Postman has found tremendous adoption among developers through word of mouth. Read on to learn more. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were...
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It’s a somewhat crude yardstick by which to measure innovation in deep tech — and the result perhaps reflects historic bias as much as it does actual leadership in innovation — but Europe leads every other continental region when it comes to the number of Nobel laureates it has produced in chemistry, medicine and physics.
These three categories are most closely associated with what we classify as deep tech: startups that don’t merely apply a technology layer or wrapper to an existing product, service or business model, but rather push forward ideas based on substantial, R&D-intensive and IP-protected, scientific advances and high-tech engineering innovation.
These advances — and the startups turning them into businesses — often originate from university research teams. On this front, Europe also leads the way as home to the two top-ranked universities in the world for quality of research, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Another European institution, ETH Zurich, rounds out the top 10.
However, if you rank universities around the world by the amount of venture capital investment secured by startups founded by their graduates, the top of the table takes on a distinctly American flavor, with Stanford (fourth in the research quality ranking) taking top spot ahead of eight other U.S. universities in the top 10 (including several that do not feature in the top 10 of the research quality ranking). Tel Aviv University is the sole European (depending on your definition) representative in the top 10 ranked by funding for spin-outs.
Japan’s tourism industry is booming, but it faces a hotel room shortage, especially in Tokyo as the country prepares for the Summer Olympics. H2O (the name stands for Hospitality 2.0) addresses the market opportunity with a platform that helps vacation rental owners manage their properties. The startup announced today it has raised $7 million in Series B funding from Samsung Ventures, Stonebridge Ventures, IMM Investment and Shinhan Capital, bringing its total raised to $18 million.
H2O allows owners to manage operations, housekeeping and bookings from different online travel agencies on its platform, lowering the cost of doing business. The company also recently launched H2O, a vacation rental brand, to expand its real estate development business, including a new hotel near Universal Studio Japan.
The company began in 2015 with Wahome in South Korea, a home cleaning service, before launching H2O two years later after acquiring several hospitality management companies in Japan, including a housekeeping service for vacation rentals. There are currently about 5,000 managed rooms connected to the platform, which is used by about 25 online travel agencies. Since the third-quarter of 2018, revenue has doubled every quarter, says founder and CEO John Lee.
Lee, who studied hotel administration at Cornell University and previously worked in banking at Morgan Stanley, told TechCrunch in an email that there were three market trends that made launching a hospitality business in Japan compelling:
Strong domestic tourism.Increasing inbound tourism.A huge shortage in accommodations.H20 first focused on allowing flexible housekeeping bookings for vacation rental properties. Then in 2018, H2O expanded to full hospitality management services, including property, yield, revenue and operations.
Lee said he believes “the core value of the hospitality industry is how to increase the yield of the real estate. I always believed that managing one building with high fixed costs (front desk, housekeeping department, etc.) was very inefficient from building owners point of view.”
H2O’s property management system works by syncing three calendars: guests, rooms and housekeeping. All are linked and automated to prevent double bookings and make sure housecleaning services are available. This allows H2O’s software to manage revenue, inventory and yield on a per-droom basis and schedule guests and cleanings.
The platform also allows clients to manage multiple properties at once and offer smart locks, online check-ins and chat-based customer service.
In June 2019, Japan implemented the Housing and Accommodations Business Act (also called the minpaku law, after the Japanese term for private residences rented out as short-term accommodations, similar to properties on AirBnb), formally legalizing and regulating vacation rental management. Lee says the new regulation allowed more real estate investors, who already owned other types of hospitality properties, to enter the minpaku market. H2O manages properties under four licenses, including hotel, ryokan and kanishokuksho, but the majority of its properties are under the minpaku law, which allowed it to grow its B2B business.
The average daily rate for accommodations on H2O was around $160 in 2019, with an average occupancy rate of 87 percent. Of the property owners who use H2O, 70 percent are real estate property managers, 20 percent are local property owners and 10 percent are overseas real estate funds. About 60 percent of guests who use H2O to book accommodations are inbound travelers (of that number, 40 percent are from China, 40 percent are from Southeast Asia, 10 percent are from South Korea and 10 percent are from other countries), while the rest are domestic tourists.
