Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<br />
We recently conducted a survey in North Africa, among 2000 students, to understand what they intended to do with their future.<br />
<br />
Our studies revealed that trust in governments is at its lowest and although entrepreneurship has been promoted as a miracle cure to unemployment and social instability many young people are unwilling to take up governmental schemes to launch a business.<br />
<br />
There were many youngsters, likely to consider radicalization as a means of protest. They did not trust their government - since they considered it corrupt; had little knowledge about religion –and hence, could easily be swayed by an alternative.<br />
<br />
We also found that those most considering starting a business are also the one most tempted by armed resistance (and joining ISIS emerged as a probable option).<br />
<br />
In fact out of 1,742 respondents, a staggering 13.2% considered joining armed movements such ISIS.  A very worrying finding until one considers ISIS offering in the region: $500 to $700 per month and a life with a meaning: the creation of the caliphate, the perfect, incorrupt, Islamic state, a potentially valid and quick fix alternative to this young energetic unemployed generation that has lost hope in their government.<br />
<br />
But at a deeper level, is it only money? Is there any other reason why this happens? Lets look at this from a neuroscience perspective. A fundamental aspect of propaganda is persuasion.<br />
<br />
There are various models of persuasion. Recent findings in neuroscience have revealed the importance of emotion in the human decision making process. It is emotions that sway us one way or the other.  The ELM model or Elaboration Likelihood model as described by developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in the mid-1980s  explains that the brain can either process a message superficially, leading to low persuasion or more centrally / deeply, increasing the persuasion.<br />
<br />
Unlike TV news flashes, that are generally short in duration and highly edited, social media provides uncensored images of the horror of wars. The youth perceive that superior militarized western nations are conducting war on mostly vulnerable third world nations resulting in countless images of horrifying civilian casualties.<br />
<br />
These youngsters watch this social media footage over and over, share it and discuss it. These highly emotionally charged images have the effect of maximizing persuasion and so is the will, among the youth to take up arms and turn to terrorism.<br />
<br />
I’m not saying that world is new to terrorism.<br />
<br />
What has changed in the last decade is the speed with which terrorist organizations organize and recruits, thanks to social media.<br />
<br />
Looking back, social media – since Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006 for Twitter – used to play a very marginal role in shaping public opinion. TV had been the primary tool used to engineer popular consent and quiet the opposition. But in December 2010, Social media suddenly took centre stage and became the trigger behind one of the most influential event of this century: The Arab revolution. The Arab Spring began when a frustrated Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi immolated himself on December 17th 2010  to protest against the confiscation of his merchandises and the constant harassment by municipal civil servants. Social media triggered a chain reaction based on this single event that represented people’s increasing awareness and rejection of massive corruption, nepotism, abuse of power and the absence of rule of law.<br />
<br />
So how do we make a better world? I personally disapprove censoring of social media as social media is often the only channel for the oppressed and the weak to alert the world of their suffering.  The answer lies in using social media to reach larger numbers of people, and engage them in positive pursuits- such as education and values, offering them a possible inspirational source of dignified livelihood such as entrepreneurship.<br />
<br />
Every person working at the grassroots level, should share how they have created pockets of progress, and engaged the youth in meaningful pursuits. It’s also important for religious leaders to increase their online presence and highlight the peaceful nature of all of the world’s religions. Yet social media is only a reflection of reality, it is fundamental that more important structural changes be operated, democracy which implies a high degree of press freedom and transparency need to be promoted so that corruption be curbed. Indeed, peace would be the ultimate way to clean social media of the horror of wars and promote a more human and compassionate world.<br />
<br />
<em>About the author: </em><em> Dr.Nicholas Hamelin heads the neuromarketing lab at SP Jain School of Global Management, Singapore.</em><br />
<br />
<em><a href="http://www.riskmanagementmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/grenade-1024x774.jpg">Image source</a></em><br />

