What Killed the Largest Known Ape Species Ever?

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What Killed the Largest Known Ape Species Ever?     The massive ancient ape Gigantopithecus blacki disappeared in a mystery that scientists are eager to crackAn artist’s impression of a group of the extinct species Gigantopithecus blacki in a forest in southern China. Continued here

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First-Ever Biorobotic Heart Helps Scientists Study Cardiac Function     A model heart made from living tissue fused with robotic muscles could help researchers see how the organ works on the insideFrom artificial heart valves to cellular transplants, new treatments for cardiovascular ailments are being developed every day. To model how they work, researchers need a reliable way to observe the heart in action. Animal studies, computer models and various laboratory simulators made with dead heart tissue can all provide different views, but these approaches can be expensive, lacking in complexity or limited in their shelf life. Continued here

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The hiking movement to reclaim green spaces     "For decades, the outdoors has been a predominantly white field," says Jasmine Guadalupe, a New Yorker with Puerto Rican heritage. "Inner-city people [of colour] might say: 'You are going hiking? That's for white people.'"When Guadalupe started posting about her outdoor experiences on social media, she felt very aware that most people spending time in nature didn't look like her. Continued here

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CES 2024 Live Blog: More News, Photos, and Videos From Tech's Big Show     Get live, up-to-the-minute reports of all the products, trends, and weird stuff we're seeing at CES in Las Vegas.Every January, the giant trade show known as CES takes over Las Vegas. It's a global bazaar featuring the best and worst tech ideas the industry has to offer. The products on display are by different turns wearable, pocketable, audible, rideable, mountable, and—in some cases—digestible. There are also a few dozen new cars to ogle, with most major automakers present. Here on this page, we'll be keeping a running report of everything we find interesting, from fascinating new EV concepts to bio-scanners to the latest smart home tech. Continued here

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Managing AI's Carbon Footprint     What are the immediate impacts of AI on climate? Continued here

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Add 'Getting Altmaned' to the Growing List of Concerns Among Startup Leaders     In the aftermath of Sam Altman's firing and rehiring from OpenAI, founders express anxiety about similarly getting let go. Continued here

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Lawmakers Are Out for Blood After a Hack of the SEC's X Account Causes Bitcoin Chaos     A raft of US senators have demanded answers from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after a security incident led to false and market-moving information being published by the financial regulator.At 4:11 pm ET on January 9, a post was published to the SEC's X account announcing the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, a type of financial product that would allow people to invest in the crypto asset through a regular brokerage. By 4:26 pm, SEC chair Gary Gensler had issued a retraction and said the agency's account had been "compromised," and that an "unauthorized tweet was posted." The damage had already been done. Continued here

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Bitcoin ETFs Have Arrived. Here's Who Stands to Get Rich     US regulators have approved a new breed of financial product that will give people a way to invest in bitcoin through their brokerage for the first time, as if it were a regular stock.A selection of financial institutions, including household names like BlackRock and Fidelity, have been given permission by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), whose value tracks the price of bitcoin. The approval comes after a peculiar incident on January 9, in which a hijacker used the agency's X account to announce the ETFs prematurely, leading to market chaos and forcing the SEC to publish a retraction. Continued here

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3 Key Metrics That Employee Engagement Surveys Miss     Traditional employee engagement surveys just aren’t working how we need them to. And they’re expensive, too. As the employee disengagement trends upward, the author suggests dispensing with these surveys and reinventing them internally, tailored to your organization’s unique context. She suggests three nontraditional KPIs to track instead to boost engagement: 1) team success, 2) innovation and new ideas, and 3) trends. Continued here

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Did Australia's boomerangs pave the way for flight?     The aircraft is one of the most significant developments of modern society, enabling people, goods and ideas to fly around the world far more efficiently than ever before. The first successful piloted flight took off in 1903 in North Carolina, but a 10,000-year-old hunting tool likely developed by Aboriginal Australians may have held the key to its lift-off. As early aviators discovered, the secret to flight is balancing the flow of air. Therefore, an aircraft's wings, tail or propeller blades are often shaped in a specially designed, curved manner called an aerofoil that lifts the plane up and allows it to drag or turn to the side as it moves through the air.   Continued here

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How to create democracy -- in an authoritarian country     "Today, Hungary is in the gray zone between a dictatorship and a democracy," says activist Tessza Udvarhelyi. "This did not happen overnight." In a rousing talk, she reminds us just how close any country can come to authoritarianism — and offers on-the-ground lessons for how to keep democracy alive through focus, determination and imagination. (Followed by a brief Q&A with TED curator Cloe Shasha Brooks) Continued here