In press statement, Eric Kim, senior investment manager at Samsung Ventures, said “We’re pleased to be part of the fastest-growing hospitality company in Japan. H2O has already proven product market fit within Japan, and we expect them to continue to thrive as they expand outside of major cities.”
Uber is freezing the accounts of 240 users in Mexico as a precaution after flagging that two drivers made journeys with a passenger who was identified as being "a possible carrier of the coronavirus."
"On Friday 31st January, we were handed a notice by public health services in the City of Mexico after requesting information with respect to a user identified by them as being a possible carrier of the coronavirus," according to a statement posted on Uber Mexico's Twitter account in Spanish.Â
"In accordance with our protocols and as a precaution, we've proceeded to send information to these drivers and to the 240 users regarding the temporary deactivation of their accounts," the statement said.Â
Uber's statement came as a reply to a user who posted on Twitter a notification of the suspension of their account.Â
"We received information from Mexico's public health service provider regarding a user of the app who had previously used the same vehicle as you, and who has a possible diagnosis of coronavirus," a message from Uber to a user named Norma said in Spanish. "For the time being, your account can't be used to make journeys."
To date, there have not been any confirmed cases of the deadly virus in Mexico. Uber isn't the only major tech company to have acted in the wake of the coronavirus.
Last week, Facebook pledged to limit and remove misinformation about the Wuhan coronavirus shared on its platform, while also informing users if something they share is false.
The social media giant has confirmed to Business Insider that it had halted all non-essential travel to China by its staff, while its employees based in China were also directed to work from home, Bloomberg wrote last week.
Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple have all placed sharp restrictions on their own employees' travel to mainland China.
Since it first emerged in late December in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the coronavirus has spread rapidly within mainland China.
To date, there have been 17,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 361 deaths in China, while there have also been 150 confirmed coronavirus cases outside China, with one person dying in the Philippines.
Business Insider has approached Uber for comment.
19 years ago, an episode of "The Simpsons" predicted that Donald Trump would one day become US president.
And this wasn't the only time the writers have managed to predict the future.
The most recent prediction to come to light is from an episode from season 4 in 1993, where parcels are shipped to Springfield from Osaka in Japan. Homer's is filled with germs from an assembly line worker coughing into it.
The "Osaka flu" that infects the entire town has some similarities to the current spread of coronavirus affecting China and 23 other countries so far in 2020.
"The Simpsons" has been running for almost 30 years, so it's inevitable that some themes that crop up in the show might occur in real life. But some of the plotlines are eerily close to events that have happened throughout the world.
We've listed some of the strangest predictions the cartoon's writers have made since the show's launch in 1989, from Homer discovering the Higgs boson to animators drawing The Shard in London almost 20 years before it was built.
Edith Hancock, Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, and Carrie Wittmer contributed to previous versions of this post.
Here are 19 times "The Simpsons" predicted the future, in order of their appearance on the show:
By 2025, the edge computing industry is expected to be worth $3.24 billion.Â
In January Apple acquired Xnor.ai, an edge AI startup, for a rumored $200 million. A few weeks later, another edge AI firm called Kneron raised $73 million in a fundraising round backed by commerce giant Alibaba and top-tier Silicon Valley investor Sequoia Capital.
So what's all the hype about?Â
Edge computing allows data to be stored and processed closer to home, as opposed to going via the cloud. The increasing number of "Internet of Things" devices â everything from smartphones to smart diapers â means bandwidth requirements are being pushed to their limits.Â
By transferring these processes to the "edge", these devices can perform their primary computing functions without being dependent on a WiFi or cloud network. This could be applied to complex filters on your favorite photo-editing app or facial recognition capabilities in a smart camera. For example, smart camera company Wyze partnered with Xnor.ai so that its cameras could detect people, without relying on the cloud.
In an age rife with fears over privacy and how big businesses make use of consumer data, limiting the use of cloud networks also means' personal data doesn't travel so far, and is therefore less vulnerable to hacking.Â
Albert Liu, founder and CEO of Kneron, told Business Insider the company hopes to "democratize" computing power. Among his firm's biggest clients are Gree Electric, the largest manufacturer of air-conditioners in the world, and Sogou, one of the best-known online search engines in China.Â
"Cloud-based AI definitely has its purpose," said Liu. "But we want to disperse the power of inferencing among each individual device. You as a customer may not want your devices to be forced to access a cloud network every time you use it."Â
Xnor.ai, Apple's most recent buy, was spun out of A12, a research institute set up by the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen in 2014.