Survey in North Africa: Terrorism more rewarding than entrepreneurship?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Like many independent businesses across the country, the beloved NYC book store <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-strand-book-store-millionaire-owner-nancy-wyden-bass-employees-2020-10?r=savethestrand-teaser">the Strand</a> is in trouble.</li><li>In late October, <keyword id="1174735" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="The-Strand">the Strand</keyword> posted a cry for help on Twitter, signed by owner Nancy Bass Wyden, encouraging people to "save the Strand." The tweet led to 25,000 weekend orders and crashed the company's website.</li><li>However, the rush also exacerbated the "chaos" that some employees say had been experiencing throughout the pandemic, due to Bass Wyden's alleged micromanagement of the store.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-strand-book-store-millionaire-owner-nancy-wyden-bass-employees-2020-10?r=savethestrand-teaser">Employees Insider spoke with</a> question where the $1 million to $2 million in government emergency relief went since more than 100 of their coworkers remain jobless, and why Bass Wyden was playing "the Oliver Twist routine" when she owns the building and millions more in personal wealth, including at least $150,000 in Amazon stocks.</li><li>Business Insider spoke with eight current and former employees who detailed the poor morale unfolding in one of NYC's institutions — and a beacon for independent <keyword id="853411" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="bookstores">bookstores</keyword>.</li></ul><p>On a Wednesday morning this October, Uzodinma Okehi gathered with his coworkers on the first floor of the Strand Book Store, the beloved institution in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village, where he's worked for nearly 20 years. </p><p>The Strand's owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, had called the staff together for a grave talk.</p><p>She gave it to them straight. Revenue was down 70% since this time last year, the business' cash reserves had depleted, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/projects/ppp-business-loans/businesses/strand-book-stores-inc">the $1 million to $2 million loan the Strand received in government emergency relief</a> in April was running dry.</p><p>For the first time since her grandfather founded the store 93 years ago, Bass Wyden said, the time had come to ask customers for help. Start the holidays early, she said. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-strand-book-store-millionaire-owner-nancy-wyden-bass-employees-2020-10?r=savethestrand-teaser">Shop the Strand to save the Strand.</a></p><p>"She definitely seemed pretty emotional," Okehi told Business Insider. "She wanted to really try to keep the business alive."</p><p>Bass Wyden started working at the Strand in the mid-'70s, when she was 16, and inherited full ownership of the business, including the building at 828 Broadway, from her father, Fred Bass, after his death in 2017.</p><p>The bookstore has withstood the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the 9/11 terror attacks, but, Bass Wyden said, a pandemic could be its downfall.</p><p>"It's tough for small-business owners," she said. "We survived e-books — even Amazon was fine. But COVID is really what has stopped us in our socks."</p><p>Strand workers Insider spoke with said some of the business' challenges are self-inflicted. We spoke with eight current and former employees, some of whom asked to speak on the condition of anonymity.</p><p>They described staff-wide discontent with Bass Wyden's management, fear for their jobs and those of their coworkers, and feelings of being overwhelmed as business surged unexpectedly.</p><p>Their comments also reveal a tension at the heart of the Strand in the time of COVID. </p><p>America's economy has ground to a halt over the past six months. Over 60 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance — more than the entirety of the 18-month-long Great Recession — and <a href="https://www.yelpeconomicaverage.com/business-closures-update-sep-2020">nearly 100,000 small businesses</a> have closed for good.</p><p>In July, an American Booksellers Association survey suggested that 20% of independent bookstores were at risk of closing. Allison Hill, the CEO of the association, said that number could now be higher, with more than one store closing every week, on average, since the pandemic began. </p><p>Survival then has been a challenge for any bookstore or <keyword id="6359222" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Small-Business">small business</keyword>. But the Strand isn't any regular bookstore. And Bass Wyden isn't a regular small-business owner.</p><p>Many employees work there out of a devotion to the written word and love for fellow bookworms, they said. Now, however, that idealism is hitting up against the reality of the tough decisions that many businesses like the Strand are having to make during the pandemic.</p><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-strand-book-store-millionaire-owner-nancy-wyden-bass-employees-2020-10?r=savethestrand-teaser">Subscribe to Business Insider to read what employees told us about the chaos unfolding amid the stacks of NYC's beloved Strand Book Store.</a></h2>

