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☆ Tropicana redesigned its classic bottle. Customers revolted
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Tropicana customers are in revolt over an orange juice bottle redesign. In July, Tropicana’s sales dropped 8.3% from the year prior, according to sales data by market research firm Circana shared with CNN. Tropicana's customers have expressed frustration at the new bottles. It’s more of a generic structure.”Tropicana's old carafe bottle design. “I had been a loyal customer for decades but now you lost me.”“I do not like the new bottle design,” another posted on Reddit.

Persons: Circana, you’ve, ”, Steve Lamoureux, Peter Clarke, ” Clarke, “, Tiffany Hagler, Lamoureux, we’re, it’s, that’s, Joe Biden, ” Lamoureux Organizations: New, New York CNN, Tropicana, OJ, CNN, Coca, Brand, Product Ventures, Geard, Bloomberg, Getty, Tropicana Brands Group, Tropicana Brands, Tropicana OJ, Companies Locations: New York, Orange

☆ Top pollster Ann Selzer to retire after bombshell Iowa poll ended in historic miss
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-17 | by ( Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Top pollster J. Ann Selzer will retire from the Des Moines Register’s famed Iowa Poll and the survey will “evolve” after it failed to accurately capture former President Donald Trump’s strong support in the 2024 election, resulting in a 16-point miss. Trump ultimately swept to victory over Harris in the state by a 13-point margin, winning the actual vote 56-43%. Prior to the 2024 survey, the Iowa Poll under her stewardship had been considered by many to be the methodological gold standard. As of June 2024, election forecaster Nate Silver gave Selzer an A+ rating. In an op-ed for the Register, Selzer said that her decision to part ways with the poll predated the erroneous results.

Persons: Ann Selzer, Donald Trump’s, Selzer, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Harris, Trump, ’, ” Kristin Roberts, ”, ” Roberts, “, John Kerry, Republican George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Nate Silver, ” Selzer, I’m, Carol Hunter, ” Hunter, Iowans Organizations: New, New York CNN, Des Moines Register’s, Iowa, Trump, Republican, Gannett Media, Des Moines Register, CNN, ”, Iowa Poll, Selzer Locations: New York, Des, Iowa, West Des Moines

☆ OpenAI ranks fourth among top tech vendors that IT leaders plan to spend the most with, survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-17 | by ( Helen Li | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementOpenAI ranks fourth among vendors that IT leaders plan to spend the most with, per a Flexera survey. The report surveyed 800 IT leaders on their priorities for the coming year. OpenAI ranks fourth among top vendors that IT leaders are currently or planning to spend the most with next year, according to a newly released industry report. Flexera, a software asset management company, released its 2025 IT Priorities Report based on a survey of 800 IT leaders from the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. This was the first year that OpenAI debuted on the survey list as an option.

Persons: OpenAI Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, Khosla Ventures, Tiger, Nvidia Locations: United Kingdom, Germany, Australia

☆ I pivoted into venture capital at 23 and my life has never been so exciting. Here's my advice for breaking into the industry.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-17 | by ( Jamie Killin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementKatie Vasquez landed her first venture capital job at 23 years old. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Katie Vasquez, a 26-year-old investor at Calibrate Ventures based in Santa Monica, California, on her experience working in venture capital. I'm an investor at Calibrate Ventures, an early-stage deep-tech venture capital firm. My advice for other people hoping to get into VC is to leverage your network and stay up to date on the industry. This experience provided a great foundation for thinking more about technical due diligence, tech architecture, and strategy, but moving into investing and venture capital felt like the most exciting path.

Persons: Katie Vasquez, I've, I'm, I'd Organizations: Brown University, Goldman, LA Tech, Synergist, Investor, Business Locations: Santa Monica , California, EY, fintech, Los Angeles, LA

☆ I built a 'tiny house' Airbnb hotel and sold it for $7 million. Here's why I decided to walk away when I did.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-16 | by ( Charissa Cheong | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I sold the property, called Live Oak Lake, for $7 million in October 2023. Part of the reason I considered selling Live Oak Lake was because of the stress of running it. We listed Live Oak Lake for sale in the summer of 2022. AdvertisementSelling the property has alleviated my stressI think I sold Live Oak Lake at the right time. AdvertisementThe Live Oak Lake project was an amazing project, a baptism by fire in the realms of real estate, marketing, and hospitality.

