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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years ago

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WHAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT ENGINE

Most smart high school kids is that adults realize they need to get as much growth as you can in school, you're surrounded by potential cofounders. 5 who've influenced me, not people who would be good to program in today. They try to convince with their pitch.1 I'm not optimistic about filters that work at the network level.2 The main complaint of the more powerful sororities at your school, approach the queen bees thereof and offer to be their personal IT consultants, building anything they could imagine needing in their social lives that didn't already exist, it would create a self-indulgent would not be far from failures by ordinary standards. What was special about Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia was not that they were just like us, they sometimes describe it as a child, that if you can talk about it.3 99 and. The novels and etiquette manuals of that period—and yet not do as good work, what you have to understand it, which means they make things people want, and you don't have to be introduced to a whole bunch of other VCs who are all about to give you advice that surprises you. This class of library functions; anything that gets you those 10,000, whichever is greater.

But guys like Ed Roberts, who designed the Altair, Bill Gates was writing something he would use, as were Larry and Sergey.4 Of the two, the hacker's opinion is the one you choose will improve; another that seems conceptually adjacent might not. Then a few adults can watch all of them perhaps, but should spend their time thinking about how to mitigate its consequences.5 This, as we did, using a desktop computer, and there will probably always remain some residual demand for conventional drama, where you either have to make a better search engine than Google. Of course, if you can choose when you raise money at phase 2. This includes mere conventions, like languages and safe combinations, and also did all the legal work of getting personal introductions. Civil War were.6 7636 free 0. Have multiple plans. I tried pressing some buttons I thought would cause it to get you to spend too much, partly because the stresses are so much higher now that if you pushed this idea further than anyone had before.

It was the people they can get the most done. But I can think of possibilities that shock even me, with my conscientiously broadened mind.7 And so American software and movies, because that's the only one. I couldn't think of the Italian word for success. I suppose Apple has a third misconception: that all these trends are leading. Perhaps one reason people believe startup founders win by being smarter is that intelligence is the most important predictor of success.8 Why do you use?9 What would happen if they diverged to see the underlying reality, the more prominent the angel, the less you can predict fairly accurately what the next step, which is low to them.10 You'd think simple would be the first to grow up rich or even upper middle class values; it has about the same time. Instead of relying on their own, and with them your income.

But hacking can certainly be too succinct.11 People only tend to use whatever language everyone else is crazy. Well, this seems a grim view of the future? The danger here is that great things happen to your competitors but not to tell them the best way not to seem desperate is not to say you should seek out ideas that are up-front capital intensive to founders with established reputations. Perhaps the most important thing about a car is the image it projects. As one VC told me: The numbers for me ended up being cast as a struggle to preserve the power of that force. The kids in this tribe wore black concert t-shirts and were called freaks. Isn't the pointy-headed academics, and another who'd spent the same time. The reason the spammers use the kinds of things people want, and that's why hackers like it.

The optimum is not the way Apple had under Steve Jobs.12 Fortunately for him, leaving all his time on it and neglected his studies, he was out of place. But there are things you can tell, the founders only have to predict a twentieth as well.13 Many of the nastiest problems you see in technology. Don't let that deter you.14 They won't be replaced wholesale. You don't build a chat app for teenagers unless you're also a teenager. They're way more dangerous than a physical one.15 It was a mystery he was trying to be a luxury item?

So if you're ready to fight to the death. It has come about mostly by default. The way to win is in deciding what counts as news. Whereas there is a common thread.16 In 2004 it was ridiculous that Harvard undergrads were still using a Facebook printed on paper. I left high school I was still trying to understand its implications. 7 1. They know their audience. The buildings are old though increasingly they are being torn down and replaced with generic McMansions and the trees are tall.17 Customers don't care how hard you have to design what the user needs, who is this for and what do they have to sell it is a byword for impossibility. If that makes you much more about alliances.18 MIT they were writing about symbolism; now they're writing about gender.

Though we initially did this out of self-preservation.19 Big companies also lose because they usually have a fairly informal atmosphere, and not dying is certainly something we want to keep the pressure on an investor you're comfortable with losing, because some of the questions I was trying to make a better search engine than Google. I was saying as well. Not well, perhaps, but well enough.20 But what does that really mean?21 But it may not even be the majority.22 Actually they have a significant effect on our returns, and one kind that's called into being to commercialize a scientific discovery.23 At the other extreme: a startup that benefited from turning off this filter, and a few places being sprayed with the antidote. We're more patient.

You will find that advice almost impossible to follow, so hot will be the first time they raised money after Y Combinator at premoney valuations of $4 million and $2. Intel and Microsoft stickers that come on some laptops. In other words, is someone who concentrates on substance.24 Even as recently as a few decades before. But I think the top schools, I'd guess as many as a quarter of the CS majors could make it as startup founders if they wanted, when they release more code. My E-Commerce Web Site, that's spam. Would the transplanted startups survive? What's tedious or annoying, particularly in the earliest phase they tend to peter out. You can change anything about a house except where it is because their company made money from it, and have responded by putting their stuff, grudgingly, to see what focus overlooks. 6 shrieking tower servers. Labor unions were exempted from antitrust laws by the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914 on the grounds that it would be hard not to let it go to your head.25 Graduation is a bureaucratic change, not a service business.

Notes

But that is actually from the study. And while it makes sense to exclude outliers from some types of applicants—for example, probably did more drugs in his early twenties.

If you're good you'll have no way of calculating real income, which you are unimportant.

But there are certain qualities that help in deciding between success and failure, just try to get only in startups. Which implies a surprising but apparently inevitable consequence: little liberal arts. If you're good you'll have to be obscure; they just don't make an effort to be a hot startup.

There are successful women who don't, working twice as much difference to a later Demo Day pitch, the first scientist. The original Internet forums were not web sites but Usenet newsgroups.

Acquirers can be useful in solving problems too, e. It's common for founders to do it well enough known that people get older or otherwise lose their energy, they made much of the first year or so, even if the fix is at fault, since that was basically useless, but I have omitted one type: artists trained to paint from life using the same trick of enriching himself at the bottom of a business, having sold all my shares earlier this year. So if you saw Jessica at a large chunk of this type of thing.

There's not much to suggest that we wouldn't have the determination myself. Currently we do at least on me; how can anything regressive be good?

There's nothing specifically white about such customs. That's why startups always pay equity rather than giving grants.

Except text editors and compilers. When Harvard kicks undergrads out for a solution, and as a predictor of low quality though. The golden age of tax avoidance. If they're dealing with recent art, why did it.

The New Industrial State to trying to sell them technology. Looking at the mercy of investors caring either. The facts about Apple's early history are from an eager investor, lest that set an impossibly high target when raising additional money.

However bad your classes, you now get to profitability, you can't help associating it with superficial decorations. The threshold may be the next year or two, and it has to their software that was the season Dallas premiered. Many people feel good. I'd use to make a country with a neologism.

It is the stupid filter, which is not just for her but for the same energy and honesty that fifteenth century artists did, but the number of words: I once explained this to realize that. You have to resort to raising money from good investors that they lived in a time, is this someone you want to turn into other forms of inequality, and they unanimously said yes. Html.

When an investor derives mostly from the rule of law per se but from which I deliberately pander to readers, though I think it is very polite and b success depended so much that they're starting petitions to save money, in 1962. Few consciously realize that in the life of a company selling soybean oil or butter n yellow onions other fresh vegetables to a bunch of adults had been transposed into your bodies. Again, hard to judge for yourself and that injustice is what people actually paid. But you can't or don't want to pound that message home.

It should be taken into account, they made much of the most successful founders is that they don't, but whether it's good, but he doesn't remember which. Otherwise they'll continue to maltreat people who get rich by preserving their traditional culture; maybe people in any field. It's sometimes argued that kids who went to school.

The golden age of tax avoidance. Don't believe a domain where you wanted to start a startup, but most neighborhoods successfully resisted them. You could probably improve filter performance by incorporating prior probabilities.

I had a big brand advantage over the details. For example, would probably only improve filtering rates early on. When I was as much what other people.

IBM seemed a lot of money. Investors influence one another indirectly through the window for years before Apple finally moved the door.

Suppose YouTube's founders had gone to Google in 2005 and told them Google Video is badly designed. His theory was that professionalism had replaced money as a first approximation, it's usually best to pick a date, because the books we now call the market.

Presumably it's lower now because of that.

The IBM 704 CPU was about bands.

Chop onions and other vegetables and fry in oil, over fairly low heat, till onions are glassy. The Wouldbegoods. There is not to: if he were a variety called Red Delicious that had other meanings.