We spoke to employees of NYC's beloved 93-year-old Strand Book Store who say its millionaire owner's attempts to save the struggling business are making it harder than ever to run the store

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said he was surprised by his arrest in Paris last month.</li><li>Durov said the French authorities should have taken legal action against Telegram instead of him.</li></ul><p>Telegram CEO <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pavel-durov-telegram-billionaire-russia-instagram-wealth-founder-dubai-lifestyle-2022-3">Pavel Durov</a> made his first public statement on Thursday since getting detained by French authorities last month.</p><p>In a lengthy post that was published on his Telegram channel, Durov said that his arrest came as a surprise to him.</p><p>"Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. I was told I may be personally responsible for other people's illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn't receive responses from Telegram," Durov wrote.</p><p>But the authorities, Durov said, could have contacted Telegram for assistance if they'd wanted to.</p><p>"Telegram has an official representative in the EU that accepts and replies to EU requests," he wrote, adding that he'd also helped French authorities to "establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France."</p><p>Durov was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/telegram-ceo-pavel-durov-arrested-french-airport-2024-8">arrested by French police</a> on August 24 after he'd arrived in Paris on his private jet.</p><p>The Russian-born entrepreneur was handed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/telegram-ceo-pavel-durov-charges-questions-free-speech-censorship-2024-8">preliminary charges</a> just days later, on August 28. Durov was accused of being complicit in the distribution of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking on Telegram.</p><p>Durov, who obtained French citizenship in 2021, has since been released from custody though he is not allowed to leave France.</p><p>"If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself," Durov wrote on Thursday.</p><p>"Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach. Building technology is hard enough as it is."</p><p>French President Emmanuel Macron said on August 26 that Durov's arrest is "<span>in no way a political decision."</span></p><p>"The arrest of Telegram's president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide," Macron wrote in an X post.</p><p>Telegram, Durov said, recognizes the challenge of balancing privacy with security and has been "engaging with regulators to find the right balance."</p><p>"Sometimes we can't agree with a country's regulator on the right balance between privacy and security. In those cases, we are ready to leave that country," he wrote, adding that Telegram was banned in Russia and Iran when they refused to comply with local authorities.</p><p>Telegram was by no means perfect but it certainly isn't an "anarchic paradise," Durov said on his channel.</p><p>"Telegram's abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform. That's why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard," he wrote in his post, adding that more details will be shared soon.</p><p>"Thanks again for your love and memes," Durov added.</p><p>Representatives for Telegram didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.</p>

Telegram CEO breaks silence after arrest, says it's not true that the platform is an 'anarchic paradise'

<p><em>Hello!</em></p><p><em>Welcome to this weekly roundup of stories from Insider's Business co-Editor in Chief Matt Turner. </em><a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-weekly"><strong><em>Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday.</em></strong></a></p><p><em>What we're going over today:</em></p><ul><li>Some Amazon managers say they hire people they intend to fire <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-managers-performance-reviews-hire-to-fire-internal-turnover-goal-2021-5">just to meet their turnover goal.</a></li><li>James Charles' former employee speaks out about her <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-charles-sued-lawsuit-kelly-rocklein-n-word-wrongful-termination-2021-5">lawsuit against the makeup mogul</a>. </li><li>Shopify's CEO emailed managers to remind them <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-ceo-email-to-managers-we-are-not-a-family-2021-5">they are a team, not a family</a>.</li><li>Top mortgage bankers are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-top-mortgage-producers-leaving-droves-housing-market-2021-5">quitting Wells Fargo in droves</a>.</li><li>Investing legend Jeremy Grantham says the current market is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-outlook-indicators-lined-up-bubble-burst-jeremy-grantham-2021-5">eerily reminiscent of the dot-com bubble.</a></li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-managers-performance-reviews-hire-to-fire-internal-turnover-goal-2021-5"></a></p><p><em>What's trending this morning:</em></p><ul><li><strong>What it's really like to return to the office: </strong>Sydney, where employees went back in October, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-return-to-office-in-person-work-australia-2021-5">offers a glimpse at the future of in-person work.