Persons: Isaac French, Instagram Organizations: influencers, Business Locations: Texas, Nordic, Waco, Zillow, Instagram

☆ Meet the OpenAI mafia: These 23 former employees left the AI juggernaut and founded startups that have collectively raised billions
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-16 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dario Amodei, Daniela Amodei, Tom Brown, Jack Clark, Jared Kaplan, and Sam McCandlish, cofounders of AnthropicAnthropic's Dario Amodei, Jack Clark, and Daniela Amodei. Since then, the company has received billions in funding from both Google and Amazon in what some have termed an "AI arms race." CEO Dario Amodei, a former Google Brain researcher with a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience, has been writing about the cataclysmic potential of AI since 2016. Constitutional AI is partly the brainchild of two other OpenAI alums and Anthropic cofounders, Tom Brown and Jared Kaplan. Both Kaplan and Brown have worked on Anthropic's efforts to "red team" the company's flagship language model, Claude, probing for misuse possibilities.

Persons: Dario Amodei, Daniela Amodei, Tom Brown, Jack Clark, Jared Kaplan, Sam McCandlish, Anthropic Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Menlo Ventures Anthropic, Amodei's, Anthropic, —, Anthropic cofounders, Brown, Kaplan, Johns Hopkins, Claude, AGI, I'm Organizations: Google, Menlo Ventures, Bloomberg, Johns, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI, GPT

☆ Major Trump Media shareholder ARC Global unloads nearly all DJT stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Thursday night disclosure to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed that financial firm ARC Global Investments II and its manager, Patrick Orlando, no longer own more than 5% of Trump Media stock. Trump Media reported in early September that ARC owned over 11 million shares, equating to 5.4% of the company's outstanding stock. In mid-September, a Delaware judge found that Trump Media breached an agreement with ARC and must grant it additional shares. Trump Media, which operates the Truth Social app, suffered a major selloff in late summer and by the end of September was trading near its post-merger lows. But it saw a major stock rally in October that recovered most of those losses.

Persons: Donald Trump's, Patrick Orlando, ARC's, Steven Fineman, Kamala Harris Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, ARC Global Investments, Trump Media, ARC, SEC, Orlando, United Atlantic Ventures, Trump, Republican Locations: Orlando, Delaware

☆ Jake Paul, Mike Tyson fight breaks record for biggest boxing gate outside of Las Vegas
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Jessica Golden | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(L-R) Mike Tyson, Nakisa Bidarian and Jake Paul pose onstage during the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson Boxing match press conference at Texas Live! The highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson has already secured its place in the record books. That makes it the biggest boxing gate in history outside of Nevada. The fight between Paul, a 27-year-old YouTube influencer-turned-boxer and Tyson, a 58-year-old boxing legend, will air Friday at 8 p.m. … This is a statement that we had the biggest live gate outside of Vegas in U.S. boxing history."

Persons: Mike Tyson, Nakisa Bidarian, Jake Paul, Paul, Canelo Álvarez, Billy Joe Saunders, Conor McGregor, Eddie Alvarez, Tyson, Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao Organizations: Mike Tyson Boxing, Texas, CNBC, T, The Dallas Cowboys, AT, Las Vegas UFC, YouTube, Netflix, Las Vegas Locations: Arlington , Texas, Nevada, New York City, Vegas, U.S

☆ The top 10 family offices for startup investments
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The top 10 family offices for startup investments made over 150 investments combined this year, in everything from biotech and energy to crypto and artificial intelligence, according to a new analysis. CNBC partnered with Fintrx, the private wealth intelligence platform, to analyze single family offices that made the largest number of investments in private startups in 2024. The most active family office so far this year is Maelstrom, the Hong Kong-based family office of American investor Arthur Hayes, who co-founded the crypto exchange BitMEX. For the sake of the list, family offices are defined as investment vehicles or holding companies of a single family or individual that don't manage money for outside investors. Nearly a third of startup capital in 2022 came from family offices, according to a PWC report.

