication that may frustrate investors' insatiable hunger for growth, and force Facebook and Google to think harder about future sources of revenue.

It would not be the first time that trouble with startups affected more established tech companies that had become reliant on the free-spending startup customers. During the dotcom boom two decades ago, Oracle and SAP saw business boom as a wave of young startups snapped up their products in a frenzied race to build websites. When those startups' businesses proved unviable and the startups failed, the big tech companies lost an important source of revenue and were forced to readjust their own operations.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at (+1) 650-636-6268 using a non-work device, email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at @robaeprice. (PR pitches by email only, please.)

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Original author: Rob Price

A $35 Chromecast device revived an old TV I was planning to give away. The small device allows you to stream on your TV from a phone, tablet, or laptop. It plugs into your TV via the HDMI port and works with all major streaming apps, like HBO, Netflix, Hulu, and, YouTube.Chromecasts can also work with older smart TVs that are on the verge of becoming obsolete.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In the era of smart TVs and streaming devices, it's hard to remember a time when not everything had an instant connection to Netflix.

But as little as five years ago, most of us were buying regular old TVs, without the built-in smarts. 

I got a 32-inch Sony TV as a Christmas gift in 2014, right before I moved into my first solo apartment. It was perfect for my needs at the time: it fit on my mantle, it had an HDMI port that allowed me to connect my laptop to play movies once in a while, and it sounded pretty good in my small, one-bedroom place.

But by 2019, I had mostly worn out the speakers — I had to crank the volume nearly all the way up in order to hear something — and the size felt too small to properly enjoy movies or football games. My fiancé and I decided it was time to upgrade: we purchased a Vizio smart TV (a steal at less than $250) and hooked it up to an Apple TV. 

At this point, I was ready to hand off my old TV to any friend who wanted it, or put it by the curb and hope it ended up in a good home. But then I remembered I had an extra Chromecast dongle lying around — the perks of being a former tech reviewer — and decided to give it a shot. 

For the unfamiliar, a Chromecast allows you to stream on your TV from a phone, tablet, or laptop. It plugs into your TV via the HDMI port and works with all major streaming apps, like HBO, Netflix, Hulu, and, of course, YouTube. All you have to do is open the app on your iPhone or Android device, select what you'd like to watch, and then tap the cast button — your content will then appear on the TV screen as you control it from your phone. 

This isn't new technology by any means; Chromecast has been on the market since 2013. But I'd argue that the device is even more useful now than it's ever been for three reasons:

We're all more used to using our phones for streaming, and many of us watch shows or movies on our smartphones anyway.There are more streaming apps than ever before, but not all of them work on every device, like older smart TVs. Most of them are available on smartphones, however.A $35 dongle is significantly cheaper than buying a new smart TV, or even a more sophisticated streaming device like an Apple TV, which will cost you up to $200.

And I can now vouch for its usefulness myself: adding a Chromecast to my older TV has completely transformed it from an item I planned to give away into a newly smart TV and a permanent fixture in my bedroom. I can stream whatever I want as long as I have the app on my phone and it's compatible with Chromecast, and the worn out speakers aren't really a problem in the more confined space.

(It's worth noting that Google isn't the only one doing this: Amazon and Roku make cheap streaming sticks as well, I just happen to prefer Google devices in my home.)

Chromecast is only about two inches in diameter and tucks neatly behind your TV. Philip Barker/Future via Getty Images

Chromecast does come with a few challenges and limitations. It won't be compatible with every site or app you'd like to stream from, so if you watch shows and movies from some niche apps, it may not work (The device does have a lot of partners, though, so it's worth checking Google's partner list before you buy one.) It's also worth noting that those looking to watch unofficial streams will be out of luck, as only official content is supported.

Additionally, the physical act of controlling what you're watching from your phone can be a little wonky. Anytime I need to pause and restart something, or change the volume from my phone, it can be a bit glitchy, as if my phone forgot it was in charge of the stream. It's not a deal-breaker, but I wouldn't recommend Chromecast as the streaming conduit on your main TV for this reason — it will probably end up annoying you.

Flaws aside, however, for $35, you're getting your money's worth. And as my colleague Tony Villas-Boas points out, this isn't only a solution for old, "dumb" TVs — adding a cheap streaming dongle to a smart TV can help circumvent older systems that don't support your favorite apps. 

Original author: Avery Hartmans

Flight attendants develop a more comprehensive and detailed knowledge of aircraft models than the average passenger due to their training and the amount of time they spend flying.

Seven flight attendants told Business Insider what their favorite plane is and why. They work for airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. (Six of them asked for anonymity due to a fear of reprisal from their employer.)

Here's what the flight attendants said.

