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☆ Influencer-marketing platform Grin lays off staffers across marketing, engineering, and more teams: 'Unfair and unexpected'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The layoffs affected staffers across Grin's marketing, engineering, and more teams. Grin, a marketing platform used by brands to run sponsored campaigns with influencers on social media, is the latest creator-economy startup to lay off employees. On Tuesday, the company laid off a number of staffers across its marketing, engineering, and other teams, according to multiple people close to the company. In November, a spokesperson for Grin confirmed the company had laid off 60 staffers. Those November layoffs, which affected about 13% of its staff, mostly impacted staffers in Grin's sales department, the spokesperson said at the time.

☆ Twitter employees nicknamed a Tesla executive 'the Elon whisperer' because of his ability to read Elon Musk's mood, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter staff nicknamed a Tesla exec "the Elon whisperer" because of his ability to read Elon Musk's mood. Omead Afshar, the Tesla exec, joined Twitter late last year, according to the Financial Times. Omead Afshar, who once led Tesla's Gigafactory in Austin, joined Twitter last year and is part of Elon Musk's tight inner circle, according to the Financial Times. Afshar has been helping Musk with "the biggest, stickiest issues at the company," according to the report. According to The Information, Musk's company is at least $70 million behind on a five-year contract it signed with Amazon Web Services in 2020.

☆ Young VCs thought the good times would never end. They did, and now they're pissed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider's Stephanie Palazzolo and Madeline Renbarger have a fascinating report on how young venture capitalists who came from investment banking and consulting are not having a good time. I encourage you to read Stephanie's and Madeline's story, which has all the juicy details about the current environment for young VCs. I've written a lot about how young investment bankers view their jobs as a means to an end, as opposed to an actual career. Timing has a lot to do with why young VCs are feeling like they've gotten such a raw deal. Click here to read more about why some young investment bankers are regretting their move to venture capital.

☆ 'I feel like I got catfished': Young VCs who left investment banking and consulting jobs are having career second thoughts in the downturn
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

For young investors who pivoted to VC in the middle of the recent market downturn, the reality hasn't been quite as glamorous. From window shopping to bargain huntingMany young investors eagerly filled junior-associate positions at VC firms, expecting the breakneck rate of deals common in 2020 and 2021 to continue. With fewer deals to go around, there's more pressure than ever for new VC associates to bring in hot investments, young VCs told Insider. One investor told Insider that they didn't regret the pivot from tech-investment banking to venture capital in the second half of 2021. Some young investors like Nicole DeTommaso, who left investment banking to intern at Harlem Capital in 2020, started posting regular detailed Twitter threads on how to break into venture capital in the second half of 2021.

☆ Elon Musk's mood and intensity at Twitter are 'worse' than during Tesla's existential crisis 5 years ago, staff says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

People who have worked for him at Tesla and now Twitter think recent months have proved worse. There's a new refrain among some Tesla employees who continue to work out of Twitter's San Francisco headquarters: "worse than 2018." Still, there is "zero talk" inside Twitter of a new CEO coming in to replace Musk, this person added. There are some similarities between Musk at Tesla then and him at Twitter now. Musk's overall mood at Twitter seemed to start deteriorating toward the end of last year, two of the people familiar said.

☆ 'Day of pain': Wirecard boss denies charges in massive fraud trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Jörn Poltz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUNICH, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The former boss of Wirecard on Monday expressed his "deepest regret" over the collapse of the defunct payments company but denied all allegations as he took to the stand in Germany's biggest post-war fraud trial. Austrian-born Braun, 53, and two other ex-Wirecard managers Oliver Bellenhaus and Stephan von Erffa are on trial on charges including market manipulation and fraud and face up to 15 years each in prison if convicted. "There was in reality no life outside the company," he said, speaking throughout in a calm and concentrated voice. Braun's lawyers have alleged that Bellenhaus was the main perpetrator of the fraud at Wirecard, which began processing payments for pornography and online gambling and rose to be a blue chip DAX company worth $28 billion. Reporting by Jörn Poltz and Alexander Hübner Writing by Matthias Williams Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ MrBeast's girlfriend showed him guzzling raw egg whites with chocolate syrup as part of his supposed productivity "grind"
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

MrBeast's girlfriend, Thea Booysen, filmed him swigging egg whites and chocolate syrup. The YouTuber has been open about lifestyle habits he believes are required to be the most successful YouTuber in the world. And on Wednesday, Donaldson's girlfriend – the Twitch streamer and author Thea Booysen – gave a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into what his unusual life can look like. In a since-evaporated Instagram Story on Wednesday, Booysen filmed the YouTuber guzzling raw egg whites straight from the carton. In a subsequent story, Donaldson poured chocolate syrup into a cup filled with a yellowish-white liquid – presumably the egg whites, before swigging that down as well.

☆ Inside the private meeting at Jack Ma's apartment where he plotted to take on Silicon Valley with a trusted 'ragtag bunch' of early employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Brian A. Wong | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In one apartment, Jack, Lucy Peng, and a few other leaders worked alongside the firm's engineers. Everyone's enthusiasm flowed from their strong identification with the company's mission and Jack's vision, and if it was part of our mission, all believed, it was certainly achievable. In fact, in time, I would grow to better understand and more deeply embrace Alibaba's mission, vision, and values and the way they motivated our people. That's what Savio Kwan, Alibaba's first COO, did, codifying Jack's ideas into our company mission, vision, and values. Their efforts would form the basis of Alibaba's core mission, vision, and values statement— the guiding force or beliefs for Alibaba's development then and now.

