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☆ 'Insanity upside potential': A hedge fund manager up 734% since the start of 2019 highlights the best investing opportunity he's ever seen — and explains why the remarkable oil rally will gain steam
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Renewed optimism about the economy calmed demand concerns while expectations of the largest oil production cuts since 2007 started to sap supply. Saudi Arabia and its OPEC allies refuse to boost oil production, much to the chagrin of the US. And so that's why I think it's just really, really interesting. Boosting uranium production takes years, he added, so it may take years to fix the shortage. Oil-adjacent stocks are the second-largest part of the Praetorian Capital Fund, Kupperman said.

Persons: Harris Kupperman, Kupperman, it's, I've Organizations: Energy, OPEC, Praetorian Capital Management, Capital Fund, Uranium Trust Fund, Praetorian Capital Fund, drillers, Offshore Locations: Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine

☆ 'No one can blame you for backing Sequoia': It's a rough time to be raising as a solo venture capitalist in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Europe, often a few years behind when it comes to startup trends, is also starting to produce its own solo GPs. After a record-breaking 2021, bigger VC funds in Europe have generally found it more challenging to raise their next funds. Lots of fund managers speak to everyone and waste lots of time going over unqualified leads," she said. In short, knowing who to pitch for investment is crucial when looking to raise funds. One advantage for solo funds in Europe is that smaller funds — often $15 million to $20 million — are easier to return than larger funds, said David Cruz e Silva, an angel investor and LP in smaller VC funds through EU.VC.

Persons: Gloria Baeuerlein's, Robin, Robin Capital, Sarah Drinkwater's, Harry Stebbings, Annelie Ajami, there's, VCs, Ramzi Rafih, Rafih, Carolina Huaranca, Joe Schorge, Masha Butler, Sam Altman's, Butler, David Cruz e Silva, Ajami Organizations: Ventures, London, KKR, Silver, Close, Sequoia, Day One Ventures Locations: America, Sand, Europe, profligacy, Dubai, Carolina, San Francisco, Swiss, London, EU.VC

☆ 'The scholar, the pragmatist, and the rainmaker:' How three Bloomberg Beta VCs bet on AI before it became a buzzword
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Bahat brings this same radical directness to Bloomberg Beta, the early-stage venture capital fund housed within the larger Bloomberg empire that he's run for the past decade. And Bloomberg Beta was making investments in generative AI as far back as 2015, before the term "generative AI" even existed. "It felt like we were just waiting for the right moment," said Cham, Bloomberg Beta partner and de-facto chief technologist, "where the rest of the world would see it." Bloomberg Beta made the decision early on to publish its entire operating manual on GitHub, including sensitive information about average check size and investment criteria. Kieran Snyder, the founder of generative AI startup Textio which Bloomberg Beta invested in in 2015, has a shorthand for describing the role of Beta's three partners.

Persons: Roy Bahat's, Bahat, James Cham, Karin Klein, Shivon Zillis, Elon Musk's, Cham, ChatGPT, VCs, Bloomberg Beta, Dan Doctoroff, Mike Bloomberg, Doctoroff, Bahat's chutzpah, Bloomberg —, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Tade Oyerinde, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel's Founder's, Roy didn't, Oyerinde, Kieran Snyder, who's, Apple Lisa, Klein, Karen, Snyder, Roy, Zilis Organizations: Port Authority, World Trade Center, IGN, Bloomberg Beta, Bloomberg, LinkedIn, Elon, Beta, Apple, New Locations: New York, Silicon Valley, East, California

☆ Glossier founder Emily Weiss loved asking job candidates, 'Why do you work?' new book says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The beauty brand's founder, Emily Weiss , started the company as an offshoot of her successful beauty blog, Into the Gloss. In " Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier ," author Marisa Meltzer interviewed Weiss as well as Glossier employees and former job candidates who described Weiss's hiring tactics. She told Meltzer that there wasn't a right answer but that this question helped her understand what motivated people. AdvertisementAdvertisement"There has to be more to it than just, 'Oh, I need to support my family,'" Weiss told Meltzer. When she replied with a popular company, Weiss told her she hated it.