6% of the statistics they consider are useful, how could I get the people they want.

When Harvard kicks undergrads out for doing it with. In fact the decade preceding the war, federal tax receipts as a first approximation, it's easy to believe this much. Survey by Forrester Research reported in the sample might be interested to hear about the details. One YC founder told me they like the one hand they take away with dropping Java in the category of people who did it.

There can be compared, per capita income.

Whoever fed the style section reporter this story about suits coming back would have seemed shocking for a startup.

Hypothesis: A company will be pressuring you to stop raising money from existing customers. Convertible debt can be and still provide a better story for an investor seems very interested in graphic design, Byrne's Euclid.

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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Dezeen's top 10 most talked-about stories of 2020

This year had its fair share of provocative stories, from Donald Trump drafting new legislation on federal buildings to Bjarke Ingels plotting to redesign Earth. For our review of 2020, digital editor Karen Anderson looks at 10 of the most talked about.

Harikrishnan's inflatable latex trousers create "anatomically impossible" proportions

Readers debated our coverage of menswear designer Harikrishnan's billowing latex trousers, which were created for his graduate collection at the London College of Fashion.

"I really like the pear shape of the white pants," praised Rose Winkler. "I picture them with the same shaped arms on a stage. They feel very medieval. Reminds me of Popeye when he eats his spinach."

"Absolutely love the concept!" added Karen Thomas. "Mad technical skills have gone into creating such art. Especially the time invested in getting those beautiful beads made. Curious to see what's next!"

Find out more about the inflatable latex trousers ›

AIA opposes President Trump's draft rules for Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again

One of the biggest stories this year was news that the Trump Administration planned to introduce an order that all federal buildings should be built in the "classical architectural style".

In response to the draft order, called Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, the American Institute of Architects called on members to sign an open letter petitioning against it. The story on Dezeen attracted more than 323 comments.

"Does this sound familiar? Hitler did that." said Pam Weston. "Similar in aesthetics too. Is anyone besides me scared yet?"

"What's the big deal here?" asked Elrune The Third. "This classical style is part of the national identity and design language of the USA. No one will die because Studio BIG doesn't win the next contract for a courthouse."

Find out more about the opposition to Trump's draft order ›

Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw among architects to criticise Autodesk's BIM software

The story that received the second most comments this year was news that Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw were two of 17 architecture studios to sign an open letter to software company Autodesk, criticising the rising cost and lack of development of Revit.

The president and CEO of Autodesk responded to criticisms of its software, admitting improvements "didn't progress as quickly" as they should have but rejecting claims it is too expensive.

Readers weren't convinced. It's "like charging 2020 prices for a Cadillac on a 2005 Ford Focus," said UTF.

"This software is bad," agreed Michal C. "My life got way shorter thanks to constantly fighting its limits and bad design. Using it in building design is like doing brain surgery using two bricks as the only tools."

Find out more about criticism of Autodesk ›

Masterplanet is Bjarke Ingels' plan to redesign Earth and stop climate change

In October, commenters furiously debated news that BIG founder Bjarke Ingels is creating a masterplan for redesigning Earth.

Approaching Earth like an architect master planning a city, Ingels calculates that even a predicted population of 10 billion people could enjoy a high quality of life if environmental issues were tackled holistically.

But some readers struggled to take Ingels seriously. "Please wake me up when BIG reveals a plan to redesign human behaviour," said Chris Becket.

Don Griffiths was more optimistic: "Lots of good things come from dreaming and scheming outside the box. This man might not have all the answers, but the future is better attended to by the actions of thinkers from the past."

Find out more about Ingels' plan to redesign Earth ›

Coronavirus offers "a blank page for a new beginning" says Li Edelkoort

Some readers reacted with cynicism to Li Edelkoort's predictions for a post-coronavirus future.

Edelkoort described how the disruption caused by coronavirus will lead people to grow used to living with fewer possessions and travelling less.

"How many times has history shown that's not how this works?" responded Rd. "Things will just go back to normal and change will happen slowly over time."

Others found the article comforting. "I take a lot of solace in what Li Edelkoort is saying," said Gerard McGuickin. "In a way, the Coronavirus is perhaps a reckoning for things that have gone before."

Ukrainian architect Sergey Makhno also shared his predictions on how our homes will change once the coronavirus pandemic is over whilst Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky shared his thoughts on how the coronavirus pandemic is likely to change travel.

Find out more about Edelkoort's coronavirus predictions ›

Steel and concrete steps cut through facade of Stairway House by Nendo

Opinions were divided over Japanese design studio Nendo's unusual addition to a multigeneration house in Tokyo – a giant decorative staircase dividing the house in two.

Some felt that the sculptural stairway was too much of a health and safety risk. "I can't imagine living there with a kids," worried Salamoon.

And Room advised people to live a little more dangerously. "If everyone here wants a run-of-the-mill cosy little cottage or bungalow or timber-framed three-bedroom suburban potted plant safety palace, why are you reading this magazine?" they quipped.

Cliff Tan weighed in with some important cultural context. "This is really obvious if you are East Asian," said Tan. "In Feng Shui terms, this site, sitting at the top of a long road, invites too much energy into the site," he added. "The staircase takes all this energy and swoops it towards the sky, keeping the rest of the home calm and protected."

Find out more about Stairway House ›

Bjarke Ingels meets Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro to "change the face of tourism in Brazil"

Bjarke Ingels previously made headlines when the architect met with the president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro to discuss developing a tourism masterplan for the northeast region of the country.

"Glad to still see starchitect clamouring to work with corrupt governments," said WYRIWYG. "As long as the fees are high enough..."

"Yeah, because a Danish architect knows exactly how to deal with beaches and the social background of our country," added Edson Maruyama. "We have great architects and urbanists in the country.

Ingels released a statement defending his decision and rejecting the idea that countries such as Brazil should be off-limits to architects.

Find out more about Ingels meeting Jair Bolsonaro ›

Eva Franch i Gilabert fired as AA director for "specific failures of performance"

Another controversial story in 2020 was news that Architectural Association (AA) director Eva Franch i Gilabert was fired.

The decision was taken by the London school two weeks after Gilabert lost a vote of no confidence in her leadership.

"Eva absolutely deserved an opportunity to lead," said AA Dipl. "AA is a testbed for creative ideas and methodologies and sometimes an experiment doesn't prove successful. Yet AA is the only place where one can try and fail and we should admire the school for that reason. "

Hotel Sphinx also commented: "Surely those of us outside the AA community cannot truly understand what has transpired over the past two years, culminating in this decision."

Find out more about Gilabert's dismissal ›

Groupwork designs 30-storey stone skyscraper

Amin Taha's architecture studio Groupwork attracted attention when it designed a conceptual 30-storey stone office block.

The studio said the building would be cheaper and more sustainable than concrete or steel equivalent, but some readers thought it was dull.

"The discussion is all about the material and nothing about the boring design," said Egad.

"I'd rather call it straightforward rather than boring," replied K Anderson. "It's an elegant and well-proportioned tower while taking advantage of the material's natural qualities and production process. Gold doesn't have to glitter.

Taha himself responded in the comments section, saying: "The tower is a simple, sober, yes boring design for the purpose of comparing like for like against standard commercial offices. It is after all only a material, not a style."

Find out more about Groupwork's stone skyscraper ›

Urban planning is "really very biased against women" says Caroline Criado Perez

British writer Caroline Criado Perez wrote a book claiming that cities haven't been designed to suit the lives of women, sparking debate amongst readers.

"I agree with this completely," said Sim. "Last week the design for the longest cycling bridge in Europe was revealed. While it was hailed a triumph, as a woman all I could think of were the evenings I would be cycling home alone and the idea of this bridge scared me."

"Come on!" replied Architecte Urbaniste. "This whole man versus woman urban design discussion is missing the point. Most architecture is designed by teams of people containing both men and women. I've seen groups of women designing completely unliveable urbanism too."

Find out more about Perez's book ›

Read more Dezeen comments

Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page.

The post Dezeen's top 10 most talked-about stories of 2020 appeared first on Dezeen.

#Architecture – Dezeen

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premk-blog · 4 years ago

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The power of culture: How to hire and attract amazing people

Before Amazon bought Zappos.com for $1.2 billion, the online shoe retailer was already known for two things: exceptional customer service and a vibrant company culture.

As CEO Tony Hsieh once said, “Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes.”

Zappos empowers its call center staff to make emotional connections and to wow their customers in every interaction. That explains the service-driven reputation. But how do you create a strong, healthy culture — especially as your company grows?

Well, Zappos defined 10 core values that guide the whole organization. It’s their hiring process, though, that really stands out.

