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☆ How HBO survived merger after merger and changed television forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Darren Geeter | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The network has survived merger after merger with one of the mergers, AOL Time Warner, considered the worst deal in modern American corporate history. The birth of HBO coincided with the modernization of television across the United States with the emergence of cable in the 1960s and 70s. HBO debuted on November 8, 1972, and it was one of the first paid television networks with 344 total subscribers in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. We're going to have to do original series," Bewkes told CNBC. The Time Warner era ushered in a multiplex model for HBO to reduce churn and debuted original programming "Dream On" and "The Larry Sanders Show."

☆ What Was Twitter, Anyway?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Willy Staley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Dorsey had nurtured the basic idea of Twitter for years — a site that would be like AOL Instant Messenger’s “away message” for anywhere, or “a more ‘live’ LiveJournal,” as he put it in a post on Flickr. But Williams, who created Blogger and sold it to Google for millions, came to see something else in Twitter: To him, its potential lay in its ability to create a running record of what was going on in the outside world. Dorsey was insistent that it was the latter: “You’re talking about your status as you look at the fire.”To Dorsey, the fact that Twitter creates a record of the world would be an incidental byproduct of all this status-sharing. He posted it to Twitter with a brief caption. Dorsey and Williams were correct to identify this as a conflict, even if they could not design or engineer it away.

☆ Microsoft should throw billions at Apple to make Bing the default iPhone search engine, says a former Google exec
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A former Google exec thinks Microsoft should outbid Google to land the default iPhone search spot. Landing the default search spot on the iPhone could disrupt Google's search dominance. If Microsoft wants to really throw Google's business into turmoil, it should offer Apple billions of dollars to become the iPhone's default search engine. Google currently pays an estimated $15 billion a year to be the default search engine on the more than 1 billion Apple devices globally, including the iPhone. While Google has launched its competitor to ChatGPT, known as Bard, it is not currently integrated into Google Search.

☆ ‘The next AOL?’: Meta’s massive layoffs raise questions about Zuckerberg’s strategy as company morale sinks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Coupled with the new cuts, Meta will have cut about 24% of its workforce, or one in four employees, in just about half a year. Nevertheless, the layoff announcements have naturally sent morale at the Menlo Park-headquartered company plummeting. Zuckerberg indicated that the job cuts will not be complete until the end of May. “You can cut your way to profitability in the short term,” the former tech CEO said. “But you can’t cut your way to growth.

☆ Here's how a serial founder and former US diplomat raised $25 million to create a crypto superapp — and why it's gotten backing from investors like JetBlue and the Winklevoss twins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kresus, which is building a crypto superapp, has raised $25 million led by Liberty City Ventures. Traina's company, Kresus, has raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Liberty City Ventures, the company's first round of financing, to bring that vision of a crypto superapp to fruition. JetBlue Ventures, Craft Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and Gemini cofounders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss also participated in the round. That track record helped win over Liberty City Ventures, whose portfolio includes the Web3 companies Animoca Brands, BlockApps, BitGo, and The Sandbox. James Lang, a managing director at Liberty City, told Insider that the quality of Kresus' team stood out among similar companies he'd reviewed.

☆ A generation of high-profile women tech leaders have stepped aside. What’s next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The tech industry has now lost an entire generation of trailblazing women leaders and replaced them mostly with men. And in the wake of the pandemic, women leaders in corporate America more broadly are more likely than ever to quit, according to the most recent Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org. Now that she’s departing, Big Tech is facing a new reckoning over its failure to promote and support women leaders, and what this could mean for the next generation of women in the industry. “Without women in the C-suite who have come before them, it could make this transition period tougher for next generation women leaders,” Kray said. “I think that what she achieved and what she modeled will be something that will live on beyond the fact that now we don’t have a female Big Tech CEO.”

☆ How the Supreme Court could re-shape the internet as you know it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Nearly 30 years of protectionsA view of the U.S. Supreme Court on February 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court isn't the only one reviewing Section 230; Congress and the White House have also proposed changes to the law, though legislation to update Section 230 has consistently stalled. For skeptics of the tech industry, and critics of social media platforms, more lawsuits would imply more opportunities to hold tech companies accountable. Allowing the courts to scrutinize the tech industry more would bring it in line with other industries, some have argued. Even a 'like' could trigger a lawsuitLiability could also extend to individual internet users.

☆ These 26 words ‘created the internet.’ Now the Supreme Court may be coming for them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

This week, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on two pivotal cases dealing with online speech and content moderation. A set of rulings against the tech industry could significantly narrow Section 230 and its legal protections for websites and social media companies. If that happens, the Court’s decisions could expose online platforms to an array of new lawsuits over how they present content to users. Such a result would represent the most consequential limitations ever placed on a legal shield that predates today’s biggest social media platforms and has allowed them to nip many content-related lawsuits in the bud. “The massive social media industry has grown up largely shielded from the courts and the normal development of a body of law.

