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☆ JPMorgan's acquisition strategy is coming under fire. Here are the 15 fintech and consumer-focused deals done by the bank since 2020.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Carter Johnson | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

NutmegDeal details: JPMorgan announced the acquisition in June 2021, paying approximately $1 billion. cxLoyaltyDeal details: JPMorgan said it would buy cxLoyalty's global loyalty division in December 2020. ProxymityDeal details: JPMorgan, Citi, HSBC, and other firms together invested $20.5 million in Proxymity in May 2020. Viva WalletDeal details: JPMorgan said it would acquire 49% of Viva Wallet in January 2022, pending regulatory approval. Christian Petersen-Clausen/Getty ImagesRenovite TechnologiesDeal details: JPMorgan announced on September 12 it plans to acquire Renovite.

☆ Freight Forwarder Flexport Is Laying Off 20% of Its Workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Freight forwarder Flexport Inc. is cutting about 20% of its global workforce, or more than 600 workers, as the digital-focused business copes with falling shipping demand and repositions its operations to offer more supply-chain services. Mr. Petersen in June had estimated gross revenue of nearly $5 billion in 2022. The layoffs come amid a broader pullback in freight demand since the middle of last year as inflation has taken a toll on consumer demand and retailers have pulled back from earlier inventory restocking efforts. Mr. Clark, who led Amazon.com Inc.’s logistics expansion over his 20-plus years with the company, started as co-CEO at Flexport in September alongside the freight forwarder’s founder, Mr. Petersen. Mr. Clark is scheduled to fully take over the day-to-day leadership role on March 1, the company has said, and Mr. Petersen will then become executive chairman.

☆ The CTO of Carta alleged 'problems with the culture' at the $7 billion startup. Now the company's suing him, accusing him of corporate espionage and inappropriate sexting.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The lawsuit accuses Talton of secretly recording a company executive and sharing it with a former employee that was threatening to sue the company. The suit doesn't elaborate on the problems alleged and a spokesperson for the company declined to answer Insider's questions on the matter. Lindauer was copied on the email, seemingly by mistake, cluing company executives into the fact that Talton possessed surreptitious recordings of company executives. The company demanded, through Talton's attorney, that he turn over any recordings or transcripts of company executives. The lawsuit also accuses Talton of inappropriate "sexting" and contains sexually explicit text messages obtained through a forensic review of his work laptop.

☆ Twitter alternatives like Mastadon see downloads plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users. Downloads of the iOS app have grown 290,000% to 1.5 million since Oct. 24, with daily users up 660,000% to 321,000, according to Apptopia data.

☆ Flexport Names Former Amazon Executive as President
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

com Inc. executive, is joining Flexport Inc. as the digital-focused freight forwarder boosts its growth ambitions under the leadership of former Amazon consumer chief executive Dave Clark. The San Francisco-based company named Ms. Carlson president and chief commercial officer, overseeing sales, marketing and communications, Flexport said Thursday. Ms. Carlson specializes in cloud computing. Mr. Clark in September took on the role of Flexport co-CEO alongside the company’s founder and CEO Ryan Petersen. Mr. Clark has hired former Amazon employees including public-relations executive Kelly Cheeseman, logistics executive Parisa Sadrzadeh and human-resources executive Darcie Henry.

☆ SpaceX to raise $750 million at $137 billion valuation - CNBC
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX is raising $750 million in a new round of funding that values the rocket and satellite company at $137 billion from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, CNBC reported late Monday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Fidelity Investments among its investors, had raised about $1.68 billion through equity financing in June. Spokespersons for SpaceX and Horowitz did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Horowitz was also a co-investor in Musk's Twitter buyout deal worth $44 billion. SpaceX has launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"As counterintuitive as it may sound, this layoff left me in a really good position," the 24-year-old said. U.S. tech giants including Meta, Microsoft (MSFT.O), Twitter and Snap (SNAP.N) have purged more than 150,000 staff, according to Layoff.fyi, which tracks technology job losses. Day One Ventures, an early stage venture fund in San Francisco, launched a new initiative in November to fund startups founded by people who had been laid off from their tech jobs, touting the slogan "Funded, not Fired". Silicon Valley investor U.S. Venture Partners and Austrian VC firm Speedinvest have meanwhile earmarked a similar amount for newly founded companies. Fong told Reuters that experience in Big Tech firm gave founders a "strong brand that can be leveraged to meet investors, potential customers, and recruit team members".

☆ SpaceX raising $750 million at a $137 billion valuation, investors include Andreessen-Horowitz
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's re-usable rocket maker and satellite internet company, SpaceX, is raising $750 million in a new round of funding that values the company at $137 billion, according to correspondence obtained by CNBC. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX was allowing insiders to sell at $77 per share, which would have put the company's valuation near $140 billion. The company raised more than $2 billion in 2022, including a $250 million round in July, and was valued at $127 billion during an equity round in May, CNBC previously reported. According to an e-mail sent to prospective SpaceX investors, Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z) will likely lead the new funding round. A16z also participated in Elon Musk's leveraged buyout of Twitter, a $44 billion deal that closed in late October 2022.