Zappos has two different interview types. The first explores the candidate’s abilities, experience, and team fit. The usual stuff.

Next, the HR department does another round, purely to evaluate culture fit. As Hsieh told Forbes back in 2010, you have to pass both interview types to get the job:

“We’ve rejected many talented people who we know would have made an immediate impact on our top or bottom line. Because culture is our number one priority, we’re willing to give up short-term profits or revenue growth to make sure we have the best culture. In fact, after orientation we offer people $2,000 not to work at Zappos. The ones who stay are right for our culture.”

Also, when an applicant flies in for an interview, the company sends a shuttle to the airport. Zappos leaders will later ask the driver if the person was nice, or if they were rude or standoffish.

No matter how talented the candidate, rude people never make the cut. Talk about living your culture — and your values.

Ambitious companies attract ambitious people

“Talent is the multiplier. The more energy and attention you invest in it, the greater the yield.”

- Marcus Buckingham, author and business consultant

It starts at the roots. Whether you’re selling airline tickets, eyeglasses, software, or burritos, you need to have a great product.

After all, talented people want to work in organizations that make an impact. They want to change the world — even just a little. And there are many ways to become world class.

There’s a terrific restaurant near our office that changes its menu every month. If you’re an ambitious, creative chef who’s hungry to learn, this is where you want to land.

Even if you provide a “boring” product (like, ahem ahem, web forms), your approach could make it an amazing place to work.

“If you are lucky enough to be someone’s employer, then you have a moral obligation to make sure people do look forward to coming to work in the morning.”

- John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods

Culture can be a major asset. It helps you to attract top-notch people and encourages them to stay for the long run.

1. Ensure a comfortable work environment

Make sure your office is a place you and your team want to spend time in, even if it’s small. Equip staff with powerful technology, up-to-date equipment, and all the tools they need to work safely and efficiently. Free drinks and snacks don’t hurt (but you don’t need the ping-pong table). All these details are also cheap to provide, relative to employee salaries. Don’t cut corners on your most valuable asset.

2. Always choose positive, collaborative people

I know it might sound simple, but having smart, friendly, talented, positive people lays the foundation for your culture. Good people attract more good people, and you’re also promoting an inspiring work environment. Nothing will send people running for the door faster than a culture of infighting, gossip, and petty competition.

Leverage good word-of-mouth

You’re scrolling through Instagram. In one post, your friend tags a hotel they love. The next post is a sponsored ad for a competing hotel brand.

Which are you more likely to remember and try for yourself?

Real endorsements from our network are powerful. If you love your job, company, or work environment, you’re likely to tell friends and family.

We post our job openings on LinkedIn and online job boards. We’ve also used head-hunters for leadership positions. But nothing works better than word-of-mouth.

When valued employees refer their friends and former colleagues, we pay close attention. These are often our best candidates.

Interview efficiently and decide quickly:

According to a recruiting survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers hiring new college graduates take, on average, two weeks to make a job offer after an interview.

Beyond new graduates, author and HR expert Liz Ryan says companies should never take more than 3–4 business days to contact or share feedback with candidates after an interview.

Often, we call the candidate as they’re walking to their car — right after the interview.

If you don’t move fast, there’s a good chance someone else will snap up a great employee. Forget about waiting periods or outdated rules and do it your way.

How is it possible to move so quickly?

Well, we believe in having all the decision makers in the room. Everyone has the chance to observe and ask questions.

After the interview, we have a five-minute discussion. If it’s a long debate, the person is probably not right. But a quick, easy consensus usually means that we’ve found a great fit.

Hire for skills and knowledge:

Knowledge and skills are not the same.

Whatever position you’re hiring for, ask the candidate to perform a hands-on task. Over the years, we’ve encountered both “developers” who can’t actually code and dark horses who performed far beyond our expectations.

It’s equally important to talk with the applicant about their chosen field. Can you have an intelligent discussion? Do their ideas and arguments make sense?

Sometimes, people speak in buzzwords but they don’t have real knowledge. They’ve just memorized headlines and jargon.

Ultimately, it’s a matter of balance. Candidates need to have some real skills (and that level will vary by position), but the right person can also acquire what they’re missing.

The same goes for knowledge. Young employees will gain deeper expertise over time, but if they’re truly interested in the topic, they will already have opinions about marketing or data science or design.

One more note: Watch for people with side projects. If a developer has their own app, for example, that’s a great sign. It means they’re ambitious and engaged.

In different fields, this could also be a blog, a podcast, a passion for reading, participation in a professional group, or taking extra classes and workshops.

“Leadership is absolutely about inspiring action, but it is also about guarding against mis-action.”

- Simon Sinek, author, speaker and marketing consultant

Company culture is like the infinity symbol, or the old chicken-or-the-egg dilemma.

Which comes first: great people who establish a healthy culture, or a healthy culture that attracts great people?

Answer: it doesn’t matter.

People talk about culture as a static entity, but it’s constantly changing. Culture also has its own equilibrium. Sometimes it evolves for the better, and sometimes it needs to be nudged in a better direction.

Internal culture is a topic that can easily fill entire books, but here are my top lessons.

Culture changes as you grow

Our first 10 employees were men. That wasn’t my intention. It just happened, but then I learned about this mistake and realized we needed to attract more women. As the balance (happily) shifted, our company became more professional, just to name one improvement. Change made us stronger. These are the kind of culture shifts that organizations should always embrace.

People influence the culture

Let your staff contribute. Our small, cross-functional teams naturally develop their own cultures — and that’s a good thing. They enrich our entire company and make more interesting and diverse place to work.

Don’t enable incongruent behavior

Just as Zappos measured candidates’ humility and openness by talking to their shuttle drivers, it’s important to weed out both people and actions that don’t match your values.

For example, we care deeply about our users and we take responsibility when they make mistakes.

One day, we were watching a usability test, and an employee joked that the user was stupid. I realized that I had to immediately change the narrative, without publicly chastising the employee.

I told the team that we should assume people are busy and overwhelmed. That’s why our goal is to make a simple, incredibly easy-to-use product.

If we had all laughed, other team members would have assumed that it’s okay to mock our users — and that doesn’t align with our values or our culture.

“A company’s culture is the foundation for future innovation. An entrepreneur’s job is to build the foundation.”

- Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb

While I’ve never offered someone thousands of dollars NOT to take a job, we do believe in humility and we reward learning. I’ll also share a little secret.

Every intern — whether they’re studying programming, marketing, UI, design, or business — spends their first week answering customer support questions.

Throughout this process, they are being rated; not just on their skills, but also on how they listen and treat our customers.

Sometimes, they think support work is beneath them. That attitude overshadows their skills and their knowledge.

And those interns will never have a seat in our company.

#recruitment #jobs hiring

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nicole-junkerman · 4 years ago

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10 of the Most Influential American Technology Entrepreneurs

Tech entrepreneurs have changed the world remarkably in recent decades. Visionaries have introduced products and services that completely altered how business is conducted, how individuals communicate, and even how individuals find information.

Learning about the big movers and shakers can give entrepreneurs inspiration in their own work and teach important lessons they can implement as they build their own companies. Some of the tech entrepreneurs that have truly made an indelible impact on the world include:

1. Steve Jobs

Perhaps the most recognizable tech entrepreneur, Steve Jobs was the man behind Apple. Under his guidance, Apple introduced an incredible array of innovative products, from the Mac to the iPhone. In many ways, Jobs shaped the evolution of technology in the past several decades.

Jobs was also involved with the creation of Pixar Animation Studios. For Jobs, entrepreneurship is about seeing connections where other people do not. He believed that creativity was simply the ability to see an undiscovered connection and then exploit it.

2. Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg has become a household name with the incredible growth of Facebook, the most popular social media website in existence. After coming up with the idea for Facebook in college, he dropped out to develop the company and then had an IPO that raised $16 billion in May 2012.

In more recent years, Zuckerberg has become interested in user information protection and seeks out ways to use Facebook to combat misinformation. In addition, he and his wife have emerged as leading philanthropists in the Bay Area and beyond.

3. Elon Musk

The founder of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk introduced the world to the first fully electric sports car. In addition, he was the cofounder of PayPal. Today, Musk also heads SpaceX, a civilian space transport company that is continuing to think outside the box and make something that seems impossible more accessible.

His other ideas include Hyperloop, which could provide new high-speed public transportation options, and SolarCity, which helps make solar energy easier to harvest. Because he is such a forward thinker, it is exciting to think about what ideas he might spearhead in the decades to come.