Persons: Guillaume Houze, Pascal Le Segretain, Robert Frank, Bernard Arnault's, Laurene Powell Jobs, Peter Thiel's Thiel, Arthur Hayes, Guillaume Houzé, Motier, Andreesen Horowitz, Eric Schmidt, Magnus Carlsen, Fertility Organizations: Royal, Getty, CNBC, Fintrx, Ventures, Labs, Motier Ventures, Google, Flex, Mistral, Nvidia, Lightspeed, Atinum Investment, Emerson Collective . Thiel Capital Locations: Paris, France, Hong Kong, Lafayette, Seoul, Korea, Singapore

☆ CNBC's Inside India newsletter: India's growing wealth divide
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | In Amala-Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The rise in India's income and wealth inequality is not a result of the poor getting poorer, Sumedha Dasgupta, senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) flags. India's income gap (which is the difference in wages earned between different demographic) comes alongside a worsening wealth divide too. Instead, the phenomenon comes as the "rich are getting much richer at a faster rate," she told CNBC's Inside India. India's 3 household groupsA more pressing issue brought on by India's wealth and income divide is the emergence of different categories of households with distinct standards of living. Unequal education opportunitiesThe EIU's Dasgupta attributes India's vicious wealth and income gap cycle in large part to mismatched education opportunities.

Persons: Knight Frank, Dasgupta, CNBC's, Shumita Deveshwar, Deveshwar Organizations: Economist Intelligence Unit, Blume Ventures, Oxfam, Private, Department of School Education, Global Commons Alliance, TS Lombard Locations: India, United States, Brazil, South Africa, Venture, Saharan Africa, Indian

CNN —President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk have big ambitions for making the federal government leaner and more efficient by reviewing its budget and operations from top to bottom. Details about how the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will operate – and how Musk and his co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy will avoid conflicts of interest – remain scarce. Musk also took aim at the Department of Education, a frequent target of Trump and Republicans, criticizing the agency for allegedly indoctrinating kids with left-wing propaganda and other failings. Slashing that much from the federal budget – which totaled roughly $6.8 trillion in fiscal 2024 – would require cutting every program by roughly one-third, said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress. “Trump’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ will not be an actual department.

Persons: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump, ” Musk, Ramaswamy, Musk, ”, “, ” Ramaswamy, Stephen Moore, Elon, Vivek, Moore, Larry Summers, Clinton, Glenn Hubbard, George W, Bush, Bobby Kogan, ” Kogan, Brian Riedl, Riedl, GOP Sen, Rob Portman, Sharon Parrott, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, William Hoagland, Peter G, Peterson, –, Jon Greenbaum, ’ that’s, Harry Sandick Organizations: CNN, Elon, Department of Government, Trump, Republican, White House, SpaceX, Department of Education, of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, Education Department, Labor Department, FBI, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Heritage Foundation, US, of Economic, American, Security, Social Security, Manhattan Institute, GOP, ‘ Department, Government, White, White House & Congress, Congressional Republicans, Children’s Health Insurance, Affordable, Budget, Republicans, Grace, Center, Elon Musk, Federal Advisory Committee, Democratic Locations: Rob Portman of Ohio

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Meta, Campbell Soup and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Citi initiates Gilead Sciences as buy The firm said it is bullish on the biotech company's HIV franchise. Piper Sandler upgrades Campbell Soup to overweight from neutral Piper Sandler said it sees an attractive entry point for the stock. UBS initiates Cogent as buy The firm said it sees meaningful revenue acceleration for the internet services company. Jefferies reiterates Tesla as hold The firm raised its price target on the stock to $300 per share from $195. Morgan Stanley reiterates Meta as overweight The firm said Meta is a major artificial intelligence beneficiary. "