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How to Evaluate a Potential Employer in a Downturn     With rising interest rates, high inflation, political issues, and war all contributing to a roller coaster global economic outlook, it’s hard to know whether to stay in a stable job — no matter how unhappy you are — or make a move when it’s unclear how changing economic conditions could affect your employment. While you can’t eliminate the risks entirely, the author presents four ways to lower them when making a move. First, research the company you’re considering. Second, get to know the industry the company is in. Third, ask strategic questions during the interview process. Finally, try to get a sense of the company from anyone in your network who works there. Continued here

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Taupo: The super volcano under New Zealand's largest lake     Located in the centre of New Zealand's North Island, the town of Taupo sits sublimely in the shadow of the snow-capped peaks of Tongariro National Park. Fittingly, this 40,000-person lakeside town has recently become one of New Zealand's most popular tourist destinations, as hikers, trout fishers, water sports enthusiasts and adrenaline junkies have started descending upon it.The namesake of this tidy town is the Singapore-sized lake that kisses its western border. Stretching 623sq km wide and 160m deep with several magma chambers submerged at its base, Lake Taupo isn't only New Zealand's largest lake; it's also an incredibly active geothermal hotspot. Every summer, tourists flock to bathe in its bubbling hot springs and sail through its emerald-green waters. Yet, the lake is the crater of a giant super volcano, and within its depths lies the unsettling history of this picturesque marvel. Continued here

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Should Big Companies Give Up on Innovation?     What can’t be left to start-ups. Continued here

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The SEC Just Made It Easier to Invest in Bitcoin--Sort Of     New ETFs linked to the price of bitcoin let customers buy shares through traditional financial institutions. Continued here

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Building a Culture of Respect on Your Team     There are two types of workplace respect: owed and earned. And your team needs both. Continued here

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How to Make Your Resume Match the Job Description     If you want to get hired in a competitive job market, submitting the same resume to multiple openings is usually a bad idea. For hiring managers and recruiters, a resume is your very first impression — and that impression alone can make or break your progress. To stand out from the crowd, you need to revise your resume to match each role you apply to. Continued here

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5 Ways Hiring Outside Your Industry Can Boost Success     Industry knowledge can be taught--unique skillsets are harder to learn. Continued here

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There's a Huge Covid Surge Right Now and Nobody Is Talking About It     Seemingly everyone has come down with at least one bout of illness this winter: sniffles that theoretically pass as "just some bug" if you don't test for Covid.But there's a solid chance, with or without a test, that those sniffles were Covid after all. We're in the midst of the largest global surge in daily Covid infections since Omicron, with nearly 2 million new infections per day estimated in the US alone. Odds are, you barely noticed. Continued here

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U.S. Emissions Fell by 2 Percent in 2023, Even as Economy Grew     Collapsing coal use drove a reduction in overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but transportation emissions are still on the riseIn an aerial view, turbines from the Roth Rock wind farm spin on the spine of Backbone Mountain next to the Mettiki Coal processing plant on August 23, 2022 in Oakland, Maryland. Continued here

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Climate-Friendly Bread? King Arthur Shows Companies How Eco-friendly Business Can Make It Happen     Would you pay $5.95 for a bag of flour? The Vermont baking company expects its eco-conscious customers will. Continued here

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Navigating an Office Without Formal Processes     You just changed jobs from a highly structured, corporate company to a much more casual environment. You may be finding that adjustment difficult. Maybe you’re wondering: Where is the meeting software, and do I really have to use this nap room? The Silicon Valley office with its pool tables, free-flowing beer, and hoodie-clad CEO is a cultural cliché, but many offices are becoming more casual — not only more relaxed socially, but also in their policies and processes. Zappos is getting rid of traditional management structures and even job titles. Netflix has done away with vacation and expense reporting policies. Adobe axed formal performance appraisals. If you’re entering such a company from a more rules-driven company, do you have to change — and how much? Continued here

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How High-Performing Teams Build Trust     It’s no surprise that trust is at the core of high-performing teams. But conversations about cultivating trust at work often focus on the relationship between managers and employees. As important — if not more so — is establishing trust between teammates. To understand how the best teams build trust among themselves, researchers interviewed 1,000 U.S.-based office workers and identified five key behaviors that set these teams apart: 1) They don’t leave collaboration to chance; 2) They keep colleagues in the loop; 3) They share credit; 4) They believe disagreements make them better; and 5) They proactively address tension. Continued here