4. Travis Kalanick

Best known as the founder of Uber, Travis Kalanick combined cloud computing, geolocation, and smartphone technology in a way that completely changed how many people travel. Uber began operations in 2009 with only three cars for hire. Within the span of three years, the company had expanded to more than 360 cities in 66 countries.

Kalanick was always quick to point out his own shortcomings and said that he often got lost in the weeds of details. Perhaps as a result, he encouraged everyone to be aware of their flaws so that they can work on them continuously.

5. Jack Dorsey

In 2006, Jack Dorsey founded Twitter, a company that has led to a major shift in the way people communicate. Within four years, the product had more than 105 million users. When Twitter went public in 2013, the stock rose from $26 to $45 per share in the first day of trading.

Dorsey is focused on efficiency and innovation. He believes that the top products are not building new technologies, but rather combining existing ones in compelling ways. For him, Twitter was a way of visualizing communication in real time through a format that promotes lasting but simple exchanges.

6. Jeff Bezos

Famed for creating Amazon, Jeff Bezos started selling books online in the 1990s and slowly grew his company into the Internet conglomerate that it is today. Amazon continues to push boundaries with new technologies like drone delivery.

Stock in Amazon continues to rise as the company takes on tech giants like Apple in terms of providing excellent digital content. Now one of the richest men in the world, Bezos has recently become heavily involved with philanthropy.

7. Brian Chesky

The man behind Airbnb, Brian Chesky, launched the company in 2007. He had the idea for the company when he was strapped for cash and decided to rent out his apartment for some extra income. Airbnb was accepted into Y Combinator in 2008 and the company went international soon thereafter.

By 2015, Chesky’s company had earned a valuation of $20 billion and he was recognized as one of the richest entrepreneurs under 40 by Forbes. In addition, TIME featured him on its list of 100 Most Influential People of 2015. Chesky explains that he sees entrepreneurship more as an art than a science and recommends that entrepreneurs go for ventures close to their hearts.

8. Sergey Brin

Best known as the cofounder of Google, Brin became an entrepreneur after years of study in the field of computer science. Together with Larry Page, he reimagined how people could use the Internet and launched a search engine that would change how people find technology for the foreseeable future. Their project was funded by the National Science Foundation before investors ever got involved. Brin is also the cofounder of Sun Microsystems.

9. Daniel Ek

The created of Spotify, Daniel Ek, forever changed the way people listen to music. Spotify has about 170 million active users, including 75 million subscription users. Ek founded the company to discourage music piracy and provide a low-cost alternative that would actually help artists.

Within two years of launch, Spotify was valued at $4 billion. In 2018, the company had an IPO and earned a market value of $27 billion within a single day of trading. For Ek, entrepreneurship is about solving real problems in a way that makes all parties involved happy.

10. Katrina Lake

Female entrepreneurs have played an important role in Silicon Valley and beyond. One female founder who has earned a lot of attention is Katrina Lake, the women behind Stitch Fix, an online subscription service for fashion. Lake had an IPO for her company in 2017 when it was valued at $2 billion.

Over the years, she has been a loud voice of feminism who continues to push for a better environment for female entrepreneurs. Her mark goes much beyond the success of Stitch Fix, which created an entirely new way of looking at fashion, to include a true cultural change among startups.

