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☆ Billionaire Bill Ackman says crypto 'is here to stay' in the wake of the FTX collapse, as the one-time skeptic outlines some of his investments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said "crypto is here to stay," in a Tweet thread published Sunday. Calling himself an initial crypto skeptic, Ackman said he is a small investor in a "hobbyist" capacity. He outlines his crypto observations following the dramatic collapse of crypto exchange FTX. "As such, I was initially a crypto skeptic, but after studying some of the more interesting crypto projects, I have come to believe that crypto can enable the formation of useful businesses and technologies that heretofore could not be created." The world's once third-largest crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Friend is seeking bankruptcy protection in the US and could leave up to 1 million creditors exposed to losses.

☆ Meet a 26-year-old tech entrepreneur who says starting a company is 'an art and creative process'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The 26-year-old, Toronto, Canada, native co-founded her first company, Ranomics, at 18. She founded her second company, Locke Bio, a "Shopify" for pharmaceutical and other companies selling FDA approved drugs, at 23. For Tie, art and creativity is not exactly as on-the-nose as writing in iambic pentameter or dancing at Lincoln Center. "That's, I think, more of an art and creative process than something that is technical." Here's how the entrepreneur, now based in Los Angeles, has leaned into her creative, big-picture thinking to find success in fields like tech and science.

☆ Pension Funds Struggle to Gauge Crypto Exposure
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Chris Cumming | Rod James | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Public pensions in the U.S. have mostly shied away from digital assets, a sector whose Wild West ethos and extreme volatility are widely seen as bad fits for institutional investors that aim to protect retiree savings. Yet many pensions have millions of dollars in exposure to the cryptocurrency asset class through investments in venture-capital funds that backed crypto companies.

☆ Inside 4 of the biggest VC-basked startups that went public and crashed, from Casper Sleep to Blue Apron
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bird became the latest VC-backed startup showing signs of distress, after hinting at a potential bankruptcy this week. The company is among several former success stories struggling against competition and a tough economy. Here are four of the biggest VC-backed startup downfalls of recent years. Meanwhile, VC-backed startup darlings of recent years — many of which held the vaunted $1 billion valuation unicorn status — are suddenly unable to keep their heads above water. Here's a look at four of the biggest VC-supported startups that went public and crashed in recent years.

☆ FAA OKs new $4.2 billion terminal at New York's JFK airport
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Shannon StapletonWASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted final environmental approval for construction of a new $4.2 billion terminal at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the state said on Thursday. New York state Governor Kathy Hochul said construction will begin early next year on a 1.2 million-square foot (111,480-square-meter), 10-gate terminal at JFK. A $1 trillion infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 includes $15 billion for airport project grants. The FAA is expected to soon issue a similar environmental approval to a massive $8.5 billion project at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport that includes a new Terminal 2. Delta's glittering 1.3 million-square foot, $4 billion Terminal C began flights this summer.

☆ Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids. Inside the movement to take 'control of human evolution.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

"We are the Underground Railroad of 'Gattaca' babies and people who want to do genetic stuff with their kids," Malcolm told me. Ellison, meanwhile, who has two children in their 30s, has reportedly resumed having kids — with his 31-year-old girlfriend. "The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children," Simone said. The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children. Before she met Malcolm, Simone was convinced she wanted to live her life single and child-free.

☆ Google must take 'more drastic actions' like layoffs because not enough employees will leave on their own, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Tom Dotan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google's headcount grew much faster than its revenue during the third quarter. Google is now the last major holdout among tech giants to avoid laying off employees amid an economic slowdown. And while the company takes pride in the fact that it's never suffered mass layoffs in its history, there may be no other way out for Google, one analyst says. "Google is likely going to find it difficult to reduce headcount growth below revenue growth without more drastic actions," Shmulik wrote. In the last quarter Google hired around 12,000 new employees, making it 24% larger than it was during the quarter last year.

☆ Investors Cool on Internet-of-Things Startups, a Tech Conduit for Retailers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Slumping markets have investors pulling back from funding startups that make internet-connected devices for retailers, threatening to choke an innovation pipeline for emerging tools like smart shopping carts and inventory management robots. Total venture-capital funding for startups developing IoT technology specifically for retailers is on pace to drop 65.1% from 2021 to $188.2 million by the end of the year—one of the hardest hit subsectors in the IoT market, the firm said. Like most commercial software applications, connected devices in recent years have become an integral part of retailers’ day-to-day operations. He said the company would continue to invest in these and other tech tools that help customers, despite tougher economic conditions. IoT technology is critical for the food company, Mr. Basu said, because it also enables Goya to implement cybersecurity projects in its plants.

