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☆ With China playing catchup with the U.S., these 3 charts show the top countries for fintech in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

UK has second-biggest number of top fintech firmsThe U.S. was home to 65 of the top fintech companies, according to CNBC's list of world's top 200 fintech companies. In the U.S., some of the top global fintech companies on Statista's list include names like Stripe, PayPal and Intuit . Stateside, meanwhile, the largest fintech unicorns are Stripe ($95 billion), Chime ($25 billion), Ripple ($15 billion), Plaid ($13.5 billion), Devoted Health ($12.6 billion, and Brex ($12.3 billion). Other leading ecosystems for fintech unicorns include India, on 17 unicorns, and China, on eight. Standing in 8th place is Mexico, with five fintech unicorns, Singapore, also with five, and the Netherlands, which has four in total.

Persons: Ed Jones, Starling, Tencent, Statista, Andreessen Horowitz, Wise, Vlad Tenev, Group's, —, Nick Parmenter Organizations: AFP, Getty, CNBC, Statista, Ant Group, Plaid, Visa, Mastercard, European Union, Apple, Google, Sequoia Capital, PayPal, Intuit, Financial, Authority, Consumers Locations: U.S, Beijing, China, Silicon, Europe, Ukraine, Covid, India, France, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, Netherlands, Statista

Worldline's (WLN.PA) stock slide, which saw around $4 billion wiped off its market value, is the latest wake-up call. COMMISSIONS CUTRevenue growth has suffered at payments firms as inflation has force European consumers to spend less, while investors fret about the euro zone slipping into recession. Some analysts say payments firms have also been caught napping, after a period of growth during COVID lockdowns. In a further sign of investor wariness, venture capital investment flows into European payment firms have also dried up. Now, it may leave private equity investors to pick up the pieces for payment service firms, analysts said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Paul Charpentier, Bryan Garnier, napping, Jefferies, Hannes Leitner, Leitner, Charpentier, wariness, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, Worldline, Bryan Garnier's Charpentier, Elizabeth Howcroft, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, PayPal, Holdings, Companies, Barclays, Reuters, Spain's Banco Sabadell, Fidelity National Information Services, CVC Capital Partners, CVC, Thomson Locations: London, U.S, Nexi, Europe

☆ I worry I got into Yale only because I'm Black. I now do everything I can to prove I belong.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Miles Kirkpatrick | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementThis has been a bit of a secret, but when I applied to Yale, I chose to apply as an African American-studies major on a whim. Regardless, part of me thinks I got in because I'm Black and chose the smaller major of African American studies. I'm now working extra hard to prove I belong at Yale. The fact that I didn't get into Princeton made me think my Yale acceptance wasn't guaranteed. I could have edged out a more qualified candidate who was not a person of color because I'm Black.

Persons: —, Du Bois, Black, I'm, advisedly, would've, I've, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Cornel, Gates, we're Organizations: Yale, Service, Harvard, Princeton, Yale Political Union, American Student Association, Black Yale, Cultural Center Locations: American, East Coast

☆ From Bill Gates to the pope, talk of carbon capture and its efficacy is dividing society
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

In this article BP.-GBMSFTBKR Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTThis image from 2016 shows a carbon capture project in Texas. Other processes in the sector include direct air capture, with firms like Climeworks operating in the space. Climeworks, which specializes in direct air capture and storage, has offices in Switzerland and Germany. Its clients include businesses such as Stripe and Microsoft , and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund has invested in the company. While carbon capture has its advocates, the technology is divisive and has been questioned by a range of organizations.

Persons: Baker Hughes, Lorenzo Simonelli, Simonelli, Bill Gates, Gates, Bob Dudley, there'll, We've, Dudley, — that's Organizations: Houston Chronicle, hearst Newspapers, Getty, Hearst Newspapers, CNBC, ADIPEC, U.S . Department of Energy, Microsoft, Innovation Fund, BBC, Breakthrough Energy, International Energy Agency, Greenpeace Locations: Texas, Abu Dhabi, United States, Europe, Switzerland, Germany, Kenya, Paris

☆ Stripe's Chief Technology Officer talks AI in payments and weathering the 'hype cycle'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailStripe's Chief Technology Officer talks AI in payments and weathering the 'hype cycle'Stripe's CTO David Singleton sits down with CNBC's Kate Rooney in his first broadcast interview to discuss the company's plans in artificial intelligence, the competitive landscape and courting major enterprise partners.

