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☆ Anti-theft vending machines could solve one of our biggest shopping frustrations
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Gloria Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The vending machines, or self-service shelves, eliminate the need to ask an employee for help. Now a vending machine company wants to make one of the most popular anti-theft methods — locked aisles — a bit more tolerable. Ashforth's huge modular vending machines with robotic arms can replace a store aisle's shelving units, according to the segment. Some retailers are inquiring about using bullet-proof glass on the vending machines to combat smash and grabs, according to the segment. He said his vending machines would hold the 10% or so of most commonly stolen items.

Persons: —, David Ashforth, Ashforth, it's Organizations: Service, Digital Media Vending International, NBC, Bay Area Locations: plexiglass, Bay

But next semester, he and his fearless students are shaking things up by turning their attention to Taylor Swift. Sean Kammer wanted his legal writing course to draw on music and art to help his students reconsider legal language and craft persuasive arguments. Political Cartoons View All 1240 ImagesCourses on Swift, Rick Ross and Succession supplement traditional law school courses with fun and accessible experiences that professors say they often didn’t have themselves. “It was never my experience that I walked out of a law school classroom excited about what I had learned,” Ivory said. Bella Andrade, a junior at Arizona State University, looks forward to her class on the psychology of Taylor Swift every week.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Sean Kammer, ” Swifties, Swift, Rick Ross, Moraima, Mo ” Ivory, “, ”, ” Ivory, could’ve, Luke Padia, I’m, Steve Sadow, ” Frances Acevedo, she's, Ross, Kinitra Brooks, Brooks, Bella Andrade, Andrade, Cathy Hwang, Hwang, it’s, ” Hwang, Sharon Johnson Organizations: DES, University of South Dakota Knudson School, Law, Georgia State University College of Law, Michigan State University, Brooks, Arizona State University, University of Virginia, Press Locations: DES MOINES, Iowa, Dakota, Ross, Lawrence , Kansas, Pembroke Pines , Florida, Minneapolis, Atlanta

☆ I dedicated my life to biology until I went on 'Naked and Afraid' and realized I could make a bigger difference doing TV instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Forrest Galante was a biologist and worked in field research before he went on "Naked and Afraid." AdvertisementAdvertisementBeing on "Naked and Afraid" is the least interesting thing I've ever doneA few weeks later I was on a plane. It was right then and there that I called my boss and told her I was going to pivot to pursuing conservation media. AdvertisementAdvertisementBasically I pivoted the public interest I was getting from "Naked and Afraid" into what I'm doing now. Dreams coming to fruitionBefore working in wildlife media, Forrest Galante worked in conservation biology.

Persons: Forrest Galante, Galante, who'd, —, It's, I'd, that's, I'm, who's, lightbulb, Eric Evangelista, I've Organizations: Service, UC Santa Barbara Locations: Southern California, California, Panama, Fernandina

His death has been memorialized as an egregious hate crime that helped fuel the LGBTQ+ rights movement over the ensuing years. In 2011, the military scrapped the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that kept gay, lesbian and bisexual service members in the closet. Several activists interviewed this week by The Associated Press evoked Matthew Shepard as they discussed broader developments. The act expanded the federal hate crime law to include crimes based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It is a popular choice for high school theater productions but has faced opposition due to policies resembling Florida's “Don't Say Gay” law that have surfaced in various states and communities.

Persons: It's, Matthew Shepard, we've, Kevin Jennings, “, you've, they're, we’ve, ”, Ron DeSantis, “ We’re, ” Shannon Minter, Rodrigo Heng, Lehtinen, ” Heng, James Esseks, Esseks, ” Esseks, Kelley Robinson, —, James Byrd Jr, Barack Obama, Shepard, Shepard's, Judy, Matthew Shepard’s, Shelby Chestnut, Chestnut, Cathy Renna Organizations: of Wyoming, U.S, Supreme, Republican, Lambda, GOP, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Center for Transgender Equality, American Civil Liberties, HIV, Human Rights, Associated Press, Matthew Shepard Foundation, Transgender Law, New, National, Task Force Locations: Vermont, Texas, Colorado, Florida, Laramie , Wyoming, New York City

☆ Our family of 4 downsized to a small cabin in the Poconos we bought sight-unseen. It's made us closer than ever.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In 2019, their family packed up and headed to Pennsylvania but arrived to a cabin in disrepair. We really didn't want our kids living in that type of environment. Since our Poconos cabin was smaller, we decided to get rid of almost everything — we really didn't care about a lot of our possessions. We arrived to a cabin in a state of disrepairMy family and I drove down to the Poconos in a vintage camper that we bought in 2016. In December 2022, we moved from the first cabin into the third cabin we bought.

