Friday, 30 April 2021
Pandemic Inspector General Warns of Oversight Breakdown
By BY ALAN RAPPEPORT from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3xH1ILY
What to Know About the 147th Kentucky Derby
By BY MELISSA HOPPERT AND JOE DRAPE from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2S9tP5U
Tom Brady Charted a New Path. Aaron Rodgers Struggles to Do the Same.
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Judge and Cole Dominate as Yankees Crush Tigers
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Looking for a Weekend Excursion? Try Craft Shop Hopping
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MoMA Blocks Protesters Who Planned to Demonstrate Inside
By BY ZACHARY SMALL from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/3xLZMBV
Early bird extension gives you more time to save on passes to TC Early Stage 2021: Marketing and Fundraising
Startup life, especially in the early innings, is nothing short of hectic. Who wouldn’t love a clone or two to help get everything done? Well, we can’t clone you, but we can give you more time to sign up and save on a pass to TC Early Stage 2021: Marketing and Fundraising on July 8-9.
We’re extending the early bird deadline to Friday, June 4 at 11:59 pm (PT). Sweet! That should help calm the cray-cray and save you $100 on admission to our virtual two-day bootcamp experience. Of course, you don’t need to wait. Buy your pass now while it’s top-of-mind and feel the joy of having one less task on your to-do list.
Not familiar with TC Early Stage? It’s specifically designed to help new startup founders learn essential entrepreneurial skills to build a successful startup. We tap the very best experts in the startup ecosystem, and they deliver actionable insights you can put in place now, when you need them most.
At TC Early Stage 2021, top-tier investors, veteran founders and respected subject-matter experts will lead highly interactive sessions on topics ranging from fundraising and marketplace positioning to growth marketing and content development. Get answers to your burning questions.
Here’s just one example. Rebecca Reeve Henderson, founder and CEO of Rsquared Communication, will hold forth on how to create an effective earned media strategy for your startup. Talk about an essential skill. Want more examples?
- Mike Duboe, general partner at Greylock will share the latest growth trends in consumer and B2B technology.
- Sarah Kunst, founding partner at Cleo Capital, will focus on best practices and offer solid advice on how to get ready to fundraise.
We’re announcing more speakers every week, and we’ll share the event agenda soon, so stay tuned.
TC Early Stage 2021: Marketing and Fundraising takes place on July 8-9, and now you have an extra month to save $100. Calm the cray-cray and take one important, business-building task of your to-do list. Buy your early-bird pass to TC Early Stage 2021 before June 4. We can’t wait to see you there!
Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at Early Stage 2021 – Marketing & Fundraising? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.
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Thursday, 29 April 2021
Giants trade down with Bears, who take Justin Fields.
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3gQnRkI
Eagles trade up to take Heisman winner DeVonta Smith.
By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3u6dBJ3
Patrick Surtain II to Denver makes it back-to-back corners.
By BY EMMANUEL MORGAN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3eFPryp
A troubled vaccine manufacturer, Emergent BioSolutions, announces a shake-up while projecting record revenues.
By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG AND CHRIS HAMBY from NYT World https://ift.tt/3nxovoJ
Republicans in Florida pass an extensive bill of voting restrictions.
By BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND NICK CORASANITI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3xA1V3l
Panthers dial up CB Jaycee Horn, the first defensive player off the board.
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3aQpETj
Biden will meet with South Korea’s president on May 21.
By BY MADELEINE NGO from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3vt0xO6
Corrections: April 30, 2021
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Quotation of the Day: Hauling Loads, With Pets at Their Side
By Unknown Author from NYT Today’s Paper https://ift.tt/3xAHx2c
The Lions pick up Oregon OT Penei Sewell.
By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3nwIVOH
América Latina tras un año de pérdidas por la COVID-19
By BY JULIE TURKEWITZ AND MITRA TAJ from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/3t61YjK
The two top-rated wide receivers are off the board.
By BY EMMANUEL MORGAN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3aQo9Vb
Florida Republicans Pass Voting Limits in Broad Elections Bill
By BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND NICK CORASANITI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3u9s5aU
Ja’Marr Chase will reunite with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati.
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3u7qthV
Shake-Up at Covid Vaccine Manufacturer That Tossed Millions of Doses
By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG AND CHRIS HAMBY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3vvCWfL
Patrick Surtain II has a PS2 controller pendant.
By BY ELENA BERGERON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3sZerG4
Roger Goodell’s armchair is coming to Cleveland.