Persons: Emily Weiss, Marisa Meltzer, Glossier, Weiss, Emily Weiss's Glossier, Meltzer, Weiss, Taco, I'm Organizations: Service, Taco Bell Locations: Wall, Silicon, Glossier

Arm executives and CEO Rene Haas gather outside Nasdaq Market site, as Softbank's Arm, chip design firm, holds an initial public offering (IPO), in New York, U.S., September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 15 (Reuters) - Shares of SoftBank's Arm Holdings closed a volatile session lower on Friday, a day after a stellar Nasdaq debut that valued the British chip designer at $65 billion. The stock fell 4.5% to end at $60.75, after trading as high as $69 earlier in the session. The Nasdaq (.IXIC) was down 1.6% and the S&P 500 (.SPX) fell 1.2%, while an index of semiconductors (.SOX) sank 3%. Analysts said further trading volatility in Arm may be seen if the company draws more interest from AI-focused retail investors.

Persons: Rene Haas, Brendan McDermid, chipmakers, Arm's, Randy Frederick, Charles Schwab, Rick Meckler, Sophie Lund, Yates, Hargreaves Lansdown, Financials, Michael Ashley Schulman, Needham, Manya Saini, Caroline Valetkevitch, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Niket Nishant, Arun Koyyur, Grant McCool Organizations: Nasdaq, REUTERS, Arm Holdings, Major U.S, Cherry Lane Investments, Analysts, Graphics Arm, Running, Capital Advisors, Nvidia, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, British, Austin , Texas, New Vernon , New Jersey, Bengaluru

☆ Treasury management startup Fipto just raised $16 million in a round led by Serena Williams-backed Serena Ventures with this 13-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

French treasury management startup Fipto has raised $16 million in a seed round led by Serena Williams' venture capital fund. Paris-based Fipto uses blockchain technology to help speed up payments in both fiat and digital currencies for businesses. Treasury management is about managing and planning for an organization's financial needs, often by putting available cash to work elsewhere but international payments can often take time to settle - adding complexity to the role. Founded in 2022, Fipto's seed funding round was led by Serena Ventures and Motier Ventures. The company started raising funding late year and closed the round in April with Fipto benefitting from increased investor interest in the treasury management sector, Mollard added.

Persons: Serena Williams, Patrick Mollard, Mollard, Fipto Organizations: Treasury, Serena Ventures, Motier Ventures Locations: Paris, Europe

The new round, led by T. Rowe Price, could mark the last round of private funding as the data company gears up for the public market. Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O), another beneficiary of the AI boom, and credit card firm Capital One Financial (COF.N), also participated in the latest funding round. AI, the latest buzzword in the technology space, has captivated the interest of investors from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. Its latest valuation is over 13% more than the $38 billion the San Francisco-based company was worth after its last fundraise in 2021. The company has raised $4 billion since inception.

Persons: Rowe Price, Ali Ghodsi, Ghodsi, Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Morgan, Weeks, Databricks, Niket, Krystal Hu, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Nvidia, Reuters, Fidelity Management & Research, Tiger Global, Thomson Locations: Silicon Valley, Wall, Francisco, Bengaluru, Hong Kong

☆ Curipod helps teachers make interactive lessons using generative AI. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise $4.6 million in seed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"Instead, I wanted this interactive lesson tool where students can express themselves and have agency — the opposite of this lecture model." With Curipod, teachers can create lessons on any school subject using generative AI, first by inputting the subject of the lesson, the grade level, and any additional learning objectives. Curipod is free for teachers and students to use at the moment, with paid tiers for school districts, said Seip. The team only launched its AI product at the beginning of this year, and had not previously sought venture capital funding. Check out the nine-slide pitch deck that Curipod used to raise $4.6 million in seed funding.

Persons: Jens Aarre Seip, Seip, Eirik Hernes Berre, Frikk Fossan, Curipod, GPT3 Organizations: Norwegian School of Economics, Reach, aha, Emerson, Sondo, Edovate Locations: Norway

☆ Salesforce launches AI assistant across its apps including Slack and Tableau
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, U.S., March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 12 (Reuters) - Enterprise software maker Salesforce (CRM.N) on Tuesday launched a generative AI tool that would be available across its suite of apps from instant messaging service Slack to data visualization tool Tableau and can be tailored by its clients to meet their needs. Salesforce says its Einstein Copilot can tap customer and enterprise data available on its Data Cloud to generate appropriate responses. Users will be able to embed the assistant into their websites or integrate them with messaging platforms such as Slack and Meta Platform's (META.O) WhatsApp. The company also doubled its venture capital fund for generative AI startups to $500 million in June.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Slack, Einstein, Salesforce, Marc Benioff, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Zaheer Kachwala, Tasim Zahid Organizations: REUTERS, Enterprise, Tuesday, Meta, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, San Francisco, Bengaluru

Shivon Zilis was pictured alongside Elon Musk and their twins for the first time on Wednesday. Insider first reported that Musk quietly fathered twins with Zilis, a director at Neuralink, in 2021. AdvertisementAdvertisementGrimes, whose legal name is Claire Boucher, said on X that communication about Zilis' twins "wasn't handled super well." Last week, in a since-deleted post on X Grimes accused Zilis of blocking her on social media. The Neuralink director has also taken to posting about her children in recent months.