Persons: David Singleton, CNBC's Kate Rooney

☆ VCs Marc Andreessen, John Doerr among attendees at Schumer's next AI forum
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Technologists and advocates are again set to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to discuss with Senate leaders the perils and promises of artificial intelligence. Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, and John Doerr, chair of Kleiner Perkins, will be among the 21 attendees at the second AI Insights Forum hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., according to a spokesperson for his office. The session is a continuation of the Majority Leader's effort to get the chamber up to speed on AI to determine how best to approach AI regulation. For example, Future of Life Institute President Max Tegmark is also set to attend. Other tech leaders such as Micron Executive Vice President Manish Bhatia, Revolution CEO Steve Case, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison and Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez will be in attendance.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins, Chuck Schumer, Andreessen, Max Tegmark, Elon Musk, Manish Bhatia, Steve Case, Patrick Collison, Aidan Gomez, Derrick Johnson, Amanda Ballantyne, Satya Nadella, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman Organizations: Capitol, Senate, China, Life, Life Institute, Tesla, Space X, Micron, NAACP, AFL, Technology, Microsoft, Google, CNBC, YouTube Locations: coders, India

☆ Hamas militants likely used North Korean RPGs and assault rifles in the October 7 attacks on Israel, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hamas militants who carried out the October 7 attacks on Israel may have used North Korean weapons. Israel captured a number of North Korean F-7 rocket-propelled grenades during the fighting. North Korea denied the claims, but it has long been linked with supporting Palestinian militant groups, experts say. AdvertisementAdvertisementHamas militants likely used some weapons from North Korea in the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, arms experts have said. "North Korea has long supported Palestinian militant groups, and North Korean arms have previously been documented amongst interdicted supplies," N.R.

Persons: —, Jones Organizations: Service, Associated Press, Korea's, Chiefs, Staff, The Washington Post, Armament Research Services, Korean Central News Agency Locations: Israel, Korean, Korea, North Korea, North, Iran, Russian, Pyongyang, United States, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Web Summit Chief Steps Down Over Israel Remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The chief executive of Web Summit, one of Europe’s biggest technology conferences, stepped down on Saturday after major sponsors and speakers withdrew from the event, set for next month, following backlash over his public criticism of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks. “I sincerely apologize again for any hurt I have caused.”A spokeswoman for Web Summit said that the organization aimed to appoint a new chief executive as soon as possible. Web Summit said on Friday that it expected about 70,000 people to attend, about the same as last year. Among those to drop out were Ravi Gupta, a partner at Sequoia Capital, and Garry Tan, the chief executive of the technology incubator Y Combinator. But by Tuesday, he published an apology on Web Summit’s site in which he said he defended “Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself.”

Persons: Paddy Cosgrave, —, ”, “, Cosgrave’s, Ravi Gupta, Garry Tan, Cosgrave Organizations: Web, Google, Intel, Meta, Siemens, Web Summit, Western, Sequoia Capital Locations: Irish, Lisbon, Israel

casey newton[CHUCKLES]:: And it would be so funny if the AI actually already was deceptive and was just like, oh, yeah, Kevin, you’ve already figured us out. But I also think it’s part of this sort of undercurrent of the conversation, especially around AI right now. Marc Andreessen — he is clearly so angry at all of the people who criticize technology, technology companies, tech investors. And he is just really, really going after that crowd with this piece. brent sealesYou know I don’t really know.