Asked what Apple's acquisition meant for the industry, the firm told Business Insider edge tech has "unique advantages" in the realm of privacy, "especially in a time when user data concerns are more in the spotlight".Â
"[It's] a clear signal that edge technology is a high-potential area of new investment for companies working on consumer electronics and other interactive technologies," a spokesman said.
"A smartphone, tablet, or home assistant device equipped with the tech Xnor.ai is building will provide a big leap forward for the markets in which Apple is the most competitive."Â
It added: "We expect to see a big impact from edge AI applications in the rapidly-expanding world of IoT devices. We'll see it in areas where privacy and the protection of user data are paramount, such as in medicine or law enforcement."Â
Autotech Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in tech for vehicles â and an early backer of firms like Tesla and Lyft â which invested in Xnor.ai long before it was bought up by Apple.
Managing director Alexei Andreev told Business Insider he feels "very optimistic" about the future of edge computing. So optimistic, in fact, that he has just signed off an investment in another edge startup.Â
He laughs: "I'm afraid I can't tell you who it is yet."Â
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday.
Jeff Bezos' girlfriend's brother is suing the Amazon CEO for defamation, claiming he was falsely accused of providing incriminating photos to the National Enquirer. Michael Sanchez says he never possessed Bezos' intimate photos, contradicting a New York Times report that found evidence that Lauren Sanchez sent leaked texts and photos to her brother.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.
This feature from NASDAQ brings the highlights of the five IPOs in the past week. These included the health clinic unicorn One Medical (ONEM) and titan of tin foil Reynolds Consumer Products (REYN)....
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A retro blue-grey minivan with the license plate "ROCK3R" screeches to a halt on a curbside and three men determinedly hop out. The scene cuts to them skipping stones on the edge of a lake with six others while the song "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister plays.Â
The camera then pans to scenes of people mixing craft cocktails, rock-climbing and building amateur rocket ships, before landing on the famous Rocky steps in Philadelphia, where Chris Rock and Sylvester "Rocky" Stallone join with hundreds of Rocky fans.Â
What's the common denominator? The montage of activities are all "rock-themed," inspired by interests shared by members of real Facebook Groups, the subject of the company's first Super Bowl commercial.
"What we've done here, rather cleverly, is feature 12 different groups that all share an interest in 'rocks' in some shape, way, or form," Antonio Lucio, Facebook's CMO, told Business Insider. "The ad ends with, 'Whatever you rock, there is a group for you.'"
Lucio and Colleen DeCourcy, the president of Facebook's ad agency Wieden and Kennedy, gave Business Insider a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Facebook's first Super Bowl ad.
The spot comes as Facebook â which traditionally hasn't been a big advertiser â has increased its marketing amid regulatory scrutiny and criticism of the platform.
The process spanned several months and geographical locations. It started when Lucio quipped that Facebook should be in the Super Bowl during a routine visit to the agency's Portland headquarters last August.
"Our first reaction was, 'We're not ready!'" DeCourcy said. "But when you are trying to build the global face of a brand, you can do months of prep and strategy, or you can just start and tweak as you go and try to hit the right note."Â
Wieden and Kennedy presented its ideas in September, got the greenlight in October, signed on the dotted line in November, and started production in December. The spot was shot over nine days in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Utah.
The agency knew it had to advance "More Together," the campaign that Facebook launched in summer 2019 to show how Facebook Groups bring together people from different walks of life. But it had to have a different tone than the film "Dads," where two men from different backgrounds bond over fatherhood, DeCourcy said.
The team decided the rock theme would let it cover more ground. The spot features a variety of groups that spans the literal, like the Moab Rock Climbers, and metaphorical, such as the Table Rock Lake group. It also satisfies Lucio's goal of promoting diversity through casting choices, stories, and points of view.Â
"The Super Bowl is a specific kind of work, that's usually lighter, louder and brighter â it's less plot-driven," DeCourcy said. "The idea of the rock became the fulcrum for pulling all these groups together built around an amazing track, which regardless of your age, you know."