☆ Without radical changes, TikTok could vanish from the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

From burnout among open-source developers to the downfall of Andreessen Horowitz's buzzy tech publication, Future, it's a packed edition. The worker told Insider that they used "exam dumps" to pass technical certifications, and that the answers were easy to find online with a quick Google search. This year, developers told us that they're fed up, and some are quitting and even sabotaging their own projects. Despite the 10% raise, doled out in April, Mailchimp employees told Insider that people nonetheless felt belittled and were quitting in droves. Earlier this year, Andreessen Horowitz's buzzy tech publication Future shut down.

☆ Startups find better access to talent as top tech companies cut jobs, freeze hiring
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

More than 50,000 tech workers were let go from their jobs in November, according to data collected by the website Layoffs.fyi. “Given the tech layoffs and lower hiring by the big-tech companies, folks are looking for smaller tech companies to join,” said Christopher Fong, founder of Xoogler.co, a network for ex-Google employees. In the absence of the stability that the largest tech companies once offered, workers are looking to startups and midsize companies that offer greater flexibility and, in some case, the opportunity to have a bigger impact. “I tried not to think a lot about tech layoffs when interviewing," Bell said. Lauren Illovsky, talent partner for Alphabet's CapitalG venture firm said “hiring has gotten a little easier" for the group's portfolio companies.

FTX Ventures was described as a $2 billion venture fund, in its press release with Dave. FTX Ventures was allegedly part of that scheme. But the investments appear to be the first identified examples of customer money being used by FTX and Bankman-Fried for venture funding. In explicitly linking the two $100 million investments to customer money, the SEC has raised the possibility that they'll be prospects for clawbacks. FTX's $100 million investment was through a convertible note, a short-term loan of cash that FTX could convert into shares at a later date.

☆ 71 top VCs landed on Insider's 2022 list of investors to watch. Here's what they're looking for in startups to back in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | Stephanie Palazzolo | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Despite a tumultuous market for startup investing, VCs still landed top deals at hot startups. Behind these successes were the smart and savvy rising-star VCs working to transform the industry. Here are some of the rising stars of venture capital who are names to watch in 2023. Insider asked the VCs we named in last year's rising-stars list and the general public to nominate this year's most promising venture investors. For instance, OMERS Ventures' Chrissy Farr made the jump to healthtech investing after working as a journalist covering the venture industry for CNBC.

☆ Twitter alternatives that got traction after Elon Musk takeover are suddenly seeing downloads plunge. Which has staying power and who is the next Clubhouse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users. Yet, it has maintained more than 500,000 daily users.

☆ Silicon Valley is coming for your gut biome
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

SAN FRANCISCO — Cryptocurrency hasn’t worked out so well for tech investors. As a consumer product, supplements are associated more with the Kardashians or Joe Rogan than with Silicon Valley. Roelof Botha, the managing partner of Sequoia Capital, one of the largest venture capital firms in the world, is among those buying in. He said there’s a “societal reawakening” about the complex biome of the human gut where hundreds of species of bacteria live. She co-wrote a review of the science this year, and said future probiotic supplements have promise compared to supplements that have been available for decades.

☆ Wells Fargo faces another setback with $1.7 billion penalty
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But first, Wells Fargo heads to the penalty box, again. Wells Fargo faces the music. The regulators have once again come knocking at Wells Fargo, and it ain't pretty. Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $2 billion back to customers and pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for illegal activity involving auto loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts that impacted over 16 million accounts. "Wells Fargo is a corporate recidivist," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra told reporters on a call Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal, adding that the settlement "should not be read as a sign that Wells Fargo has moved past its longstanding problems."

☆ After Twitter users voted to oust Elon Musk as CEO, he wants to change how polls work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —When Elon Musk polled Twitter users about whether to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account, he quickly followed through on the majority’s wish to do so. But since a clear majority of Twitter users voted for Musk to step down as Twitter CEO in another poll on Sunday, Musk has remained conspicuously (and uncharacteristically) silent. After one Twitter user said, “Blue subscribers should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls,” Musk responded, “Good point. There is no successor.”CNBC reported Tuesday that Musk is “actively searching” for a new Twitter CEO, citing anonymous sources. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover.

☆ Main Street is buying stocks while Wall Street sells: What gives?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But not all traders are on the same ride — the large, institutional investors on Wall Street have shuffled away from markets while Main Street’s retail investors are still strapped in. But despite this year’s lackluster market, investors bought $800 billion of Exchange Traded Funds which are baskets of stocks typically purchased by retail investors. However, Main Street is holding on to its stocks while Wall Street is running for the hills. One simple explanation is that institutional investors are responsible for vast amounts of money that belong to other people. “Respect, for retail investors, is in short supply,” wrote Azalea Micottis at Informa Financial Intelligence, in a recent note.