☆ Flowcode CEO: A big mistake for brands to not take first-party data from Super Bowl ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFlowcode CEO: A big mistake for brands to not take first-party data from Super Bowl adsTim Armstrong, Flowcode CEO and former AOL CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss his thoughts on Super Bowl advertisements, how the marketing world considers advertisements, and more.

In Insider's Real Retirement series, we ask regular people approaching or in retirement what they'd wished they'd known about being prepared to stop working. The retirees featured below reached the finish line, but they made and saw some mistakes along the way. In Business Insider's Real Retirement series, retirees share their best advice on retirement, what worked for them, and sometimes, what didn't work for them. "Find a good financial planner or retirement planner," he said, "and begin to taper off your equity allocation, aiming towards 40% or 50% when you retire." Don't put off savingDavid Fisher, who retired at 65, didn't think much about retirement when he was younger.

☆ Great Fraud Reckoning Will Expose Scam Companies, Cause Stock Market Chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Get ready for what will feel like an inescapable wave of corporate fraud. And as interest rates have risen, the stock market has fallen off — which makes it harder to get dollars by whipping up new investors or offering stock. Despite Scheck's assertion that the risk of a wave of corporate fraud has heightened, he didn't want to speak in historical analogies. Kreuger had managed to hide that he had stretched the company's finances beyond solvency by raising money on the US stock market while it was raging. That may have been enough when the stock market was on a heater and investors were winning, but it's not enough when the stock market is falling, the economy is slowing, and everyone from regulators to lawmakers to kids on TikTok want answers.

☆ Fraud Economy: How Current Economic Trends Lead to More Corporate Scams
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Get ready for what will feel like an inescapable wave of corporate fraud. And as interest rates have risen, the stock market has fallen off — which makes it harder to get dollars by whipping up new investors or offering stock. Despite Scheck's assertion that the risk of a wave of corporate fraud has heightened, he didn't want to speak in historical analogies. There be icebergsOf course, there's also fraud that goes undetected in times of easy money — companies where the very act of existing means stretching the truth. Kreuger had managed to hide that he had stretched the company's finances beyond solvency by raising money on the US stock market while it was raging.

☆ The 10 companies that produce the most startup founders, including Bain, McKinsey, and Sony
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Working for a major tech company or consulting firm can be a launching pad for your startup. An analysis of LinkedIn data identified the US companies that produced the most founders. The small-business-lending platform OnDeck analyzed 228,000 LinkedIn career histories to identify which US companies produced the most founders in former employees. Meanwhile, tech companies are the second-highest generator of founders. Here are the top 10 companies that have produced the most founders.

☆ Read the 15-page pitch deck that raised $6 million for StoryCo, a blockchain-based platform that links Hollywood creatives directly with fans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

StoryCo founders Justin and J.P. Alanis are part of a wave of entrepreneurs building blockchain-based storytelling platforms. StoryCo raised a $6 million seed round from Web3-focused VC firms and Hollywood insiders. In other words, Hollywood studios have been gatekeepers to content — and profits — for far too long. StoryCo is one of several startups that see blockchain and Web3 technology creating big new opportunities for TV and film creatives. Passholders will have access to a project's treasury, which will include NFT sales, IP licensing revenue, and royalties.

☆ Suze Orman: Americans are short on emergency savings amid 'dangerous scenario' for economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"You have to have an emergency savings account, whether you're in recession or not in a recession," Orman said. Americans living paycheck to paycheckThere's never been a better time to have emergency cash set aside. A new survey from Bankrate.com finds that most adults — 57% — are unable to afford an emergency $1,000 expense. At the end of a year, people are often surprised by the sums they save, whether it be $600 or $1,000, Orman said. "Once you start seeing how easy it is to save, the more you like to save," Orman said.

☆ Apple is looking for a top sales executive to spearhead a giant advertising push in sports and streaming. Here are 16 execs who could score the job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Netflix also conducted a search before hiring two Snap executives, Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor, to lead its new ads business. XandrLesser, a longtime digital ad executive, has extensive experience working on issues around the future of digital marketing. McDonald has a ton of other digital ad sales and publishing experience. She helped launch Modi Media, ad buying giant GroupM's addressable TV business, before joining TV adtech startup Cadent. UnivisionValentino runs Disney's digital ad business as EVP, client and brand solutions.

