Businesses prepare for diversity initiatives after affirmative action ruling / Nike earnings call / Apple market value surpasses $3T

Plus, Buttigieg calls out United Airlines

Inside Business For June 30, 2023

Hey Insiders, Happy Friday. We take a look at Nike's earnings, two Supreme Court rulings and how they will affect consumers and businesses, and more.  Also, we hope you'll have a better time traveling this weekend than what United Airlines has dealt with this week. Christopher p/chris951156

1 After Thursday's Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in college applications, companies are expecting a reduction in racial diversity in the job pool of highly educated candidates. Many large companies have cited affirmative action as a help to diversify the applicant pool by providing a larger array of possible candidates with experience. More: Many large employers have cited research suggesting that diverse teams are more creative and make better business decisions than non-diverse ones.  Opponents of affirmative action or diversity initiatives in the workplace suggest they are ineffective and divisive. Numerous companies report that they will continue to utilize diversity initiatives despite the Supreme Court's ruling, but it will cause them to justify why such initiatives can increase company performance. "Employers have always been walking this tightrope of having targets and goals and not quotas," said Ian Carleton Schaefer, a partner in the labor and employment practice at the law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton in New York. "This decision just snapped the tightrope."

2 What the numbers say: Nike continues a trend of not much upward growth when it comes to YoY quarter growth in revenue. It saw just a 4.9% revenue increase YoY in its most recent earnings announcement  Its most recent high in growth was in November of last year, when it saw a 17% rise in revenue from the year before. The biggest spike was based on how the company rebounded from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic until a year later, seeing a nearly 100% increase in revenue YoY. Relevance: Nike announced its fourth-quarter earnings and missed on earnings for the first time in three years. It made $12.83B in revenue, which beat projections of $12.59B. But the earnings per share came in at $0.66 compared to the projected $0.67. Sales surged in China after the company pulled back pandemic restrictions. More info: The company is also trying to find ways to raise prices across the board while offering discounts to get rid of unsold merchandise. As of this morning, the stock price was at $110, a far cry from its high two years ago of $166 in November 2021.

3 Apple's market valuation surpassed $3T on Friday, as it also saw shares hit a new record. Shares in the company rose 1.6% to $192.64, helping the Nasdaq Composite index gain 1.3%. More: The Nasdaq Composite Index is on pace for its best first-half performance since 1983, according to Bloomberg. Apple is the world's most valuable listed company and only saw its market value reach $3T once before, briefly in mid-day trading on Jan. 3, 2022. In order to hit $3T on Friday, it would need to close at over $190.74. Apple's market value has rebounded 45% this year, adding nearly $1T in market cap. Apple is currently larger than Google parent company Alphabet and Amazon combined.

4 A California bill that is waiting to be signed will give Hollywood movie and TV studios a lucrative tax perk. The bill would extend the state's tax incentive programs for film and TV productions for another five years and allow studios to exchange any tax credits they aren't able to use for cash. More: The bill was passed by state legislators on Tuesday, with Gov. Gavin Newsom expected to sign it today. It also states that any production that receives a tax credit must obey new on-set firearm safety stipulations, seen as a direct correlation to the Rust incident involving actor Alec Baldwin.  Studios must also aim to meet diversity hiring targets. The move by California is seen as a way to try and keep productions in the state, as other states like New York and Georgia are gaining shares of the film and TV production market.

5 United Airlines has battled storms, delays, and cancellations all week ahead of one of the busiest travel holidays of the year. The issues are testing the resilience of the major airline, as its problems started last weekend in New York. More: United blamed last weekend's issues on thunderstorms, federal air traffic control staffing shortages, and inexperience. But this past Wednesday saw more issues spread all over the country, more so than other airlines, making it noticeable. After cancelling more than a quarter of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, cancellations dropped to 19% on Thursday, according to FlightAware. Still, United cancelled 520 flights yesterday, more than any other airline. Already by midday Friday, United had cancelled 220 flights, as it said it was monitoring the weather in Chicago and Denver. More than 500 flights have already been delayed. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg singled out United in a tweet, citing the other airlines that had made progress avoiding cancellations while United had not.