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Metaphors like 'soft landing' are popular with journalists because they save space and are easy to remember.      Why we can't stop talking about a 'soft landing.' Continued here

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NFL Playoffs & Coaching Vacancies     Wharton’s Cade Massey, Eric Bradlow, Shane Jensen, and Adi Wyner speak with Kevin Cole, NFL football analyst, about the NFL playoffs, front office moves, coaching vacancies, and more.©2024 Knowledge at Wharton. All rights reserved. Knowledge at Wharton is an affiliate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Continued here

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Message sticks: Australia's ancient unwritten language     The continent of Australia is home to more than 250 spoken Indigenous languages and 800 dialects. Yet, one of its linguistic cornerstones wasn't spoken, but carved.Known as message sticks, these flat, rounded and oblong pieces of wood were etched with ornate images on both sides that conveyed important messages and held the stories of the continent's Aboriginal people – considered the world's oldest continuous living culture. Message sticks are believed to be thousands of years old and were typically carried by messengers over long distances to reinforce oral histories or deliver news between Aboriginal nations or language groups. Continued here

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A US-Sanctioned Oligarch Ran Pro-Kremlin Ads on Facebook--Again     Last February, when researchers at London-based nonprofit Reset found that Meta was allowing Ilan Shor, a Moldovan oligarch with links to the Kremlin, to run an ad campaign on Facebook, the company promised to stop him. But Shor, whom the United States sanctioned for illegally financing political parties in Moldova and pushing Russian disinformation, wasn't finished.Just months after Meta said it would stop Shor's ads, according to new research from Reset shared exclusively with WIRED, Shor and his eponymous Shor Party had spun up an even more elaborate advertising campaign on Facebook that aimed to destabilize Moldova's local elections in November and undermine Moldova's entry to the European Union. Continued here

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Evaporating exoplanet WASP-69b solves two planetary puzzles     It was only a little over 30 years ago, in the early 1990s, that humanity detected our first planets in orbit around stars other than the Sun: the exoplanets. The earliest ones discovered were a bit of a surprise: they were all massive, in tight orbits around their parent stars, and extremely hot: a class known as hot Jupiters. Since that time, we’ve discovered more than 5000 exoplanets, ranging from sub-Earth sized all the way up to super-Jupiters, with a huge variety found in between. However, two puzzles have arisen: Although there are suspects in the quest to solve these cosmic puzzles, the direct supporting evidence has been elusive up until now. However, a new paper that investigates the remarkable properties of evaporating exoplanet WASP-69b may provide the key clue that leads to a solution for both. Here’s how. Continued here

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Air Pollution Is Ruining Your Skin     In June last year, a series of devastating wildfires tore through the Canadian province of Quebec, sending huge plumes of acrid smoke drifting across North America. Three hundred miles away in Boston, dermatologist Shadi Kourosh noticed something strange. “We had an unusual spike in dermatology visits,” says Kourosh, who is director of community health in the dermatology department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.Patients whose eczema flare-ups or itchy skin were normally only a problem in the winter were coming to her clinic at the height of summer. Like New York, Detroit, and other cities in the northern United States, Boston was experiencing higher than average air pollution as a result of the wildfires, and Kourosh suspected this might be having an impact on people’s skin. Continued here

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The Key to Identifying Your Most Valuable Customers     And how to use their insights to improve your products and services. Continued here

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Congress Wants Tech Companies to Pay Up for AI Training Data     Do AI companies need to pay for the training data that powers their generative AI systems? The question is hotly contested in Silicon Valley and in a wave of lawsuits levied against tech behemoths like Meta, Google, and OpenAI. In Washington, DC, though, there seems to be a growing consensus that the tech giants need to cough up.Today, at a Senate hearing on AI’s impact on journalism, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agreed that OpenAI and others should pay media outlets for using their work in AI projects. “It’s not only morally right,” said Richard Blumenthal, the Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law that held the hearing. “It’s legally required.” Continued here

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5 Steps to Take Before You Apply for Cyberinsurance     Avoid missteps that can impact your coverage and premiums. Continued here

