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☆ Venture capitalists’ pain could be humanity’s gain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A record $630 billion poured into venture capital investments that year. Now, as interest rate hikes tear into alternative assets, money going into innovation is being reallocated. Global VC funding fell to $329 billion in the nine months to September 2022, per a report from CBInsights, down 27% year-on-year. The liquidity crunch exposed governance flaws, dumb ideas and solutions looking for problems: metaverses, non-fungible images of bored apes, flying cars. Designing microscopic robots to fight disease and biochemical computers to outperform silicon chips entails higher upfront costs and longer commercialisation cycles than the consumer app plays many Silicon Valley backers are accustomed to.

☆ VCs say hybrid work, generative AI, and niche collaboration tools will be some of the top future-of-work trends that dominate 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider talked to VCs about the rising trends they say will revolutionize the way we work and live. Insider spoke with 15 venture capitalists about the trends and verticals they think are most likely to revolutionize the way we work and live today. Therefore, startups that will thrive going forward are those that embrace a mix of in-person and remote work, known as hybrid work, Thacker and other VCs said. An increase in workers caregiving for aging or sick family members is also supported by flexible work, the CRV general partner Kristin Baker Spohn said. "A lot of employees, whether it's the Great Resignation or the pandemic, found themselves changing the way that they work."

☆ TikTok might be too big to ban, no matter what lawmakers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“I would lose most of my sales.”For much of the past two years, talk of an outright TikTok ban seemed to recede. But suddenly, the future of TikTok in the United States appears more uncertain than at any point since July 2020. Two years later, she said a TikTok ban would cause her to "lose most of my sales." The tremendous reach of TikTok may only make it harder to ban the service outright, some national security experts say. Hootie Hurley, 23, a Los Angeles-based full-time creator with more than 1.3 million followers on TikTok, told CNN that he now makes most of his income through his TikTok following.

TOKYO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Group Corp (6758.T) said on Tuesday it has the technology to make humanoid robots quickly once it has identified how they could be effectively used. "In terms of technology, several companies in the world including this one have enough technology accumulated to make them swiftly once it becomes clear which usage is promising," Sony Chief Technology Officer Hiroaki Kitano told Reuters in an interview. Sony launched a robot dog called Aibo more than two decades ago. Humanoid robots have been in development for decades by Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and in September, Tesla (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk showed off a prototype of its humanoid robot Optimus. Musk's company is floating plans to deploy thousands of the robots in its factories, expanding eventually to millions around the world.

☆ China decoupling takes one step forward, one back
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It has pushed for reshoring production of electric vehicles and silicon chips, and legislated to delist Chinese companies from New York. Europe, Japan, Australia and India have implemented their own measures ranging from restrictions on Chinese investment, excluding equipment from telecoms networks, and banning consumer apps. The impact the pandemic has had on Chinese supply chains has retroactively validated the push to separate. For politicians who hope to replicate the Chinese supply chain via tax tweaks, subsidies and sanctions, it’s worth remembering China started building out the requisite logistical infrastructure in the 1980s. Non-financial outbound direct investment in the same 10-month period rose 10.3% year-on-year to 627.4 billion yuan, Shu said.

SummarySummary Companies Coal miners struggling to fund expansion plansThermal coal costs more than coking coal after price surgeMost Western bankers pulling back from coal industryLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - It's the best of times, it's the worst of times. At least when it comes to mining coal. With funding hard to come by from Western banks, coal miners outside China have turned more to equity markets this year. "With regard to thermal coal mining, any transaction in coal mining requires an enhanced environmental risk review," a Deutsche spokesperson said, adding that the bank was updating its coal policy. Bens Creek listed shares partly because of the lack of appetite from banks to support any expansion of coal mining, chief executive Wilson said.

☆ Musk tweeted a photo of Twitter merch seemingly mocking 'Stay Woke' apparel supporting Ferguson protests and BLM
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk mocked a t-shirt with the hashtag #StayWoke, meant to support the BLM movement. The phrase "#Stay@Work" phrase likely points to reports of brutally long work weeks, mass layoffs, and mass resignations under Musk's new leadership. The original "Stay Woke" shirts were made in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement, which took off in 2016. "Here we are at the merch … and there's an entire closet full of hashtag woke t-shirts," Musk said in the video showing off the old shirts in a tweet on Tuesday. Musk and Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Paying workers unfairly will backfire. Pull back the curtain on compensation decisions instead.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But for many people, salary negotiations are hard to navigate. Brian Armstrong is the CEO of Coinbase, which recently announced that it was banning salary negotiations. If salary negotiations are prohibited, they said, there have to be other measures in place to ensure that every worker is paid fairly. Salary negotiations will always be challenging for some — if not most — of usRestructuring salary negotiations won't necessarily make the act of asking for more money easier right away. Still, she understands that salary negotiations can get contentious, and she emphasized that the positive dynamic between employer and employee is important to preserve.

☆ Read the pitch decks that helped 16 creator economy startups raise millions of dollars
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Here are the pitch decks that 16 startups used in Series A, Seed, and pre-Seed rounds. So, how do creator economy startups land those investments? Skye, a career-coaching startup, had different decks depending on the type of investor or fund they were pitching to. They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding. Read the pitch decks that helped 16 creator-focused startups to fundraise millions of dollars:

☆ Cramer: Why tech can't find a bottom as other parts of the market show signs of life
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The Carvana and Zillow calls aren't resonating because the autos and housing companies have already seen their stocks crushed. At the same time, these once-thriving tech companies that saw an ever-expanding funnel somehow didn't seem to see any of this coming. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

Interpol's member countries have raised concerns about how to prepare for possible metaverse crime, Madan Oberoi, Interpol's executive director for technology and innovation, told Reuters. "Some of the crimes may be new to this medium, some of the existing crimes will be enabled by the medium and taken to a new level," he said. Phishing and scams could operate differently when augmented reality and virtual reality are involved, Oberoi said. Virtual reality could also facilitate crime in the physical world, Oberoi said. Users may also create virtual worlds with "extremist rules," the report said.