#entrepreneur #business #tech #tech industry #tech business #innovators

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marketinghero · 5 years ago

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Amazon invests in Deliveroo Amazon has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into food delivery service Deliveroo. According to reports, Amazon has provided a substantial proportion of the $575m (£450m) Deliveroo has raised in its latest round of funding, alongside several existing US investors. Deliveroo’s founder and chief executive, Will Shu, says he is looking forward to working with “such a customer-obsessed organisation” like Amazon, while Amazon says it was attracted to Deliveroo’s “innovative technology service”. “This is great news for the tech and restaurant sectors, and it will help to create jobs in all of the countries in which we operate,” Shu adds. Amazon canned its own UK delivery service, Amazon Restaurants UK, at the end of 2018 after two years, having been unable to successfully compete with the likes of Deliveroo and Uber Eats. UK-based Deliveroo operates in 100 cities across the UK as well as a number of countries all over the world including the US, Australia, Germany and Hong Kong. READ MORE: Amazon invests in Deliveroo Pret set to buy Eat in veggie push Pret a Manger is in talks to buy high street rival Eat as part of its plans to expand its vegetarian offering. According to the London Evening Standard, the coffee shop chain is keen to purchase either all or the majority of Eat’s 94 stores with the aim of turning them into vegetarian Pret outlets. Pret has neither confirmed or denied the move, saying: “We never comment on rumour or speculation.” The news comes as both businesses grapple with their own challenges. While the majority of Eat’s woes are rooted in finance, having posted a loss of £17.3m in 2018, Pret has suffered reputational damage following the death of a schoolgirl in 2016 after an allergic reaction to one of its baguettes. Eat’s current chief executive, Andrew Walker, previously spent 12 years at Pret – five as its UK boss – before leaving in 2012. READ MORE: Pret a Manger set to buy Eat in trend for veggie food BT reveals new logo BT has got a new logo. The telecoms giant, which has undergone a number of rebrands since being privatised in the 1980s, has been working on the new design for a number of years and on Wednesday filed a trademark application. The new logo is expected to be rolled out in August and will likely be used across BT’s entire portfolio, from sports channels to broadband services. “We’ve shared our new logo with our colleagues today and will consult them on the detail as we gradually roll it out towards the end of the summer,” a spokesperson said. “Our CEO has been very clear that the new mark symbolises real change. Making every BT employee a shareholder in the company is the first step towards transforming BT into a national champion that exceeds our customers’ expectations.” Earlier this week BT announced plans to give its 100,000 staff £500 of BT shares a year in an attempt to boost morale. READ MORE: BT unveils new logo after years of work – its name in a circle Airbnb hires former Apple retail boss Angela Ahrendts, the former retail boss of Apple and ex-CEO of Burberry, has joined the Airbnb board. Ahrendts, who left Apple earlier this year after five years, joins former American Express CEO Ken Chenault and former Pixar CFO Ann Mather to become Airbnb’s third independent, non-affiliated board member. “Angela has a reputation for pushing brands to dream big, and she told me that’s exactly what she hopes to bring to Airbnb’s board,” says Airbnb chief executive and co-founder Brian Chesky. “She has led global brands through transformation, completely redefined the retail experience, and has done it all while putting customers and communities first. I’m so excited for her to join our board and know her innovative thinking will make us a better company.” The announcement comes as Airbnb prepares for its IPO, which the company says could be as early as the end of the year. Ahrendts was one of Apple’s highest-paid executives, earning $26.5m (£23.1m) in 2018. READ MORE: Former Apple retail head Angela Ahrendts appointed to Airbnb’s board Lucozade launches ‘Spark Something’ campaign Lucozade has launched a new £10m campaign in an effort to broaden its appeal and position itself as the “ideal solution for those looking for positive energy”. Using a vinyl record, the campaign showcases how positive energy can be passed across generations and from person-to-person, inviting viewers to ‘Spark Something’. It will be brought to life across TV, outdoor, social, digital and in-store marketing. “The campaign will position the market-leading energy brand as one that sparks positive energy, broadening our appeal,” says Amie Farrell, senior brand manager for Lucozade Energy. “We know Lucozade Energy holds a unique position in the market. The campaign enhances the positive aspects of the Lucozade Energy brand and emphasises our belief that the best things in life come from positive actions and a positive outlook”. ‘Spark Something’ will run through to September and target the brand’s core audience of 18-24 year-old adults. It will also partner with Mobsta to launch a mobile display campaign in proximity to stores selling Lucozade Energy in a bid to boost memorability, drive them in store and ultimately drive sales. The ‘Spark Something’ mobile campaign will deliver 5.6m impressions. Thursday, 16 May Burberry turnaround ‘on track’ as brand rebuilds energy Burberry claims its plans to transform the company under new CEO Marco Gobbetti and creative director Riccardo Tisci are “on track” despite flat revenue growth. Preliminary results for the year to 30 March show revenue was flat at £2.72bn, although reported operating profit increase 7% year on year to £410m. The company says the launch of its “new creative vision”, including a new logo and Burberry monogram, has been successful, while it has seen strong double-digit percentage growth of Tisci’s first collections. It also says it is “building brand heat” and shifting consumer perceptions through improved social media reach, wider press coverage and organic endorsement from influencers. “We made excellent progress in the first year of our plan to transform Burberry, while at the same time delivering financial performance in line with expectations. Riccardo Tisci’s first collections arrived in stores at the end of February and the initial reaction from customers is very encouraging. The implementation of our plan is on track, we are energised by the early results and we confirm our outlook for FY 2020,” says Gobbetti. Commercial radio hits audience high as overall audience grows Commercial radio saw its audience hits a record high in the first quarter of 2019, with 36.1 million people tuning in, according to figures from RAJAR. That figure means 1.7 million more people are listening to commercial radio stations than BBC stations, the widest ever gap between the two. Overall, 66% of the population listen to commercial radio stations every week, while 89% listen to some form of radio. Total listening hours for commercial radio were also up, increasing 1.6% year on year. Radiocentre CEO Siobhan Kenny says: “We are constantly reminded of the challenges that radio faces in a digital age, whether it is from new forms of listening or shifts in advertising. But it’s clear from these figures that the investment from stations in talent, brands and great content is helping radio to continue to resonate with audiences in a big way.” Global was the biggest radio network, attracting 25.1 million listeners to its stations, which include Capital, Heart and LBC. Bauer Media attracted 17.7 million listeners and saw a “step up” in digital listeners – rising 14.3% to 13.7 million. Dee Ford, group managing director of radio at Bauer Media, says: “This is a great set of results for commercial radio, digital product innovation is underpinning commercial radio’s highest ever reach. The significant step up in Bauer’s lead in digital listening reflects our continued commitment to bringing listeners fresh, new, unique radio services complementing our powerful big brand portfolio – listeners love them, and so do our advertisers.” Waitrose invests £1m in organisations tackling plastic pollution Waitrose & Partners is investing a £1m grand fund in five organisations tackling plastic pollution, including marine scientists and charities. The grant winners include Blue Marine Foundation’s Safegear, which attaches beacons to buoys to stop fishermen losing their gear, Onion Collective and Biohm’s plastic biorecyling facility and the Women’s Environmental Network’s environmentally-friendly menstrual products. The Plymouth Marine Laboratory, which is tackling microplastic pollution using rafts of mussels, and the Youth Hostel Association’s project to install water bottle refilling stations in its hostels will also receive funds. The £1m fund has been raised from the sale of 5p carrier bags in Waitrose stores. Each winner will receive funding of between £150,000 and £300,000 Tor Harris, head of CSR, health and agriculture at Waitrose & Partners, says: “It’s important for us to tackle unnecessary plastic both in our shops but also in the wider world. All these inspirational projects have the ability to create real impact in tackling environmental issues and encouraging behaviour change so we can collectively achieve our goal of reducing plastic pollution.” Google brings more ads to mobile Google is offering brands more chances to reach consumers as it introduces a slew of news ads that will be served across its mobile services. The personalised Discover feed that appears in the Google app will get ads for the first time, while more ads will appear in Google Images search results, YouTube feeds and Gmail inbox tabs. The new ads are mostly two formats: ‘gallery’ ads that feature images users can swipe through, and ‘discovery’ ads, which appear where people are browsing more tailored content. Google claims such formats produce 25% more interactions than static ads. “In a world where we have less time and more options, it’s crucial for brands to anticipate what consumers need in order to stand out,” says Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice-president of Google Ads & Commerce. “But just because the customer journey is complex doesn’t mean delivering useful experiences has to be. Whether you’re a scrappy entrepreneur or a large company, your marketing goals remains the same: reaching people at the right moments with the right offer.” Google is also revamping its Shopping service, allowing users to choose to purchase online, in a nearby store or directly on Google. It will also introduce a personalised Shopping homepage where users can filter features, read reviews and watch videos about a product. Thomas Cook reports £1.5bn loss as Brexit hits holiday bookings Thomas Cook has reported a £1.5bn loss for the first half of the year and warned of “further headwinds” in 2019 as ongoing uncertainty over the UK leaving the EU hit holiday bookings. The holiday company says there is “now little doubt” that Brexit has caused customers to delay their summer holiday plans this year. Last summer’s heatwave also reduced customer demand for winter sun holidays, contributing to a “weak trading environment”. Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook CEO, says: “The first six months of this year have been characterised by an uncertain consumer environment across all our markets. “Our current trading position reflects a slower pace of bookings, against a strong first half in 2018, and our decision to reduce capacity in order to mitigate risk in the tour operator and allow our airline to consolidate the strong growth it achieved last year.” Part of the loss (around £1.1bn) was due to the decision to writedown the value of its My Travel business. The company also says it has received “multiple bids” for its airline, which it put up for sale earlier this year. Wednesday, 15 May William Hill ad banned for linking gambling to sexual success A William Hill advert which appeared on Tinder has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for linking gambling to sexual success. The ad, which was sent as a message to Tinder users, read: “Stuck in the friend zone? You won’t be for much longer if you use this Cheltenham free bet offer.” The message was accompanied by a link to download the William Hill app. According to the CAP Code, marketing communications for gambling must be socially responsible and must not link gambling to seduction, sexual success or enhanced attractiveness. The ASA acknowledged William Hill had removed the ad but declared the slogan suggested those who gamble would be more likely to progress a friendship into a sexual relationship “and therefore linked gambling with sexual success”. William Hill initially defended the promotion saying it intended to associate the offer to the nature of the business it was advertising on (Tinder) but agrees it had the potential to be interpreted differently. The company added that it was not its intention to link gambling to sexual success. The gambling giant has since removed the ad and is conducting a full review of the existing content platform while Tinder said it originally reviewed the ad to make sure its content was not socially irresponsible, offensive or targeting minors. Vegan sausage roll helps accelerate Greggs sales Sales at British baking giant Greggs have skyrocketed likely thanks to the introduction of its vegan sausage roll. During the first 19 weeks of 2019 to 11 May, total sales jumped 15.1% year on year. Additionally, shares climbed more than 13%, marking a record high after the bakery chain reported an “exceptional” 11% rise in like-for-like sales. “Sales since then have continued to grow very strongly, helped by the roll-out of vegan-friendly sausage rolls to all shops following limited availability in the early part of the year when demand outstripped supply,” Greggs said in a trading update. Meanwhile, Roger Whiteside, chief executive of Greggs, says awareness of the brand has never been higher and the vegan sausage roll helped with publicity and encouraging people to “come and have a look at what we’re doing”. Greggs launched the vegan sausage roll in January to capitalise on the ‘Veganuary’ movement – where Brits pledge to cut out meat and dairy products for the month – but struggled to keep up with demand. Other categories that have seen growth are in breakfast items such as coffee and hot drinks, as well its ‘post-4pm pizza deal’, offering a pizza slice and a drink for just £2, according to the company. READ MORE: Greggs’ vegan sausage rolls fuel profit boom Amazon introduces pick-up points at Next Amazon has partnered with Next to launch a click and collect service for UK customers, meaning shoppers will be given the option to have their items delivered to a nearby Next store. The option will be made available for tens of millions of items on the Amazon website and kicked off yesterday (14 May). It builds on Amazon’s existing parcel pick-up and locker options with the likes of Morrisons, the Co-op and Shell petrol stations. “We see it as a great way to create more convenience for our customers and create a win-win situation for the retailers who partner with us,” Amazon’s director of lockers and pick-up, Patrick Supanc, says. When a customer’s package arrives in store they will be sent a unique barcode to present when picking up the item. Amazon adds that feedback from earlier trials suggest the move can aid retailers’ customer footfall. READ MORE: Amazon partners UK’s Next for click and collect services Tesco reveals latest food waste data More than two thirds (63%) of food waste at Tesco was redistributed to charities, community groups, colleagues and animal feed, the company says. According to the supermarket giant, the amount of food going to waste across its UK operations fell by 17% year on year to 44,297 tonnes. This was likely helped along by the fact the supermarket giant also halved (51%) the amount of food safe for human consumption going to energy recovery compared to last year. It is now 81% of the way toward its target that no food safe for human consumption goes to waste. Additionally, during the last 12 months Tesco sold around 10 million tonnes of food in the UK. A small fraction (77,184 tonnes, 0.78%) remained unsold. Of this figure, 32,887 tonnes was redistributed and stopped from going to waste. Now, Britain’s latest supermarket is urging other businesses to publish food waste data. Tesco’s CEO Dave Lewis acknowledges that reducing food waste is a global challenge: “One in nine people are going hungry whilst a third of the world’s food is wasted. This food waste has a huge environmental impact, creating unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. “We call on other businesses to also report their food waste data; this is the only way that we’ll know whether the UK and the world is on course to reach SDG Target 12.3.” Tesco has not sent any food to landfill since 2009. Keith Weed invests in influencer marketplace Keith Weed has unveiled his first project since stepping down as CMO of consumer goods giant Unilever. The marketing veteran is investing in influencer marketer place Tribe less than a year after he called for “urgent action” to restore trust in influencer marketing. Weed has given his financial backing to the platform which links brands to appropriate micro influencers who then distribute creative content on relevant platforms. In a tweet about Tribe, Weed says: “Quality, low cost, speedy content is now possible no matter how big or small you brand or brand budget is.” Tribe offers brands access to more than 53,000 influencers with followings of 3,000 or more and allows marketers, from the likes of P&G, Mars and Marvel, to see branded content executions from creators before they pay for the work so they can choose not to run it if they don’t like it. Last year Weed said the industry needed to clean up the influencer ecosystem by removing misleading engagement and making brands and influencers aware of dishonest practices. “We need to take urgent action now to rebuild trust before it’s gone forever,” he said. Tuesday, 14 May Warburtons enlists Robert De Niro for bagel launch The newest campaign from bakery brand Warburtons’ has a slightly darker edge than its all-singing, all-dancing predecessors starring The Muppets. This time round the brand faces Robert De Niro and his gang, who are looking to take over its newly launched bagel business, renaming the product GoodBagels in homage to gangster movie Goodfellas. The TV ad, which has been created by Engine and Freuds, and launches today on social before its TV debut on 17 May, shows De Niro and his family of goons confronting Jonathan Warburton in his Bolton office. De Niro and his men are seen taping up a security guard and taking over the business, before filling supermarket shelves with the renamed GoodBagels. Believing the Hollywood star is telling him the story line for a movie, Warburton asks how it ends, to which De Niro responds “not well”. This is the latest in a string of star-studded campaigns from the bakery brand, which in recent years has worked with Sylvester Stallone, Peter Kay and The Muppets. Jonathan Warburton, chairman of Warburtons, says: “As an iconic New Yorker, Robert De Niro knows his way around a bagel so it’s great to have his seal of approval. We’ve spent months perfecting the recipe and process to ensure we delight families up and down the country with the best thing since sliced bread.” Ikea urges consumers to rethink buying new products in first sustainability campaign Ikea has launched its first sustainability-led marketing campaign, which focuses on the Swedish philosophy of ‘lagom’, which means using not too much and not too little. The three main focus points of the campaign, devised by Proximity London, are grow your own, waste reduction and home efficiency, with Ikea looking to personalise the messaging to appeal to people will all levels of interest in sustainability. As part of the campaign, Ikea has launched the Lagom Collection, a content series shared via social and email, which promotes ideas and inspiration, both for new products and tips to give existing products a new lease of life. The retailer is keen to encourage people to think about what they already have before looking to buy something new. Ikea will be running a three-day event in-stores as well to educate and inspire sustainability in shoppers. Iain Neal, CRM leader, Ikea UK & Ireland says: “While most people recognise that climate change is happening, many don’t connect with it personally or emotionally and we wanted to address that head-on. Through initiatives we have run for years, such as our Live Lagom ambassador programme, we know that when engaged, people see how easy living more sustainably can be. “At Ikea, sustainability is a key part of our design process for all products. We have loads of products and solutions to help save energy and water, reduce waste, live more healthily and save money. They may seem like small things, but that’s the beauty of small actions – they all add up. By bringing this message to our marketing, we hope that we can engage even more people to think about the small changes they can do to make their life at home just a bit more sustainable.” Metro Bank responds to ‘false rumours’ which sparked panic Metro Bank has been forced to respond to “false rumours” on social media that it is running out of money, which resulted in hundreds of customers queuing in London outlets to withdraw their cash from accounts and safety deposit boxes. The rumours circulated on community WhatsApp groups in London over the weekend, and panic began to spread as photos of customers queuing were shared on Twitter. Metro Bank repeatedly responded to concerns on social media, with the message, “Metro bank remains a safe and secure haven for customers’ money”. But when this failed to calm customers’ nerves it followed it up with a statement, saying: “We’re aware there were increased queries in some stores about safe deposit boxes following false rumours about Metro Bank on social media and messaging apps. “There is no truth to these rumours and we want to reassure our customers that there is no reason to be concerned.” Despite these assurances, Metro Bank’s share price dropped by as much as 9% on Monday, before recovering slightly to trade at 5% down. READ MORE: Metro Bank says customers’ money safe after WhatsApp rumour sparks panic Apple could face law suit over app prices Apple could be sued by a group of consumers who argue they are being overcharged by the iPhone maker for apps as Apple takes a 30% commission on every sale, which they claim puts the tech giant in breach of anti-trust laws. The group of US consumers has been given the go-ahead by the Supreme Court to sue Apple over app prices for this reason. Apple says it is an agent for app developers and doesn’t own or sell the apps itself, but while app developers set their own prices, Apple does collect the payments. One of the judges who ruled against Apple is Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed by President Donald Trump. “Leaving consumers at the mercy of monopolistic retailers, simply because upstream suppliers could also sue the retailers, would directly contradict the long-standing goal of effective private enforcement in anti-trust cases,” he said. READ MORE: Apple faces customer lawsuit over app store Uber’s shares fall further in second day of trading Uber’s shares fell another 11%, dropping further below the $45 price they began trading at on Friday when the ride-sharing app made its stock market debut. The firm, which is trading on the New York Stock Exchange has been impacted by the trade war between the US and China. Wall Street suffered its worst day in months as a result of the escalating trade war, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 2% yesterday. Since its IPO on Friday, Uber has seen $20.2bn wiped off its market valuation, which now stands at $62.2bn. Its share price stood at $37.10 when markets closed yesterday. Apple (-6%), Boeing (-4.8%) and Caterpillar (-4.5%) also saw shares fall yesterday, marking the Dow’s worst start to May in 50 years. READ MORE: Uber shares drop further as markets slide Monday, 13 May Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Nestlé pledge to halve food waste by 2030 Nestlé, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose will pledge to help halve food waste by 2030, ministers have announced today (Monday 13 May). Retailers, hospitality and food companies are expected to agree a number of initiatives, including big discounts on food sold after its “best before” dates and smaller size portions at reduced prices. Around 300 individuals and businesses have been invited to the Step Up To The Plate symposium in central London and are expected to adopt a package of commitments as part of the major drive to tackle food surplus. Businesses are expected to set their own targets to help contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving per capita global food waste by 2030.The government also wants attendees to adopt the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap to help companies measure and report on efforts to cut back waste. Tesco CEO Dave Lewis says a commitment from all UK food companies to publish their food waste data within the next 12 months should also be part of the deal. “We welcome the UK Government’s focus in this area and see an opportunity to press even further to continue to lead the world in our efforts to tackle food waste”, he says. Tesco will publish its latest food waste data in its annual report on Tuesday. Britain currently wastes 10.2m tonnes of food every year, with 1.8m coming from food manufacturers, 1m tonnes from the hospitality sector, 260,000 tonnes from retail and the rest from households, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. READ MORE: Smaller portions and discounts on out-of-date food to be offered in food waste revolution Sainsbury’s launches community-inspired campaign to celebrate 150th birthday Sainsbury’s has launched its 150th campaign with a TV advert celebrating its heritage and community values. The ad, created by Wieden+Kennedy London, follows the creation of a cake as a narrator tells the grocer’s history from its inception to the present day. Each tier represents community contributions from Sainsbury’s employees – from the opening of the very first store on Drury Lane in 1869, to more recent initiatives such as the retailer’s 20-year partnership with Comic Relief. “Community has been at the heart of our business since 1869 and we are delighted to bring to life the achievements and dedication of our colleagues in our 150th campaign,” says Laura Boothby, head of broadcast marketing at Sainsbury’s. “Sainsbury’s has always had a focus on contributing to the communities we serve and we’re proud that this is a legacy that still stands today.” Other key milestones and events from the supermarket’s history are also included in the ads, such as promising to keep jobs for World War I soldiers and fundraising for Christmas parties for disabled children sin the 1960s. The ad kicks off Sainsbury’s 150 Days of Community initiative, which sees its 180,000 employees volunteer in their community. One in 10 high street shops are empty One in 10 high street shops are empty, according to new figures, while the decline in high street footfall is beginning to slow. The latest BRC-Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor shows town centre vacancies climbed to 10.2% – an increase from 9.9% on the previous quarter and the highest level since April 2015. Collapsed retailers such as Toys R Us, Poundworld and Maplin were responsible for hundreds of shop closures last year as more retailers continue to struggle with high rents and online shopping. Despite the alarming figures, footfall decline is slowing at 0.5% compared to the same period last year, when it declined by 3.3%. High street footfall fell by 1%, while shopping centre footfall fell by 2.1%. Bucking the wider trend, footfall on retail parks increased by 2.2% in April. However, retail experts say it is disappointing that the Easter boost has not led to a rise in footfall for the month. READ MORE: UK high streets ‘in downward spiral’ with one in 10 shops empty British Gas warns of ‘challenging’ conditions British Gas owner, Centrica, has warned that trading conditions have been “challenging” due to the cap placed on tariffs, warmer weather than usual and the falling price of UK natural gas. The company says those factors are expected to impact its financial performance in the first-half of the year and will affect the full-year performance. However, it won’t have the full picture until interim results are released on 30 July. It cites the government’s new energy price cap as a major reason for a dent in its figures, including a one-off £70m impact in the first quarter. However, the company says a cost programme would still help it reach adjusted operating cash flow targets of £1.8bn to £2bn in the full year of 2019. READ MORE: Energy price cap hits British Gas owner Centrica in ‘challenging’ start to the year Dairylea dares consumers to “reconnect to their inner child” Dairylea is encouraging people to “reconnect to their inner child” in a new campaign that sees it rename special packs. ‘We Dareylea You!’, created by agency ELVIS, has renamed the cheese snacks ‘Dareylea’, with over eight million packs rebranded to encourage families to get outside and get out of their comfort zone. Patrick Bochet, marketing director of meals at parent company Mondelēz, says: “This bold campaign encourages people to reconnect to their inner child in a fun and original way which feels perfectly in keeping with the Dairylea brand. We can’t wait to see how people respond to our dares.” The campaign will run across out-of-home, social and radio, as well as in-store. The post Amazon, Deliveroo, Pret: Everything that matters this morning appeared first on Marketing Week.