</a></li><li><strong>Americans say the pandemic is changing their personalities:</strong> Managers need <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-changing-personality-oracle-survey-2021-5">to take notice or risk losing people</a>.</li><li><strong>Down with venture capital:</strong> Why millennial entrepreneurs <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweaty-startups-millennial-business-owners-entrepreneurship-2021-5">are embracing the sweaty-startup movement</a></li><li><strong>The secret life of Ian Osborne:</strong> The shadowy 38-year-old cofounder of Chamath Palihapitiya's SPAC <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/profile-ian-osborne-cofounder-chamath-palihapitiya-social-capital-hedosophia-spac-2021-5">has built the ultimate black book of billionaires</a>.</li><li><strong>'I'm a stay-at-home dad. I was guaranteed I could get my job back, but now my employer is backtracking. What do I do?': </strong>Read the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/career-advice-for-stay-at-home-dad-returning-to-work-2021-5">second edition of What's Working?, a new work-advice column</a>.</li></ul><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-managers-performance-reviews-hire-to-fire-internal-turnover-goal-2021-5"><strong>Inside Amazon managers' "hire to fire" practice</strong></a><strong> </strong></h3><p>Amazon has a goal to get rid of a certain percentage of employees every year - and three managers told Insider they felt so much pressure to meet the goal that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-managers-performance-reviews-hire-to-fire-internal-turnover-goal-2021-5">they hired people just to fire them</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>"We might hire people that we know we're going to fire, just to protect the rest of the team," one manager said. </em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>The practice is informally called "hire to fire," in which managers hire people, internally or externally, they intend to fire within a year, just to help meet their annual turnover target, called unregretted attrition (URA). A manager's URA target is the percentage of employees the company wouldn't regret seeing leave, one way or the other.</em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>The existence of the practice in at least some parts of the company shows how Amazon's system of requiring managers to hit a target attrition goal every year can foster controversial norms and practices.</em></p><p>Get the full rundown:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-managers-performance-reviews-hire-to-fire-internal-turnover-goal-2021-5"><strong>Some Amazon managers say they 'hire to fire' people just to meet the internal turnover goal every year</strong></a></li></ul><p>Also read:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-head-of-search-prabhakar-raghavan-ceo-sundar-pichai-alphabet-2021-5">Google's No. 2 man Prabhakar Raghavan- and the boss of its most important product - is a quiet executive in charge of 21,500 people. Insiders reveal what it's like to work with him.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cloudkitchens-recruiting-head-resigns-after-misconduct-investigation-2021-5">The head of recruiting at CloudKitchens, Travis Kalanick's startup, has resigned after an internal misconduct investigation</a><br /></li></ul><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-charles-sued-lawsuit-kelly-rocklein-n-word-wrongful-termination-2021-5"><strong>James Charles faces another threat to his beauty empire</strong></a></h3><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-charles-sued-lawsuit-kelly-rocklein-n-word-wrongful-termination-2021-5"><div type="image" title="James Charles Kelly Rocklein" height="1350" width="1800" msid="82681909" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>James Charles' former producer and creative director, Kelly Rocklein, is speaking out about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-charles-sued-lawsuit-kelly-rocklein-n-word-wrongful-termination-2021-5">her lawsuit against him</a>, which alleges wrongful termination, disability discrimination, failure to provide reasonable accommodation, and failure to pay minimum wage for overtime hours worked:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>In addition to working her more than 80 hours a week without overtime pay, according to Rocklein and her complaint, Rocklein said Charles seemed "incredibly unprofessional."</em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>"Imagine having to go over and essentially pick James up out of bed, tell him to brush his teeth, tell him, 'OK, what do you want to eat? OK, someone is coming to do your laundry. OK, I'm going to get your laundry, I guess. OK, time to start filming - you don't want to film - well, we both know you have to. So please let's think about it,'" Rocklein said. </em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>She also said Charles walked around the house naked in front of her, called Rocklein names like "bitch," and once texted her, "Kelly i might need your help shaving my butt" in preparation for a revealing Coachella outfit. Rocklein said Charles made her feel "extremely uncomfortable."