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2QAmWKM
Lambda School lays off 65 employees amid restructuring
Nearly a year after its last layoff, online coding bootcamp Lambda School just announced more cuts amid a broader structuring. In a blog post, CEO and founder Austen Allred said that the startup, which raised a $74 million Series C in August, is laying off 65 employees.
The roles that were cut span senior product, engineering, design, community management, or instructional staff. There is a Google form for companies to post job opportunities for new Lambda School alumni.
“We have been working for years on making incentive-aligned education work,” Allred wrote in a tweet. “It’s harder than we initially thought; we’ve had to invent a lot from scratch simultaneously and we have to get a lot of things exactly right.”
Lambda School creates online bootcamps in the career and technical space — and it’s also a pioneer of the ISA, an income share agreement, touting it as a vital way to finance employment-ready education. ISAs essentially allow students to avoid paying upfront fees to attend a bootcamp, and then ultimately pay back class fees through a percent of their future income. A number of startups have taken the ‘Lambda School for X’ format, such as Henry and Microverse. Other companies also offer ISAs such as Pursuit, V School, Launch School, and the Grace Hopper Program, one analysis shows.
The pandemic, and volatile economic circumstances, have made ISAs a harder route. Allred said that some startups pivoted from the model, but it appears that Lambda School will not. It’s still a hard thing to finance as a startup, since the company is essentially in a waiting game of debt until students pay. The company might be looking at a variety of ways to fund the ISA business, one of which got them in hot water years ago.
“We have a lot of interest in purchasing the income share agreements at the point of graduation, from investment funds and that kind of thing,” Allred said back in April 2020.
We don’t know how exactly the restructuring will look from a strategy perspective, beyond the fact that Lambda School is pausing new enrollment in part-time programs. . Earlier this month, Lambda School announced a new partnership with Amazon: a back-end engineering program that will last for nine months. Since the program is full-time, it is likely not impacted by the restructuring.
Today’s call by Lambda School illustrates how hard it is to build an edtech company that is truly doing something new. The company has a lot of stakeholders with different incentives to consider: students saving money, businesses making money, and venture capitalists who have given millions and millions to the company expecting some type of exit one day.
“Despite these changes, our mission remains the same. As we move forward, we will continue to focus on unlocking opportunity, regardless of circumstance, for everyone willing to put in the work,” the blog post reads. Allred didn’t immediately respond to request for comment
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Roger Goodell gave his first public statement on the Deshaun Watson investigation.
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/331BWUs
Patrick Surtain II is among those following their fathers to the N.F.L.
By BY EMMANUEL MORGAN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2Shp5LJ
Palestinian Vote Delayed, Prolonging Split for West Bank and Gaza
By BY PATRICK KINGSLEY from NYT World https://ift.tt/330dpir
Draft prospects show their style on the red carpet.
By Unknown Author from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3e1rClF
Where’s Trevor Lawrence?
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3nCbFpk
Wednesday, 28 April 2021
“Just before Covid, we had the most inclusive economy in my lifetime. The lowest unemployment ever recorded for African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian-Americans. The lowest for women in nearly 70 years. Wages were growing faster for the bottom 25% than the top 25%.
By BY JEANNA SMIALEK from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3eBzdqg
“In the process, while this was all going on, the economy created more than 1,300,000 new jobs in 100 days. More new jobs in the first 100 days than any president on record.”
By BY JEANNA SMIALEK from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3gJeh3a
An Alameda Police Officer Used His Knee to Pin Down Mario Gonzalez
By BY SHAWN HUBLER AND EVAN HILL from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3xxI1pG
“We’re also providing rental assistance — you all know this but the American people, I want to make sure they understand — keeping people from being evicted from their homes.”
By BY LINDA QIU from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3u8fZPC
“The climate crisis is not our fight alone, either. It’s a global fight. The United States accounts for less than 15% of carbon emissions. The rest of the world accounts for 85%”
By BY LISA FRIEDMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3xwpavc
Harris and Pelosi make history standing behind a president during a formal address to Congress.
By BY ALISHA HARIDASANI GUPTA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3eDsE6p
Burning of Police Station After George Floyd’s Death Draws 4-Year Sentence
By BY AZI PAYBARAH from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3vxkeEB
Man Caught Smuggling 35 Songbirds Into J.F.K. Airport, Authorities Say
By BY NEIL VIGDOR from NYT New York https://ift.tt/3t29pZw
Super, an Indonesian hyperlocal social commerce startup, raises $28M led by SoftBank Ventures Asia
In Indonesia, daily necessities often cost more in smaller cities and rural areas. Super co-founder and chief executive officer Steven Wongsoredjo said the price difference can vary from about 10% to 20% in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, to nearly 200% in eastern provinces. Super uses social commerce and a streamlined logistics chain to lower the cost of goods. The startup announced today it has raised an oversubscribed $28 million Series B led by SoftBank Ventures Asia.