Most creatives tend to come up with ideas and generate the ad themselves, but Wieden took a different approach, bringing in real groups and members from all over the country to collaborate on and appear in the ad. The goal, DeCourcy said, was "to celebrate these people, not necessarily to celebrate Facebook."
The administrators of the Craft Cocktail Club group, for example, brought along their own barware to the set, some of which was used in the final commercial. They also taught the creative team some of the techniques that made it into the final cut, and gave feedback while it was being shot.Â
It's no coincidence that Facebook is trying to capitalize on the year's biggest TV advertising stage, spending $11.2 million for 1 minute of airtime.
Facebook hasn't been a major advertiser, given its already big brand recognition and consumer penetration. But the company has increased its ad spending to rebuild consumer trust after a spate of controversies regarding privacy and misinformation on the platform in recent years. The company spent $9.8 billion on marketing and sales in 2019 versus $7.8 billion in 2018, per its most recent earnings report.Â
Facebook has been promoting groups as a way to promote meaningful interactions on its platforms. But groups have had their problems, too, being used to promoted unlicensed medicines and access people's personal data.
Chris Allieri, principal at public relations firm Mulberry and Astor, said a better route for Facebook would be to take steps to actually fix its platforms' problems.
"Bringing people of diverse backgrounds and interests together around community and shared passions is Facebook on its best day," he said. "But you don't build trust with a Super Bowl ad, you build it with real, demonstrated action."
Lucio insisted that Facebook is also doing that, taking stances on election interference, misinformation, privacy, and data management. But he said the Super Bowl isn't the place to talk about that.
"There is a frame of mind for the Super Bowl, and if you want to connect with your consumers, you have to be respectful of the context," he said. "Otherwise, you're wasting their time."
Facebook released the commercial on Feb.1 and the video had racked up 3.6 million views in 12 hours on YouTube. The ad will also run on other platforms including Twitter and YouTube, where Facebook will run a homepage, or masthead, takeover during the game. A digital outdoor campaign will run in New York the day after the game.Â
Like every other Super Bowl advertiser, DeCourcy and Lucio will track the public's reaction to the ad. But if they are feeling the pressure, they're not saying it.
"You always feel the pressure, but creativity is a funny animal," said DeCourcy. "Too much pressure or weight kind of kills the free flow of ideas."
As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to take on the San Francisco 49ers at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for Super Bowl 2020 on Feb. 2, marketers were gearing up off the field to do battle for spectators' attention.
And with the cost of a 30-second spot on Fox hitting as much as $5.6 million this year, the stakes are higher than ever.
Some advertisers are making their Super Bowl debut, with Facebook and hummus brand Sabra joining regulars like Anheuser-Busch InBev, Avocados From Mexico, and Pepsi.
The game is also going to get political this year, with President Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg's presidential campaigns buying 60-second ads. And tech companies are maing their mark, with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon airing commercials this year.
Here's a look at all the ads that are slated to run in the big game. (The list only includes national advertisers.)
The Super Bowl is the ultimate test for streaming services betting on live sports, and Hulu got off to a rough start tonight.
Ahead of kickoff at the Super Bowl, some Hulu subscribers complained on Twitter that the live sports streaming service was crashing. A Hulu spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Hulu later ran a 30-second commercial starring football star and former New England quarterback Tom Brady promoting Hulu's live streaming and on-demand library of content.
Â
Live sports has been a big focus for Hulu. In May, a Hulu exec said that 65% of live-sports viewers go on to watch Hulu's library of on-demand content. That's a big deal for Hulu because the company keeps all revenue from its on-demand viewing but only 15% from ads that run during its live service.
Live TV is also lucrative for Hulu. A subscription typically costs $54.99 a month with access to 65 live and on-demand TV channels, according to Hulu's website. Hulu also offers ad-supported and ad-free streaming plans. Hulu is running a promo for the Super Bowl to offer one week of live streaming for the Super Bowl.Â
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Even before Apple unveiled the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro in September, reports had already started to emerge about what the company could be planning for 2020.