☆ Elon Musk voted out as CEO of Twitter by poll he created
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —A Twitter poll created by Elon Musk asking whether he should “step down as head of Twitter” ended early Monday morning with most respondents voting in the affirmative. But Tesla shares were up 5% in premarket trading after the poll results were revealed. After taking over Twitter, Musk dissolved the company’s board and its C-Suite emptied out. As the sole board director and owner of the company, Musk can appoint the next CEO – and also tell that person what to do in the role. Shortly after Musk posted his latest poll, Calacanis posted a poll of his own asking who should take over as Twitter’s next CEO: himself, Sacks, or Calacanis and Sacks together as co-CEOs.

☆ Here’s who Elon Musk could pick to be Twitter’s next CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk may soon be on the lookout for a new chief executive to run Twitter. There is no successor.”If Musk were to look for a new Twitter CEO, he’d likely have many willing takers. Jack Dorsey, Twitter founder, CEO of Block and friend to Musk, has previously said he would not return to run the social network. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover. Who is insane enough to run twitter?!?

☆ Substack is having a moment, again. But can the startup live up to its massive $650 million valuation?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

He provided a place where readers could find him "in case the bird app spirals into oblivion": his Substack newsletter. The epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding began promoting his Substack newsletter to his 722,000 Twitter followers in early November. They have been a welcome addition, Substack writers say. Substack has also recently rolled out mentions and cross-reporting functions, where writers can mention other Substack writers and share existing posts with their audiences. The irony, of course, is that many Substack writers rely on their Twitter audiences to promote their posts.

☆ 'Bored Ape' NFT startup names Activision operating chief as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 19 (Reuters) - "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard's (ATVI.O) chief operating officer Daniel Alegre will join "Bored Ape" NFT maker Yuga Labs as its chief executive, the metaverse startup said on Monday. The announcement comes days after the Biden administration sued to block tech giant Microsoft's (MSFT.O) $69 billion takeover of Activision. Alegre, who has served as operating chief at the videogame publisher since April 2020, will succeed Nicole Muniz as Yuga's CEO in the first half of 2023. "Since exploding onto the scene with Bored Ape Yacht Club in 2021, Yuga Labs has quickly made a name for itself through a powerful combination of storytelling and community-building,” Alegre said. Bored Ape NFTs are often used as profile pictures on social media.

☆ Lab-grown meat could be served up for dinner soon. What does it taste like?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It has a capacity of 600 liters, or 159 gallons, allowing the company to produce 6,000 pounds of cultivated meat per year. Right now, Singapore is alone in allowing the sale of cultivated meat to consumers, having issued a green light in late 2020. Yet delivering on the promise of lab-grown meat won’t just come down to regulators. CNN“The promise of cultivated meat [is] to bring forth a taste and texture component, and to deliver sustainability,” said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner at Good Startup, a Singapore-based venture capital firm that has invested in eight cultivated meat startups. “I think the whole of the cultivated meat industry will go hybrid first,” Ivy Farm’s Dillon said.

☆ Elon Musk's Crackdown at Twitter Offers Hope to Fellow Tech Founders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But there's one group, almost unnoticed in the midst of the online firestorm, that has been cheering Musk on from the sidelines: other tech executives. To some founders, Musk is simply a monstrous version of the executive they wish they could be. Musk is getting rid of perks like free meals in the Twitter cafeteria — and other tech executives are taking note. Musk's slash-and-burn approach gives tech executives cover for making unpopular decisions. But now, as tech companies cut back to prepare for a recession, the "rough waters out there" have forced his staff to "reevaluate" their demands.

☆ Tom Brady's NFT company, Autograph, has laid off dozens of people after severing ties with board member Sam Bankman-Fried
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tom Brady cofounded Autograph at the height of the NFT sports boom. Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried joined the board of the company last year. Insider has learned the company has laid off dozens of employee and cut ties with Bankman-Fried. Autograph, the buzzy NFT platform cofounded by NFL star Tom Brady, has laid off dozens of staffers after separately severing ties with former board member Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, Insider has learned. Bankman-Fried joined the board of directors last year several months after Brady and his then wife, Gisele Bundchen, invested in FTX.

☆ ChatGPT got all the buzz, but beneath it is a $1B developer framework that's quietly fueling the new era of lifelike AI at OpenAI and beyond
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Matthew Lynley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Beneath the buzz, the next-generation developer framework Ray was key in the viral model's training. "ChatGPT combined a lot of the previous work on large language models with reinforcement as well. Before deploying Ray, OpenAI used a hodgepodge set of custom tools built on top of "neural programmer-interpreter" model. All these tools, Ray and JAX included, are in service to a new generation of combustion engines for the internet called large language models. Multiple companies, both startups and giants, are building their own large language models including Meta, Hugging Face, OpenAI, and Google.

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