Other participants included returning backers Amasia, Insignia Ventures Partners, Y-Combinator Continuity Fund and Bain Capital co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca, while partners from DST Global and TNB Aura invested for the first time in this round.
The funding brings Super’s total raised so far to more than $36 million, which the company says is the most funding an Indonesian social commerce startup has raised so far.
Super, which took part in Y Combinator’s winter 2018 batch, focuses mainly on cities or towns with a gross domestic product per capita of $5,000 USD or lower. It currently operates in 17 cities in East Java, and has a network of thousands of agents, or resellers, and hundreds of thousands of end buyers. The company will use its new funding to double its presence in the region and launch in other Indonesian provinces this year. It will also expand its product categories beyond fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and develop its recently-launched white label brand, SuperEats.
Wongsoredjo told TechCrunch that Super’s ultimate goal is to “build the Walmart Group of Indonesia without having a retail store and utilizing the social commerce aspect to build a sustainable model,” similar to the way Pinduoduo became one of China’s biggest e-commerce companies by focusing on smaller cities.
Prices for consumer goods are higher in small cities and rural areas because of two reasons, Wongsoredjo said. The first is that orders from smaller cities cost more to fulfill, with supply chain costs adding up, than larger orders, and the second is infrastructure that makes it harder for manufacturers and FMCG brands to truck goods into rural areas, so supply does not meet demand.
Super operates a central warehouse, along with smaller hubs closer to buyers. Most of Super’s products are supplied by regional FMCG brands, and group orders are delivered to agents, who in turn perform last-mile deliveries to their buyers. This keeps prices down by making its supply chain more efficient and enabling it to fulfill orders within 24 hours without relying on third-party logistics providers.
Other social commerce companies in Indonesia include KitaBeli, ChiliBeli and Woobiz. Wongsoredjo said Super had a headstart to serve smaller cities and rural areas because it does not focus on Jabodetabek, or the greater Jakarta region. Its headquarters and core operations teams are also all outside of major cities.
“We believe that by not having Jabodetabek’s presence in our DNA, we can build unique social commerce products with the hyperlocal touch to serve rural communities much better,” Wongsoredjo added. “We want to go after the rest of 90% of the market that is still under-penetrated.”
In statement, SoftBank Ventures Asia partner Cindy Jin said, “We have been impressed by the Super team’s deep knowledge and commitment to Indonesia’s underserved regions, and believe that a truly local team like theirs will be well equipped to navigate and build out a platform in this hyperlocal market.”
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WATCH LIVE: President Biden's First Address To Congress
Several things about tonight are new and different.
For the first time, the President will be flanked by two women: Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
It will NOT be a full house. Tickets for the socially-distanced speech are very limited, and seats will be spaced out for safety due to the pandemic. All will wear masks, and Biden will remove his mask to give the speech.
Presidents cannot give "State of the Union" speeches until they have served for a year in office. This is a Presidential Address at the invitation of the House Speaker.
There will be two responses to the address: Tim Scott of South Carolina will give the Republican response and "Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D, N.Y.), speaking on behalf of the left-wing Working Families Party, said he plans to deliver a speech to cue the president in on what progressives want to see next out of the administration." per The Philadelphia Enquirer.
Honored to deliver the response to President Biden's address next week with @WorkingFamilies. Let's go! https://t.co/mK7HCB296P
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Analysis: Biden is betting the pandemic has reset voters’ views of how much federal spending is too much.
By BY JIM TANKERSLEY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3aPhx9l
Watch President Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress with real-time analysis and fact checks at 9 P.M. EST.
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Paul Kellogg, New York City Opera Impresario, Dies at 84
By BY ANTHONY TOMMASINI from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2QIAljE
Biden Seeks Shift in How the Nation Serves Its People
By BY PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2PCGFcc
3 Indicted on Federal Hate Crime Charges in Ahmaud Arbery Shooting
By BY KATIE BENNER AND WILL WRIGHT from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3u3WTd8
Amazon to raise pay for 500,000 workers.
By BY KAREN WEISE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3aMUQ5z
Biden, Calling for Big Government, Bets on a Nation Tested by Crisis
By BY JIM TANKERSLEY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/3dYMABu
Ron DeSantis Does Disease
By BY GAIL COLLINS from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/3gJXTzh
Did the 2020 Census Undercount the Hispanic Population?
By BY REID J. EPSTEIN AND JENNIFER MEDINA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3nupLZH