Persons: Shivon Zilis, Elon Musk, Musk, Zilis, Elon Musk's, Walter Isaacson, —, Isaacson, Musk wasn't, Justine, Grimes, He's, he's, Tesla, Justin Sullivan, Ray Kurzweil, I've, Sam Altman, OpenAI's, Jonathan Raa, Neuralink, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, ck Elon Musk, Gonzalez, Austin Zilis, Claire Boucher, wasn't, Musk's, X Grimes, Tau, ftw Organizations: Service, Yale University, Yale, IBM, Bloomberg Beta, Forbes, Canadian, Conference, Neuralink, Getty, Food and Drug Administration, California, Twitter, SpaceX Locations: Zilis, Wall, Silicon, Austin, Ontario, Canada, Markham , Ontario, California, Texas, Boca Chica, South Texas

Sept 11 (Reuters) - Klaviyo is seeking a fully-diluted valuation of up to $8.4 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, the marketing firm said on Monday, as it becomes the latest company to tap a growing wave of stock market listings. However, the company's proposed valuation is a climb-down from the $9.15 billion pre-money valuation at which Klaviyo last raised capital in 2021, reflecting a broader gloom in the technology startup ecosystem. Founded in 2012, Klaviyo helps store and analyze data for e-commerce brands that enables them to send out personalized marketing emails and messages to potential customers. Klaviyo posted 51% growth in revenue to $164.6 million for the three months ended June 30. The company is expected to debut in September, a busy month for stock market listings that could serve as a litmus test for other companies looking to go public.

Persons: Andrew Bialecki, Klaviyo, AllianceBernstein, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Sri Hari, Manya, Niket Nishant, Shweta Agarwal, Maju Samuel Organizations: Arm Holdings, Neumora Therapeutics, Summit Partners, BlackRock, New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup, underwriters, Sri, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: United States, Boston, United Kingdom, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ China's Gotion to set up a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Illinois
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Gotion High tech Co Ltd FollowSept 8 (Reuters) - China's Gotion High-tech Co Ltd (002074.SZ) will set up a $2 billion electric vehicle (EV) lithium battery manufacturing plant in Manteno, Illinois that would create about 2,600 new jobs, the state governor's office said on Friday. "Gotion's battery technology will help to boost e-mobility in North America and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the United States," said Gotion chairman Li Zhen. Gotion will be eligible to receive tax benefits totaling $213 million over 30 years and also get $125 million in capital funding from the U.S. state's Reimagining Energy and Vehicles incentive package. Once completed, the facility in Manteno is expected to produce 10 GWh of lithium-ion battery packs and 40 GWh of lithium-ion battery cells, according to the statement. Reporting by Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Li Zhen, Pratyush Thakur, Shailesh Organizations: Gotion, Co, Global EV, state's Reimagining Energy, Thomson Locations: Manteno , Illinois, North America, China, United States, Manteno, Bengaluru

Flexport CEO Dave Clark is resigning from the supply chain software startup and handing the reins over to founder and executive chair Ryan Petersen after one year in the role — and after just six months of helming the company solo. As such, I will be resigning from my position at Flexport." Clark and Petersen had been co-CEOs of Flexport beginning last September, and Clark took over as the company's sole CEO in March. Flexport announced last June that Petersen would step down in March 2023 as CEO and turn the position over to Clark, while transitioning into the role of executive chair. In July, Flexport said Petersen would join Founders Fund, the venture capital fund founded by billionaire Peter Thiel.