Persons: kevin roose Casey, casey newton What’s, kevin roose, casey newton, hasn’t, kevin roose I’m, I’m, KEVIN, casey newton Yes, Kevin Roose, ” casey newton, Casey Newton, Marc Andreessen, Casey, we’ve, kevin roose Totally, Claude chatbot, Claude, Anthropic’s, chatbot, Anthropic hadn’t, Anthropic, Kevin, — they’re, roose, Meta, it’s, I’ve, Bard, casey newton It’s, there’s, you’ve, casey newton Yeah, didn’t, Kevin — I’m, it’ll, Kevin —, Andreessen Horowitz, Uncle Marc, ”, “ you’re, Tucker Carlson, Jesus Christ, casey newton Well, kevin roose Oh, he’s, McCarthy, —, Nick Land, casey newton Totally, You’re, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, It’s, Marc Andreessen —, they’re, Nietzschean supermen, Nietzschean, Marc, casey newton Heck, Andreessen, Marc Andreessen decries, Marc Andreessen’s, CASEY, kevin roose That’s, you’re, Nat Friedman, who’s, Daniel Gross, John, Patrick Collison, Toby Lutke, Shopify, Aaron Levie, Brent Seales, — casey newton, There’s, Luke Farritor, ” brent seales, brent seales, that’s, Seales, haters, brent seales That’s, you’ll, casey newton Yep, brent seales —, brent seales We’d, brent seales They’re, They’re, Luke, Brent, brent seales Pliny, Elder, Jesus, brent seales What’s, casey newton Right, we’re Organizations: YouTube, The New York Times, Facebook, Google, Intelligence, America, AIs, Stanford, Communist, Netscape, Fox News, Communist Party, Technology, Venture, Twitter, acc, kevin roose Venture, Companies, Meta, University of Kentucky, British Locations: ”, Anthropic, China, Florida, California, United States, Europe, Romanian, interpretability, Valley, America, Silicon, Silicon Valley, Vesuvius, Rome, Greece, Herculaneum, Venice, Roman

☆ As U.S.-China tensions rumble on, fintech unicorn Airwallex pushes into Latin America with Mexico deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, marks a major push from Airwallex into Latin America. Global fintech giant Airwallex on Thursday said it has agreed to acquire MexPago, a rival payments company based out of Mexico, for an undisclosed sum to help the firm expand its Latin America footprint. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, marks a major push from Airwallex into Latin America, a market that has become more attractive for fintech firms thanks to a primarily younger population and increasing online penetration. We can take a global company to Mexico and also help the global companies making payments to the supply chain." "Mexico is one of the largest populations in Latin America," Zhang added.

Persons: pocketing, Jack Zhang, Zhang, it's Organizations: America, Global, PayPal, U.S, CNBC, U.S . Labour Locations: Mexico, America, China, United States, U.S, Washington, Latin America, Asia

☆ A woman who escaped Hamas' attack on her kibbutz says she isn't sure that she has a home to go back to
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An Israeli woman who fled Hamas' attack said she doesn't know if she has somewhere to return to. Danielle Biton, who lives on Kibbutz Karmita near the Gaza Strip in Israel, fled her home on the kibbutz on Saturday after Hamas began its deadly attack against Israel over the weekend. Biton described hearing Iron Dome bomb sirens starting around 5:00 a.m. that lasted about an hour. But Biton said she and her friend decided to go back to their kibbutz to try to rescue his parents. AdvertisementAdvertisementShe said they took "whatever we had in our home because we didn't know — we still don't know — if we will have somewhere to go back to."

Persons: Danielle Biton, —, Natasha Raquel Kirtchuk Gutman, Biton, Kirtchuk Gutman, Nobody, wouldn't Organizations: Service, Hamas, I24 Locations: Israeli, Hamas, Karmita, Gaza, Israel, IDF

☆ Saudi oil giant Aramco announces pilot project to suck CO2 out of the air, but some scientists are skeptical
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Saudi oil giant Aramco on Monday announced a partnership with Siemens Energy AG to develop a small-scale direct air-capture "test unit" in an attempt to manage emissions. The test unit will be built in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and finished in 2024, according to a statement from Aramco on Monday. The DAC collaboration between Aramco and Siemens Energy is still in early phases. Given DAC's adolescence, both oil companies are invested in other clean energy technology projects. The spokesperson for Siemens Energy said that the company has invested in hydrogen, wind, nuclear fusion and others.

Persons: Jonathan Foley, Foley, Cara Horowitz Organizations: Saudi Aramco, Monday, Siemens Energy AG, Aramco, International Energy Agency, Amazon, Frontier, UCLA's, DAC, Siemens Energy, CNBC Locations: Saudi, Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck two former VCs used to raise $4.7 million in funding for their startup The Grand, whose coaching service is used by Googlers, founders, and NBA players alike
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In the midst of a funding crapshoot for young startups, The Grand, a four-year-old startup that provides career coaching as a service, has raised $4.7 million in a round of seed funding led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. You could say founders Anita Hossain Choudhry and Rei Wang had a leg up on creating the pitch deck they used to convince venture capitalists to back their startup. The goliath of coaching startups is BetterUp, a startup that offers individual and group coaching and has raised $600 million in funding so far. The Grand is now walking in lockstep with roughly 1,000 members, including Googlers, founders, and pro athletes. Check out the pitch deck that The Grand used to raise $4.7 million in seed funding.