Persons: Danielle Elderkin, —, Kyle Elderkin, Rosenberg, we're, Kyle, They're Organizations: Service, eBay, inconveniences, Disney Locations: Temecula , California, Pennsylvania, Southern California, Temecula, San Diego, Orange County, California

☆ We moved our family of 4 into a tiny, remote cabin we bought sight-unseen. Everything was a mess at first, but now we're closer than ever.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In 2019, their family packed up and headed to Pennsylvania but arrived to a cabin in disrepair. We really didn't want our kids living in that type of environment. We encountered a disaster in the moving processOur California home was large, so we had a lot of stuff. Since our Poconos cabin was smaller, we decided to get rid of almost everything — we really didn't care about a lot of our possessions. In December 2022, we moved from the first cabin into the third cabin we bought.

☆ One of Putin's guards who denounced the war and fled Russia says he's being pursued even in South America
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

He's one of the extremely rare FSO officers to do so — and says he's still being pursued for it. AdvertisementAdvertisementA former member of President Vladimir Putin's Federal Protective Service said that he has been pursued since he fled Russia and denounced the invasion of Ukraine. They appear to be the brutal consequences of his decision to publicly reject Putin's politics and the war in Ukraine. But much of his family was there, and an FSO job would be the peak of his career, offering a comfortable 68,000 rubles ($700) a month. Speaking outEven in Ecuador, Brizhaty doesn't feel safe from the Kremlin.

Persons: Vitaly Brizaty, Putin, he's, —, Vladimir Putin's, Vitaly Brizhaty, Brizhaty, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, didn't, nodded, — Putin, Thibault Spirlet Organizations: FSO, Service, Vladimir Putin's Federal Protective Service, Protection Service, Russian Locations: Russian, Russia, Ecuador, Ukraine, Crimea, Olivye, Ukrainian, Kremlin

☆ Instacart founder Apoorva Mehta says his 'empty fridge' was the inspiration for the delivery startup
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Instacart founder's empty fridge was the "lightbulb moment" for coming up with the idea for the delivery startup, he said. Apoorva Mehta walked away with over $1.1 billion in net worth after the delivery startup's IPO on Wednesday. AdvertisementAdvertisementMehta walked away with a fortune of over $1.1 billion after his delivery startup's IPO on Tuesday. Before starting the company, Mehta quit his job at Amazon in 2010 and moved to San Francisco to become an entrepreneur. During the early stages of Instacart, Mehta also said he missed the application deadline for the startup accelerator YCombinator by over two months.

Persons: Apoorva Mehta, Instacart, Mehta, Fidji Simo, — Aswath, NYU's Stern School of Business —, Damodaran Organizations: Service, Meta, Bloomberg, SEC, NYU's Stern School of Business, Amazon, CNBC Locations: Wall, Silicon, San Francisco, Friday's

During a formal swearing-in ceremony, Biden noted that the nation's historic documents were once held by George Washington and later by the State Department, before being entrusted to the National Archives, founded by Congress in 1934. Political Cartoons View All 1152 ImagesThe National Archives, meanwhile, has been thrust into the national political spotlight in unusual ways lately. “This experiment in democracy hinged on the people, and their ability to claim their rights and hold their elected officials accountable," Jill Biden said Monday. “That's what makes the National Archives so important. Without the National Archives, and the continued fulfillment of its mission, a healthy democracy cannot be sustained.”

Persons: Jill Biden, Colleen Shogan, Harriet Tubman’s, Thomas Edison’s, Biden, George Washington, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Shogan, Trump's, Debra Wall, “, ” Organizations: WASHINGTON, George Mason University, National Archives, Records Administration, State Department, Congress, Constitutional Convention, Archives, FBI, Senate, Nation Locations: Independence, Louisiana, United States

☆ Inside the struggles at Calibrate, a new kind of weight-loss startup that's facing a mountain of patient complaints and refunds
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Weight-loss startup Calibrate has struggled to get patients access to buzzy drugs like Ozempic. Kenyon's startup Calibrate, which she launched in June 2020, is one of the healthcare companies feeding the frenzy. CalibrateThe company is now running up against several massive challenges: Weight-loss drugs are expensive and in short supply, and health insurers are increasingly reluctant to pay for them. Kenyon said about 20% of Calibrate members do not have coverage for weight-loss medications, and around half of those people request refunds from Calibrate. Want to tell us about your experience with Calibrate or weight-loss drugs?