Original author: Mark Matousek

John Chambers, the former CEO of Cisco and a tech legend in his own right, explains how his startup Pensando will take on Amazon Web Services, in what he describes as a "David and Goliath" cloud showdown.Chambers is the chairman of Pensando, which aims to build a new ecosystem of products — particularly software — geared to edge computing technologies.Edge computing devices offer quick access to on-board computing power even while connected to the cloud — vital in markets like manufacturing or autonomous driving, where there's not always time to wait for a response from a cloud server.The startup's says its goal is to be a platform "with no risk of lock-in" for customers, in a not-so-subtle dig at Amazon which has been accused of trapping clients onto its platform.Chambers said Pensando hopes to play a key role in the rise of edge computing. When you go to a market transition, almost never does the leader in the prior transition lead in the next," he told Business Insider. "Most innovation does not come from the incumbent who's been out there more for than 10 years," he said. "It almost always comes from startups."Click here for more BI Prime stories.

John Chambers once led a gargantuan tech powerhouse, but nowadays the former Cisco CEO is into guerrilla warfare, leading a new, little known startup challenging another industry titan: Amazon.

Chambers is chairman of Pensando, which came out of stealth mode just last month and has raised $278 million. The startup says it aims to be a new platform that would give businesses access to a host of cloud products "with no risk of lock-in."

The statement was a not-so-subtle dig at Amazon, the giant of cloud computing which has been accused of trapping customers onto its platform. Pensando actually mentions Amazon Web Services on its website, saying: "Others couldn't compete. Until now." 

"It's about democratization," Chambers told Business Insider in a recent interview. "Rather than trying to be the dominant player in each category, and dictating standards. It's a very open system place where the focus is on democratization...It is a David versus Goliath type story, except our ecosystems are huge."

Chambers vs. Amazon

Amazon denies that it locks in customers, recently telling Business Insider recently that its "customers have had many choices for who they choose for their cloud provider for many years."

Chambers, who is also the CEO of the venture firm JC2 Ventures, has a different take on the company that, over the past 15 years, has stunned the business world by  expanding rapidly from selling books, clothes and pretty much anything online to dominating a game-changing trend in corporate IT.

Chambers said there are key lessons in Amazon's rise as an enterprise tech powerhouse. He actually followed Amazon's transformation closely as a board member of Walmart, the online retailer's longtime rival in retail.

"We saw Amazon coming," he said. "But it speaks to how difficult it is for even a world class incumbent which Walmart is to make the transitions."

But he said Amazon's rise has underscored the need for give businesses choice when it comes to the technologies they use. 

'Companies want to control their technology'

"Companies want to control their technology," Chambers said. "No matter if you're in manufacturing, retail, finance, healthcare, government, big, small etc., you want choice. Amazon locks you in. You don't gain competitive advantage. You can't set your own technology strategy. So this is about choice."

Chambers offered a broader critique of Amazon's massive reach as a corporate behemoth. He praised Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos who, he says, "has done an amazing job, probably the best in all of high-tech."

But Amazon has amassed so much power that Chambers strongly suggests it has been generally bad for businesses.

"But whether you're in books, or whether you're in groceries, or whether you're in retail, or whether you're in finance, they're likely to be your competitor," he said. "If you are depending upon them for your technology solution, and they're also very likely to be your competitor, and they control the evolution of how they use this technology, then you lose control of your destiny."

But while he concedes that Amazon is the undisputed king of the cloud, Chambers sees opportunities to break its stranglehold on tech in the next big battleground: edge computing.

That's the new technology trend that allows devices, including PCs, tablets and smartphones, and sensors used in factories, self-driving cars and planes to get quick access to on-board computing power even while connected to cloud-based networks. Instead of the devices having to transmit data for processing and insights to data centers in another location, edge computing enables them to get faster access to computing power often in real time. 

'Software-defined everything'

It's an arena where Pensando essentially plans to flood the zone with a host of new products. The startup plans to roll out "a tsunami of technologies," Chambers said. Pensando is focused on offering edge products for computing, networking, storage and security. "It's largely software," Chambers said. "Think of it as software-defined-everything."

Pensando is pushing into this market with help from big partnerships that no doubt it is able to form thanks to Chambers' stature. Chambers spoke of building an ecosystem with "top customers like Goldman Sachs." He also said: "We're going to move with top players and storage like NetApps, move with top players in technology like HPE, and move in terms of top service providers because they want to be able to control their own destiny."

He did not mention Cisco, where Pensando's founders — Mario Mazzola, Luca Cafiero, Prem Jain, Soni Jiandani — were once top executives and engineers under Chambers. Three of them left in 2016 due to disagreements over the reorganization under new CEO Chuck Robbins and went on to start Pensando the following year. Other Cisco executives have left to join the Pensando team.

Robbins has downplayed the impact of the departures. "Those guys are great engineers, and they build great technology," he told Business Insider in a recent interview. But he said what they're building is "not some directly in your face kind of solution to Cisco. So I wish them well and I hope they do great."

Asked about the way the Pensando founders ended their Cisco stints, Chambers said, "When I left Cisco, I made a commitment to myself, I would not ever comment about Cisco, good or bad...I have deliberately allowed my successor to set his own course and for me not to comment on it."

But Chambers also said the platform Pensando hopes to build would include major players in tech. "I would be surprised if any infrastructure player doesn't want to be part of this," he said. "And you can assume we're talking to them all."