The biggest upgrade coming in 2020 will likely be the introduction of 5G network support, an addition that some analysts are expecting will result in a huge iPhone upgrade cycle for Apple.Â
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives believes 350 million iPhones are in the window of an upgrade opportunity, as he wrote in a January 29 note following Apple's fiscal first-quarter earnings. Â A study from Strategy Analytics published in November also suggested that Apple could surpass Samsung and Huawei to lead the market for 5G smartphones in 2020, even though those companies have launched 5G-enabled smartphones long before Apple.
Apple's next-generation iPhones are expected to introduce other major changes, such as different size options, a revamped design, and a new three-dimensional camera, according to the predictions of TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, and other reports. Â
Here's a look at everything we know about the new iPhones Apple is expected to release in September. Â
The smartphone isnât going anywhere.
No other device can replicate what it does for the everyday consumer, so expect to see more smartphones in the publicâs hands over the next few decades.
But that doesnât mean the device will stay the same.
The next steps in the smartphone's evolution are here, and Business Insider Intelligence has collected them into The Top 3 Biggest Smartphone Trends.
This exclusive report can be yours for FREE today.
A 23-year-old YouTuber by the name of David Dobrik was recently named Generation Z's favorite social media personality in a survey from financial analyst firm Piper Jaffray.
If you're not a teen, it's possible you've never heard of the star. He's a celebrity that's risen to fame thanks to social media: He got launched into the spotlight on the video-sharing app Vine, and has since turned to YouTube, where he has more than 15 million subscribers.
Now, Dobrik has turned his empire into a net worth estimated at $7 million. His elaborate stunts and vlogs have earned him movie roles, a gig hosting the Teen Choice Awards, and a loyal fanbase.
Here's everything you need to know about David Dobrik, a Vine star-turned-YouTuber:
It may still be very early, but there can be no dispute: Sony is dominating the early days of 2020.
Multiplexes at the moment are filled with titles from the studio that can satisfy all audiences. From Oscar nominated titles like "Little Women" and "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood," to blockbuster fare like "Jumanji: The Next Level" and "Bad Boys for Life."Â
And the latter is the shining jewel of the movie biz at the moment as it has scored the rare third-straight weekend box office win.
The movie, teaming Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as wise-cracking Miami detectives 17 years after the release of "Bad Boys II," topped the domestic box office with an estimated $17.7 million. That now brings its domestic total to $148 million, which tops "Bad Boys II" and makes "Bad Boys for Life" the highest-grosser of the franchise. And it set that feat in just 17 days in theaters.
You can chalk up the success of the movie to the creatives behind it, especially the producer who oversees the franchise, Jerry Bruckheimer, who for years had to navigate a revolving door of directors, screenwriters, as well as numerous release date changes, and appeasing his temperamental stars to finally get the third movie in the can. But you also have to give credit to the executives at Sony, who found the perfect release for the movie to have time for the word of mouth to build.
The January release, in a time of year where there is zero competition outside of the Oscar contenders â which is only attractive to a select audience â opened the door for a big opening and consecutive weeks to build up its box office coin as titles like "Dolittle" and "The Turning" didn't find any interest from audiences.
"Bad Boys for Life" will most likely be dethroned next Friday when Warner Bros. opens its DC Comics title "Birds of Prey" on a record-breaking number of screens for the month of February (4,100), but Sony certainly used its time well at the number one spot.
When Uber and Lyft went public, it wasn’t the drivers who got rich — it was the executives, investors and some early employees. In an era when it has become clear that tech executives and investors are frequently the only ones who’ll reap rewards for a company’s success, cooperative startups are getting more attention.
Depending on how it’s set up, a cooperative model offers workers and users true ownership and control in a company; any profits that are generated are returned to the members or reinvested in the company.
Co-ops aren’t new: The nation’s longest-running example is The Philadelphia Contributionship, a mutually owned insurance company founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. In 1895, the International Co-operative Alliance formed to serve as a way to unite cooperatives across the world. Some colleges have student-run housing co-ops where cleaning, food preparation and other responsibilities are shared. Today, there are many well-known large-scale co-ops, including outdoor recreation store REI, Arizmendi Bakery in San Francisco and Blue Diamond Growers, one of the world’s largest tree-nut processors.