Persons: Alexis Ohanian's Seven, Anita Hossain Choudhry, Rei Wang, Hossain Choudhry, Wang, Oscar, it's Organizations: Google, Intuit, Angel City Football Club, NBA, Carta Locations: Ohanian, lockstep

☆ I looked at the plans for the new city proposed by Silicon Valley elites. They're really terrible.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Right now, California Forever is just a website with some ideology and a handful of hopeful sketches with a faintly socialist-utopian flair. AdvertisementAdvertisementCities of the future of the pastThe California Forever art illustrations show at a place that'll look startlingly familiar. Point is, the garden city remains a dream honored more in the breach — in pitches like the one for California Forever. Just about 60 miles southeast of the California Forever site is a residential development called Mountain House. It's what plans like California Forever look like when brick starts getting laid.

Persons: Daniel Burnham, Burnham, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Michael Moritz, Laurene Powell Jobs, Collison, Flannery, Peter Thiel, Goldman, Jan Sramek, Sramek, Ebenezer Howard, Howard, What's, Foreverville, That's, it's, Banks, John Nash's London, what's, It's, Walt Disney, Gabriel Metcalf, BH Bronson Johnson, Dan Parolek, Adam Rogers Organizations: Travis Air Force Base, New York Times, Flannery Associates, Industry, Truman, California, Western Railway, California Forever, St, BH Locations: Chicago, California, Solano County, Sacramento, Solano, Silicon, Los Angeles, England, Japan, New York, Philadelphia, Seaside , Florida, Pontevedra, Spain, Paris, Tempe, doesn't, Foreverville, Pirates, Caribbean, Toronto, Culdesac

MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — During the weeks it took Yeison and Niko to migrate from Venezuela toward the U.S., they navigated dangerous jungles and over a dead body. Political Cartoons View All 1176 Images“It would practically be like starting with nothing, without Niko,” Yeison said. For six months, Yeison and Niko lived in a tent at an encampment with hundreds of other migrants in Matamoros. Chances are slim Yeison can take Niko across the border, but volunteers at the encampment aren't giving up. The picky squirrel, Yeison said, prefers nibbling on pine trees and is fed tomatoes and mangoes, even in times when food is hard to come by.

Persons: Niko, Yeison, it's, ” Yeison, Gladys Cañas, “, ”, Yieson Locations: MATAMOROS, Mexico, Venezuela, —, Yeison, U.S, Matamoros ., Texas, Brownsville, Eagle, darting, Colombia, Darien, Matamoros

De Sarno’s debut Friday, nine months after being hired in the wake of Michele’s surprise departure, was the most anticipated on the Milan Fashion Week calendar for next spring and summer womenswear. The fervor was enough to fill the front row with Hollywood A-listers including Julia Roberts and Ryan Gosling. In one recent interview, De Sarno professed admiration for Brutalist architecture, suggesting a love of the essential, and his collection was exactly that. A tiny leather bra top in embossed leather was paired with a matching midi skirt. The conversation started this week by De Sarno is to be continued.

Persons: — Sabato De Sarno, Gucci —, “ Gucci Ancora, “ Gucci, De Sarno, Alessandro Michele, Sarno’s, Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Tom Ford, Guccio Gucci, De, tinsel, — Organizations: MILAN, Prada, Dolce, Gabbana, Milan, Hollywood, Gucci Locations: Valentino, London, Brera

☆ We Asked Readers to Spend the Summer Watching Birds. Here’s What Happened.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Emily Anthes | More About Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One Saturday morning in June, Amy Simmons spotted some sparrows flitting around a coastal marsh in Maine. She and her two companions, all dedicated bird-watchers, quickly identified one of the foraging birds as a Nelson’s sparrow, a small, round bird with a yellow stripe over its eye. The stripe over this sparrow’s eye had a more saturated, orange tint, and its breast was speckled with black and white. It was a saltmarsh sparrow, a species threatened by sea level rise. Without significant conservation action, climate change could render the species extinct by the middle of this century, some scientists predict.