If Pensando succeeds in building a vibrant edge computing platform, Amazon will face a serious challenge in a new battlefield where it doesn't enjoy a clear advantage.

"When you go to a market transition, almost never does the leader in the prior transition lead in the next," Chambers said. And he said in a fast-changing market, the fresh ideas typically come, not from traditional legacy players, but from newcomers.

"Most innovation does not come from the incumbent who's been out there more for than 10 years," he said. "It almost always comes from startups."

Got a tip about Pensando, Amazon or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., message him on Twitter @benpimentel or send him a secure message through Signal at (510) 731-8429. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Original author: Benjamin Pimentel

Goldman Sachs' new cochief information officer, Marco Argenti, joined the bank in late October after more than six years as a senior exec in Amazon's cloud business.Just weeks after joining Goldman, Argenti sent a memo to the firm's 9,000-plus engineers introducing one of Amazon's best-known cultural quirks — the preference for narrative memos over PowerPoint presentations.Read the memo in full below.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Marco Argenti, Goldman Sachs' chief information officer, officially joined the bank in late October. Argenti, who spent six years at Amazon before joining Goldman, didn't waste time bringing one of the better-known quirks of the Seattle-based retail giant's corporate culture.

In mid-November, Argenti sent a memo to Goldman's 9,000-plus engineers laying out his preference for narrative memos over PowerPoint presentations. The practice is one he borrowed from Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, famously banned presentations among his senior team in 2004. Business Insider got ahold of Argenti's memo. Here it is in full:

Hello Team,

Thanks to all of you who joined this week's Global Engineering townhall. I really enjoyed seeing so many new faces and answering your questions, and experiencing Elisha's songwriting, singing and guitar-playing abilities first hand. Hopefully, Atte and I were able to get across what we are excited about, what we deeply care for, and how we see Goldman Sachs Engineering evolving over the coming years.

I wanted to take the opportunity to drill down a bit on one topic that I mentioned during the townhall, which is my preference for narrative memos over presentations. For some, this will make me sound a bit like a broken record, so please bear with me or feel free to skip. By the way, Elisha came up with a Top 10 list already: things that Marco thinks while he's pretending to read your memo. If you are curious, you can ask him directly :)

I thought I'd spend a few minutes reflecting on why I think a written approach is particularly useful when making decisions. (It can be useful in other contexts too, such as when posting another team on a project.)

As I mentioned during the townhall, I was first exposed to this narrative practice at Amazon. I have to confess that the first time I presented a document, and the folks in the room sat there in complete silence reading and annotating for half an hour, the whole experience felt quite awkward.

What happened next, though, was illuminating. Since everyone had exactly the same information, there was no need to level-set. Many of the questions attendees might have asked during a presentation (only to find them answered on a subsequent slide) had already been addressed by the frequently asked questions section of the doc. The group was able to discuss and come to a decision very quickly. In that one meeting, I was sold on the mechanism.

For that, it is first and foremost a mechanism for Inclusion, that ensures that your voice is heard and you get the full and undivided attention of your reader. Arguably, the most important outcome of having written memos is that they reveal whether you have a clear and crisp mental model about what you are writing about. It's impossible to write something convincing when your thinking isn't clear, so the process naturally ensures deeper analysis.

If you're interested in trying out the narrative memo style, we will soon publish some guidelines and samples you can follow. In the meantime, here are a few points to keep in mind:

Always start from the customer, and work backwards from that. Be sure to answer five key questions: Who is the customer, whether internal or external? What is the customer's problem or opportunity? What is the most important customer benefit? How do you know what customers want? What does the customer experience look like?Be as crisp and precise as you can be. Avoid fuzzy, high level statements that could be interpreted in many ways. Use simple language. The document is not to show how great of a writer you are. It's there to put the readers in the best possible position to understand an issue and make the right decision.Be objective, factual and humble. Do not be afraid to talk about your failures in addition to your successes. Ask yourself the hardest questions, and answer them objectively without bias.

The purpose of the narrative memo is to present facts and suggestions. If a current solution is suboptimal, it should be clear from the data. If you have a better idea, it should be clear from the text, with no need for embellishment.

It is important to note that creating a memo is not meant to introduce bureaucracy. There are many team meetings that can function just fine without a one-, three-, or six-pager. There are client presentations that will require decks. That being said, when gathering a group of decision makers to take action, I've found the format to be the most effective. It's not my intention to force the adoption of this mechanism, but you may want to experiment with it and see if you experience the benefits that I talked about. Some colleagues around Goldman Sachs have already been using memos for a while, and others have been trying them.

If you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear them. You can reach me by e-mail or Symphony.

Best,

Marco

Original author: Dakin Campbell

MoneyLion, the digital banking company geared toward people who need help managing their finances on a day-to-day basis, will roll out commission-free stock-trading capabilities in 2020."Right from the outset, it'll be fractional and full shares," Jon Stevenson, MoneyLion's head of wealth management and banking, told Business Insider. "But right now the focus is so much on fractional, which — it's an overused term, but it truly does 'democratize' access to investing in single stocks." Stevenson estimated that roughly 90% of MoneyLion customers had never opened an investment account before.The New York-based startup launched in 2013 and uses a flat-fee subscription model for customers who want access to its banking, lending, and investing products. MoneyLion says it's amassed six million customers.MoneyLion already has core lending and savings offerings. The move to add commission-free trades comes as many discount brokerages have slashed commissions to zero in recent months.Visit BI Prime for more stories.