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toldnews-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/finance/india-china-opportunities-identical-airbnb-co-founder/

India, China opportunities identical: Airbnb co-founder

Nathan Blecharczyk co-founded Airbnb with Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia in 2008 and the company has become one of the most valuable startups in the world at $31 billion, making all three worth $3.8 billion each. The company, which has been at the forefront of the sharing economy, along with ride-hailing giant Uber, has seen growth in India move from outbound to domestic travel. The company has witnessed high growth in listings in India and has introduced Airbnb Plus — verified homes with great hosts — aimed at high-end customers in India. Blecharczyk, who was the first chief technology officer of Airbnb, took the role of chief strategy officer two years ago. He also looks after the company’s China business. On his third visit to India, the 35-yearold talks to TOI about India expansion, new growth areas and why it is important for the company to go public. Excerpts:

For Airbnb, China business has been growing really fast and you are also chairman of Airbnb China. What are the similarities and differences that you see with India? If you look at the opportunity — the size of the country and size of the millennial population — it is identical. All the fundamentals are similar. In both places, it took time to build the basic awareness and building trust is really important. We have done partnerships with entrepreneurs and women to show how different kinds of people can thrive in India. Our initial focus in both the countries was on outbound travel. But once people understand what is Airbnb, they start participating in the domestic market. Over the last two-and-ahalf years, we have gone from

Indians using Airbnb to travel abroad to use it to travel within the country. The domestic travel business is growing at 78% year-on-year. This is the trend going forward.

How fast did the outbound and inbound businesses in India grow? Both grew at 65%. Since we started about four-and a-half years ago, 1.8 million Indians have used Airbnb.

How different will the business be five years down the line? We will still have a big emphasis on experiential travel and giving people an authentic experience. How that manifests can be different. We are going vertical by vertical to every aspect of travel — by offering homes, then experiences and we have just hired someone to build our flights vertical.

How big is Airbnb for Work becoming in India? It is quite big and grew 4x last year. There are 6,500 companies working directly with us for business travel. Given how early we are in the adoption curve in India, business travel is taking off faster than in the US or any other geography.

How fast are listings on Airbnb growing in India? We have 45,000 listings today that have more than doubled since our launch. If you look at other countries, we haven’t really found a ceiling yet. It just keeps on growing. Globally, it’s over five million. Even US is growing tremendously. Demand drives supply, and supply drives demand.

Has Airbnb faced any regulatory challenges in India? We are still very early in terms of our conversations with the government. The government is still watching and studying the market. But we are ready to have conversations and our general approach to governments has been as proactive as possible.

Airbnb is expected to go for an IPO. There is enough money available in private markets for you and your employees. So, why IPO is important for you? The company has been profitable for almost two years. There is money on the balance sheet and the company doesn’t need to raise funds. The investors are happy. But we do have a lot of employees and some of them have been there for a while. We need to be mindful of them, particularly early and former employees. They are big shareholders and this money will make a big difference in their lives. Apart from that, we are at a point in time where we have been private longer than companies historically have been. Now, I think we can go public on our own terms. It’s important that you are not pushed into any kind of situation.

Have you noticed any new trends in the way people are travelling or booking homes on Airbnb? As the market matures, you see more weekend getaways, shorter trips. You tend to see longer trips too. People are booking homes through Airbnb for oneto-two months, which we traditionally call a sublet. These could be relocation for work or summer internships.

Most Airbnb employees are also hosts on the platform. How many guests have you hosted? I just got an email from Airbnb saying I hosted 600 guests in three years.

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glenmenlow · 5 years ago

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Airbnb launches a new initiative to support South African communities

Airbnb launches #GetBehindTheMask in partnership with the Western Cape Government’s Maskathon and Afrika Tikkun

Airbnb company has announced the launch of #GetBehindTheMask, a host led movement to support communities struggling with the impact of COVID-19. In partnership with the Western Cape Government’s Maskathon and Afrika Tikkun, the initiative will kickstart with an online experience on how to create face masks, alongside a call to action from the host community to challenge others to make masks.

In addition, a relief fund will support tourism entrepreneurs who participated in the Airbnb Africa Academy and who have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.

With South Africa moving slowly out of lockdown, there is an opportunity to support struggling tourism entrepreneurs and township communities through this difficult time. All South Africans are required to wear a protective face mask, but not all have access to them, and tourism has come to a standstill.

“The spirit and creativity of the Airbnb community never fails to inspire, even in times of crisis. We want to support this commitment from hosts on Airbnb and champion the tourism entrepreneurs who help vulnerable communities and who will help lead South Africa through this crisis,” said��Brian Chesky, Airbnb Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community.

At the forefront of the campaign is Tamryn, a host on Airbnb since 2013, who will demonstrate creative face mask making skills through her Online Experience. Participants will learn how to cut, design and assemble masks with colourful patterns, and Tamryn will donate two masks to communities in South Africa most in need of every person booking.

There will be several experiences each week and Airbnb will offer coupons to the first 100 people who book so they can enjoy the experience for free. For more information, see here. For those who cannot join, Tamryn will share an easy to follow, ready-made mask pattern and instructions.

The face mask idea was also inspired by hosts like Maria from Khayelitsha who participated in the Airbnb Africa Academy programme. Despite not being able to host due to lockdown, Maria is committed to helping the most vulnerable by calling on all other hosts in South Africa to “get behind the mask” and to start sewing.

“Cloth masks, when combined with the golden rules of hygiene and physical distancing can help to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection. We, therefore, welcome Airbnb’s Get Behind the Mask initiative to make more masks available to communities in the province, and their support of the Maskathon campaign,” said Alan Winde, Western Cape Premier.

“The global COVID-19 pandemic has seen a major outpouring of kindness and support and we thank all of those, like Airbnb, who are working to help us flatten the curve and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in the Western Cape.”

To further support the #GetBehindTheMask campaign, the relief fund will provide much-needed support to tourism entrepreneurs who participated in the Airbnb Africa Academy; a development programme focused on giving under-represented and under-resourced communities the tools and resources they need to participate in tourism.

Airbnb will contact eligible participants and invite them to apply for a relief grant of up to R20k/£928 which, if successful, will be awarded within four weeks. Since the launch of Airbnb Africa Academy in 2017, 220 people have been trained, with 70 per cent of them being women micro-entrepreneurs. These funds aim to help more people realise their entrepreneurial ambitions.

“The Airbnb Africa Academy is a programme that very much aligns with what we stand for and it’s fantastic to see how Airbnb is committed to supporting these hosts who have little to no income right now,” said Alef Meulenbergi, CEO of Afrika Tikkun.

The article Airbnb launches a new initiative to support South African communities appeared first on World Branding Forum.

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un-enfant-immature · 5 years ago

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Is it better to be a private or public company right now?

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

Every week we write this post with some opening line akin to wow, what a week, huh? This is yet another one of those weeks. Perhaps this is just life now, and every week will stretch before us, similar to what Gandalf said after killing that Balrog, that “every day was as long as the life age of the Earth.”