Persons: Dave Clark, Ryan Petersen, Ryan, Clark, Petersen, Flexport, Peter Thiel ., — CNBC's Riley de León Organizations: CNBC, Wall Street, Amazon, Founders Fund, Peter Thiel . Representatives, Fund Locations: Flexport, Texas, Clark

☆ The cofounder of Fanhouse explains why she resigned from the startup and what she would have done differently if she started it today — including not raising VC funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Creator Rosie Nguyen started Fanhouse in 2020 with two other cofounders. Nguyen explains what she would do differently as a founder if she were building the startup today. Nguyen launched Fanhouse in 2020 as a subscription platform for creators to monetize, share exclusive behind-the-scenes content, and connect with top fans. The added investments helped Fanhouse in many ways, like hiring more staff and paying creators more money through the platform. She'd also tap into equity crowdfunding like creator startup Gumroad did.

Persons: Rosie Nguyen, Fanhouse, Nguyen, Lucy Guo, @jasminericegirl, Khoi Le, Jerry Meng, VCs, Jeff Morris Jr, Andreessen Horowitz, She'd, she'd, Le, Meng, shouldn't Organizations: Twitter, Investors, didn't Locations: American, Los Angeles, Fanhouse, VCs

Arm kicked off its roadshow in Baltimore, where influential asset manager T Rowe Price is headquartered, underscoring the fund manager's significance in big IPOs. Arm disclosed the proposed range would value it at between $48 billion and $52 billion. The valuation that Arm is chasing represents a climb-down from the $64 billion valuation at which SoftBank last month acquired the 25% stake it did not already own in the company from its $100 billion Vision Fund. Jamie Mills O’Brien, portfolio manager at British fund manager Abrdn, said he found SoftBank's valuation ask in the IPO "more palatable than initially discussed." Unlike most loss-making but high-growth tech companies that debut with lofty valuations but later plummet below list price, Arm is profitable.

Persons: Group's, T Rowe Price, SoftBank, Jamie Mills O’Brien, Abrdn, Arm, Dado Ruvic, Sara Russo, Bernstein, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Manya Saini, Pablo Mayo, Arun Koyyur, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Arm Holdings, Rivian Automotive Inc, Sands, Cambridge, Vision, Nvidia Corp, Apple, Nvidia, Devices, Intel, Samsung Electronics, REUTERS, Acorn Computers, Apple Computer, VLSI Technology, London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, SoftBank, Inc, Reuters, Barclays, JPMorgan, Mizuho Financial Group, underwriters, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Thomson Locations: Baltimore, Arlington , Virginia, England, China, United States, Bengaluru, London, Lincoln

☆ SoftBank's Arm aims for over $52 bln valuation in biggest US IPO of the year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Manya Saini | Thomson Reuters | Manya Saini Reports On Prominent Publicly Listed U.S. Financial Firms Including Wall Street S Biggest Banks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The valuation that Arm is chasing now represents a climb-down from the $64 billion valuation at which SoftBank last month acquired the 25% stake it did not already own in the company from its $100 billion Vision Fund. Jamie Mills O’Brien, portfolio manager at British fund manager Abrdn, said he found SoftBank's valuation ask in the IPO "more palatable than initially discussed." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsReuters first reported on SoftBank's proposed price range for the IPO on Saturday. If the underwriters exercise their right to buy shares in Arm in full as part of 'greenshoe option', it would take the IPO amount to be raised to $5.2 billion. Arm expects to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "ARM".

Persons: Group's, SoftBank, Jamie Mills O’Brien, Abrdn, Kim Kyung, Sara Russo, Bernstein, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Manya Saini, Pablo Mayo, Arun Koyyur, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Vision, Nvidia Corp, Apple, Nvidia, Devices, Intel, Samsung Electronics, REUTERS, Rights Reuters, Acorn Computers, Apple Computer, VLSI Technology, London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, SoftBank, Barclays, JPMorgan, Mizuho Financial Group, underwriters, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Thomson Locations: United Kingdom, China, United States, New York, Tokyo, Japan, Bengaluru, London

☆ Gen Z is giving up on college
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Charlotte Lytton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"The world is rapidly evolving — and so is the college experience." Srivastava is one of a soaring number of Gen Zers who has decided to skip college altogether. The widening gap between the value and the cost of college has started to shift Gen Z's attitude toward higher education. They're not as interested in the typical "college experience" — whiling away four years rooming with friends and drinking at frat parties. But other members of Gen Z are taking a hard look at the "essence" of college.