☆ Check out the exclusive pitch deck that school-to-student matching startup Schola used to raise $10 million in funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Schola is an online guide and marketplace for students to match with different PK-12 schools. Students can learn about and even apply to various public, private, and charter schools on the platform. Schola has launched in all 50 states and just raised $10 million in Series A funding. Schools can simultaneously use the platform as a way to increase their enrollment reach, and can pay for different-tiered recruitment campaigns or data analytic tools. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck that edtech startup Schola used to raise $10 million in Series A funding:

☆ Tech sector should see 'very strong' second half of 2023, says Flowcode CEO Tim Armstrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTech sector should see 'very strong' second half of 2023, says Flowcode CEO Tim ArmstrongTim Armstrong, Flowcode CEO and former AOL CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss Armstrong's thoughts on the digital ad space, how the tech sector will play out through the year and more.

Critically, experts say, nothing that's transpired in the crypto market in 2022 undermines the inherent value of the blockchain. "So while this has been a shock to the market, a lot of people in the space remain sanguine about the future of blockchain technology." He said stock trading, buying and selling real estate, and borrowing and lending money remain ripe for disruption by blockchain technology. "The ethereum blockchain could turn out to be this major infrastructure layer for the future of technological services," Abner said. He said prospective crypto users must prepare for a steep learning curve going forward, because it ultimately involves trusting only yourself to be in charge of your assets.

☆ Meta Just Issued a Status Update. Wall Street Should Read Into It.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Laura Forman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A leading social network is going retro. Instagram Notes, which launched in many countries worldwide this past Tuesday, is “essentially a status update,” said Instagram head Adam Mosseri . Think of it as a 2022 take on a feature Facebook unveiled way back in 2006, then mimicking AOL’s AIM “away message.” Also “new” on Instagram: Candid Stories, a feature being tested as a way for users to share “what’s happening right now” using both the front and the back of the camera at the same time. That is essentially a copycat of Gen Z phenomenon BeReal, but integrated into Instagram Stories.

AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, is dead — but the away message lives on, thanks to a recent Instagram update. Within hours of the platform unveiling the new features, social media users noticed Instagram notes' similarity to the away messages of the early 2000s. "Was not expecting instagram to reinvent AIM away messages tbh," writer Ella Cerón tweeted. Sports reporter Maddy Hudak wrote: "I’m sorry did Instagram give us AIM away messages lmao." Others pondered the ramifications of the AIM away message on those who grew up with it.

☆ Recession fears could trigger a 'lipstick' effect on deal activity next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

For the first time in over three years, there were no mega deals valued over $10 billion during the third quarter, according to the latest M&A report by Willis Towers Watson . There were only 49 large deals valued over $1 billion during the quarter, as compared with 67 large deals closed in the same period a year ago. Despite global recession fears, geopolitical tensions and expectations for inflation and interest rates to keep rising in 2023, WTW predicts dealmaking activity will continue. "An unprecedented number of disruptive forces have created headwinds for dealmakers, but they are also generating opportunities," said Massimo Borghello, head of human capital M&A consulting, Asia Pacific at WTW. "The fundamentals that drive dealmaking are still in place and, with valuations moderating after the historic levels reached in 2021, strategic and financial buyers alike will take advantage of better-priced opportunities for growth."

☆ Not having an emergency fund can lead to one of the biggest money mistakes, Suze Orman says. How Congress may help
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Suze Orman speaks during AOL's BUILD Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York. In a pinch, it can be tempting to take money from your 401(k) plan or other retirement savings account. But that may be one of the biggest financial mistakes you can make, personal finance expert Suze Orman said Tuesday during a webcast hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center. "The majority of Americans, in my opinion, barely have the money today to pay for their everyday expenses," Orman said. To break that cycle, people need to establish an emergency savings account dedicated solely to unexpected expenses, Orman said.

☆ Microsoft has laid down a plan to double the size of its advertising business to $20 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Microsoft Advertising has ambitions to double the size of its ads business to $20 billion. Today, Wilk heads up Microsoft Advertising, a $10 billion business. Microsoft is now looking to double the size of its ads business, Wilk said, though he didn't offer a timeframe of when it might hit that target. If Microsoft Advertising were to grow into a $20 billion business, it would overtake Chinese tech giant Tencent. Gaming could become an important Microsoft Advertising assetGaming will become another key driver of Microsoft's advertising growth.

☆ One year after Nasdaq peak, growth stocks have tumbled and crypto has broken — where to from here?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The Nasdaq record came just ten days after Bitcoin's apex near $67,000, a moment when total cryptocurrency market value topped $2.8 trillion. Those numbers today are under $17,000 for Bitcoin and the crypto market cap is around $800 billion, down 70%-plus. Just days after the November 2021 Nasdaq high, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell abruptly and publicly shifted his rhetoric on inflation and monetary policy, endorsing a much faster removal of stimulus than previously indicated. In the 18 months leading to the March 2000 Nasdaq peak, the index more than tripled. One year after the March 2000 Nasdaq peak, with the index down some 60%, the Nasdaq 100 still had a forward price/earnings ratio above 50.

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