</em></p><p>Take a look at everything that led to the lawsuit:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-charles-sued-lawsuit-kelly-rocklein-n-word-wrongful-termination-2021-5"><strong>James Charles' ex-employee speaks out about lawsuit, claiming he didn't pay overtime and asked her to shave his butt</strong></a></li></ul><p>Also read:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-subscription-inspirato-stay-luxury-hotels-california-florida-2021-5">I'm a 24-year-old who ditched my NYC apartment for a travel subscription that costs $2,500 a month to live and work in luxury hotels across the US. Here's what it was like.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-attorneys-and-law-firms-that-work-with-creators-influencers-2021-5">The top lawyers who work with YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram creators</a><br /></li></ul><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-ceo-email-to-managers-we-are-not-a-family-2021-5"><strong>Shopify CEO's email to managers outlines company's core beliefs</strong></a></h3><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-ceo-email-to-managers-we-are-not-a-family-2021-5"><div type="image" title="Tobias Lütke shopify" height="3153" width="4206" msid="82681913" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>In the wake of intense internal debate about issues of race, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke sent an email to managers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-ceo-email-to-managers-we-are-not-a-family-2021-5">outlining the company's core beliefs</a>. In it, he made clear what the company is not - it is not a government, he said, and it "cannot solve every societal problem":</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>In the email, he said that "endless Slack trolling, victimhood thinking, us-vs-them divisiveness, and zero sum thinking" amounted to a "threat" that breaks teams. He encouraged managers to stay focused on Shopify's mission of empowering online commerce and entrepreneurship. </em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>A Shopify spokesperson told Insider that the company was not trying to emulate Basecamp in its handling of political issues and that it welcomed discussion of current events.</em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>"As Shopify is growing quickly with new team members joining every day, our executive team will often send company-wide messages to remind the organization of our vision for equitable entrepreneurship and to reignite our spirit of positive collaboration," the spokesperson said. "This reinforces our need to work together in creating a future that unites, not divides." </em></p><p>Read the full email here:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-ceo-email-to-managers-we-are-not-a-family-2021-5"><strong>Read the essay Shopify's CEO sent to managers to remind them they are a sports team, not a family. It shows the growing tension between leaders and employees in the corporate world.</strong></a></li></ul><p>Also read:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-employees-noose-emoji-slack-ceo-tobi-lutke-silenced-debate-2021-5">Shopify employees found a noose emoji uploaded to Slack. Its CEO then silenced internal discussions.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diversity-leaders-basecamps-banning-political-societal-conversations-more-than-mistake-2021-5">Diversity leaders call Basecamp's political-talk ban 'more than a mistake'</a><br /></li></ul><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-top-mortgage-producers-leaving-droves-housing-market-2021-5"><strong>Top mortgage bankers are leaving Wells Fargo</strong></a><strong> </strong></h3><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-top-mortgage-producers-leaving-droves-housing-market-2021-5"><div type="image" title="Top mortgage lenders are leaving Wells Fargo" height="1800" width="2400" msid="82681916" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>More than 20 top mortgage lenders at Wells Fargo <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-top-mortgage-producers-leaving-droves-housing-market-2021-5">have left in the past year,</a> while four of the bank's elite President's Club members have left since December. Five current and former mortgage bankers described a culture of heavy oversight and clunky technology that limited their ability to do business:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>Tom Goyda, a Wells Fargo spokesperson, said the exits are due to the competitiveness of the market for mortgage talent. </em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>"We've been in a very competitive mortgage market, and top-producing loan offers are in high demand across the industry," Goyda said. "Wells Fargo has hired top producers from other lenders, and some of our home mortgage consultants have moved to other firms."