Persons: lightbulb, Isabelle Kenyon, Kenyon, Jenny Craig, OptumRx, She's, she's, Saxenda, —, weren't, It's, they've, Holly, hadn't, hasn't, Claire Rosenzweig, Rosenzweig, it's, Andrew Kelly, Shelby Livingston, Rebecca Torrence Organizations: New, Tiger Global, Founders Fund, Optum Ventures, FedEx, Food and Drug Administration, Jefferies, Better Business Bureau, BBB, Better Business, Metropolitan New, Better, Apple, Businessolver, Optum, UnitedHealth, Employees, REUTERS, Madryn Asset Management, SM Ventures, Ventures Locations: America, New York, Danish, GLP, Florida, Metropolitan New York, slivingston@insider.com, rtorrence@insider.com

☆ Edtech startup Kinjo incentivizes kids to play educational mini-games in Roblox. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise $6.5 million in seed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

With Kinjo, kids can earn virtual currency called Robux by playing higher-ranked learning games. To earn these Robux, kids can spend real-world money, or they can play simple mini games to "grind" for Robux rewards. Kids who use Kinjo are three times more likely to spend time on games that are more productive than kids without Kinjo, Malcolm said. Many edtech gaming platforms are already on the market, such as the social-emotional learning game Social Cipher or the STEM learning game Royelles. Check out the 16-slide pitch deck that Kinjo used to raise $6.5 million in seed funding:

Persons: Charles Thornburgh couldn't, Thornburgh, Jim Breyer's Breyer, Kinjo, Laura Malcolm, Kinjo's, Malcolm said, Krishna Srinivasan Organizations: Austin, LiveOak Venture Partners, Silverton Partners, Jim Breyer's Breyer Capital, Roble, Robux, Roblox Locations: Roblox, Silverton, Austin , Texas, Fortnite

The one unanimous conclusion they came to was that Beijing wants a greater state presence in these sectors. Kroeber says the crackdowns are about "defining what the state does, what the private sector does, and creating a more limited sandbox for the private sector to play in." That has left investors now picking the state over the private sector. The CCP's July Politburo meeting reinforced the message, with the top policymaking body pledging to put a floor under the property sector, help indebted local governments heal and boost consumer demand. Huang Yan, general manager of private fund manager Shanghai QiuYang Capital Co, said Beijing will crack down on any sector seen as increasing people's economic burden.

Persons: Aly, Jack, Arthur Kroeber, Kroeber, Zhang Kexing, Xi Jinping, Mao Zedong's, Thomas Masi, Masi, Xi, Nuno Fernandes, Fernandes, Huang Yan, Huang, Kumar Pandit, Pandit, Jason Xue, Ankur Banerjee, Vidya Ranganathan, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Ant Group, CSI Medical Services, Beijing Tongrentang, HK, Poly, Beijing Gelei Asset Management, Communist Party's, Investors, Mao Zedong's Marxist, Boston, K Investment Management, Shanghai QiuYang, Somerset Capital, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights SHANGHAI, HONGKONG, Beijing, New York, London, Singapore

☆ Mysterious meat allergy passed by ticks may affect hundreds of thousands in US, CDC estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Lack of awareness, lack of diagnosisScientists have only recently begun to understand alpha-gal syndrome. Another third of respondents said they were not confident about their ability to diagnose or manage a patient with alpha-gal allergy. Diagnoses on the riseResearchers haven’t had a good idea how many Americans might have alpha-gal syndrome. This led to them to estimate that between 96,000 and 450,000 Americans may have been affected by alpha-gal syndrome since 2010. A CDC map shows the geographic distribution of suspected alpha-gal syndrome cases per 1 million population per year from 2017 to 2022.

Persons: Ken McCullick, “, …, “ I’m, ” McCullick, ”, Scott Commins, aren’t, they’d, wasn’t, haven’t, epidemiologists, Commins, ” Commins, Johanna Salzer, CNN Salzer, ” Salzer, Salzer, McCullick, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, anaphylaxis, ‘, ’, lightbulb Organizations: CNN, Alpha, US Centers for Disease Control, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, CDC, “, Get CNN, CNN Health Locations: Brooksville , Florida, United States, Lenexa , Kansas, Midwest

Mindy Yu was raised in Queens, New York, in a working-class family who lived paycheck to paycheck. Pros Check mark icon A check mark. Accounts pay high interest rates Check mark icon A check mark. No fees Check mark icon A check mark. Open accounts you might not be able access outside of Raisin Check mark icon A check mark.