6 The Supreme Court rejected President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, voiding the White House's proposal. The ruling comes as a three-year pause on federal loan repayments is set to expire. More: The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in opposition to Biden's plan, saying that the proposed wipeout of $430B in debt exceeded the limits of the White House's power. Borrowers who had hoped for a more permanent stay of loan payments must now brace how to make payments in their budgets. "It was too good to be true," said Rudi Petry, a 31-year-old brand strategist in Durham, North Carolina, who has $95,000 in undergraduate and graduate loans and was eligible for $20,000 in forgiveness. The federal student loan balance has more than doubled since 2010. An estimated 20 million with federal debt were expecting to have their balance completely forgiven under Biden's plan.

7 Quick Hits: Protect your code with help from Docker. Read our white paper to learn how to stay ahead of security threats and build a resilient tech stack.* Twitter is no longer letting people see the site without logging in.  Bloomberg takes a look at how SoFi has changed from its original plan.  The WSJ has an exclusive story on the women who were interviewing for Bill Gates' private office being asked sexually explicit questions.  It's never been easier for your sales organization to accelerate growth. Learn how AI and more can help you sell in a whole new way.* *This is a sponsored post.

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Christopher Hachey Freelance Editor Christopher Hachey is a freelance writer and editor based in the New York City area. He has spent most of the past 15 years in newsrooms covering all kinds of topics like sports, tech, business, finance, and commerce. He's now returning to his broadcast journalism roots by diving into podcasting news. Reach out to him at chris@inside.com This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield

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POW工作量证明峰会嘉宾阵容#5

随着对即将在今年九月举行的Proof-of-Work Summit工作量证明峰会的期待日益高涨，我们很高兴介绍三位杰出的演讲者，他们将以自己的专业知识和见解为这个活动增光添彩：Cody Burns、Magdalena Gronowska和John D'Agostino。 Cody Burns是分布式系统技术领域的知名人物。目前在Accenture工作，Cody将他丰富的知识和经验带给企业，帮助他们理解分布式系统的复杂性。除了在Accenture的职位外，Cody还担任Zcash社区资助委员会、ETC合作社的职务，并担任BTA Certified的顾问。凭借他多方面的背景，Cody将能够就工作量证明的不断发展的领域提供有价值的观点。 Magdalena Gronowska是区块链行业备受尊敬的人物，她将自己的深厚专业知识带到了Proof-of-Work Summit。她担任萨尔瓦多数字证券委员会顾问委员会的成员，在塑造监管环境方面发挥着关键作用。Magdalena在3iQ的参与为加拿大的比特币ETF铺平了道路，进一步确立了她在加密货币领域的重要影响力。此外，她还是PRTI Inc.的顾问，为创新项目提供战略洞察。 John D'Agostino是一位杰出的演讲者，担任领先的加密货币交易所Coinbase的机构策略高级总监职位。凭借在该行业的丰富经验，John对机构参与数字资产的复杂性非常熟悉。值得注意的是，他还担任美国国际贸易部资产管理委员会的主席，强调了他在传统金融与新兴区块链生态系统之间互相连接搭建桥梁方面的专长。 这次峰会将是区块链和加密货币领域杰出人物的非凡聚会，这些演讲者将为围绕工作量证明共识算法展开的热烈讨论做出贡献。 未来几个月将公布更多新的演讲者。请通过关注我们的POW Twitter、Litecoin Foundation或ETC Cooperative来保持关注。 感谢您阅读本文！ 了解有关ETC Cooperative的更多信息，请访问：https://etccooperative.org 了解更多有关ETC，欢迎访问: https://ethereumclassic.org ETC合作社 1207 Delaware Ave #541 Wilmington, DE 19806 USA 您收到这封邮件是因为您订阅了我们的网站。 取消订阅