A startup that's raised more than $200 million in funding on the premise of offering digital banking services to financially-stressed customers will start offering commission-free stock trading next year — including the option to buy small slivers of pricey shares. 

MoneyLion, the digital banking company that is geared toward people who need help managing their finances on a day-to-day basis, will roll out stock-trading capabilities in 2020. 

Other firms have rolled out similar features in recent months. JPMorgan last month began allowing some of its self-directed investing clients to trade fractional shares. Charles Schwab in October said it would begin offering fractional shares, the Wall Street Journal first reported, making it the first big discount broker to do so.

"Right from the outset, it'll be fractional and full shares," Jon Stevenson, MoneyLion's head of wealth management and banking, told Business Insider. "But right now the focus is so much on fractional, which is — it's an overused term, but it truly does 'democratize' access to investing in single stocks."

The commission-free trades will mark a departure from MoneyLion's core lending and savings offerings — Stevenson estimated roughly 90% of MoneyLion customers had never opened an investment account before — and comes as many discount brokerages and big banks have slashed commissions in recent months.

The New York-based app that launched in 2013 uses a flat-fee subscription model for customers who want access to its banking, lending, and investing products. The zero-commission stock-trading will be part of that service. MoneyLion says it's amassed six million customers, and has raised more than $200 million from investors including Edison Partners, Dunha Capital, and Greenspring Associates.

MoneyLion's most recent cash infusion, a $100 million Series C round announced in July, included a strategic investment from Capital One. 

While MoneyLion already offers customers investing options through a managed portfolio of exchange-traded funds, Stevenson said pushing into self-directed investing is a logical next step. 

And the fractional shares provide a way for people to get in cheap on big consumer names that have a high price per share. With one Amazon share alone costing around $1,780, investing in the full complement of the so-called FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google parent Alphabet) requires a decent chunk of change. 

"They can have an asset-allocated portfolio with $10 or $5. And the perfect complement is, okay, I am not going to spend whatever it would be to build a portfolio of FAANG stocks, but if I can do it for $100. That is a wonderful way to get started," said Stevenson, who previously held managing director roles at Stifel Financial and Barclays Wealth and Investment Management before joining MoneyLion in April 2018.

The broader investment community has increasingly embraced low-cost, passive investing. But Stevenson said customers are increasingly interested in stock-trading, particularly on a fractional basis. 

Still, offering trading to a customer base with little experience in self-directed investing is a delicate process, Stevenson said, and said MoneyLion will focus on educating customers around trading single stocks.

The company will also have an on-boarding process that includes a different set of questions geared toward risk appetite, and other controls to ensure the app is "keeping people on sound footing," he said.  

In 2018, a MoneyLion affiliate paid $2.7 million to settle charges by Virginia's attorney general that it offered overpriced loans to customers. 

The brokerage space has seen an industry-wide move to eliminate commissions on US stock and ETF trading. Now, fractional trading is the next wave of change sweeping the industry. 

Six-year-old Robinhood, which Business Insider reported is also rolling out fractional stock-trading capabilities, has built its brand as a zero-commission online brokerage catering to millennials and first-time investors.

This year, Robinhood announced a $323 million Series E round that moved the startup's valuation up to $7.6 billion, and surpassed 10 million users with approved (though not necessarily active) accounts.

This fall, fee pressure across the brokerage landscape intensified when the major discount brokerages and some big, self-directed platforms like Merrill Lynch's Merrill Edge said they would drop commissions for online trades.

As competition has ramped up, industry giant Charles Schwab surprised the investment community when it said it would buy rival TD Ameritrade. 

Even with the new trading capabilities, MoneyLion says its main focus will continue to be on its lending and other offerings.

Samantha Roady, who MoneyLion named chief operating officer last month after having served on its board since 2016, told Business Insider that the core of the platform's wealth offering still sits with its ability to help people save. 

"The savings account and the auto-investing account that we have are really the hallmarks of our wealth offering, because we're trying to get people to start a savings and investing program," Roady said.

She added: "I think that trading is a natural extension of that, but for me I think it comes after those first two things for the majority of our clients."

Original author: Dan DeFrancesco and Rebecca Ungarino

LionTree founder Aryeh Bourkoff said the market isn't closed to startup IPOs, even after a string of disappointing performances this year, but investors aren't keen on companies with a "growth at all costs" mentality. In an annual letter to staff obtained by Business Insider, Bourkoff wrote about the disconnect between the public and private markets. That's not a bad change, he said: startups will have to strengthen their business models and improve corporate governance, which leads to "more predictable outcomes for stakeholders." But Bourkoff said the IPO market is still open — in particular, for private equity-driven companies and exits before the election.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Tech banker Aryeh Bourkoff has issued an outlook that startups eyeing the public markets should take note of: the bar has been raised. 