Persons: Mindy Yu, Yu, —, didn't, Roth, It's Organizations: Service, Social Security, Roth IRA, Mint, FDIC, Chevron Locations: Queens , New York, Manhattan's Chinatown

☆ Here's the 14-page pitch deck a startup helping people build credit through rental payments used to raise $4.5 million from Clocktower VC and Plaid's cofounders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Boom is a startup that helps people build credit by reporting rent payments to credit bureaus. The startup raised $4.5 million in a seed round led by Starting Line. "I started helping them on their housing, find a new rental, build credit, get things removed from their credit report, access rental assistance, things like that," Whiting told Insider. That's when the lightbulb went off to start Boom, a startup that helps people build credit by reporting their rent payments to credit bureaus. Here's the 14-page pitch deck Boom used to raise its $4.5 million seed.

Persons: Rob Whiting, Whiting, Kirill Moizik, helms, Boom . Whiting, Moizik, Boom, Plaid's cofounders Zach Perret, William Hockey Organizations: Boston Consulting Group, Clocktower

☆ These TikToks say Spanglish is a superpower
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“I used to be the teacher that said to kids, ‘That’s not the way that you say it.’ No se dice así. “Speaking Spanglish is a superpower,” Medina says. Why he sees Spanglish as a strengthMedina says there are three ways Spanglish is spoken:• Alternating between English and Spanish in a sentence. Another expert calls Spanglish ‘the fastest growing hybrid language in the world’Medina isn’t the only expert making a case for Spanglish. “It’s very controversial,” Stavans says, noting that his work on Spanglish has drawn opposition from some who think its use undermines English and Spanish.

Persons: José Medina, Medina, ‘ That’s, ” Medina, he’d, he’s, hasn’t, ”, Spanglish, it’s, José, “, ’ ” Medina, Ilan Stavans, Stavans, ” Stavans, that’s, wasn’t, –, Joe, he’ll, didn’t, they’ve, He’s, ” Susana Frescas, she’s, “ It’s, It’s Organizations: CNN, Spanglish, José Medina Educational Solutions, Amherst College, San Elizario Independent, District, City University of New, Texas Association for Bilingual Education Locations: Texas, Spanglish, José Medina, Mexico, United States, Spain, El Paso , Texas, “, José, Medina, El Paso, City University of New York, Dallas , Texas, San Elizario

☆ 6 years ago, AI startup MindsDB was an open source project that few took seriously. Now it's worth $160 million and on a growth rocketship.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

MindsDB helps developers apply machine learning to their data to build AI applications. Founded in 2017, the startup began as an AI open source project that some doubted in its early days. But six years ago, MindsDB was just an abstraction and later an open source AI project that few paid attention to. "'You're going to be able to automate the work of a machine learning engineer? "After YC, we became an actual company," Torres said.

Persons: MindsDB, Jorge Torres, he's, Torres, cofound, Adam Carrigan, Aneesh Chopra, Barack Obama, Carrigan, Michael Seibel, Y, Seibel, Luck, There's, It's Organizations: Mayfield Fund, Benchmark, Forbes, Investors, CareJourney, Mayfield Locations: London

☆ Inside Amazon's rush to respond to ChatGPT. 'Amazon must be really scared about being late on all of this.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"Amazon must be really scared about being late on all of this," one Amazon employee said in an interview. The same rules apply to the new Microsoft Bing search engine that uses ChatGPT's technology, an internal document said. "Since generative AI is all the rage right now, it will be included in the themes, and there will be a special award for the project that best demonstrates generative AI," the email said. Mike Blake/ReutersEmployees are still curious about Amazon's response to ChatGPT and generative AI, frequently bringing up the topic in internal town-hall meetings. He also said that Amazon's top leadership team, called the S-team, was "very excited about it" and that generative AI was a "big area of focus for us."