☆ Why experts worry TikTok could add to mental health crisis among US teens
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

TikTok is far from the only social platform to be scrutinized by lawmakers and mental health experts for its impact on teens. That’s problematic because the more time a teen spends on social media, the more likely he or she is to be depressed. Psychologists say as smartphones and social media grew around 2012, so did the rate of depression among teens. But teens say it’s not the most egregious videos that keep them engaged. The majority of teens say social media can be a space for connection and creativity, according to Pew Research.

☆ Elon Musk reportedly told workers at his brain-chip startup to imagine they had bombs strapped to their heads to make them work faster
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk told Neuralink staff to imagine they had bombs strapped to their heads to drive faster work, Reuters reported. Employees told Reuters Musk's push for speed led to an increase in the number of animals killed in testing. One former staffer said that Musk told workers he'd initiate a "market failure" at the company if employees couldn't speed up progress, Reuters reported. Earlier this year, Musk told workers in an email that the company wasn't moving fast enough, per Reuters. It's not the first time Musk has been known to push employees to work at a break-neck pace.

☆ Wall Street titan Apollo has a new class of dealmakers. Here's how 3 rose to partner while in their 30s.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

He persevered through the brutal all-nighters, the perplexing spreadsheets, and the temperamental bosses who walked the halls of the midtown Manhattan investment firm. At Apollo, executives tend to grow up quickly. Some of their former colleagues have tried to make more money elsewhere, such as the hedge funds run by billionaire personalities that Apollo's executives quietly root against. Associates sometimes dealt with burnout from heavy workloads and demanding bosses by escaping for a walk through Central Park to let off steam, according to the former firm associates. We're Rayman Apollo!'"

"He's probably going to spend more time on Twitter than any Tesla investor feels comfortable about." Sales of Musk's own Tesla shares - totaling $20 billion since he disclosed his Twitter stake - have added to the pressure. "I think he's finally reached a point where he's really challenging himself. 'MINIMAL TIME'The Tesla board has expressed concerns about Musk's commitment to SpaceX and several smaller companies. So I think Tesla would continue to do very well even if I was kidnapped by aliens or went back to my home planet maybe."

☆ Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has translated into huge user growth — for upstart social media platforms like Mastodon and Tumblr, according to new data
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New data from SensorTower found that smaller rivals like Mastodon and Tumblr have also seen an explosion of growth. Twitter installs have grown by 21% since Musk's takeover, while Mastodon's have grown by 657%, according to the data. Mastodon has 1 million global downloads, according to SensorTower, while Twitter had 238 million daily active users as of July. However, the recent interest in smaller microblogging sites points to some users' discontent with the recent chaos on Elon Musk's Twitter and the growing demand for a replacement. Tumblr has taken advantage of the newfound attention, trolling Elon Musk's recent blue checkmark fiasco by offering to sell two blue checks for $7.99.

☆ I left a top-floor job at Goldman Sachs for a tiny self-driving-car startup. Here's how I shook off the 'golden handcuffs' to land my dream job.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Kulkarni, a former Goldman Sachs investment associate, pivoted to a self-driving-tech startup. He started his career as an investment analyst and has a background in systems science and engineering and finance. As a third-year analyst at Goldman, I felt like that was the perfect time to take that leap of faith. And the whole idea of a boot camp is that it focuses on developing true functional skills to immediately join a startup. The first startup I joined wasn't the right cultural fitI definitely had a moment where I said: What?

☆ Elon Musk told Twitter staff to expect 80-hour work weeks and fewer office perks, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk told Twitter staff that they should expect to work 80-hour weeks, per Bloomberg. Musk previously got rid of remote working, telling workers 40 hours in the office was a minimum. While working on the controversial new $8 verification feature, some Twitter managers told staff to work 84-hour weeks – or 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, CNBC reported. Musk himself is now laying down these demanding expectations, and also added that there will be fewer office perks like free food. Per The Verge's transcript of Musk's Q&A and with employees, Musk told staff to work with "a maniacal sense of urgency."

☆ Twitter staff enjoy a flexible work culture. Self-described nano-manager Elon Musk will change that.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk is close his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter by Friday and staff are worried. Musk's 'autocratic' leadership style is likely to clash with a flexible work culture, one workplace expert says. Elon Musk is set to buy Twitter for $44 billion by Friday and, as the deadline looms, staff are anticipating a big vibe shift in its work culture. Here are some of the perks Twitter staff enjoy now that may change under Musk. Flexible working policiesTwitter is famed for generous, flexible working policies.

☆ I make 6 figures a month in revenue from baking. I started in my apartment 2 years ago — here's how a billboard helped me scale it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-08 | by ( Amber Sunner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I was the chief dating expert at Match.com when I started selling homemade, gut-friendly cookie bars out of my kitchen in June 2020. My gut issues materialized almost overnight in 2016 after an instance of food poisoning that never resolved itself. In 2020, I also began entering Facebook groups for people with gut issues. While driving around LA, I thought billboards would be a great way to normalize the conversation around gut issues. There was also a trend going around TikTok at the time about gorgeous girls having gut issues.

☆ I quit my high-pressure job at a top law firm and became a lifeguard after I had a heart attack. I'm paid less, but I'm happier than ever.
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-10 | by ( Daniel Shailer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

After 13 years of hard work and partying, he experienced a heart attack at 38 years old and quit. Hard work and hard partying were my daily routine, all powered by Freshfields' paychecks and London's buzz. Until one Saturday in 2009 while I was partying hard in Notting Hill. Three days after my heart attack, despite his warnings, I went back to work. I decided to quit my job at Freshfields and set out on a year of rehabilitation to get better properly.

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