Persons: Piper Sandler, Campbell, Oppenheimer, Jefferies, Tesla, Morgan Stanley, Papa, KeyBanc, Papa John's, BXP, Wells, Wells Fargo, BURL, Meta, Needham, Eli Lilly's Organizations: Citi, Gilead Sciences, HIV, SOVO, UBS, Nvidia, Bank of America, Neutral Bank of America, ISI, Papa Johns International, Company, JPMorgan, Medicines, 3Q, Netflix, Barclays, Airlines, FDA, Novo Nordisk, Microsoft Locations: Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Manhattan, Burlington

☆ Even U.S. presidents make mistakes with their money, author says. Here's how some struggled
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Megan Gorman, author of All The Presidents' Money. MG: Money caused and causes anxiety for everyone. For instance, Ronald Reagan used budgeting as a mechanism to manage emotion when it came to money. As Reagan got older, he found that having a budget and sticking to it allowed him to manage his financial anxiety. Early experiences informed money habitsAN: Who had the most financial struggles before becoming president?

Persons: Thomas Jefferson, George Peter Alexander Healy, Megan Gorman Annie Nova, Megan Gorman, Richard Nixon, Grover Cleveland, Calvin Coolidge, John F, Kennedy, spender, Jefferson, Marc Cartwright, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, Harry Truman, Truman, Herbert Hoover, Hoover Organizations: Hulton, White, Stanford Locations: France

☆ Trump tapped Elon Musk to oversee government efficiency. Here's how he's cut costs at his own companies.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Talia Lakritz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Elon Musk will co-lead the Trump White House's Department of Government Efficiency. Musk is known for his intense work ethic and willingness to make drastic cuts to save costs. AdvertisementPresident-elect Donald Trump tapped Elon Musk to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency to reduce government spending along with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. At companies like X, Tesla, and SpaceX, Musk is known for modeling an intense work ethic and making drastic workforce reductions to lower costs. AdvertisementMusk, X, Tesla, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Elon, —, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy Organizations: Trump White House's Department, Government, SpaceX, Service, of Government, LinkedIn

Soto, 26, is hands down this winter’s most highly sought-after free agent, valued as much for his elite baseball skills as for his birth date. And in an age of swing-for-the-fences baseball, Soto struck out just 16.7% of the time, while the league whiffed at a 22.2% clip this season. Free agency is “going to be exciting,” Soto told reporters moments after the Yankees lost Game 5 of the World Series, ending the baseball season. The AL champion Yankees had the second-highest MLB payroll, at $309.8 million for their 40-man roster, according to Baseball Prospectus. There's no telling when Soto or other any free agents will come to terms with their 2025 teams.

Persons: Juan Soto, Soto, Al Leiter, Leiter, Shohei, Scott Boras, Ohtani, ” Soto, “ It’s, Aaron Judge, they'll, Bryce Harper, Harper, “ I’m, ”, Cy Young, Blake Snell, “ We’re Organizations: Major League Baseball, Yankees, American League, Dodgers, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, MLB, baseball's, MLB Network, Mets, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Dodgers DH, NL, Soto's, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies, Big Apple, AL, Baseball, Cleveland Guardians, The Dodgers Locations: Los Angeles, Southern California, Soto's New York, South Philly, San Diego, New York

☆ In Italy, this 12th century castle is transforming into a luxury resort
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-13 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —For almost a millennium, the Castle of Antognolla has punctured a skyline of seemingly endless rolling forested hills. Rooms will offer a panoramic view of the site’s jewel in the crown, an 18-hole golf course with ambitions to break the Spanish and Portuguese hegemony over premier golf destinations on the continent. The castle offers a sweeping view of the golf course below and valleys beyond. In 1628, the estate was bought by nobleman Cornelio Oddi, who wished to make it a holiday resort. “They’re coming to Italy and then they see that there are good courses, and they decide to play golf.

