| ? |
 |
|
Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium    
CEO Picks - The best that international journalism has to offer!  S17How the D'Amelio Family Used Its TikTok Fame to Launch a Footwear Business   The D'Amelio family--known for TikTok sister-sensations Charli, 19, and Dixie, 22--is bringing its Los Angeles-based shoe brand to New York City for a weekend-long pop up from March 8 to 10, in partnership with Shopify. D'Amelio Footwear has been experimenting with live events since its launch in May 2023, but this will be its first activation in New York. The pop-up will sell the footwear brand's spring line, which features a new sandal with cork soles, and a bouquet-making booth. It will also host an invite-only event for content creators, as well as a panel on female entrepreneurs for International Women's Day hosted by Heidi D'Amelio with Melissa Clayton, CEO of the jewelry business Tiny Tags, Valerie Bruce, general manager at BBC Studios in Los Angeles, and "special guests" to be announced.Â
Continued here
|
S1Why Genuinely Connecting With Other People (and Building Instant Relationships) Has Very Little to Do With Speaking, Backed by Harvard Research - Inc.com (No paywall)  Or what Charles Duhigg, in his excellent new book Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, calls being a supercommunicator: knowing the right thing to say, knowing how to break through to almost anyone, and figuring out how to connect in the most unlikely circumstances.If you're a leader, I might say, "Have you had a hard time retaining good people?" If the answer is no, my follow-up could be, "Everyone else seems to. What are you doing differently?" Flattering question, one you'll be delighted to answer. And we're off. If you're in customer service, I might say, "Oh, wow. That sounds hard. What's the toughest situation you typically have to deal with?" And we're off.
Continued here
|
| ? |
|
S2How Managers Can Do A Better Job Sharing The Bad News About Layoffs - Forbes (No paywall)  The steady stream of layoffs following the Great Resignation has spilled into 2024 with about 186 tech companies cutting over 49,386 jobs this year, according to Layoffs.fyi. Although the CEO outlook for 2024 remains positive about the deployment of artificial intelligence, business transformations and mitigating expenses, it has come at the cost of the workforce in the United States.Although employers are making relatively smaller cuts this year by staggering them, employees have been impacted across a wide range of sectors, including technology, gaming, finance, retail and media. Despite their optimism, C-suite executives—with pressure from investors—are being cautious and remaining cost-conscious.
Continued here
|
S3Mieko Kawakami on how men can make the world better for women - The Economist (No paywall)  It always felt unnerving to see a woman fully clothed in a place where everyone was naked, but what was even more shocking was when I learned that this lady was doing the same in the men’s bath as well. Picture a woman, all by herself, going into a space where men gather naked and picking up their hair and trash. Not another man, but a woman—among naked male bodies. How did she feel? How did the men feel? I couldn’t put my discomfort into words back then, but I had an intuition that I was witnessing something terribly grotesque—and, at the same time, important.
Continued here
|
| ? |
|
S4Oldest known animal sex chromosome evolved in octopuses 380 million years ago  Researchers have found the oldest known sex chromosome in animals — the octopus Z chromosome — which first evolved in an ancient ancestor of octopuses around 380 million years ago. The findings1 answer a long-standing question about how sexual development is directed in the group of sea creatures that includes octopuses and squid.“We stumbled upon probably the oldest animal sex chromosome known to date,” says evolutionary geneticist Andrew Kern at the University of Oregon in Eugene. “Sex determination in cephalopods, such as squids and octopi, was a mystery — we found the first evidence that genes are in any way involved.”
Continued here
|
| ? |
|
|
| ? |
|
|
|
S5To Control Your Life, Control What You Pay Attention To - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)  Your attention determines the experiences you have, and the experiences you have determine the life you live. Rather than allowing distractions to derail you, choose where you direct your attention at any given moment, based on an understanding of your priorities and goals. To do this, you need to control external factors like technology (turn off that phone!) and the environment (keep those interrupting colleagues away!). But you also need to learn to control internal factors, like your own behavior and thoughts. Learning to practice attention management won’t eliminate all distractions from your day, but it will give you more control over how you spend your time — and your life.
Continued here
|
S6S7How do black holes actually interact with matter?  How do black holes store information? Is the universe a hologram? How can we use what we know about energy and mass to begin approaching the idea of virtual particles? NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller unpacks these questions and more in less than eight minutes.
Continued here
|
S8Hidden trauma: Do psychedelics reveal memories or create fake ones?  Can psychedelics help people unearth and emotionally process significant memories, including traumatic memories that might be lurking below conscious awareness? Anecdotal evidence suggests they can. In the film Trip of Compassion, we hear from three survivors of separate traumas who said taking MDMA helped them revisit and heal from their experiences. And in courageous acts of vulnerability, two influential figures in the psychedelic space, Tim Ferriss and Katherine MacLean, have publicly shared their stories of recovering memories of sexual abuse under psychedelics — MacLean under psilocybin, as described in her book Midnight Water, and Ferriss under ayahuasca, mushrooms, and meditation, as noted in his podcast. The media and research literature are full of countless anecdotes of psychedelics revealing hidden memories. But alongside what are undoubtedly some real and heart-rending personal accounts, there’s reason to be skeptical about the veracity of the memories retrieved while under the influence of psychedelics. After all, psychedelics have also been shown to increase suggestibility and enhance false memories — effects that understandably raise suspicions about retrieved memories, similar to suspicions in the “memory wars” of the 1990s, a series of debates on the scientific validity of repressed memories, uncovered trauma, and the perils of memory recovery therapy.
