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☆ 43-year-old used her life savings to open a bar that only plays women's sports—it brought in almost $1 million in 8 months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

When Jenny Nguyen signed the lease to create her dream bar, she wasn't sure it would stay open for more than a few months. Aptly named The Sports Bra, it's a sports bar where only women athletes appear on the TVs. The Sports Bra brought in $944,000 in revenue in the eight months it was open in 2022, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. "Me, personally, I thought the idea was brilliant and that [it was] what the world needs," Nguyen says. "The very first thing that came into my mind was The Sports Bra," Nguyen says.

☆ Bill Gates says this is the ‘ultimate test of whether you know a topic’—he even tried it on his kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bill Gates believes there's only one way to know if you truly understand a subject: Can you explain it to a child? If they successfully learn from you — which, in fairness, may also depend on your friend — it's a good sign that you're on the right track. And while they may not have enjoyed the math lessons, Gates still said his teaching sessions were a "great" experience — at least, for him — because they reinforced his own love of math. "One of my favorite things was teaching calculus to the kids ... You have to explain why that's so important, and why they have those funny symbols," Gates said, adding: "It's crazy.

☆ Bill Gates says A.I. chatbots will teach kids to read within 18 months: You'll be 'stunned by how it helps'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

That's according to billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who says AI chatbots are on track to help children learn to read and hone their writing skills in 18 months time. AI chatbots, like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, have developed rapidly over the past several months, and can now compete with human-level intelligence on certain standardized tests. But AI chatbots' ability to recognize and recreate human-like language changes that dynamic, proponents say. And AI technology must improve at reading and recreating human language to better motivate students before it can become a viable tutor, Gates said. Gates said he regularly asks Microsoft AI developers why chatbots can't perform relatively simple calculations, or even multiply some numbers.

☆ Parents who raise successful kids never use these 5 toxic phrases, says Ivy League child psychologist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Language matters when you're talking to kids — especially in the heat of a moment. When a child is misbehaving or throwing a tantrum, it's easy to blurt out whatever you think might get them to calm down and behave. But certain common phrases could "inadvertently shame" that child and cause lasting damage to their self-esteem, says Dr. Tovah Klein, a child psychologist and author of the book "How Toddlers Thrive." "Shame can really be that toxic piece for a young child because they then carry it with them: 'I must not be very good. Here are five common phrases you should avoid, and what you can say instead, according to Klein.

☆ Parents who raise successful kids never make this mistake, says Ivy League child psychologist—it's easier said than done
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

And teaching kids to be internally motivated is easier said than done, says Dr. Tovah Klein. "Parents often think that this is linear: 'If I want my child to be motivated, I have to motivate them myself to get them there.'" When children lose sight of whether an activity or behavior itself is rewarding, it "actually works against that internal motivation," Klein says. That's why psychologists often advise parents to praise their kid's process, rather than the outcome. Kids who only want to perform well to receive praise from their parents can become adults whose only motivation for high performance is a potential raise or promotion.

☆ Parents who raise mentally strong kids never use these 7 phrases when their children are young, says psychotherapist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It's unhelpful to tell kids what to think, even if you're just trying to allay their fears, Morin says. "A better strategy is to teach kids: What can you do when you're worried?" This phrase is often uttered out of frustration, and a genuine desire to help kids avoid bad or dangerous habits. Instead, Morin suggests saying: "You're going to do this again, and you're going to be tempted to hide it and cover it up. It can help kids stay motivated to work hard and succeed in the future, psychologists often note.

☆ These are the 9 most expensive states to start a business—No. 1 isn't New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Louisiana, the ranking's third-most expensive state, has the least amount of commercial space available per 100,000 people of any state. It also has a relative dearth of available talent: Louisiana is bottom three among all U.S. states in terms of labor force participation rate, at 69.2%, and only 26.4% of its post-college-age workers have at least a bachelor's degree. And the state's business environment appears to leave something to be desired. Its business survival rate of 0.54 is the country's fifth-worst, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Something like labor force participation rate may be less obvious: Having a large population of eligible workers at your disposal can save you time and money when recruiting new employees.

☆ These are the 9 least expensive states to start a business—none of them are in the northeast
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Nevada tops this ranking as the least expensive U.S. state to start a small business, due to factors like an abundance of available commercial space and the state's lack of corporate income tax. Small business loans were also widely available in those two states in 2020, the most recent year with complete Small Business Administration data. Arkansas small businesses received nearly $43 million in loans per 100,000 residents that year, the sixth-highest of any state. Some states offer tax credits for businesses in specific industries, which could help some startups and not others. "For entrepreneurs who have the ability to pick and choose where they want to start their business, it's clear that certain states will allow you to save money," the ranking noted.