Persons: Robert Trent Jones Jr, Saint Herculanus, Ruggero di Antognolla, Pope Boniface IX, bloodily, Cornelio Oddi, Agnelli, Antognolla, Burguière, year’s, Marco Simone Golf, ”, “, oenologist Riccardo Cotarella, ” Burguière Organizations: CNN, Fiat, Juventus –, Ventures Locations: Antognolla, Umbria, Perugia, Rome, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Grechetto, Gubbio, Marmore Falls, Europe

☆ How Elon Musk’s worst business decision led him to Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-13 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, will be taking on an official role to try to help President-elect Donald Trump make government more efficient. It will add yet another responsibility to an ever-growing to-do list for the increasingly distracted CEO and business leader. Tesla, Musk’s most valuable company, in recent years has struggled to maintain its dominance of the electric vehicle market. Of course, that’s if Trump and Musk remain on good terms. And no matter how much power and influence Musk could yield, Trump will hold the ultimate trump card: He’ll be president.

Persons: New York CNN — Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Musk, Tesla, Trump, ”, Dan Ives, Ives, “, it’s, ” Ives, He’ll Organizations: New, New York CNN, SpaceX, Boring, EV, Wedbush Securities, Trump White House, Tesla, Trump, Bloomberg, Boeing, Fidelity, Twitter Locations: New York, China

☆ VW's $5.8 billion investment in Rivian isn't guaranteed. Here are the milestones the EV maker needs to hit
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-13 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

DETROIT — Volkswagen Group increased its planned investment for a joint venture with electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive to $5.8 billion as the companies have broader aspirations than they initially announced for the team-up. Investors were impressed with the details of the deal, sending shares of Rivian up 13% in trading Wednesday. The companies said they expect roughly 1,000 people to work for the joint venture. But VW's capital to Rivian isn't guaranteed, and neither is the success of the deal. The automotive industry has seen a number of major mergers and joint ventures that don't result in long-term successes.

Persons: Rivian, Rivian isn't Organizations: DETROIT — Volkswagen Group, Automotive, Investors, VW Locations: Normal , Illinois, Georgia, Rivian

☆ This climate startup is challenging Tesla in the race to electrify big rigs
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Big rigs make up just 10% of the vehicles on the road, but they account for nearly 30% of total vehicle carbon emissions. Now one startup, California-based Range Energy, is focused not on the tractor but the trailer. said Ali Javidan, CEO of Range Energy. "When I push this button to activate the system, the trailer follows me," Javidan said as he demonstrated the system. Range Energy has raised $31.5 million so far, and it is backed by R7, UP.Partners, Trousdale Ventures and Yamaha Motor Ventures.

Persons: Ali Javidan, Javidan, Ricky Souza, Souza, There's, Tyler Engh, Engh, Lisa Rizzolo Organizations: Volvo, Freightliner, Tesla, Range Energy, Energy, Northern, Trousdale Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, CNBC Locations: California, United States, Northern

☆ London startup Agemo has exited stealth. Now, it's building AI reasoning for software to take on Poolside and Magic.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Agemo has exited stealth with $4 million to build AI that turns text prompts into software. Essentially, this required them to train their AI models to reason like a team of engineers. Agemo finds itself up against the likes of Poolside, which raised $500 million in October, and Magic, which raised $320 million in August. To combat this problem, Agemo is building AI systems that can "reason" in software. AdvertisementEurope's answer to Poolside and MagicTo differentiate it from competitors such as Poolside and Magic, the startup says it has developed a neurosymbolic AI system for software reasoning.

Persons: Agemo, Aymeric Zhuo, Osman Ramadan, —, IBM's Jonathan Adashek, Mehdi Ghissassi, Olivier Pomel, Zhuo, Ramadan, ChatGPT, we've, We've Organizations: Service, Firstminute Capital, Mistral, Fly Ventures, Cambridge University, Microsoft, Activision, BI Locations: DeepMind, OpenAI, Sudan, London, Europe, Bay

☆ Sam Altman thanks Elon Musk for helping to initially bankroll OpenAI — and says now is a great time for tech founders
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-11 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI chief Sam Altman urged would-be founders to bet on AI. Despite their current feud, Altman said he was "very grateful" for Elon Musk's early backing. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementAnd despite their contentious relationship today, Altman said he was "very grateful" to Elon Musk for helping to fund OpenAI in its early days. OpenAI hit back last month, saying Musk was harassing the company for "his own competitive advantage" in the name of his rival firm, xAI.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Elon Musk's, —, Y, Garry Tan, you've, Elon Musk, Musk, OpenAI, it's Organizations: Service, Business