Continued here
|
S9How fear of regret influences our decisions  One of the primary motivators of human behavior is avoiding regret. Before the legendary behavioral economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky formalized prospect theory and loss aversion, they believed that regret avoidance was at the root of the human behaviors they were studying. However, they learned that there are behaviors that regret avoidance could not explain and were led to a broader picture.Let’s take a look at a simple game that sheds a bit more light on the psychology of regret.
Continued here
|
S10The ocean vents where life on Earth likely began  Earth, a little over four billion years ago: The planet was still in its infancy, coming together just 500 million years prior. There was little to no oxygen. The surface — what little there was — was barren, scorching, and volcanic. Instead of land, there was water, lots of it. Earth was an ocean world. And it was in this global ocean that life formed for the very first time.To be fair, nobody can say with certainty when, where, or how life first came into being. Separated from the momentous event by billions of years, scientists can only speculate how a self-sustaining chemical system became capable of transmitting genetic information from parents to progeny. But that speculation is not blind. Researchers have spent more than a half-century probing basic biological systems, poking around for primitive fossils, and searching for the places that could have roiled life into existence. In light of this extensive hunt, two biologists with over 75 years of collective experience think they have enough information to outline how life began. In a paper recently published in the journal Life, they shared their educated vision of life’s origins.
Continued here
|
S11AI Might Rescue the Video Game Industry. Can It Save Your Business?  While 2023 was widely-regarded as one of the best years ever for gaming, with a record-breaking number of critically acclaimed releases, there were warning signs that the good times wouldn't last. Venture capital firms invested just $4.1 billion into gaming companies in 2023, a far cry from the $14.6 billion invested in 2022 and the $16.2 billion invested in 2021, according to a recent report from the research firm Pitchbook. Now dealing with reduced funding, the $184.3 billion video game industry--like many businesses across sectors--is hoping AI can help it bridge the gap between its ambition and its resources. The reduced VC activity "likely represents a more realistic level of investment than the peak years of 2020 to 2022, which attracted non-endemic and 'tourist' investors during Web3 and metaverse hype-cycles," according to the Pitchbook report. Large gaming companies used the influx of funds from 2020 to 2022 to scale up their staff in order to take on hugely ambitious games with budgets topping $300 million. In this suddenly more difficult funding environment, those same companies have been undergoing massive layoffs and are scaling their ambitions back down. Just in the past few weeks, Sony announced it would lay off 900 PlayStation employees, Microsoft said it would lay off 1900 Xbox employees, and Electronic Arts said it would lay off around 670 employees, or 5 percent of its workforce.Â
Continued here
|
S125 Common Cash Flow Mistakes That Can Slow Fast-Growth Companies  As a strategy and leadership coach, my job is to help businesses scale quickly. Most of my clients are doubling every one to two years, and some as quickly as six months. While this growth is fun and exciting, it can also be complicated and painful.One of the more difficult and hard-to-see challenges of growth is managing cash flow. Just because sales are skyrocketing doesn't mean the bank account is. Knowing how to calculate profit, forecast sales and expenses, and identify areas of profitability versus areas of limited growth is crucial in making key business decisions.
Continued here
|
S13Workers Now Live Farther From the Office  Before the pandemic, in 2019, the average distance from an employee's home to their office was 10 miles. By the end of 2023, that had more than doubled to 27 miles, according to new data from researchers--including work-from-home expert Nicholas Bloom--using proprietary data from payroll provider Gusto. This data primarily included small and midsized businesses in the U.S.  Why this growing distance? The research summary, co-authored by Gusto's principal economist Liz Wilke, points to the "increased emphasis employees place on the flexibility of remote and hybrid roles" and the fact that "business owners can find new talent they need... looking beyond the geographic confines of a specific work location."Â
Continued here
|
S14Customer Service Lessons From Boeing  Boeing is one of the world's largest aerospace companies, with a long and celebrated history of providing world-class aircraft. However, in recent years, the company has been struggling, in part because of quality issues and lack of transparency. Key areas Boeing has struggled with are highlighted by a lack of thorough customer service. Customer service can be measured in many ways, from responsiveness, resolution time, and success of the resolution. Below are some key examples and lessons that can improve your customer service.