Fast-growing but money-losing companies like Uber and Lyft have seen their share prices tank after IPOs this year. And WeWork's planned IPO failed entirely. 

The LionTree founder and renowned tech, media, and telecom banker said in his annual letter to staff that a "culture clash" has emerged "between the 'achieve-the-impossible' ethos of the private markets and the fundamental frameworks of the public markets who want to see an eventual path to profitability." 

Despite the disconnect, Bourkoff said the IPO market is still open for startups, particularly for private equity-driven companies and exits before the election. During an election season, IPOs historically slow as investors wait to see how results might impact businesses and industries. 

The 2019 IPO upheaval is not "necessarily a bad thing," Bourkoff wrote, because it creates "a higher bar" for companies looking to go public. 

Generally, public investors are looking for "a more grounded approach to valuation," one based on fundamentals and intrinsic value, rather than "growth at all costs." Bourkoff wrote that investors are looking for "line-of-sight to profitability and free cash flow generation." 

Startups seeking to achieve those characteristics benefit from a stronger business model and governance. Those were two sore spots for companies like WeWork, whose IPO the market rejected before it even happened. 

Because of the public-private market disconnect, Bourkoff said he expects an increase in companies choosing private exits and sales over IPOs. 

In his letter, the banker also touched on how larger companies that survived startup competition will evolve, Business Insider reported. 

 

Original author: Meghan Morris

Wikipedia announced 2019's most popular articles, and almost all were about the biggest stories in entertainment and pop culture.Marvel films (and superhero flicks in general) as well as HBO shows and celebrity deaths all featured prominently in the top spots.The singer Billie Eilish was the celebrity to rank the highest, at No. 9, thanks to her debut album, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Wikipedia revealed the most popular English articles on its site in 2019, as compiled by researcher Andrew West, in a blog post on Friday. As it turns out, readers of the nonprofit internet encyclopedia were mainly interested in which films and television shows were trending, followed closely by celebrity deaths.

Marvel featured prominently thanks to films like "Avengers: Endgame" and "Captain Marvel," as did major shows like HBO's "Game of Thrones." There was also a lot of interest in the backstories of popular titles, with users looking up Queen's lead singer, Freddie Mercury (the main character of "Bohemian Rhapsody"), and the Chernobyl disaster (thanks to HBO's miniseries about the incident).

See the full list on Wikipedia's Medium page.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker

While VR headset adoption has lagged behind expectations due to technical issues, the market is now on the cusp of a transformation thanks to the promise of 5G.

Original author: Rayna Hollander

The 2020 US presidential election is coming, and it's going to be brutal for Facebook.The company has been suffering for more than two years of politically infused scandals.And it is now likely to become a political football over the next year, with both Republicans and Democrats eager to tear into the company.The current controversy over political ads illustrates how, whatever Facebook chooses to do (or not do), it will inevitably end up frustrating one side of the aisle.Click here to read more BI Prime stories

Over the past few months, Facebook has been whipsawed by controversy over its policies on political ads, alternately slammed by the left and pressured by the right in a seeming no-win situation for the Silicon Valley social networking giant. It's only a teaser of what is yet to come.

It is now less than a year until the 2020 US presidential election, which is expected to be the most bitterly fought electoral battle in the US for more than a generation.

Over the past few years, Facebook has become inextricably tangled in political controversy and is attempting to resuscitate its image after an endless chain of scandals. As the 2020 race kicks off in earnest, the challenges the $580 billion tech firm faces will only intensify.

Take political ads. Facebook is under intense scrutiny over its refusal to fact-check political advertising on its platform. The American left argues that this gives politicians license to lie without consequence on the social network, pointing at provably false ads already run by the Trump campaign.

Facebook's defense — echoed by many on the right — is that it's not the company's place to be arbiter of truth in the political sphere.

As the November 3 election draws nearer, if Facebook does nothing, the left's fury over the issue will only intensify, especially following revelations by The Wall Street Journal that the conservative Facebook board member and Trump supporter Peter Thiel is among those lobbying Mark Zuckerberg not to make changes. But if it agrees to make changes, it will undoubtedly be perceived by the right as capitulating to liberal political pressure and be pilloried for it.

Facebook is acutely sensitive to criticism from the right, which has repeatedly alleged that the social network is censoring conservatives. No real evidence has emerged that the company is really trying to silence right-leaning people, but it has become an effective cudgel for Republican activists and politicians, and Zuckerberg was repeatedly questioned about it when testifying before Congress.

Facebook will be wary of making any changes that could exacerbate the issue, particularly given the very real chance of another four years of Trump in the White House.

If Trump does win in 2020, Facebook will undoubtedly be accused by at least some on the left of being a key reason for his success and further vilified accordingly — but if he doesn't, more fundamental threats may be brewing.