What’s novel, however, is applying the co-op model to technology startups. Start.coop, an accelerator for cooperative startups, is just one group trying to facilitate that practice.
Apple has released a new smartwatch every year since 2015, and there's a good chance 2020 will be no different.
While last year's Apple Watch brought improvements like an always-on display and a built-in compass, the biggest update expected to arrive on Apple's popular smartwatch in 2020 is support for sleep tracking. That's according to Bloomberg, which reported in early 2019 that Apple had been testing such a feature for a possible 2020 launch.
It would mark a significant upgrade for the Apple Watch, considering sleep tracking is the one major feature it's lacking compared to rivals like Fitbit and Samsung. That could further establish Apple's stronghold on the smartwatch market. Apple accounted for 47.9% of the smartwatch market as of the third quarter of 2019, according to Strategy Analytics, while Samsung followed with 13.4% and Fitbit placed in third at 11.3%.Â
Here's a look at everything we're expecting to see from Apple's next smartwatch.Â
Justin Kan was talking about the systems in his life. The serial entrepreneur/founder, who recently announced a pivot and significant layoffs at Atrium, his latest venture, came to speak at last fall’s TechCrunch Disrupt in high-fashion black sweats and an extremely colorful pair of Nikes.
After Kan wrapped up his panel, we sat down for a wide-ranging and philosophical interview. And as we left off in part one of our conversation, Kan was explaining his self-described Buddhist philosophy of life.
But in the second part of our interview, I wanted to focus more on Kan’s thoughts about systems in society as a whole. There’s a difference, after all, between working mindfully to change oneself and doing so to change society. As we’ve seen with Adam Neumann, among others, there is a certain class of “spiritual” Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who use their platform in tech to assuage their own inner suffering — and perhaps gain influence by helping similarly influential people alleviate their own. WeWork, for example, cultivated associations with everything from Kabbalah to Deepak Chopra to mindful eating before the company melted under the heat of its own ethical challenges.
I don’t know that there is evidence to place Kan in the above category; maybe he is better understood as a legitimate, if unconventional, Big Thinker. But either way, it would be important to ask: What good is it when tech leaders like Kan seek a Buddhist alleviation of suffering, if the industries that sustain them are, at scale, currently creating enormous and very tangible suffering for countless millions of less fortunate people?
Hello!
This is Matt Turner, executive editor at Business Insider, back from parental leave and excited to be picking up from where my excellent colleagues left off with this weekly email.Â
It might already be February, but this past week was my first week of work in 2020. And so in that spirit, I wanted to start this email rounding up some stories that could help you get ahead in the year ahead.
For example, Amazon, which briefly hit a $1 trillion valuation last week, is known for its ruthless interviewing process. Lauren Johnson talked to insiders about how to get a job there.
Or would you rather work at Netflix? Ashley Rodriguez talked to its head of recruiting, former employees, and staffing experts to learn exactly what it takes to get hired in 2020.
If you're more interested in Wall Street than Silicon Valley, Bradley Saacks talked to the head of professional development at Steve Cohen's Point72 about how to climb from fresh college grad to portfolio manager at the $16 billion hedge fund firm,
And Rebecca Ungarino talked to six up-and-coming financial advisers at Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Merrill Lynch who are managing big money and navigating a cutthroat industry.
If finance isn't your thing, perhaps you want to be a management consultant? Robin Madell put together a guide to getting a job at McKinsey, BCG, Bain, or Accenture, according to three headhunters for the top management consulting firms.
Or if you'd rather be a lawyer, Elizabeth Kiefer has this guide on how to get in to Harvard Law School, according to the chief admissions officer, two students, and two admissions consultants.
If all of that sounds far too corporate, Shoshy Ciment talked to a 19-year-old sneakerhead who says he made $350,000 in sales last year. He shared the budget spreadsheet he uses to maximize his profits at big events like Sneaker Con.
And once you're done working, you might want to retire to somewhere in Europe. Taylor Borden talked to a Utah couple who moved to Portugal in retirement in 2012, and got her hands on a breakdown of how they live on a $2,330 monthly budget.
The recurring theme here of course is that these stories are designed to help you deliver on your dreams. I'd love to hear from you: What else should we be writing about in that vein?