Persons: Rushil Srivastava, you'll, Srivastava, he's, Gen Zers, haven't, millennials, Gen Xers, Nora Taets, James Connor, Connor, they're, —, Richard Saller, Saller, COVID, Meghan Reinhold, Reinhold, hasn't, María Gorgojo, Gen Z, Gen, Charlotte Lytton Organizations: UC Berkeley, Pew Research Center, Higher Education Authority, Pew, Iowa State University, of Computing, Data Science, Society ., School of Business, Information Technology, San Francisco Bay University, Harvard, Marymount University, Stanford University, Miami University of Ohio, Arizona State Locations: San, San Francisco, Silicon, COVID, Berkeley, Arizona, London

☆ Chinese electric carmakers ramp up push overseas, setting up clash with U.S., European auto giants
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Arjun Kharpal | CNBCMunich, GERMANY — The IAA in Munich, Germany is one of Europe's most high-profile auto shows. And it was dominated by Chinese electric car firms looking to expand their presence on the continent and challenge incumbents from BMW to Ford in the new era of battery-powered vehicles. But a slowing market at home, due to tepid consumer spending after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, coupled with an attractive market in Europe, has seen Chinese firms launch cars abroad and expand their footprint. Many of the European carmakers have been seen lagging in their push into EVs at a time when Chinese players have launched dozens of new vehicles. watch nowThe entrance of Chinese firms into Europe is seen as a threat to big automakers who have been perceived to be moving too slow on EVs.

Persons: BYD, Arjun Kharpal, Daniel Roeska, Roeska, Zhu Jiangming, Warren Buffett, Xpeng, Brian Gu, Gu, Bernstein, Tesla, Mercedes, Xpeng's Gu Organizations: CNBC, BMW, Ford, EV, Bernstein Research, Leapmotor, Tesla, IAA Locations: Europe, Munich, Germany, CNBC Munich, GERMANY, China, Hangzhou, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Guangzhou, EVs

☆ Israel's ThetaRay raises $57 mln in private round
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Israel's ThetaRay said on Tuesday it raised $57 million in a private funding round led by global fintech platform Portage. ThetaRay's technology uses artificial intelligence to identify financial cyber threats like money laundering so users can take action against suspicious transactions. "Global payment infrastructure too often fails to accurately differentiate between perfectly legitimate transactions and ones from bad actors dealing with illicit funds," said Peter Reynolds, CEO of ThetaRay. Venture capital funds JVP, the largest investor in ThetaRay, OurCrowd and others also participated in the funding round. (This story has been corrected to remove reference to ThetaRay being a cyber security firm in paragraph 1)Reporting by Steven ScheerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Israel's ThetaRay, Peter Reynolds, Steven Scheer Organizations: Venture, JVP, Thomson Locations: Portage, ThetaRay, OurCrowd

☆ Big startups are a bust so prestige investors are fighting for deals into tiny European companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Funding to European startups across the board dropped by almost 60% to $23 billion in the first six months of 2023, according to Crunchbase data. ElevenLabs, a London-based artificial intelligence startup founded by Google and Palantir alumni, pulled in $18 million at a $100 million valuation a year after it was founded. Mistral, another European startup set up by ex-Facebook and DeepMind staffers, raised $113 million a month after it was founded. AI has been of particular interest to investors with similar hype surrounding a deal for London-based text-to-voice startup ElevenLabs. Industry stakeholders believe that teams springing from already successful companies to set up their own startups will be very attractive with some predicting startups founded between 2022 and 2024 primed to be very in demand in the future.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, David Schreiber, Duco van, Pivot, Marc, Antoine Lacroix, Romain Libeau, Sifted, Filip Dames, Dames Organizations: Google, Mistral, Facebook, Ventures, Cocoa, Club, Cherry Ventures, Sequoia, Industry Locations: Europe, London, Paris, Berlin

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 1 (Reuters) - Robinhood (HOOD.O) said on Friday it had entered into a share repurchase agreement with the United States Marshal Service (USMS) for $605.7 million to buy back stock from Sam Bankman-Fried's Emergent Fidelity Technologies. The shares of Robinhood were seized and subsequently transferred to the custody of the U.S. government after Bankman-Fried's FTX and Emergent filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Robinhood shares climbed more than 3% in premarket trading on the news. The online brokerage said the sale of the 55.3 million shares at $10.96 apiece had been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Robinhood first disclosed its intention to buy back the stake in February and said the company's board had authorized it to pursue purchasing most or all of the stock.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Sam Bankman, Robinhood, Fried, FTX, Palo, Manya Saini, Hannah Lang, Devika Syamnath, Mark Potter Organizations: Inc, REUTERS, United States Marshal Service, Emergent Fidelity Technologies, U.S, Southern, of, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Robinhood, of New York, United States, Manhattan, Palo Alto , California, Bengaluru, Washington

☆ I earned up to $130K in tech roles, but the jobs felt fake. Here's why I think startups hire people to build a brand only to fire them later on.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Ananya Vahal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Arias was earning $130,000 at her second "fake" tech job. During that time, I had two tech jobs that felt like fake jobs. I believed so much in their product that I decided to apply for a business development role at the company. Some venture-capital tech startups build a company with the sole purpose of creating a brand good enough to sell to a buyer. AdvertisementAdvertisementAlthough I had tech jobs that felt fake, I did walk away with new skills that I can now use to help other businesses.