☆ Read the pitch decks that helped 14 creator economy startups raise millions of dollars
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The "creator economy" is catching the attention – and wallets — of notable VCs. Here are the pitch decks that 14 startups used in Series A, Seed, and pre-Seed rounds. So, how do creator economy startups land those investments? They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding. Read the pitch decks that helped 14 creator-focused startups to fundraise millions of dollars:

☆ 3 things not to do when pitching your startup to a VC, according to a partner at a $750 million crypto venture firm
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Marc Weinstein, a partner at VC firm Mechanism Capital, has cut 100 checks as an angel investor. The crypto venture firm grew from $500,000 to a peak AUM of $750 million in two years. But venture firms like Mechanism Capital say there are still tons of deals to be made. Founders who are 'catching the latest fad'The Mechanism Capital partner is focused on the team's backgrounds and what they've accomplished in the past. The firm, Weinstein included, looks for a certain level of consistency in their potential portfolio companies.

☆ ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ author Jeff Kinney shares his book picks for middle readers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Megan Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —When author Jeff Kinney started writing the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series more than 15 years ago, he set out to create a comic that would resonate with adults and live in the humor section of book stores. “I’m really glad that I didn’t know that I was writing for kids because I think that oftentimes when an adult writes a kid’s book, they start with the lesson in mind. And so the priority of the book becomes the lesson,” Kinney recalled in a recent interview with CNN. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” has sold more than 275 million copies, according to its publisher, with book number 17 in the series, “Diper Överlöde,” releasing Oct. 25. Kinney's next "Wimpy Kid" book, "Diper Överlöde," releases on Oct. 25.

☆ How many more warning signs does Mark Zuckerberg need to see before he pulls the plug on his metaverse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Meta's metaverse experiment isn't off to a promising start, with plenty of recent warning signs. But so far, the overall experience of being in Meta's metaverse is lacking — for both the public and even those within the company. So, Meta's metaverse experiment is not exactly off to a promising start. "Why don't we love the product we've built so much that we use it all the time," the company's Metaverse VP Vishal Shah wrote in the memo, according to The Verge. Some other good questions: How many more warning signs does Zuckerberg need to see?

☆ Google selects Coinbase to take cloud payments with cryptocurrencies and will use its custody tool
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google said Tuesday that it will rely on Coinbase to start letting some customers pay for cloud services with cryptocurrencies early in 2023, while Coinbase said it would draw on Google's cloud infrastructure. Over time, Google will allow many more customers to make payments with cryptocurrency, Zavery said. Google had previously indicated in May that it was exploring the possibility of adding support for payments with digital currencies. Blockchain technologies such as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, have become a bigger focus for Google's cloud division. Previously, Google's cloud chief, Thomas Kurian, has pushed for growth in major industries such as media and retail.

☆ Embattled Los Angeles Sheriff spares with his opponent over law enforcement gangs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Los Angeles Sheriff's candidates took the stage in a heated hourlong debate on Wednesday night. Sheriff Alex Villanueva and his opponent, former police chief Robert Luna discussed law enforcement gangs. The debate was between the two candidates for Sheriff, the incumbent Villanueva, and challenger former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. The two emerged as the top two candidates following Los Angeles County's primary held in June. The Long Beach Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, and Sheriff Alex Villanueva's re-election campaign did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ The COO of the famed black swan fund that reportedly banked a 4,144% return during the 2020 stock market crash shares the 3 requirements that would put crypto on their radar — and why they haven't ent
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But the crypto-heavy conference meant one hedge fund wasn't in attendance. Universa Investments, a black swan fund that specializes in purchasing protection against major market crashes, skipped out this year. The Miami-based hedge fund, which has $15.5 billion in assets under management, made headlines in the past after its flagship Black Swan Protection Protocol fund reportedly returned 4,144% amid the stock market crash of 2020. Many crypto investors may perceive these digital assets, bitcoin specifically, as a hedge against the devaluation of currencies. You need to have a clear thesis for why you're picking crypto assets over a tech stock, like Microsoft for example, he said.

☆ Side hustle and 'polywork' culture is really just a desperate reflection of a low-paying job market
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-14 | by ( Stephen Moore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The pandemic has seen a rise in "polywork" — people working multiple jobs or side hustles. One aspect of this future is a rise in people holding multiple jobs. Still, the buzz around polyworking fails to consider that many are not pursuing multiple work opportunities voluntarily. For many, working multiple jobs is a necessity. We have to be aware that it's one thing to want to work multiple jobs — it's another to feel like you have to work them.

☆ Want to sound less annoying? Avoid these 15 words and phrases that are ‘embarrassingly cliched,’ say grammar experts
▼ + stars: | 2021-12-26 | by ( Kathy | Ross Petras | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That's legit, but it's being used so often now that we seem to be avoiding a simpler word: "Detailed." It seems like everyone wants to take things offline instead of talking about it later, like they used to say in the old days. 'We remain cautious'Sometimes, "we remain cautious" is used to say nothing — meaning "we're not going to say much because who knows?" Other times, it's used to say "not to worry; we're not going to do anything untoward." But now, it's overused: WFH clothes, WFH hacks (see above), WFH everything.

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