☆ In a tech downturn, breakout stars of venture capital are going abroad to hunt for funding. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The flow of capital motivated more investors to split from established firms and raise their own funds, but it hasn't always been easy. For years they've gone abroad to raise capital from limited partners, mostly wealthy individuals and family offices. This isn't new territory for international investors. He continues to use his personal wealth to back startups and venture funds mostly stateside, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Brianne Kimmel's Worklife Ventures. Even those with ties to international investors may struggle to raise funds as fears of a global recession escalate.

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Regulators are moving in on distressed crypto exchange FTX as it scrambles to raise billions in funds to stave off collapse, while its chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried, faces heightened scrutiny. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas has frozen assets of FTX Digital Markets, an FTX subsidiary. FTX Australia called in administrators on Friday, the Australian Financial Review reported, citing a company statement. Bankman-Fried is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for potential securities law violations, Bloomberg reported, citing a source. This source said helping out FTX was the question for larger investors in FTX.

He is seeking the remainder from other funds, including current investors in FTX such as venture capital fund Sequoia Capital, the source added. Tether's chief technology officer, Paolo Ardoino, tweeted that it had "no plans to invest in or lend assets to FTX." FTX also got hit by the Bahamas Securities Commission, where the company is based, freezing assets of FTX Digital Markets "and related parties". In a tweet, FTX said it had reached a deal with Tron to establish a special facility that would allow clients to swap some crypto assets from FTX to external wallets. Bankman-Fried told investors that Alameda owes FTX about $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

☆ Stanford, Berkeley, and Harvard rank among the 15 US colleges that produce the most startup founders
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

PitchBook released its annual ranking of the top 100 colleges for VC-backed startup founders. Many of the top schools are near tech hubs like San Francisco, Boston, New York City, and Austin. Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Harvard have the top three undergraduate programs. The research firm PitchBook released its annual ranking of 100 universities around the world that have produced the most startup founders. Here are the 15 US colleges with undergraduate programs that have produced the most VC-backed startup founders.

Bankman-Fried said he was in talks with "a number of players" in the crypto sector, including Justin Sun who is the founder of crypto token Tron, after a potential rescue deal with larger rival Binance fell apart. He also said his firm Alameda Research, which sources have said was partly behind FTX's problems, was winding down trading. FTX's native token, FTT , is down more than 90% this week and was attempting to steady around $3.50. Another exchange, OKX, said it had been approached earlier in the week by Bankman-Fried, who described liabilities of $7 billion that needed covering fast. Bankman-Fried said FTX.US, the U.S. operations of the exchange, however, had not been financially impacted.

He is seeking the remainder from other funds, including current investors in FTX such as venture capital fund Sequoia Capital, the source added. Bankman-Fried told investors that Alameda owes FTX about $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. FTX had lent more than half of its customer funds to Alameda, the newspaper said. The U.S. securities regulator is investigating FTX.com's handling of customer funds and crypto-lending activities, according to a source with knowledge of the inquiry. Canada's Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Tiger Global and Japan's Softbank are also FTX investors.

☆ Rise and fall of crypto exchange FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange FTX stood on the brink of failure on Thursday after a bailout from larger rival Binance collapsed. September - FTX signed a sponsorship deal with Mercedes' Formula 1 team. June 4 - FTX signed a reportedly $135 million sponsorship deal for naming rights of the Miami Heat's home court. July 1 - FTX signed a deal with an option to buy embattled crypto lender BlockFi for up to $240 million. Aug. 19 - A U.S. bank regulator ordered crypto exchange FTX to halt "false and misleading" claims it had made about whether funds at the company are insured by the government.

☆ How anyone can get a cut of the $1.2T vacation rental market with reAlpha
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Realpha With Insider Studios | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

And anyone can invest as they disrupt the $1.2 trillion short-term rental market. Now reAlpha is doing it for the $1.2 trillion short-term rental industry — and the timing couldn't be better. Why reAlpha targets the vacation rental marketreAlpha is targeting the vacation rental market because it's outperforming the rest of the real estate sector, and isn't slowing down. reAlpha makes short-term rental investing easyWhile many aspiring property investors are looking to get in on the $1.2 trillion short-term rental market, they're faced with roadblock after roadblock. Not only is reAlpha targeting the fast-growing vacation rental market, but they're using AI to take the opportunity to the next level.

FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried said he was "exploring all the options", but fading hopes for rescue left FTX teetering. A message on the FTX website said: "FTX is currently unable to process withdrawals. "The dagger will continue to hang over the crypto market, as long as the outlook of FTX's fate remains unclear." 'CONFIDENCE CRISIS'There are also early signs that the fallout could spread beyond crypto markets, with jittery stockmarkets sliding on Wall Street overnight. Most crypto players remain bullish about the long term, but are braced for further falls in the near future.