After the 2016 election, historically laudatory attitudes from many liberals toward Big Tech soured over its perceived role in Trump's victory, a growing distrust that was stoked by revelations around Cambridge Analytica and Russian propaganda campaigns on Facebook. Now Democratic presidential hopefuls like Sen. Elizabeth Warren have made opposition to the power of Big Tech a cornerstone of their platforms, and depending on who wins the primary, a 2020 Democrat victory could mean an unprecedented wave of scrutiny for Facebook on antitrust and other issues.

In short: For both Republicans and Democrats, criticizing Facebook is seen as just good politics.

None of this means that Facebook should escape scrutiny throughout 2020, or that the decisions it does ultimately make (or punt on) should be excused. But it's difficult to see a path forward for the social network that doesn't turn it into a political football, when even staying "neutral" is perceived as choosing a side.

Do you work at Facebook? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at (+1) 650-636-6268 using a nonwork device, email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at @robaeprice. (PR pitches by email only, please.)

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Original author: Rob Price

The internet doesn't look like it did a decade ago. Back in 2010, smartphones, mobile browsing, and social media were still relatively new trends. It wasn't until 2016 that mobile browsing took over as people's preferred way of surfing the web.

Instead, most people visited websites from a desktop computer and came in through the front door: the homepage. Web designers, who knew how valuable this real estate was, often packed the homepage full with as much information as possible. Today, that approach has given way to sparse layouts and lots of pictures that try to grab users' attention.

As the decade comes to a close, Business Insider took a look back to see how some of the most popular websites' homepages have evolved over the years.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker and Kevin Webb

Instagram is one of the best social media platforms for photography lovers. 

The app lets you post photos and videos on a feed and share your life with your followers, an activity that more than 1 billion people around the world participate in every month. 

It's also a great way to catalogue your favorite memories, from birthdays and anniversaries to special meals or trips abroad. 

But what if  you post something on Instagram that you didn't mean to, or decide later that you no longer want a post to appear on your account? 

It's possible to delete an Instagram post in just a few simple steps. You can also archive posts instead of deleting them so that they're visible to you and no one else. 

Here's how to do both on your iPhone or Android. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $899.99 at Best Buy)

How to delete an Instagram post

1. Locate the Instagram icon on your iPhone or Android's home screen and tap to open it. 

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, tap your profile icon.

3. On your Instagram profile page, tap the photo you wish to delete to open it. 

4. On the photo page, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of your screen, just to the right of your username above the photo. This will launch a menu of options. 

Tap the top option, the red "Delete" button, to delete a post. Jennifer Still/Business Insider

5. Tap "Delete" at the top of the menu to delete the photo. You will be asked to confirm it in a pop-up window. Tap "Delete" again to permanently remove the photo from your feed. 

How to archive an Instagram post

1. Open Instagram by locating the app's icon on your phone's home screen. 

2. Tap the profile icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. 

3. Tap the photo from your Instagram feed that you wish to archive. 

4. Launch the settings menu by tapping the three horizontal dots to the right of your username at the top of the screen. 

Tap the second option, "Archive," to archive the post. Jennifer Still/Business Insider

5. Tap "Archive" to archive the photo and remove it from your timeline. 

Note that you can view archived posts at any time by tapping the three vertically stacked lines in the upper right-hand corner of your profile page and tapping "Archive."

Use the drop-down Archive menu at the top of your screen to choose between archived posts and Stories. 

View your archived posts here. Jennifer Still/Business Insider

You can always un-archive posts by tapping on a post, clicking the three-dot menu at the top right of the post, and selecting "Show on profile." This will return the post to your profile page and make it visible to your followers once again, along with the comments and likes the post accrued prior to your archiving it. 

Original author: Jennifer Still

You can freeze a row in Excel so it's easier to compare data as you scroll through the spreadsheet.You can choose to only freeze the first visible row in your Excel sheet, or freeze multiple rows. To freeze a row (or unfreeze it later) you just need to use the "Freeze Panes" menu.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Spreadsheets can get complicated, and frequently you need to be able to compare two different sets of data that are widely separated on your Mac or PC screen. 

An easy way to do that is to freeze a row (or column), so it stays in a fixed location while the rest of the spreadsheet scrolls up and down (or side to side). 

There are two ways to do this: You can freeze the first visible row on your spreadsheet, or you can freeze a set of rows. 

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MacBook Pro (From $1,299.99 at Best Buy)

Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $299.99 at Best Buy)

Microsoft Office (From $149.99 at Best Buy)

How to freeze the top row in Excel

Keep in mind that this doesn't have to literally be the top row in your spreadsheet — this command lets you freeze the first visible row. 

1. Scroll your spreadsheet until the row you want to lock in place is the first row visible under the row of letters.

2. In the menu, click "View."

3. In the ribbon, click "Freeze Panes" and then click "Freeze Top Row."

Original author: Dave Johnson

You can easily sign out of your Google account via a web browser on a computer or iPhone.However, if you're using an Android, you can only sign out of your Google account through the Settings app.Your Google account stores a large amount of personal information about you, so It's important that you actively sign out of your Google account to protect your data from unwanted eyes.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If your computer stays at home or in a secure office and no one else ever uses it, then it's perfectly all right to leave yourself signed into your Google account at all times. The same is true if your phone is never out of arm's reach.