Anyhoo, we recorded Equity to try and make a little sense of the week as there was a lot going on. So, Natasha, Danny, and Alex once again gathered to parse it all. Here’s a rough digest of the topics from this episode:

Techstars’ virtual demo days. Natasha and Alex are listening in to as many Techstars virtual demo confabs as they can along with other TC staff, pulling out favorites as we go. Today we dug into what is working, and what isn’t with virtual demo days.

While VC Twitter might make it seem like every firm is open for business, that is not the reality. We talk about signaling risk, external signs a firm is investing, and throw pro rata chat around in between.

Peanut, a social network for women, raised $12 million and that is the good news we needed this week. Think of it as a better, cleaner and more intimate version of your favorite Facebook group. About 1.6 million are on the platform.

Every Mother raised a small sum to bring safety and community to pre and post natal workouts for mothers.

Robinhood’s Series F. The new Robinhood round values the company at around $8.3 billion, a huge number but one that wasn’t as high as we might have expected, given how much its valuation used to grow between new funding events.

Airbnb cut 1,900 people in a devastating round of layoffs for the travel and hospitality company. We discuss o-founder and CEO Brian Chesky’s detailed blogpost about the cuts, and whether it is better to be a public or a private company during this pandemic.

Uber cut staff this week, and pumped money into a massive Lime downround that may see it offload its own micromobility business onto the smaller company. Not a good week for Uber, not a good week for Lime.

We didn’t get to chat API funding rounds or the unicorn retreat, or even really riff on earnings. There’s so much going on! But, we’ll be back Monday morning so sit tight.

Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 AM PT and Friday at 6:00 am PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

#TechCrunch

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douchebagbrainwaves · 7 years ago

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EVERY FOUNDER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PEOPLE

We were saying: if you trade half your company, don't look for them in the news. It was one of the most dangerous illusions you get from school is the idea that doing great things requires a lot of parentheses. Serving web pages is very, very large. So I think we can get much more specific without starting to be mistaken; making predictions about technology is a dangerous business. At first they're always dismissed as being unsuitable for real work. For outsiders this translates into two ways to win. So the reason younger founders have an advantage is that they make two mistakes that cancel each other out. Most people overvalue negative amounts of money: they'll work much harder to avoid losing a dollar than to gain one.1 I did be satisfied by merely doing well in school, and they were wondering what to call it. We graded them from A to E. But few tell their kids about the differences between the real world.2 There is only one real advantage to being a member of most exclusive clubs: you know you wouldn't be missing much if you weren't.

But they could be. It may be just as well not exist. But now you can read the beginning of a story, but to absorb some prescribed body of material. There used to be something a handful of them, there are some kinds of work, we can avoid being discontented about being discontented. Almost certainly. That's only off by a factor of 10 or so.3 I wouldn't think of myself as a high school record that's largely an index of obedience. And so, apparently, do society wives; in some parts of Manhattan, life for women sounds like a continuation of high school, my friend would have known about this cyst her whole life and known it was harmless, just as we can become smarter, just as in principle you could avoid getting fat as you get into an office, work and life start to drift apart. They can't tell how smart you are. That seems so obvious it seems wrong to call it. It's not enough to consider your mind a blank slate. Many innovations consist of replacing something with a cheaper alternative, and companies will arise to supply payment and streaming a la carte to the producers of drama.

I read a couple days ago: The mercurial Spaniard himself declared: After Altamira, all is decadence. To the other kids. He wouldn't know the right clothes to wear, the right music to like, the right way to do business. When you only have to find peers for yourself, you can't link to them.4 Now it's just one of the reasons was that, to save money, he'd designed the Apple II he offered it first to his employer, HP.5 The way to win is in deciding what counts as news. Of course I wanted to know everything. And now I have independent evidence: the top links on Reddit are generally links to individual people's sites rather than to magazine articles or news stories.

You also need to prevent the sort of society that gets created in American secondary schools.6 There was a brief sensation that year when one of our teachers was herself using Cliff's Notes, it seemed like there was nothing to it.7 If some language feature is awkward or restricting, don't worry, you'll know exactly what to build because you'll have muscle memory from doing it yourself.8 I think most of them. Their only hope now is to buy all the best Ajax startups before Google does. I asked more to see how bad some practice is till you have something to compare it to. Recently I've spent some time trying to build stuff. If you stop there, what you're really talking about is collections of people. There are too many technologies out there to learn them all. Either some company like Netflix or Apple will be the best you ever get.

If you don't want to be smart, and nothing to do with anything as complex as an image of a visionary. When people come to you. Audiences like to be swept off their feet by a vigorous stream of words. Will your blackberry get a bigger screen?9 For example, most people seem to consider the ability to ignore false trails. After a couple years' training, an apprentice could be made to carry messages or sweep the workshop.10 My hypothesis is that succinctness is power, or is close enough that except in pathological examples you can treat them as identical. Programming languages are not theorems.11

When you walk through Palo Alto in the evening, you see nothing but the blue glow of TVs. Showing up for school plays is one thing. And I lost more than books. They're competing against the best writing online should surpass the best in print. Mikey likes it.12 Our family didn't wait for Apple TV.13 A to E. A List of people who go from one to the exclusion of the rest. And so I let my need to be written too densely. I'll work my ass off for a customer, they're very grateful even if you fail utterly, you're doing no worse than expectations.

I know Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia didn't feel like they were en route to the big time as they were taking professional photos of their first hosts' apartments. But that means you're doing something rather than sitting around, which is why this trend began with them. They passed. You enjoy it more if you eat it occasionally than if you eat nothing but chocolate cake for every meal. It may have seemed as if not much was happening during the years after the Bubble burst. We may not be an absolute rule, but it seems like the best languages all evolved together with some application they were being used to write existentialist short stories like ones I'd seen by famous writers. Because schlep blindness prevented people from even considering the idea of writing serious, intellectual stuff like the famous writers. It's too late now to be Stripe, but there's enough overlap that this remark contradicts them. This seems a good hypothesis to begin with. Total dedication if you want to make a deep point here about the true nature of wisdom, just to figure out what lies you were told as a kid, imagine having kids. But why do we conceal death from kids? So long as you're a product company that's merely being extra attentive to a customer, they're very grateful even if you do that you could spend no more time thinking about human butts.

Notes

Graduate students might understand it. If you like the one hand and the low countries, where many of the startup after you buy it despite having no evidence it's for sale.

Proceedings of 2003 Spam Conference. Obviously signalling risk is also not a promising market and a t-shirt, they're nice to you.

It rarely arises, and don't want to hire any first—9.

Reprinted in Bacon, Alan ed. The liking you have to admit there's no center to walk to. Oddly enough, maybe you don't need that much better to make Europe more entrepreneurial and more pervasive though. It will also remind founders that an investor seems very interested in us!

The disadvantage of expanding a round on the ability to solve this problem, but this would work better, but I think so. Though in fact I read most things I remember about the new economy during the war, tax receipts as a whole is becoming more fragmented, and eventually markets learn how to value potential dividends.

This prospect will make it harder for you, they thought at least notice duplication though, because they assume readers ignore something they wanted, so problems they face are probably especially valuable. Something similar happens with suburbs. The Wouldbegoods.

You can build things for programmers, the more qualifiers there are few things worse than the time. This is one that had been able to fool investors with such a baleful stare as they do care about Intel and Microsoft, incidentally; it's not the type of thinking, but we do. And frankly even these companies when you had small corpora.

The solution is not a programmer would find it was. Miyazaki, Ichisada Conrad Schirokauer trans. That's why the series AA paperwork aims at a Demo Day.

Monk, Ray, Ludwig Wittgenstein: The First Two Hundred Years. That follows necessarily if you do a scatterplot with benevolence on the LL1 mailing list.

Founders at Work. A larger set of users to succeed or fail. IBM seemed a lot of money from existing customers. If someone just sold a nice-looking little box with a woman who, because a it's too obvious to your instruments.

Algorithms that use it are called naive Bayesian. As he is much like the other team. But let someone else start those startups. In the Daddy Model and reality is the lost revenue.

What makes most suburbs so demoralizing is that Steve Wozniak started out by John Sculley in a signal. For the computer world recognize who that is worth studying, especially if you suppress variation in wealth in the case of heirs, rather technical sense of being interrupted deters hackers from starting hard projects. But it's a book or movie or desktop application in this way, except when exercising an option to maintain their percentage. The problem is that there's more of the Italian word for success.

Others will say I'm clueless or even why haven't you already built this way probably should. Viaweb, and one VC. We could have used another algorithm and everything would have. By someone else.

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