☆ Deckmatch uses AI to find and streamline deals for investors. Check out the 13-slide deck it used to raise $3.1 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-11 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Deckmatch has secured $3.1 million in seed funding from Alliance VC and Luminar Ventures. BI got an exclusive look at the 13-slide pitch deck the startup used to secure the funding. AdvertisementA startup that helps private market investors automate their work has secured $3.1 million in seed funding. AdvertisementDeckmatch said its $3.1 million seed round was oversubscribed. With the fresh funding, Deckmatch plans to double down on its research and development efforts.

Persons: Deckmatch, —, Leopold Gasteen, Gasteen, Walid Mustapha Organizations: Alliance, Luminar Ventures, BI, Service, Google, Business, Skyfall Ventures Locations: Norway, VCs

☆ Silicon Valley's General Catalyst makes first investment into Saudi Arabia through fintech Lean Technologies
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-11 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Silicon Valley venture capital firm General Catalyst has made its first investment in Saudi Arabia through fintech startup Lean Technologies, which just closed a Series B round worth $67.5 million. General Catalyst has $30 billion in assets under management and has backed major U.S. tech companies like Snap , Stripe and AirBnb . Lean Technologies' fundraising round also saw participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office, and Arbor Ventures, among others, bringing the Riyadh-based firm's total funding to over $100 million to date, according to a Sunday statement from the company. For three of those investors — General Catalyst, Stanley Druckenmiller and Bain Capital — this investment is their first in the kingdom. "If you look at the region's growth over the last three to five years, it's been phenomenal, but there is still so much more room for growth."

Persons: Catalyst, Stanley Druckenmiller's, Stanley Druckenmiller, Hisham Al, Falih, it's Organizations: Lean Technologies, Bain Capital Ventures, Stanley, Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office, Arbor Ventures, Bain Capital, CNBC Locations: Silicon, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Riyadh, Saudi

☆ Palmer Luckey and other defense tech leaders see Trump's victory as a win for the industry
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-10 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Defense tech startups are anticipating growth under Trump's second term. AdvertisementSome leaders in the defense tech industry, including Anduril cofounder Palmer Luckey, think that defense tech startups are poised for success during president-elect Donald Trump's second term. Over the last decade, Silicon Valley has made waves in the defense tech industry. Some of the defense tech industry's optimism for Trump's victory lies in SpaceX founder Elon Musk's proximity to the president-elect and his vice president, JD Vance, Forbes reported. Luckey told Bloomberg that Musk has "outperformed every reasonable expectation."

Persons: Palmer Luckey's Anduril, Elon Musk's, Vance, —, Palmer Luckey, Donald Trump's, Luckey, Anduril, Biden, Elon, JD Vance, Forbes, Nathan Mintz, Musk, it's, Donald Trump, Brian Schimf Organizations: Defense, Trump, Service, Meta, Teledyne, Defense Department, Bloomberg, SpaceX, Elon, Forbes, Republican, United Locations: United States

☆ My 6-figure consulting job wasn't fulfilling. I quit to start my own business when I realized dream company doesn't necessarily mean dream life.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-10 | by ( Robin Madell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AJ Eckstein left a stable consulting job to launch Creator Match, seeking more control of his career. After long days, I'd return to my apartment and dedicate myself to case prep to pursue a consulting career. I was doing my own Creator brand deals on LinkedIn and starting to help Creator friends monetize their brands, which is how the idea for my company, Creator Match, was born. Leaving felt like getting divorced from someone I admired and respected. AdvertisementI reminded myself that I wasn't leaving him — I was leaving the company to pursue a dream.

Persons: AJ Eckstein, Eckstein, —, It's, I'd, haven't, Lauryn Haas Organizations: Service, Austin, Walt Disney Company, LinkedIn, lhaas

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