On the other hand, signing back into Google takes all of 10 seconds, so you may want to consider signing out of your Google account when you're done using it anyway.

And if you use a shared computer or you have a habit of leaving your phone or tablet lying around, you need to get into the habit of logging out of Google regularly.

This is because when you leave yourself signed into your Google account, you run the risk of allowing access to your email, your Google Docs, any files in your Drive folders, your calendar, and lots of other personal information.

Here's how to sign out of your Google account.

Check out the products mentioned in this article: 

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $899.99 at Best Buy)

How to sign out of Google on a computer

Logging out of your Google account couldn't be much simpler, so there's no excuse not to do it. You can do it from just about any Google page, such as your Gmail or a Google Doc.

1. Locate your profile picture in the top right hand corner of the screen.

Original author: Steven John

To lock your cells in Microsoft Excel, you just need to head into the program's "Protection" tab.Locking a cell in Excel will make it so viewers can't change the data inside of that cell, which is useful if you're sharing a spreadsheet with precise data.Once you lock a cell, you'll be asked to set a password. Excel will ask you for this password if you try to unlock the cell.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Locking particular cells in Microsoft Excel can be a slightly tricky process, but once you've figured it out, it can be extremely valuable. 

Not only does it allow you to share an Excel sheet and all its corresponding data without worry over whether someone will change it all, it can also help make sure you or somebody else doesn't accidentally erase values or headings you need to have. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Macbook Pro (From $1,299 at Best Buy)

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (From $999 at Best Buy)

How to lock cells in Excel

1. Select your whole sheet, done most easily by pressing Crtl + A on your PC keyboard, or Command + A on a Mac.

2. In the "Home" tab, click on the arrow under "Alignment" to open the "Format Cells" pop-up window.

3. Click on the "Protection" tab.

4. Uncheck the box next to "Locked". Most Excel documents will come with this checked by default. You need to uncheck this, then click "OK" at the bottom of the pop-up.

Original author: Ryan Ariano

Fidelity Investments has cut roles in its enterprise-cloud-computing (ECC) unit, according to two people familiar with the matter.The privately held firm's unit told employees they could either try to find other positions internally or leave the firm, according to the one of the people. Separately, at least two senior leaders within the business line — the unit's former head and the head of enterprise-cloud-computing architecture — exited earlier this year. The ECC unit builds out a central cloud solution for the firm's different business lines. Boston-based Fidelity is one of the biggest asset managers and also has massive brokerage and retirement-plan operations. The job cuts come as brokerages and asset managers have been facing intense pressures when it comes to commissions and fees. Contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on the secure app Signal — number available upon request — using a nonwork phone.Visit BI Prime for more asset-management and wealth-management stories.

Fidelity Investments has eliminated roles in its enterprise-cloud-computing group, according to two people familiar with the matter, and the move comes after the group saw senior-leadership exits earlier this year. 

As many as 100 roles within the centralized group known as ECC were affected, including cloud technologists and engineers, the sources said.

The firm told some of the employees affected by the ECC changes that they could either try to find positions in other internal groups at Fidelity (meaning the net number of job cuts could be lower than 100) or leave the company, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the press.  

Boston-based Fidelity is one of the world's biggest asset managers and also has massive brokerage and retirement-plan operations. The job cuts come as brokerages and asset managers have been facing intense pressures when it comes to commissions and fees. 

The job cuts were first announced in October, one of the people said, and will be effective at the end of December. Business Insider could not confirm each location the cuts affected. 

Separately, at least two senior leaders earlier this year exited ECC, which builds out a central cloud solution for the firm's different business lines. 

The ECC group works out of regions including Raleigh, North Carolina; Dublin; and the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. 

Fidelity, which is privately held, has 10 regional offices and some 40,000 employees in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It had assets under administration of $8.2 trillion, including discretionary assets of $3.1 trillion, as of November 30. The firm is helmed by chief executive Abigail Johnson, the third generation of the founding family to lead Fidelity.

Fidelity declined comment on specific numbers for job eliminations.

"We actively manage our business and, from time to time, our individual businesses may be making adjustments to their staffing levels; some may be adding employees while others may be reducing," Nadil Ashour, a Fidelity spokesperson, said.

"Currently, we have well over 1,000 job openings at Fidelity, including in the cloud-computing space," he said, adding that there are 65 posting that feature a cloud skill set in the role. 

Fidelity employs cloud engineers in business units other than ECC — for example, Fidelity Brokerage Technology is advertising an opening for the role of head of cloud architecture. 

The ECC unit's former head, Michael Baker, left in April to join MarketAxess, a New York-based firm that operates an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, as its chief technology officer.

At Fidelity, Baker had been responsible for the firm's digital and agile transformation to the cloud, according to a statement from MarketAxess announcing the move. He had also supported the development of cloud security, governance, and operations across Fidelity's business units, the statement said.

Joe Frazier, a nine-year Fidelity veteran, took on the role of head of ECC in May, according to Frazier's LinkedIn profile.