POW Summit 2023 Speaker Spotlight #5

As the anticipation builds for the upcoming Proof-of-Work Summit in Prague this September, we are excited to introduce three more distinguished speakers who will grace the event with their expertise and insights: Cody Burns, Magdalena Gronowska, and John D'Agostino. Cody Burns is a prominent figure in the distributed system technology space. Currently with Accenture, Cody brings his extensive knowledge and experience to help companies understand the intricacies of distributed systems. In addition to his role at Accenture, Cody serves on the Zcash Community Grants Board, the ETC Cooperative, and is an advisor to BTA Certified. With his multifaceted background, Cody is poised to provide valuable perspectives on the evolving landscape of proof-of-work. Magdalena Gronowska is a highly respected individual in the blockchain industry and brings her profound expertise to the Proof-of-Work Summit. She serves on the Board of Advisors for the Digital Securities Commission of El Salvador, playing a pivotal role in shaping the regulatory landscape. Magdalena's involvement with 3iQ has been instrumental in paving the way for Bitcoin ETFs in Canada, further establishing her as a key influencer in the cryptocurrency realm. Additionally, she is an advisor to PRTI Inc., contributing her strategic insights to innovative ventures. John D'Agostino is a distinguished speaker who holds the position of Senior Director of Institutional Strategy at Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange. With his extensive experience in the industry, John is well-versed in the intricacies of institutional involvement in digital assets. Notably, he serves as the Chairman of the US Asset Management Committee for the Department for International Trade, emphasizing his expertise in bridging the gap between traditional finance and the emerging blockchain ecosystem. This summit will be an extraordinary gathering of luminaries in the blockchain and cryptocurrency field, and these speakers will contribute to the vibrant discussions surrounding the proof-of-work consensus algorithm. More new speakers will be announced in the coming months. Stay tuned by following our POW Twitter, the Litecoin Foundation, or the ETC Cooperative. Thank you for reading this article! To learn more about the ETC Cooperative go to: https://etccooperative.org To learn more about ETC go to: https://ethereumclassic.org ETC Cooperative 1207 Delaware Ave #541 Wilmington, DE 19806 USA You received this email because you signed up on our website. Unsubscribe

Essence VC raises $27M pre-seed fund / Early-stage funding roundup / GeologicAI raises $20M through Series A round

Plus, Meituan to acquire co-founder's generative AI startup Light Year

Inside Startups For June 30, 2023

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Hey Insiders,  Today we are taking a look at Essence VC's $27M pre-seed fund, GeologicAI's $20M Series A round, and Meituan's acquisition of Light Year. We have also rounded up the top early-stage funding rounds of this week.  Scroll down for some quick hits, and then let us know what other content you'd like to see in future issues.  Karan p/karan-chafekar

1 Essence VC, a Seattle-based pre-seed venture capital firm, raised $27M for its third fund. The firm plans to invest in artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, and software development tools. More: The fund has already invested in marketing content generator Jasper AI, computer vision company Groundlight, and serverless data analytics platform MotherDuck. Essence VC is managed by Timothy Chen, who co-founded the machine learning technical infrastructure company Hyperpilot, which was sold to Cloudera in 2018. The firm leads rounds between $250,000 and $700,000, and is geography-agnostic.

2 VCs deployed $1B in early-stage North American startups this week between June 26 to June 30, per Crunchbase data. AI startups raked in 34% of the funding this week. Healthcare, cybersecurity, and biotech startups nabbed 16%, 12%, and 9% of the financing, respectively.  Here are the top 10 largest rounds announced this week:  Author Health, a Boston-based healthcare startup for Medicare Advantage recipients, raised $115M in fresh funding from General Atlantic and Flare Capital Partners.  Santa Clara, California-based Celestial AI, which provides scalable memory and compute resources to develop AI models, secured $100M in Series B funding led by IAG Capital Partners, Koch Disruptive Technologies, and Temasek's Xora Innovation Fund. AI-powered data security platform Cyera closed its Series B funding round with $100M in capital. Accel led the funding round with participation from Sequoia, Cyberstarts, and Redpoint Ventures.  Typeface, a generative AI platform for enterprise content creation, entered the unicorn club after an oversubscribed $100M Series B round led by Lightspeed Ventures Partners, Madrona, GV, Menlo Ventures, and M12.  Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech startup K36 Therapeutics secured $70M in Series B funding led by Nextech Invest. Bristol Myers Squibb Company, Atlas Ventures, F-Prime Capital, and Eight Roads Ventures joined the funding round.  AI model startup Reka emerged from stealth with $58M funding co-led by DST Global Partners and Radical Ventures.  Media and sports micro-betting platform Betr — co-founded by social media personality Jake Paul — secured $35M in Series A2 funding at a $300M pre-money valuation. The round is an extension of the firm's $50M Series A funding round from last year. Fuel Venture Capital and Roger Ehrenberg co-led the current round.  Crypto trading platform One Trading, formerly operating under Bitpanda Pro, nabbed €30M ($32.8M) in Series A funding led by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures.  Travel tech startup Utu raised $33M in Series B funding led by SC Ventures. The firm also disclosed that it had acquired Singaporean fintech startup CardsPal. New York-based bring-your-own-device security startup Venn Software nabbed $29M in Series A funding led by NewSpring.