</em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>But the mortgage bankers who spoke with Insider pointed to excessive red tape, clunky legacy technology, and the Federal Reserve-imposed asset cap as factors that stymied loan growth and led them to quit. </em></p><p>More on the mortgage bankers' departures:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-top-mortgage-producers-leaving-droves-housing-market-2021-5"><strong>Micromanagement, surprise employee investigations, and email surveillance: Why top mortgage bankers are quitting Wells Fargo in the middle of a red-hot housing market</strong></a></li></ul><p>Also read:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackstone-planning-back-to-office-on-june-7-jon-gray-2021-5">Blackstone just told US investment professionals to report back to the office on June 7, and the private-equity giant has spent $20 million on safety precautions like paying for cabs to work</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asset-managers-wall-street-cryptocurrency-digital-assets-hiring-trends-recuiting-2021-5">The crypto talent war is heating up as big money managers warm to digital assets</a><br /></li></ul><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-outlook-indicators-lined-up-bubble-burst-jeremy-grantham-2021-5"><strong>Jeremy Grantham says current market is "eerily like 2000"</strong></a></h3><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-outlook-indicators-lined-up-bubble-burst-jeremy-grantham-2021-5"><div type="image" title="Legendary investor and co-founder of Grantham, Mayo &amp; van Otterloo, Jeremy Grantham" height="683" width="910" msid="82681918" hostid="261"></div></a></p><p>Jeremy Grantham made prescient calls about the 2000 and 2008 bubble bursts, and said the current market was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-outlook-indicators-lined-up-bubble-burst-jeremy-grantham-2021-5">eerily reminiscent of the dot-com bubble</a>. He describes four indicators that have lined up for what could be "the biggest loss of perceived value from assets that we have ever seen":</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>When Jeremy Grantham declared in January that "the long, long bull market since 2009 has finally matured into a fully fledged epic bubble," he said he knew there would be "a substantial increase in crazy behavior" before it all came crashing down. </em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>The cofounder of Boston's Grantham, Mayo, van Otterloo &amp; Co. is famous for having made prescient calls about the bursting of the 1989 Japanese asset-price bubble, the 2000 tech bubble, and the 2008 real-estate bubble.</em></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>"The thing about a bubble is if you can find more money and more crazy investors, it can keep going," he said. </em></p><p>Here's Grantham's full market outlook:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-outlook-indicators-lined-up-bubble-burst-jeremy-grantham-2021-5"><strong>Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham called the dot-com bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. He told us how 4 indicators have lined up for what could be 'the biggest loss of perceived value from assets that we have ever seen.'</strong></a></li></ul><p>Also read:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-hedges-trades-to-protect-against-stock-market-shock-subramanian-2021-5">Bank of America says Wall Street stock pickers remain vulnerable to an inflation shock - and recommends 2 trades for protection as prices rise</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-correction-strategy-mike-wilson-reopening-inflation-morgan-stanley-2021-5">Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson was right about the last two market sell-offs. He lays out 3 ways stock investors can position for a challenging reopening environment that could bring a 20% drop</a><br /></li></ul><p><strong>Live event invite: </strong>Join us Tuesday, May 18 at 12 p.m. ET for "Master Your Money," where personal finance professionals demystify debt - and offer tips and tricks to help set you up to build wealth. <a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/23777114.303278/aHR0cHM6Ly9ldmVudC5vbjI0LmNvbS93Y2Mvci8zMTA3MTg0L0Q2OUNEMDM1NzEzODYwNEU5QUQ1NTQwNjFDNDFGOTk3LzIyMzgyMjI_cGFydG5lcnJlZj1lZGl0b3JpYWxfbmV3c2xldHRlciZucl9lbWFpbF9yZWZlcmVyPTEmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1TYWlsdGhydSZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PUJJUHJpbWVfU3VuZGF5/600eda822f8f1d424961788fB81d19364"><strong>Register here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>Lastly, here are some headlines you might have missed last week.</p><p>- Matt</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-patricof-private-equity-investing-professional-athletes-2021-5">Mark Patricof gets some of the world's biggest athletes into hot private equity deals. He tells us how he built an A-list client roster that includes Venus Williams and J.J. Watt.</a><br /></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biotech-companies-with-highest-median-pay-2021-5">Employees at top biotech companies can get paid up to $701,000. Here's where workers made the most in 2020.