Continued here
|
S15Recent Minimum Wage Hikes Add New Expense Challenges to Restaurant Owners Struggling to Keep Prices Down  Life for restaurant owners has never been a bed of roses, but many these days say business is now facing one thorny challenge too many. For those entrepreneurs still struggling to pass as little of their rising food costs on to inflation-exhausted diners as possible, recent increases in minimum wage have become an additional cost they simply can't eat themselves--not without closing their kitchens for good.The compounding difficulties facing owners of independent, sit-down restaurants was detailed in a Wall Street Journal story Monday. It gave voice to many of entrepreneurs who managed to survive devastating pandemic lockdowns and subsequent slow customer returns to dining rooms, only to then be overwhelmed by spiking inflation. While most said they'd thus far managed to limit the percentage of those higher expenses being passed to equally price-outraged customers, January's minimum wage hikes applied in 22 U.S. states have left them without options: Either they risk the ire of diners by charging what serving a meal actually costs them, or watch their business sink in losses.
Continued here
|
S16How This Food Entrepreneur Landed a $250,000 Investment on 'Shark Tank' From Daniel Lubetzky  Founder of KIND Snacks Daniel Lubetzky invested $250,000 during Friday's episode ABC's Shark Tank into Fila Manila, a maker of Filipino spreads and condiments. Founded by first generation Filipino-American immigrant Jake Deleon, Fila Manila sells products such as Banana Ketchup, Ube Purple Yam and Coconut Spread and Kare Kare Peanut Sauce direct-to-consumer as well as in select grocery stores, including some Whole Foods locations."Where Filipino cuisine is today is where Korean and Japanese cuisine was 10 years ago," Deleon said during Friday's episode of Shark Tank. Still, it was Fila Manila's numbers, not Deleon's predictions, that impressed the sharks. The company generated $400,000 in annual revenue in 2022, a 700 percent increase year-over-year, Deloen said during the episode. He also touted the size of the Filipino population in the U.S.--an estimated 4.4 million, according to the 2020 census--as fuel for the popularity of his brand.
Continued here
|
S18A Huge Decrease in VC Funding to Black-Led Startups Comes Amid a Sweeping DEI Backlash  Startups run by Black founders are being hit especially hard amid the dramatic decline in venture funding. Data from Crunchbase released last week indicates that funding to Black-founded U.S. startups reached $705 million last year, the lowest total since 2016. Overall, money flowing to Black-owned startups plummeted 71 percent last year nationally, while funding to all startups cratered by the more modest sum of 37 percent, the report states. Of course, startup funding across all sectors has gradually slumped since the banner year of 2021, when investors lavished $643 billion on startups across the globe. That was in response to a pandemic-driven surge for digital goods and services and rock bottom interest rates. A correction was inevitable. In 2023, investors poured $285 billion into startups globally, according to Crunchbase data.
Continued here
|
S19VC Katelin Holloway on How First-Time Founders Can Get an Investment Check  Katelin Holloway, a founding partner in Alexis Ohanian's venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, wants to demystify the process and to help founders from underrepresented groups get their share of VC funding. Holloway previously held executive people and culture roles at Klout and Reddit, which Ohanian co-founded, and she describes Seven Seven Six's approach with new portfolio companies as "very high touch," including a yearlong process known as the "Founder Epoch" with "proactive, structured support" from the team.Founded in 2020, Seven Seven Six raised an initial $150 million fund in 2021 and a $500 million fund the following year. The firm focuses on early-stage investments, with a portfolio that includes women's soccer team Angel City FC, Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs, and telehealth startup Poppy Seed Health.
Continued here
|
S20Exclusive: Kamala Harris Says SBA's 'Ban The Box' Rule Could Help Millions of Would-Be Entrepreneurs  Ahead of Super Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris made a stop in North Carolina to talk small business. While in Durham, Harris caught up with Inc. before lunch to discuss something she's passionate about as a former district attorney: reducing recidivism. Harris dove into the so-called "Ban the Box" initiative, an imminent rule change from the Small Business Administration intended to expand access to capital for those with criminal records by lifting restrictions against those with a criminal history. She announced the change last month in Las Vegas with SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman after months of public comment on the proposal.
Continued here
|
S21How to Interview a Candidate You Don't Immediately Click With  It’s often easier for interviewers to connect with candidates who have similar backgrounds, pedigrees, credentials, or perspectives. In fact, research shows that implicit bias shapes hiring managers’ perceptions of candidates in profound ways. At the same time, research also attests to the enormous benefits of diversity. As organizations experiment with new ways to attract and retain underrepresented talent, the job interview dynamic merits further attention. Fortunately, there are proven strategies for boosting your chances of “clicking” with an interviewee — and for breathing new life into interviews that appear to be on their last gasps.
Continued here
|
S223 Ways Humility Can Undermine Your Leadership  Humble leadership is characterized by a willingness to admit a mistake or when you don’t know something, a tendency to share credit for successes, and an appreciation for others’ contributions. This leadership style is built on self-awareness, respect for others, and a focus on collective over individual success. But being overly humble can potentially diminish your perceived authority in three ways: 1) You may be perceived as indecisive; 2) You may hinder your career advancement; and 3) You may be limiting your team’s development. The author offers advice on how to navigate these challenges while preserving the benefits of this leadership style.
Continued here
|
 |
TradeBriefs Publications are read by over 10,00,000 Industry Executives About Us | Advertise Privacy Policy Unsubscribe (one-click) You are receiving this mail because of your subscription with TradeBriefs.
Our mailing address is GF 25/39, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi 110008, India |