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3 Calgary-based rock digitization services startup GeologicAI raised a $20M Series A led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to develop robot geologists.  More: GeologicAI uses robots to scan and software to improve extraction and exploration. The robots use a mix of imaging, hyperspectral data, and XRF to analyze rock samples and determine what is underneath the surface. The startup provides geologists with instant access to AI-enhanced digital twins of the rocks.

4 Chinese food delivery giant Meituan is set to acquire a generative AI startup, Light Year, started by its co-founder and former director Wang Huiwen. Meituan will pay $233.7M in cash for Light Year and inherit the latter's $51M (367M yuan) debt. The firm will pay $28M to Light Year's existing backer HongShan, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China.   More: Light Year had $285M in cash as of June 29.  Wang stepped down from the non-executive director role at Meituan on Sunday, citing health reasons.  Jefferies analysts Thomas Chong and Zoey Zong noted, "The acquisition enables Meituan to cumulate talents in large language models and deepen the exploration of generative AI opportunities ahead." Zoom out: Meituan joins the ranks of fellow Chinese tech giants, namely Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu, as they gear up to further develop generative AI services.

5 Fintech platform Brex hired Jason Mok, a former operating partner at Andreessen Horowitz and managing director at Silicon Valley Bank, as its head of startups. The news comes amid the San Francisco-based firm's revised focus on startups, after moving away to focus on larger enterprise customers a year ago.  More: The firm had to rethink its priorities and strategy after an influx of customers from the implosion of SVB. Within a week after SVB's implosion, Brex opened 4,000 new accounts and received $2B in deposits.  In addition to helping startups navigate the economic and banking crisis, Mok is also tasked with assisting them with generative AI.  Mok spent 16 years at SVB before taking up the operating partner role at a16z in 2020.  He stepped down from his role at the VC firm to focus on family in September 2022.

6 AlloyX, a decentralized finance protocol, raised a $2M pre-seed round led by Hack VC. The startup plans to use the funds to expand operations. More: AlloyX aggregates tokenized credit, having integrated with nine credit protocols.  The company plans to launch a blended investment vault with Credix Finance and a tokenized U.S. Treasury Bills protocol, which it expects to be live in Q3. The startup claims $5M in total value locked. Other participants in the round include MH Ventures, Archblock, and Circle Ventures, among others.

7 Quick Hits: Protect your code with help from Docker. Read our white paper to learn how to stay ahead of security threats and build a resilient tech stack.* Humane, a startup started by former Apple design and engineering team members Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, launched its first product called The Humane Ai Pin. The product is an AI-powered wearable gadget that has a projected display.  Tiger Global-backed African tech startup Union54 is developing a super app dubbed ChitChat app, which is set to debut in September.  Seattle-based technical recruiting startup Karat held its second round of layoffs this year, cutting the jobs of 47 employees this time.  Eli Lilly is set to acquire German antibody-drug conjugates biotech startup Emergence Therapeutics.  It's never been easier for your sales organization to accelerate growth. Learn how AI, and more, can help you sell in a whole new way.* *This is sponsored content

Upcoming Events JUL 12 Monthly Meditation guided by Nicholas Whitaker Virtual Register Here JUL 13 #ThankfulThursdays Wellness Community Challenge Virtual Join Here OCT 16 Meet Our Fund 5, Building and Investing in AI San Mateo, California Save Your Seat * This is a sponsored event

Knowledge Hub Term of the Day Cross-selling: Cross-selling refers to recommending similar or supplementary products to the ones a customer just purchased, or is about to purchase. Read More Question of the Week What's your stance on employees discussing their salaries with each other? Join the conversation

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Karan Chafekar Analyst Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.  This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett

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