☆ Bill Gates recommends these 4 books about climate change, 15 years after reading them—'not much has changed since then'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Bill Gates has four science books he recommends to "anyone who wants to understand the weather and how it's affected by climate change" — and you don't need a science background to understand them. Four of them particularly helped him learn more about climate change and its effects on the planet, and are still useful to read today, he wrote. "It's actually one of the first books I recommend to anyone who wants to understand the weather and how it's affected by climate change," Gates wrote in his blog post. It also dives into climate issues like global warming and how weather affects the "global ecosystem," making it easier to identify the effects of climate change in your daily weather report. It also includes subject areas relevant to climate change, like a section on glaciers that are receding due to warmer temperatures, Gates added.

☆ New Zealander without college degree couldn't talk his way into NASA or Boeing—so he built a $1.8 billion rocket company
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Beck launched the company, Rocket Lab, later that same year. Running a rocket company is kind of like that scene in "Indiana Jones," where he's getting chased by that giant ball. What do you wish you'd known when you decided to start your own rocket company? At that time, that was an absurd amount of money for a rocket startup. A rocket startup from someone living in New Zealand was even more absurd.

☆ Elon Musk wants to pause 'dangerous' AI development. Bill Gates disagrees—and he's not the only one
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

AI developers, prominent AI ethicists and even Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have spent the past week defending their work. "I don't think asking one particular group to pause solves the challenges," Gates told Reuters on Monday. A pause would be difficult to enforce across a global industry, Gates added — though he agreed that the industry needs more research to "identify the tricky areas." That's what makes the debate interesting, experts say: The open letter may cite some legitimate concerns, but its proposed solution seems impossible to achieve. It noted in its blog post that future AI systems could become "much more powerful" over the next decade, and building guardrails now could "help reduce risks" down the road.

☆ Bill Gates took a 'test ride' in an autonomous vehicle, and says they'll save you money—take a look
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates says totally driverless cars, without need for even a steering wheel, are "coming sooner rather than later." He also posted a video of his experience:The car's technology was built by British startup Wayve, which partners with Microsoft on its artificial intelligence-based autonomous driving software. Wayve sits among a bevy of tech and auto industry competitors: The likes of Ford, GM, Tesla, Alphabet and China's Baidu have invested billions of dollars toward developing their own driverless vehicle technology. U.S. consumers will likely only gain access to fully self-driving vehicles following a complete overhaul of the nation's driving infrastructure and laws, he added. Last year, U.S. regulators cleared the way for autonomous cars built without steering wheels or even pedals — a first step.

☆ Parenting expert shares her No. 1 rule for raising successful kids—78% of Americans aren't doing it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

If you want to raise successful children, start showing optimism on a regular basis. "Our beliefs and attitudes spill over to our kids," educational psychologist and parenting expert Michele Borba tells CNBC Make It. "If pessimism always builds and it becomes personal, permanent, or pervasive, it robs our kids of hope." "I think it's one of the reasons why we're seeing such a huge mental health crisis in our children," Borba says. "It's not just the eavesdropping on what we say," Borba says, noting that older kids especially can pick up on physical cues that you're stressed or worried.

☆ Psychotherapist shares 7 things mentally strong kids never do — and how to teach them
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

If you want your kids to succeed in life, teach them to be mentally strong, says psychotherapist Amy Morin. Knowing what mentally strong kids never do can help you identify the types of unhealthy behaviors that may stand in your child's way. Mentally strong kids don't avoid challengesChildren are often afraid to try new things, like playing a new sport or instrument, because they don't think they'll be good at it, Morin says. But trying difficult things can open up your kids to new skills and offer important lessons on dealing with failure, says Morin. "It's important for kids to know you have feelings too, or you struggle with certain things," Morin says.

☆ This CEO's first 2 side hustle attempts failed—now his third business is worth $4 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Look at Joe Kudla, the 45-year-old CEO and founder of Encinitas, California-based Vuori, a fast-growing athletic apparel startup most recently valued at $4 billion in 2021. When Kudla launched Vuori in 2014, he'd already tried and failed to get two other apparel brands off the ground. One was a contemporary women's apparel brand called Sammy Jo. The other was a T-shirt startup he'd also called Vuori, the Finnish word for "mountain." Launching the current version of Vuori as a side hustle wouldn't have worked for two reasons, he says.

☆ Ivy League child psychologist shares her No. 1 key to raising successful kids—it's not how much time you spend with them
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

But you can stop anxiously counting the hours and minutes you spend at work instead of home, says Dr. Tovah Klein. "It's always about the quality of the relationship [and] the quality of the interactions," Klein tells CNBC Make It. With that in mind, focus on building meaningful connections with your children during the time you can spend with them, Klein says. You can still work on it during particularly busy periods at work or while you're traveling, albeit in small doses. "It almost always could be said that less is more for children," Klein says.

☆ This CEO burned through $700,000 with a simple mistake—how he fixed it to build a $4 billion powerhouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

After raising $700,000 in a "friends and family" funding round, Vuori put its products in local yoga studios and fitness centers. "We were left with few options, and we were running out of money very fast," Kudla says. CNBC Make It: What were you thinking and feeling when it looked like Vuori might run out of money? We didn't have a lot of time on our hands, and we didn't have a lot of money. It's hard, because I think a lot of entrepreneurs have a kind of distortion reality field.