Persons: ChatGPT, Sam Altman, Sven Hoppe, It's, hackathons, Andy Jassy, Mike Blake, Adam Selipsky, Jassy, Eugene Kim Organizations: Amazon, Echo, Microsoft, Employees, Getty, Bloomberg, Burnham, Reuters Employees

☆ Lab-grown breast milk startup Biomilq aims to change infant nutrition — if it can release a product
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Biomilq, the company behind the breakthrough, had been working for nearly a decade to replicate the process of making human milk — but outside of the body. While the crisis has highlighted the importance of a resilient formula supply, human milk experts, milk bank advocates and Biomilq all stress the same message: Breast milk is best. The startup will likely take a "gradual approach" to introducing its science via "an early-life nutrition product in partnership with one of these bigger companies," Strickland explained. Breast milk is woefully understudied — to the point that it's difficult "to even say what human milk is from a nutritional standpoint," Perrin explained. The company is researching which aspects of human milk its system is best suited to produce.

☆ Researchers found a surefire predictor of success — and what separates those who find it from those who keep failing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Susie Allen | Kellogg Insight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Using this insight, the researchers are able to successfully predict an individual's long-term success with just a small amount of information about that person's initial attempts. Indeed, in another recent study, Wang himself found that an early career setback often set up scientists for later success. In all three datasets, an individual's second-to-last attempt did tend have a higher probability of success than their very first effort. Rather, there's a singular learning threshold that separates eventual successes from the rest. "Thomas Edison said, 'people give up because they don't know how close they are to success,'" Wang explains.

☆ A 'Shark Tank' winner and stay-at-home dad who Mark Cuban called a 'compassionate capitalist' doubled down on his business when his wife's health took a sudden turn: 'There is no greater incentive to
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Freya Williams was a CEO and her family's breadwinner before contracting long COVID. Her husband dove into his small business and landed an investment from Mark Cuban of "Shark Tank." But COVID led to "long COVID" for her. Thousands of Americans have likely left the workforce because of long COVID, and Williams is among them. Delaney added that his wife's suffering and his family's precarious position had changed his drive as a business owner.

☆ Adtech giant The Trade Desk strikes deal to solve one of marketers' biggest challenges in the $80 billion retail media space
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Trade Desk wants to take a bigger slice of the $80 billion retail media market. Adtech giant The Trade Desk has landed a partnership that aims to solve one of advertising's biggest challenges in the $80 billion retail media space: getting timely data on how their ads are driving sales across multiple retailer sites and stores. Attain, which will charge advertisers on a CPM, or cost-per-thousand-impressions basis, will offer The Trade Desk advertisers metrics including sales, return on ad spend, and conversion rates. The Trade Desk is the largest independent adtech firm, and the company's moves typically indicate where the industry is investing. The Trade Desk is set to release its latest earnings report on May 10.

☆ Carlyle has a secret weapon for training its top leaders: a four-star Navy Admiral who led thousands of sailors into battle and captured cocaine-filled cartel submarines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

James Stavridis, a retired Navy Admiral, is leading a new leadership program for Carlyle partners. Now, he's leading a new training course for the firm's partners called the Admiral Leadership Program. James Stavridis, a retired four-star Admiral, served in the Navy for 37 years before joining Carlyle in 2018. Inside Carlyle's first training program for partnersAbout 15 partners at Carlyle, from ESG to credit and tech, are participating in the Navy admiral's leadership program. Anna Tye, a partner on Carlyle's technology investing team, is also part of the leadership program.

☆ Doctors are building tech startups to help fix a healthcare system reeling from crisis after crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But with increasing patient demand and complexity, there are not enough doctors in the healthcare system to match that level of care, he said. With its promise of free universal healthcare, the UK's National Health Service has long been a source of national pride. A growing number of clinicians are becoming "doctorpreneurs," applying their first-hand experience in healthcare to build startups to help fill that gap. As clinicians in the UK expand their startups abroad, they predict the doctorpreneur trend will become a global phenomena — with health startups in other countries looking to the UK for inspiration. Selim noted that many doctors — across continents — are also incentivized by a unifying mission, which is to offer patients hope.

☆ Private school vouchers are shaping up to be huge part of the 2024 election as GOP candidates work to 'one up' each other on the issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The GOP movement toward "school choice" is gaining momentum in many states. GOP presidential candidates have promised to send more public money to private schools. While battles over how classrooms should teach about race and LGBTQ topics have fired up the GOP base, the expansion of school vouchers is taking hold in red states. Spar said vouchers amounted to "using taxpayer money to go to private schools and home schools with practically no accountability." As Congress then turned its attention toward COVID pandemic relief, at least one bill that didn't pass had funding for private schools and homeschooling.

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