Persons: Amy Simmons, ”, Simmons, Ms Organizations: National Audubon Society, Cornell, of Ornithology Locations: Maine

☆ As Instacart goes public, it's no victory lap for founder Apoorva Mehta
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Mehta was replaced as CEO of Instacart in July 2021 following a messy dispute with some of the company's largest investors. Instacart Founder Apoorva Mehta in his 2003 yearbook photo from Westdale Secondary School. The app started gaining momentum and Mehta put out ads on Craigslist for shoppers to do the grocery runs for him. Whole Foods reportedly broke the news to Mehta and a fellow Instacart executive on an early morning call. In a sworn affidavit, Mehta denies that he misappropriated any trade secrets and says he's since cut ties with Singh.

Persons: Apoorva Mehta, Mehta, Safeway Mehta, Hamilton Public Library Mehta, Bing Gordon, Kleiner Perkins, Gordon, he'd, Garry Tan, Tan, Garry, Andreessen Horowitz, catapulting Mehta, Forbes, Instacart, Mike Moritz, Fidji Simo, Simo, That's, Mehta's, he's, Tejasvi, Singh, Sam Bankman, NextMed, it's Organizations: Instacart, Safeway, Westdale Secondary, Hamilton Public Library, The University of Waterloo, Amazon, NPR, Electronic Arts, YC, TechCrunch, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Forbes, Foods, Costco, Kroger, Facebook, Sunrise Locations: India, Libya, Hamilton , Ontario, Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, wallowing, Sequoia, Mehta's, Marin County

☆ Getir emerged as a tentative winner in Europe's pandemic-fueled rapid-delivery sector. But it still faces sizable threats.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In March 2022, Nazım Salur invited thousands of Getir employees to a Zoom meeting to celebrate its newfound "decacorn" status. However, as soaring inflation and rising interest rates began to hobble the tech sector, investors became far less forgiving of businesses that had oriented themselves more toward growth than sustainability. In December 2021, The Guardian reported that Getir had offered customers a deal where they could get £15 off if they spent £16. About 21 rapid-delivery startups were operating across Europe in 2021, with Getir joined by the German outfits Gorillas and Flink, as well as the British startup Zapp. Getir tentatively emerged as the winner in the rapid-delivery sector when it bought its main competitor, Gorillas , in a heavily discounted deal for $1.2 billion in December.

Persons: Nazım Salur, Nazım, Getir, Blok, London's, Alexi Rosenfeld, they've, Adam Neumann, Michael Moritz Organizations: Tiger Global, Mubadala, Financial Times, Getir, TechCrunch, Guardian, DST Global, Gorillas, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Google, PayPal Locations: Spanish, Berlin, Turkey, Turkish, Germany, Netherlands, Istanbul, Turkey's, Europe, British, Abu Dhabi

☆ The ‘Mandela Effect’: How a psychological phenomenon took over the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But you might also be experiencing the so-called Mandela Effect. Ken Drinkwater, a fellow researcher at Manchester Metropolitan, added that the effect might be connected to a condition called false memory syndrome. Jon Elswick/AP; Scott Olson/Getty ImagesSome common examples of the Mandela Effect have perhaps logical explanations, such as Mr. “Advocates of the Mandela Effect think it’s a genuine effect. These people had this false memory right after learning about the characters!

Persons: Ash, Fiona Broome, Nelson Mandela, Mandela, Broome, “ Luke, ”, Wilma Bainbridge, hadn’t, Deepasri Prasad, Bainbridge, Prasad, Stan, Jan Berenstain, ” Bainbridge, Neil Dagnall, Dagnall, “, ” Dagnall, Roediger, McDermott, Ken Drinkwater, they’ve, Drinkwater, they’d, you’ve, Jon Elswick, Scott Olson, David Adkins, Sinbad, Dennis Van Tine, Shaquille O’Neal, Clara Nellist, Lionel Flusin, hasn’t, ” Drinkwater, University of Chicago’s Bainbridge Organizations: CNN, “, Bears, University of Chicago’s, Science, UChicago, Dartmouth College, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Metropolitan, Monopoly, Fox Television Network, European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, Collider Locations: South Africa, “, Hanover , New Hampshire, United Kingdom, New York City, Switzerland —, Geneva

As some high-valued tech startups look to the long-dormant IPO market for their next funding round, Databricks is still finding investors that are happy to keep the company private, at least for now. Databricks, which sells data analytics software, said Thursday that it raised more than $500 million in fresh capital at a $43 billion valuation. Founded in 2013 and based in San Francisco, Databricks last announced funding during the boom market of 2021, at a $38 billion valuation. However, unlike fellow software IPO candidates Canva and Stripe, Databricks has managed to maintain its share price. In the latest round, shares were sold at $73.50 a piece, roughly equal to where they were priced in 2021.