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Your Boss Is Leaving for Another Job. Should You Follow?     When your boss leaves for a new company, it can be tempting to try to follow them, especially if you’ve had a strong working relationship and built up trust. But is it a good idea? In this article, the author offers advice from Nancy Rothbard, a professor of management and the deputy dean at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Arika Pierce Williams, a leadership development consultant and the president and founder of Piercing Strategies. They outline five questions to ask yourself before making the leap: 1) Do I know why my boss is choosing to leave? 2) How critical has my boss been to my success? 3) How worried am I about the organization’s future? 4) Do I have the option to leave — and do I really want that? 5) Has my boss explicitly offered me a job? Continued here

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U.S. tech layoffs sent Indian workers home to an even worse job market     Deepak had been working at Amazon India for six years when he was offered an opportunity for an internal transfer to the company’s headquarters in Seattle. In June 2022, he moved to the U.S. with his wife to live the American dream on a company-sponsored L-1 visa, and a $160,000 paycheck, including stocks. But just seven months later, Deepak was among the 18,000 employees who were let go due to an “uncertain economy” in the largest job cut in Amazon’s history.Deepak, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym to protect his future employment prospects, told Rest of World he had no option but to return to India immediately because his U.S. visa was linked to his job. Back home, he struggled to find a job for two months. The biggest hurdle was his previous salary, which made him unaffordable for most tech employers in India. “I would tell [Indian] HR that I have no expectations and I am open to negotiations,” he said.  Continued here

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Sludge Videos Are Taking Over TikTok--And People's Mind     “Sludge content” is a type of viral video that features multiple clips playing simultaneously on a screen. Experts unpack what it may be doing to the brainHave you ever tried to watch a cooking show, a Minecraft playthrough, a pleasing montage of a person cutting through kinetic sand and a video narrating a Reddit confessional—all at the same time? A new video format taking over TikTok and other social media platforms embraces this jam-packed visual experience. Continued here

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It Turns Out We Were Born To Groove     The evolution of beat perception likely unfolded gradually among primates, reaching its pinnacle in humansIn 2009, my research group in Amsterdam, in collaboration with colleagues at the HUN-REN Research Center in Hungary, found that newborns possess the ability to discern a regular pulse — the beat — in music. It’s a skill that might seem trivial to most of us but that’s fundamental to the creation and appreciation of music. The discovery sparked a profound curiosity in me, leading to an exploration of the biological underpinnings of our innate capacity for music, commonly referred to as “musicality.” Continued here

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The Future of Prototyping Is Now Live     Those tasked with developing new products and experiences have long valued prototyping as a way to fuel creativity, explore options, and test assumptions. By making concepts real, we can more intimately understand the underlying mechanics and make informed judgments. There are two main ways that organizations prototype new products and services: rapid prototyping and piloting. However, we’ve discovered the need for an approach that falls somewhere between the two—to explore the customer value proposition and market appeal of a concept in the more turbulent and distracting context of the live market, but without full investment in a pilot. We call this approach “live prototyping.” Continued here

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This AI computing cluster marks a new era in predictive medicine     AI can help us understand complex systems like our cells. better. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is committed to building one of the world’s biggest non-profit life science AI computing clusters to help build digital models of what goes wrong in cells when we get diseases like diabetes or cancer and more.STEVE QUAKE: The power of artificial intelligence is it helps us understand very complex systems that the human brain struggles to do by itself - and the cell is just such a system. We've learned a lot over the past decades about the mysteries of the molecules that make up cells, entire genomes sequenced, protein structures solved. Continued here

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Microplastics are everywhere: Is it possible to reduce our exposure?     Microplastics have been found on every part of the planet. The tiny particles of this anthropogenic material have been found buried in Antarctic sea ice, inside the guts of marine animals inhabiting the deepest ocean trenches, and in drinking water around the world. Now a new study has found that bottled water can contain up to 100 times more tiny pieces of plastic than was previously estimated. The average litre of bottled water contains almost a quarter of a million nanoplastic fragments, according to a study by researchers at Columbia and Rutgers universities in the US. The researchers analysed five samples of three common bottled water brands and found nanoplastic levels ranging from 110,000 to 400,000 per litre, with an average of around 240,000. The scientists say much of the plastic appears to be coming from the bottle itself and that it is not known whether the ingestion of plastic poses a serious health risk. Continued here

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Why Rest Should Be a Professional Priority     When we prioritize rest, it becomes easier to meet our personal and professional goals. Continued here