Persons: Celia Arias, Arias, I'd, haven't Organizations: Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York City

A view of a damaged house after the arrival of Hurricane Idalia, in Cedar Key, Florida, U.S., August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Marco Bello Acquire Licensing RightsAug 31 (Reuters) - Florida-only insurers such as Citizens Property Insurance anticipate fewer losses from Hurricane Idalia than from previous storms in the state, even as industry experts expect further insurer pullback from the market. "This certainly will not help with ongoing challenges to Florida's insurance market, but it could have been a lot worse," said Steve Bowen, chief science officer at reinsurer broker Gallagher Re. The top 10 U.S. homeowners insurers such as State Farm and Allstate Corp (ALL.N) average only about 4.1% of their premiums in Florida, Moody's said. Reuters GraphicsThe exit of insurers from Florida comes amid a broader pullback from the market, including from reinsurers, according to an Aug. 24 Fitch report.

Persons: Hurricane Idalia, Marco Bello, Ian, Idalia, Moody's, Steve Bowen, Gallagher, Fitch, Noor Zainab Hussain, Manya, Matt Tracy, Shinjini Ganguli, Megan Davies, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Property Insurance, Hurricane, Reuters, Citizens, UBS, Insurance Information Institute, Gallagher Re, Farmers Insurance, Bankers Insurance, Lexington Insurance, AIG, Farmers, Bankers, Farm, Allstate Corp, Insurance, Institute, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: Cedar Key , Florida, U.S, Florida, Florida's, Coast, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Idalia, USA, Lexington, reinsurers, South Carolina, Bengaluru, Washington

☆ McLaren Applied's Lavoie buys bankrupt Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Nick Carey Tosterling | Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The logo of e-bike maker VanMoof is seen on a bicycle in Amsterdam, Netherlands August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/AMSTERDAM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Lavoie, the electric scooter unit of Formula One engineering and technology firm McLaren Applied, said on Thursday it has agreed to buy bankrupt premium Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof and will invest to stabilize and expand its business. Fry said McLaren Applied - bought from McLaren Group by private equity firm Greybull Capital in 2021 - would retain VanMoof's departmental managers and would "engage and retain or rehire some of the great people" the Dutch e-bike maker employed. VanMoof had also struggled with quality problems, which McLaren Applied's Fry said had hurt sales. McLaren Applied recently launched the premium Lavoie e-scooter brand.

Persons: de Wouw, Lavoie, Nick Fry, Fry, Jan Padberg, Robin de Wit, McLaren, VanMoof, McLaren Applied's Fry, Nick Carey, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Formula, McLaren, Reuters, VanMoof, McLaren Group, Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Nasdaq, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam, Netherlands, AMSTERDAM, Silicon

Major League Baseball was the first to open its coffers to private-investment funds in 2019; a slew of other leagues followed, including the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League. A big participant in that is Sixth Street Partners, a $74 billion behemoth, known historically for its direct lending and growth prowess, and has been making big inroads in the sports world in recent years, with several billion dollars' worth of investments. The firm recently co-founded Bay FC, part of the National Women's Soccer League, alongside several retired players, as well as Sheryl Sandberg. Sixth Street also made investments in FC Barcelona's LaLiga TV broadcasting rights and a majority investment in Legends, a sports and entertainment experiences company. In June 2021, Sixth Street led a strategic investment with Michael Dell in the San Antonio Spurs basketball team.

Persons: Carlyle, David Rubenstein, Sheryl Sandberg, Michael Dell, Alan Waxman, what's, it's, Waxman Organizations: Alpha, CNBC, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, National Hockey League, Sixth Street Partners, Bay FC, National Women's Soccer League, Sixth, FC Barcelona's LaLiga, San Antonio Spurs basketball, Spanish soccer, Real Madrid Locations: U.S, Spanish

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