Persons: Databricks, Snowflake, Ali Ghodsi, Headcount Organizations: Nvidia Locations: San Francisco, Databricks

☆ Opinion | Mitt Romney Has Given Us a Gift
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( David Brooks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was the first day of the Republican convention in 2012 and I had nothing to write about, so I wrote a humor column mocking the Romney family for being perfect in every way. A few years later, before he was a senator, Romney asked me to come out to Utah to give a talk to a group he was convening. It’s a pain to write a speech and get on a plane, but I did it in penance for my sins. We all struggle to be the best version of ourselves we can be, and Romney’s struggle is now taking him into retirement and out of the Senate. On the way he gave us a gift, in the form of a series of conversations with The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins, who has written a book on him, excerpted in the magazine.

Persons: Romney, Mitt Romney’s, I’d, Atlantic’s McKay Coppins, Donald Trump contemptuously Organizations: Republican, Republican Party Locations: Utah

☆ Customer data, transactions, financials: Still reeling from the market implosion, VCs are demanding to see numbers to back up founder pitches
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Founders say VCs are increasingly demanding detailed data and visibility into their startups before considering a deal. But some in the industry say that for early stage startups, a reliance on data can create an illusion of certainty. Half a dozen early stage startup founders tell Insider that gone are the days when a good idea and flashy pitch deck were enough to close a deal. He described it as looking for "the golden playbook for investing in early stage startups." For his part Hasan says that when speaking to potential investors, he views an obsession with financials and data as a red flag.

Persons: Miguel Guerrero, Guerrero, He's, Fahad Hassan, Hasan, Keyvan Firouzi, Firouzi, Jason Calacanis, it's, Dorothee Grant, Avante Price, James Cham, Cham, Hassan Organizations: IRL, Activant, Stanford, Carta, Investors, Bloomberg Beta Locations: New York

☆ Long-lost 'Star Wars' X-wing model up for auction with $400,000 starting price
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A long-lost model of an X-wing fighter used in the original 1977 “Star Wars” movie is up for auction, with a starting price of $400,000. Used in the filming of the final battle in “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” as the Rebel Alliance fight the Empire above the Death Star, the model “represents the pinnacle of Star Wars artifacts to ever reach the market,” Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions said. Long known as “the missing X-wing,” it was discovered by a team of visual effects experts, including Gene Kozicki (“Face/Off” and “Flight of the Phoenix”), as they helped Jein’s family sift through his collection, Kozicki told the Hollywood Reporter. “This model has not been displayed or modified since it left ILM (visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic),” Kozicki said. “(Steven Spielberg’s) ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Star Wars’ were being made at roughly the same time, and with an overlapping group of people,” Kozicki said.

Persons: ”, Greg Jein, Long, Gene Kozicki, Kozicki, ” Kozicki, Oscar, George Lucas, Jein, “, Steven Spielberg’s, Steven Spielberg Organizations: CNN, “ Star, Rebel Alliance, Heritage, “, Hollywood, ILM, Maltese Falcon, Industrial, Hollywood Reporter, ‘ Locations: ” Dallas

☆ Long-lost ‘Star Wars’ X-wing model fetches over $3.1 million at auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Editor’s Note: This article was updated with the final sale price and other details following the auction’s conclusion. CNN —A long-lost model of an X-wing fighter used in the original 1977 “Star Wars” movie sold at auction for over $3.13 million on Sunday. Used in the filming of the final battle in “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” as the Rebel Alliance fight the Empire above the Death Star, the model represented “the pinnacle of Star Wars artifacts to ever reach the market,” Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions said ahead of the sale. “This model has not been displayed or modified since it left ILM (visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic),” Kozicki said. “(Steven Spielberg’s) ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Star Wars’ were being made at roughly the same time, and with an overlapping group of people,” Kozicki said.

Persons: ”, Greg Jein, ” Long, Gene Kozicki, Kozicki, ” Kozicki, Oscar, George Lucas, Jein, “, Steven Spielberg’s, Steven Spielberg Organizations: CNN, “ Star, Rebel Alliance, Heritage, “, Hollywood, ILM, Maltese Falcon, Industrial, Hollywood Reporter, ‘ Locations: ” Dallas

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