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From Wildfires to Melting Sea Ice, the Warmest Summer on Record Has Had Cascading Effects across the Arctic     Climate change is already disrupting lives in the Arctic, and the warmest summer on record will certainly have an enormous impact on the people and wildlife of the regionA view of the partially melting glaciers as a polar bears, one of the species most affected by climate change, walk in Svalbard and Jan Mayen, on July 15, 2023. Continued here

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Resilience Is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure     After working hard for long hours and toughing it out, we at least expect success. However, more often than not, at the end of the day we are exhausted and still have a long list of tasks to complete. Why does this happen? According to the authors, working adults have a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be resilient. Yes, resilience involves working hard, but it also requires one to stop, recover, and then begin the hard work again. Recovery is key to maintaining good health, but also preventing lost productivity. To build resilience, you need to be willing to stop. This means spending some time away from your phone, eating lunch away from your desk, and actually using your vacation time. Continued here

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The CEO of Canada Goose on Creating a Homegrown Luxury Brand     After working at his family’s coat manufacturing company for a few years, the author realized that high-end coats made in Canada could become a luxury product globally. Targeting European consumers first, he introduced the brand and then marketed it in innovative ways, including outfitting polar explorers and TV and film crews who were shooting in remote cold-weather locations. Perhaps most important, he committed to domestic manufacturing and opened factories across Canada along with training centers for sewers. This paved the way for phenomenal growth and a successful IPO. Continued here

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Red Sea Shipping Crisis: How It May Impact Your Small Business     What business owners should know about attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea, and what they can do to mitigate risk. Continued here

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Why Humans Are Putting a Bunch of 'Coal' and 'Oil' Back in the Ground     In a roundabout way, coal is solar-powered. Millions of years ago, swamp plants soaked up the sun's energy, eating carbon dioxide in the process. They died, accumulated, and transformed over geologic time into energy-dense rock. This solar-powered fuel, of course, is far from renewable, unlike solar panels: Burning coal has returned that carbon to the atmosphere, driving rapid climate change.But what if humans could reverse that process, creating their own version of coal from plant waste and burying it underground? That's the idea behind a growing number of carbon projects: Using special heating chambers, engineers can transform agricultural and other waste biomass into solid, concentrated carbon. Like those ancient plants captured CO2 and then turned into coal, this is carbon naturally sequestered from the atmosphere, then locked away for (ideally) thousands of years. Continued here

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CES 2024: This Letter-Writing Robot Can Help You Handle Delicate Customer Outreach     Handwrytten's founder says that his robotically penned letters have a 300 percent greater chance of being opened when compared to traditional print cards. Continued here

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OpenAI's New App Store Could Turn ChatGPT Into an Everything App     OpenAI is an unconventional company in many ways, but last November it borrowed a page from the standard tech industry playbook: It held a developer conference where CEO Sam Altman urged software makers to build on top of ChatGPT. The company said it would soon launch a marketplace where developers and non-techies alike could create custom functions for the chatbot and make money by sharing them with the world.The reaction to that news was mixed, with some hailing the birth of a new platform and others turning a laundry app demoed onstage into a meme. But whether meme-worthy or momentous, OpenAI's app store is part of a broader strategy to maintain its edge in the competitive AI landscape. Like Apple and Google's YouTube have done so well, OpenAI now wants to incentivize developers and creators to supply fresh content for its platform, so that it can keep offering new experiences that draw in users. Continued here

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How Stanley's Partnership With Starbucks and Target Proves its Scarcity Model is Still Working     The Valentine's Day Stanley-Starbucks Quencher sent shoppers into a frenzy and signals another marketing success for the longstanding brand. Continued here

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I Found David Lynch's Lost 'Dune II' Script     David Lynch's 1984 sci-fi epic Dune is—in many ways—a misbegotten botch job. Still, as with more than a few ineffectively ambitious films before it, the artistic flourishes Lynch grafted onto Frank Herbert's sprawling Machiavellian narrative of warring space dynasties have earned it true cult classic status. Today, fans of the film, which earned a paltry $30 million at the box office and truly bruising reviews upon its release, still wonder what Lynch would have done if given the opportunity to adapt the next two novels in Herbert's cycle: Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.Franchising was the plan before the first film crashed and burned, with Lynch and star Kyle MacLachlan (playing Paul Atreides) set to shoot both Dune sequels back-to-back in 1986. Miniature spaceship models, costumes, and props from the first film were placed in storage by producer Dino De Laurentiis for use on these follow-ups, while the director hammered away on a Dune II script. "I wrote half a script for the second Dune. I really got into it because it wasn't a big story," he says in Lynch on Lynch, "more like a neighborhood story. It had some really cool things in it." Continued here

