Hello! I’m advertising/media editor Lucia Moses, filling in for Matt Turner while he’s on paternity leave. Welcome to your weekly roundup of our hottest and most insightful stories of the past week.
First, if you’re into ads and media coverage, sign up for my Advertising & Media Insider newsletter here or my colleague Amanda Perelli’s Influencer Dashboard newsletter here.
Now, on to the news: SoftBank has a big problem, and WeWork was just the tip of the iceberg. In the first week of 2020, four SoftBank-backed companies laid off 2,600 people in total as they struggle to get to profitability. As Megan Hernbroth has been reporting, startups from robot pizza-maker Zume to discount hotelier Oyo have swelled with backing from the Japanese investor, only to slash their workforces. And those layoffs don’t include the contractors that many of these companies rely on and who have fewer protections than full-time employees do.
Salesforce swirls with questions
![marc benioff]({"https://image.businessinsider.com/5e18bbc5f442317b4949ccf9":{"contentType":"image/png","aspectRatioW":3111,"aspectRatioH":2333}})
REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage
And after a big year, Salesforce is at a pivotal time as this is the year Wall Street will want to see results from its $15.7 billion Tableau acquisition and how it makes good on lofty sales targets. Analysts are predicting everything from Salesforce doing more acquisitions to Google acquiring it to compete with Amazon and Microsoft and Marc Benioff stepping back from his co-CEO role to focus on advocacy.
Finance and Investing
Alternative data’s breakout year in 2018 brought interest from deep-pocketed investors hoping to cash in on the gold rush. But with new funding comes high expectations.
Demand for cheaper construction has led to the application of new tech like machine learning, robotics, and drones.
They’ve being feted with marching bands, celebratory dinners, and video montages, to name a few.
They earn over $100,000, are in their early 30s, and struggle to balance their lifestyle while still saving for the future, the experts say.
They’re marketing the offering as a way for average customers to own popular but pricey stocks like Amazon and Alphabet.
Tech, Media, and Telecoms
They include first-party suppliers moving to the third-party marketplace and more big brands ending their relationship with the retailer.
Grubhub has been profitable, but it’s duplicated some of the unprofitable practices of its rivals as growth has slowed.
“We like to say, ‘If it’s good enough for Google to go to Pittsburgh, isn’t it good enough for XYZ?'” tech investor Patrick McKenna said.
It plans to expand the title to verticals like health and business and is even eyeing acquisitions.
He’s one of the streamer’s most important executives.
In a jittery media climate, many people want more certainty around pay raises and career paths.
Healthcare, Retail, and Transportation
It claims to be safer than traditional vaporizers.
The acquisition would substantially increase Bright Health’s Medicare Advantage business.
The average trucking company had a corporate governance board gender-inclusivity rate of 18%, lagging other public firms.
The multimillion-dollar company combines consignment with traditional buying.
Some say free subscriptions for the mindfulness app Headspace don’t cut it.
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