Speaking of big dreams, Julie Bort this week published her annual list of the 72 startups that will boom in 2020, according to VCs.
As Julie explains her story, every year she asks VCs to name two startups: one that they or their firm invested in, and one where they have no financial ties or any other interest, but believe will do well. The result is a list of startups to watch in 2020 from the people who make their livings watching startups.
Elsewhere in the startup space, Yeji Jesse Lee and Jeremy Berke profiled the top 14 venture-capital firms making deals in the cannabis industry, and where they're looking to place their next bets. Benji Jones highlighted the top 21 clean-tech startups to watch that are set to transform the energy industry.
And lastly, Callum Burroughs in London asked nine of the most prominent VC investors in European tech to pick out fintech startups they think will blow up in 2020. Here are the 15 they chose.
That's it for this week. As always, I'd love to hear from you. What would you like to see more of? Let me know.
-- Matt
When David Solomon stepped onto the stage at Goldman Sachs' 200 West St. headquarters in New York on Wednesday wearing a dark suit and a silver tie, he looked out at a roomful of expectant analysts, investors, and journalists.
When the Canadian economist David Rosenberg described the odds of the next US recession, a French expression came to mind: "les jeux sont faits."
Oyo, the Indian budget-hotel startup backed by SoftBank, is laying off a significant number of its sales and support staff in the US, two sources directly familiar with the cuts told Business Insider.
AT&T has made no secret of its desire to lead the increasingly fractured media landscape through its newly acquired WarnerMedia entertainment properties and Xandr adtech division.
PR seems to be more important â and complex â than ever.
The way people are going to the doctor is increasingly going online.Â
McDonald's takes Ronald McDonald very seriously.Â
SpaceX is pushing to launch about two dozen missions into space this year. That would break its record of 21 launches in 2018.
It would be easy to mistake Jocko Willink as the type of executive coach who would bark orders as if he were in the battlefield, and tear down underperforming employees without mercy.
Museum of Ice Cream â which, according to its website, provides "fun, multi-sensorial expressions of ice cream that cater to the appetites of our generation" â has in total welcomed more than 1.5 million guests to date across all of its locations from Los Angeles to New York.Â
Michael Sanchez has filed a defamation lawsuit against his sister's boyfriend Jeff Bezos, claiming that Bezos and his security consultant falsely told journalists that Sanchez provided Bezos' nude photos to the National Enquirer.
A recent New York Times report pushed back against the claim that Bezos' phone was hacked in May 2018 by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Bezos' personal hired security consultant Gavin de Becker compiled a report outlining the claim that Bezos' iPhone X had been hacked after receiving a WhatsApp message from the account belonging to the crown prince.
But the Times reported that there was no definitive link to the alleged hack by Saudi Arabia and the 11-page National Enquirer exposé of Bezos' affair with Lauren Sanchez, which include leaked intimate text messages sent between the two prior to Bezos' public announcement of his divorce with his then-wife Mackenzie Bezos.Â
Bezos also alleged that the National Enquirer engaged in "extortion and blackmail" by threatening to release nude selfies Bezos had taken and sent to Sanchez. The Times reports that federal agents and prosecutors found evidence that Sanchez sent the intimate texts and photos to her brother, who leaked them to the Enquirer for $200,000.
Now, Bloomberg reports that Michael Sanchez claims Bezos and de Becker told journalists that he was the one who provided the nude photos to the Enquirer, but Sanchez says he has never possessed the photos.Â
In the filing, Sanchez admits to entering into an agreement with the tabloid, but claims it was to "get ahead of the story" about Bezos' affair with his sister, and Sanchez says his efforts were to limit the backlash against the pair.Â
Sanchez also says his agreement was entered with the Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc, which was already the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Manhattan US Attorney's Office into its role in distributing hush-money payments to women who allegedly had affairs with President Donald Trump.Â
In a statement to Bloomberg through her lawyer, Lauren Sanchez said her brother "secretly provided my most personal information to the National Enquirer -- a deep and unforgivable betrayal. My family is hurting over this new baseless and untrue lawsuit, and we truly hope my brother finds peace."
A lawyer for Bezos told Bloomberg that the Amazon CEO would respond to the new allegations in court.
Copyright © 2020 iStart Valley.