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How Biometrics Are Transforming the Customer Experience     When we think of the best customer experiences, they mostly center around how quickly and easily products and services can be accessed. In many cases, this is one of the primary motivations for businesses integrating biometrics. But speed isn’t everything. It’s important to acknowledge that a smooth customer experience doesn’t just mean how quickly customers can achieve what they want to achieve; it’s also about privacy and trust. Continued here

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4 Mistakes Everyone Makes at Work     Making a mistake at work can feel embarrassing and uncomfortable, especially when you’re just starting out or are still the “new” person on the team. But the truth is, everyone makes mistakes — in fact, they’re necessary for ongoing improvement. When we make an error, instead of hiding it or brushing it aside, we can use it as an opportunity to learn and advance our skills. Continued here

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The Value of Customer Experience, Quantified     Intuitively, most people recognize the value of a great customer experience. Brands that deliver them are ones that we want to interact with as customers — that we become loyal to, and that we recommend to our friends and family. But as executives leading businesses, the value of delivering such an experience is often a lot less clear, because it can be hard to quantify. Rationales for focusing on customer experience tend to be driven by a gut belief that it’s just “the right thing to do.” The problem with this is that often, whether experience is a priority or not simply becomes a battle of opinions. Continued here

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What to Do When Success Feels Empty     Why do career “wins” often leave people feeling empty and dissatisfied? And — more important — how can you avoid that problem? We recently asked HBR readers to share their thoughts, and several of the responses call to mind Douglas T. Hall‘s classic model of psychological success. Continued here

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Do Lawsuits Improve Gender and Racial Equality at Work?     When companies face lawsuits over gender or racial discrimination, does change follow? Researchers looked at 171 lawsuits that occurred between 1997 and 2008 to study how litigation affected the managerial diversity of the companies involved. Overall, results showed, a discrimination lawsuit led to measurable gains in representation for black women, black men, and white women. However, the outcomes were influenced by media coverage, whether and how policy changes were mandated, and how large payouts were. The authors caution that although litigation can be an effective tool for fighting harassment, lawsuits alone aren’t enough to make changes stick. Continued here

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Expecting a Bad Performance Review? Here's How to Prepare.     By preemptively taking action if you expect to receive a bad performance review, you may be able to steer a different course for yourself and avoid a foregone conclusion — or at least feel better about the outcome. The author offers six steps to take before and after your review if you know your performance has been subpar. First, reflect on your own assumptions about your performance to understand what you need to work on. Second, get your teammates’ perspective. Third, proactively invite your manager to have a conversation with you — and be direct with them. Fourth, own up to your mistakes and put together a plan to improve. Fifth, follow up on that plan with your manager. Finally, show your manager you care about doing better. If you still receive a negative review despite your best efforts to be proactive, it may help you realize that your skills, strengths, and interests don’t align with the needs of your current role. Continued here

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Luxury Branding Below the Radar     For nearly a decade marketers have been talking about the rise of “inconspicuous consumption”: elite consumers’ growing affinity for discreet rather than traditionally branded luxuries. Giana Eckhardt, a professor of marketing at Royal Holloway, University of London, watched with interest as the trend developed in Europe and the United States. But it took a 2012 sabbatical in China to convince her that this was a global phenomenon to which she—and every chief marketing officer in the luxury sector—should devote full attention. Continued here

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New Project? Don't Analyze--Act     Managers in traditional organizations can do the same, starting with smart, low-risk steps that follow simple rules: Use the means at hand; stay within an acceptable loss; secure only the commitment needed for the next step; bring along only volunteers; link the initiative to a business imperative; produce early results; and manage expectations. Momentum is gained by continuing to act based on what is learned at each step. Continued here

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Tackling the Problem of Subscribers Who Binge...Then Bail     Consumers love to binge-watch streaming video. But as the number of streaming services has grown, more subscribers are scrutinizing subscription expenses and deciding to cancel. People who do this too frequently — “serial churners” — pose a special challenge to companies like Netflix. This article presents three ways companies can seek to reduce the problem of serial churn. Continued here