And Richard Moran, a two-decade Fidelity veteran, left the firm in August as its chief architect for enterprise cloud computing to join MassMutual as its head of enterprise architecture, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Financial-services firms have had to balance tech spending and investment that could ultimately save money against cutting near-term costs.

Companies from big banks like JPMorgan to digital-payment firms like PayPal are increasingly embracing public-cloud strategies. And senior technologists at banks, hedge funds, and asset managers said in a September survey conducted by Refinitiv that they planned to spend nearly half of their technology budgets on the public cloud in 2020. 

In October, Fidelity said it was eliminating online-trading commissions for US stock, exchange-traded funds, and options trades for individual investors and registered investment advisers. That came after Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and E-Trade all nixed online commissions in rapid succession.

Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year also pressured revenues for brokerages, and many analysts saw the commission wars as setting the stage for industry consolidation.

In November, discount broker Charles Schwab announced it would buy smaller rival TD Ameritrade, and execs at the companies said the merger would mean job cuts and branch closures. And before the TD Ameritrade deal was announced, Charles Schwab already had confirmed plans to cut 600 jobs — blaming those on a challenging economic environment.

Pressure has been heaping on the asset-management industry too, with costs for basic index products racing to zero. In August 2018, Fidelity announced two index mutual funds with zero expense ratios, and said it was also lowering fees on its existing stock and bond-index mutual funds.

The layoffs underscore broader pain across financial services even as stock markets touch all-time highs and the US unemployment rate has dropped to a half-century low. 

Contact this reporter at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on the secure app Signal — number available upon request — using a non-work phone.

Original author: Rebecca Ungarino

To turn off notifications on a Windows 10 computer, you'll need to open your system's "Notifications and actions settings" menu.You can turn off all notifications at once, or choose to mute notifications only for specific programs.To reach the menu where you can turn off all of your notifications, you just have to use Windows' Start menu.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you've been using Windows 10 for long enough, you're probably used to being swarmed by notifications. It seems like every program has something to tell you. 

And perhaps you'd like to avoid seeing another notification about plugging or unplugging a USB.

Luckily, salvation from one of Windows' consistent annoyances is at hand. 

Here's how to turn off notifications in Windows 10 — either from all your applications at once, or only from certain programs.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Windows 10 (From $139.99 at Best Buy)

Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $299.99 at Best Buy)

How to turn off notifications on Windows 10

1. Open the Start menu by pressing the Windows key, or by clicking the Windows icon at the bottom-left of the screen. 

2. Search "Notifications" and select "Notifications and actions settings" in the search results.

Original author: Ross James

To delete your Snapchat account, you first have to log into your account on a desktop or laptop computer.It takes 30 days for your Snapchat account to be permanently deleted. In the meantime, it'll only be deactivated, allowing you to log in and reactivate your account if you change your mind.If you want to save your Snapchat photos or videos, you'll have to do it before deactivating your account.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you decide that you don't want your Snapchat account anymore, you can always delete your account. To do so, however, you'll need to use the desktop version of the app, which means you'll need to know your login information.

Keep in mind that once you complete these steps, your Snapchat account won't be deleted right away; it'll be deactivated for 30 days, during which time you'll have the option to reactivate your account before it's permanently deleted. So, in case you change your mind, it's a good idea to have your password and username handy.

And if you want to grab your data from the app in addition to deleting your Snapchat account, be sure that you've that done before going through this process. Otherwise you may lose your pictures and videos.

How to delete your Snapchat account

When you're ready to delete your account, here's what you'll need to do:

1. Go to the Snapchat accounts portal and enter the username, or email address, and password associated with your account.

Original author: Devon Delfino

Your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus is not waterproof. Neither are any of the newer phones the company has released, all the way up to the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The difference between waterproof and water-resistant is the difference between a piece of hardware that won't break even with extended exposure to water, and one that almost surely will.

Here's how to tell how water-resistant your iPhone is.

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iPhone 7 (From $349.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone 7 Plus (From $449.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone 8 (From $449.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone 8 Plus (From $549.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone X (From $899.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone XR (From $599.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone XS (From $899.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone XS Max (From $999.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone 11 Pro (From $999.99 at Best Buy)

iPhone 11 Pro Max (From $1,099.99 at Best Buy)

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were the first water-resistant iPhones

Original author: Steven John

Google Docs has a wide assortment of fonts to choose from, but you may not have taken full advantage of these different styles on your Chromebook, PC, or Mac computer. 

That's because there are additional fonts that won't appear in the main drop-down menu — and there's also an add-on you can install which gives you access to even more fonts. 

Here's what you need to know about using either method to add and use other fonts on Google Docs. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article: 

HP Chromebook (from $249 at Best Buy)

Macbook Pro (From $1,299 at Best Buy)

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (From $999 at Best Buy)

If you just want to access the additional fonts that are already available in Google Docs — but don't show up in the main font list — you can easily do so:

1. Go to docs.new and start or open your document. 

2. Click "More Fonts" in the top toolbar — this will prompt a pop-up window to appear.

Original author: Devon Delfino