☆ Bill Gates says Warren Buffett gave the best advice he's ever received—it's 'maybe the most important thing' he's learned
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The bot asked Gates about the best advice he's ever received and how it has influenced his own life. In response, the 67-year-old pulled out some words from his longtime friend and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett on the subject of friendship. "Warren Buffett talked about [how], in the end, it's how friends really think of you and how strong those friendships are [that matters]," Gates said. Gates has previously discussed the lessons he's learned from the 92-year-old Buffett, from investing to time management. Get CNBC's free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire's No.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHow Casetify turned custom phone cases into $300 million a year in salesCasetify's personalized phone cases are endorsed by celebrities like Kylie Jenner, and the Hong Kong-based company partners with global brands like Disney and NASA, but success wasn't always easy. Here's how millennials Wesley Ng and Ronald Yeung turned Instagram photos into a company bringing in $300 million a year.

People were sharing photos online from their phones. Since then, Casetify has sold more than 15 million phone cases, topping $300 million in annual revenue last year, according to the company. Early on, Ng sent messages to anyone he saw with lots of Instagram followers, asking if they wanted to turn their photos into customized phone cases. Casetify has also expanded its product offerings — which now include a variety of accessories beyond phone cases — and shifted away from only selling online. In 2018, Nordstrom started selling Casetify products before the startup opened its own retail store in Hong Kong in 2020.

☆ An A.I. chatbot asked Bill Gates what he wishes he could tell his younger self — here’s what he said
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Recently, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder sat down with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as the two answered questions generated by an AI chatbot. In past interviews, Gates has also said he'd tell his younger self to "read a lot" and "explore the developing world" as a traveler. "I never asked [Microsoft employees] to work any harder, or be tougher on their mistakes, than I was on myself," Gates told the "Armchair Expert" podcast in 2020. Eventually, Gates had to learn to lighten up, he told Sunak — especially as Microsoft grew. "For the small, early Microsoft group, that was OK," Gates said.

☆ Americans want to delete Instagram more than any other app
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There are a lot of reasons why you might want to delete a popular app from their phone — and you're far from alone. Popular social media apps Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat garnered the most internet searches from people looking to delete those apps over a recent six-month period, according to an analysis of search trends from cybersecurity website VPNOverview. During that period, there were more than 900,000 searches for how to "delete" or "deactivate" Instagram, more than any of the country's 30 most popular apps by downloads, VPNOverview said in its February report. And in recent years, polls have shown growing distrust of popular social media platforms over issues like disinformation, cyberbullying, phishing scams, privacy concerns and data mining. And, while the majority of teens today are willing to take breaks from social media, they're also mostly split on whether they could give up social media altogether.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg wants to let teens into the metaverse—2 U.S senators say that's a huge mistake
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Two U.S. senators are less than impressed with Meta's reported plans to open up its Horizon Worlds metaverse platform to users as young as 13 — so, they're urging Mark Zuckerberg to reconsider. and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) published excerpts from a letter they sent to Zuckerberg. In those excerpts, they accused Meta of trying to "target young people" specifically to "maximize profit," noting the company's struggles to attract users to its flagship metaverse product, Horizon Worlds. Horizon Worlds is an app where users can build and explore virtual worlds while playing games and interacting with other users. Meta declined to comment on the senators' letter, pointing instead to a statement to the Journal last month, which said bringing younger users onto Horizon Worlds would come with "age-appropriate tools and protections."

☆ These are 5 of the world's best countries for working parents — and the U.S. isn’t on the list
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Working parents need all of the help they can get. Iceland, for example, is one of the best countries in the world for working parents, according to a new report from Bloomberg, which looks at how nations' policies affect the quality and affordability of child care for working parents. These problems exist everywhere to some degree, but some countries appear more committed than others to providing working parents with enough resources to lighten that heavy load. Canada, for example, committed in 2021 to spending $22 billion over five years to bring down early education and child care costs. Similarly, Iceland's policies benefiting working parents are one reason why the country has the highest female labor force participation rate among the countries tracked by the OECD, according to Bloomberg.

☆ 66% of working parents suffer from burnout—here's how to manage that 'spillover,' says Stanford sociologist
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

For busy working parents, it's next to impossible to avoid bringing the stresses of work home at the end of the day. "That's a daily battle that every working parent experiences," Cooper tells CNBC Make It. Roughly 66% of working parents in the U.S. suffer from parental burnout, according to a 2022 Ohio State University study, and stress that carries over between home and work is a major contributor. There's this dynamic movement back and forth," Cooper says, adding that family issues can leave you distracted at work, too. Either way, the stress and anxiety behind work-family spillover can negatively affect both your career and your family.

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