☆ Thousands of workers were laid off this week as tech companies and startups brace for an economic crash. Investors, founders, and recruiters explain why this is just the beginning.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Rob Price | Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Amid growing economic uncertainty, layoffs in the technology industry, both for public companies and for startups, have been escalating this Fall. While plenty of tech companies were still flying high in early 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February accelerated global economic turmoil. More than 17,000 tech workers lost their jobs in both May and June, while July and August saw another 29,000 cuts, according to layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi. Davis, the VC at Interplay, explained that cost-cutting and layoffs are happening across the board, not just in the tech industry. But public tech companies as well as early- and growth-stage startups will face additional challenges, he said.

Web Summit, the sector’s annual bash held in Lisbon, is doing the opposite. And the usual welter of tech companies, investors and celebrities are still milling around. That new strain of reality-based tech investing has a lot further to go, though. The relative lack of investor focus at Web Summit on new technologies that could really move the dial, such as ways to ease climate change, is striking. The sector, Smith told Breakingviews, will increasingly “influence what people talk about and who comes to Web Summit”.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz is 'betting heavily' on edtech for the next decade, says general partner Katherine Boyle. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Even with edtech funding down this year, A16z is still "betting heavily" on the space. Here's why general partner Katherine Boyle thinks edtech is worth betting on over the next decade. Andreessen Horowitz is still "betting heavily" on education-tech investing, despite signs that overall funding in the space is slowing. Global venture-capital funding to edtech startups has soared since 2019 and saw a marked jump during the pandemic. More recently, though, there have been signs that the rate of edtech investing is slowing down with market uncertainty: PitchBook estimates that total edtech funding for 2022 stands at $7.9 billion as of November 3.

☆ Supply-Chain Tech Provider Project44 Delays Potential Public Offering
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Paul Page | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Supply-chain technology provider project44 has postponed plans for a possible public stock offering amid the uncertainty in markets, and instead is turning to more venture-capital investment to expand its business tracking goods through global transportation networks. Funding for supply-chain technology startups has also tapered off this year, according to analytics firm PitchBook Data Inc., as venture-capital firms have reined in deal making. Mr. McCandless said project44 can continue to expand without going to public markets over the next couple of years based on its existing investment and cash flow. PREVIEWMr. McCandless said project44 was in position to file paperwork in June for a future public stock offering. A public offering, he said, would allow more venture-capital and private-equity investors to cash out in public markets while letting the company have continuing access to capital.

☆ Unicorn indie-film studio A24 is in talks to buy the Cherry Lane Theatre, New York's oldest off-Broadway theater
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Cherry Lane Theatre was put back on the market in 2021 after a previous sale fell through. The purchase comes as Hollywood increasingly looks to the theater world for IP and talent. A24, the Oscar-winning studio behind indie hits like "Uncut Gems," "Midsommar," and "Moonlight," is in talks to buy the Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City's oldest continuously running off-Broadway theater, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Cherry Lane was put back on the market in November 2021 after a deal to buy the theater for $11 million fell through amid disagreements over the price. Representatives from the Cherry Lane Theatre and A24 declined to comment on any prospective sale.

☆ Google's former payments chief just unveiled his plans for a digital family office that relies on AI and already has $90 million in funding from backers like Ribbit Capital and Coatue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caesar Sengupta spent 15 years at Google and was its payments chief before leaving in 2021. Arta is backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital India and Ribbit Capital. Sengupta left Google in April of last year with seven other Google employees to start Arta: Charles Dong, Chirag Yagnik, David Shapiro, Edward Chiang, Felix Lin, Mark Striebeck, and Zelidrag Hornung. "This is so different from what Google does, we left and Google was extremely supportive," said Sengupta. Sengupta and other former Google executives on the Arta team left in the midst of a series of exits of high-ranking Google employees.

That hearing discussed an unclassified report issued by a Department of Defense task force in 2021. There is precedent for the Defense Department, scientists and the media playing down reports of UFOs rather than prioritizing truly open scientific inquiry. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Air Force established a UFO task force named Project Blue Book and commissioned an independent scientific study of the phenomena. There is now a danger that the NASA study, which is also supposed to be objective, may not live up to this scientific ideal. If government and academia don’t do so with UFOs, we may end up with another independent scientific panel in another 50 years, but be no closer to the truth.

☆ Leonid Radvinsky bought OnlyFans after building an empire of porn sites. Now he wants to join the ranks of the super-rich and give away his fortune.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Leonid Radvinsky bought OnlyFans, an adult content platform, in 2018 for an undisclosed sum. The subscription-based adult content platform was founded in the UK by Tim Stokely in 2016 before Radvinsky took control. OnlyFans is not his first foray into the world of adult content. It ran a number of websites in the early 2000s that marketed "hacked" and "illegal" passwords to porn sites, Forbes reported last year. Radvinsky's next venture came in 2002 when he set up MyFreeCams, a porn site that featured "models" who got naked and offered sexual performances on webcams.

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