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How AI Can Help Sales Teams Craft More Personalized Pitches     In the past, hours of leg work and research were required to create relevant and resonant sales interactions. With seller time at a premium, this sort of intensive prep work typically falls by the wayside for average sellers. But advances in AI are fast removing the excuse that this type of prep is too time-consuming. Modern sales platforms have the potential to help the average seller get to expert-level preparedness, in a fraction of the time, increasing their relevance and credibility with buyers. Continued here

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You're Working More. Here's How to Talk to Your Partner About It.     Taking on an extra project at work can benefit your career — but it can also sow conflict at home. What’s the best way to communicate with your partner when you want to go the extra mile at work? The authors conducted a series of studies with more than 1,000 employees to explore how people navigate these challenges, and identified five common communication strategies. Some of these strategies are most effective when it comes to reducing work-life conflict and boosting partner satisfaction, while others maximize the chances that you’ll actually end up pursuing the extra work. Based on these findings, the authors offer four strategies to help employees balance the sometimes-conflicting imperatives to go above and beyond at work and be a good partner at home: Clarify whether extra work is actually required, engage in citizenship crafting, recognize the power of communication, and align your communication strategy with your goals. Continued here

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Using Market Research Just for Marketing Is a Missed Opportunity     Data also drives innovation. Continued here

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Springboard to a Swan Dive?     John Clough, the CFO of NetRF, a tech firm in Salt Lake City, gets an offer he’s not sure he wants to refuse. Benchmark, a Fortune 500 packaged-goods company, is looking for someone to join its board—specifically, to join the audit committee. “Would you be interested?” the executive recruiter asks. Continued here

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How Biden Won Back (Enough of) the White Working Class     Joe Biden won Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and the Democrats saw an increased share of votes from white working-class voters in 2020. What did he do to win this crucial support in the heartland? Three things. He went there frequently, which Hillary Clinton did not. Biden talked about jobs, with the message that “we can revitalize our industrial base at the heart of the American middle class.” Most importantly, Biden treated working-class whites with respect. Continued here

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The Secret to Alibaba's Culture Is Jack Ma's Apartment     In 2002, the year Alibaba.com first became profitable, founder Jack Ma gathered a handful of employees in his office and told them there was a secret project that they had the opportunity to join. But to do so, they would need to resign from Alibaba, work from a secret location, and refrain from telling friends or family or Alibaba staff about this new start-up they would be building. Continued here

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Deregulation Won't Boost Entrepreneurship     It’s talent, customers, and quality of life that really matter. Continued here

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How Competition Strengthens Start-ups     Accepted wisdom holds that the less competition a business faces, the more it thrives. This concept is at the core of Blue Ocean Strategy, the 2005 best seller by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, which advocates launching in uncontested markets in order to avoid the pain of going head-to-head with rivals in the “red ocean.” Continued here

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Private Equity's Long View     When getting a company ready to sell in the short term, it turns out, PE firms employ many of the best strategy practices—use debt aggressively, focus on cash flow, reduce costs, concentrate on the dominant part of the business and sell the rest—that make for success in the long term. They just do it in months, not years. Continued here

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How Venture Capitalists Make Decisions     For decades now, venture capitalists have played a crucial role in the economy by financing high-growth start-ups. While the companies they’ve backed—Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and more—are constantly in the headlines, very little is known about what VCs actually do and how they create value. To pull the curtain back, Paul Gompers of Harvard Business School, Will Gornall of the Sauder School of Business, Steven N. Kaplan of the Chicago Booth School of Business, and Ilya A. Strebulaev of Stanford Business School conducted what is perhaps the most comprehensive survey of VC firms to date. In this article, they share their findings, offering details on how VCs hunt for deals, assess and winnow down opportunities, add value to portfolio companies, structure agreements with founders, and operate their own firms. These insights into VC practices can be helpful to entrepreneurs trying to raise capital, corporate investment arms that want to emulate VCs’ success, and policy makers who seek to build entrepreneurial ecosystems in their communities. Continued here

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How Founder Control Holds Back Start-ups     After enterprise tech start-up Box filed to go public last month, revealing founder Aaron Levie’s remaining stake to be just over 4% (plus stock options), commentators seemed compelled to note just how much control the 28-year-old founder had given up on the road to an IPO. One Quora user asked Levie how it felt to watch his investors “laugh to the bank after 10 years of blood, sweat, and tears.” TechCrunch was a bit more sympathetic, writing that “Levie didn’t have much choice. Box needed that funding.” Continued here