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-chris-wray-profile-biden-doj-justice-department-garland-barr-2021-5">FBI director Chris Wray barely survived the Trump era. Now he's working with Biden's attorney general taking on domestic terrorism and probing Trump allies.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopping-centers-occupancy-rents-retail-commercial-real-estate-2021-5">The strip mall is the hottest real-estate investment right now, as hordes of new suburbanites need groceries, booze, and cheap stuff for their homes.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apples-att-idfa-changes-are-disrupting-advertising-on-facebook-2021-5">Apple's recent privacy changes are already wreaking havoc on Facebook advertisers, and ad buyers are scrambling to manage the disruptions</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-fragmented-booming-home-care-industry-caregivers-investors-franchise-owners-2021-5">Inside the booming home-care industry, where wages are low, turnover high, and Wall Street investors are trickling in</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cloud-subscription-saas-usage-based-pricing-2021-5">Why software's subscription model is 'dying' and usage-based pricing is the 'next wave' for cloud services</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investing-where-to-buy-beach-house-vacation-home-2021-5">The 10 beach towns real-estate investors should target for the best returns right now</a></li></ul>

Some Amazon managers say they hire people they intend to fire later just to meet their turnover goal

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Suade</span></p><p class="caption">Diana Paredes, the co-founder of regulatory tech firm Suade.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Brexit and the uncertainty it causes over the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword>'s international trading relationships are already hurting the nascent community of fintech startup in London, according to Diana Paredes, the co-founder of regulatory tech firm Suade.</p><p>"A lot of people when they come to London feel that they give up a lot of quality of life for business opportunities, and now that's uncertain," Paredes told Business Insider in an interview.</p><p>"I'm not saying that London can't continue being the best capital for fintech in Europe but we need some clear leadership and direction. The government knows how to do it, they just have to be more vocal with their support for the scene."</p><p>Paredes says she knows of funding rounds for London-based companies that have been paused or stopped and cautioned that startups like hers could be put off setting up in London in the future, saying: "Technology is very mobile, you can start a company or an app anywhere."</p><p>Suade was set up in 2014, making software for banks to help them adapt their balance sheets to changes in financial regulation. The startup featured on this year's <a href="https://issuu.com/fintechcity/docs/ft50_16_spreads_lo">"FinTech 50" list of companies to watch</a> and has been touted by the Bank of England as a solution to some of the big banks' woes with regulation.</p><p>Paredes grew up in Paris and started her investment banking career at Merrill Lynch in 2007, moving to Barclays two years later to work in the lender's fixed income, commodities, and currencies division.</p><p>Britain will trigger the process to leave the European Union next year and the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/hsbc-brexit-analysis-uk-eu-trade-and-immigration-deal-post-article-50-2016-10">country seems destined for a so-called Hard Brexi</a>t, handing the UK control over immigration in return for foregoing membership of the single market.</p><p>Amber Rudd, the home secretary,<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/home-secretary-amber-rudd-speech-2016-10"> said this week that UK businesses hire too many immigrants </a>and that government would make it harder for companies to give jobs to immigrants before recruiting British people. This could hurt many fintech companies, which typically have hugely international teams. Half of Suade's team is from mainland Europe, for example.</p><p>Paredes spoke to Business Insider about what it's like to be an entrepreneur, funding models for start-ups, and the Brexit effect. Here's the full interview, edited for clarity and brevity:</p><p><strong>Ben Moshinsky: What have you learned as an entrepreneur? How has it changed your working life?</strong></p><p>Diana Paredes: I think my working life is much better now. A big test of that is that I don't even count the hours. I'm not even sure if I work more hours than I did before but it feels completely different because you love what you're doing. I remember reading that in services industries 75% of the time people are unhappy in their jobs, and only 14% of the time people are actually happy in them.</p><p>I genuinely think that everyone should try entrepreneurship, even just as an episode in their lives. You shouldn't have any regrets. I guess the fear of failure paralyses people but the reality is you're better off trying it out, and realizing it's not for you, than having that regret. If you look back 50 years, 70 years, most people were entrepreneurs, everyone had a trade.</p><p>It's a new era of services we're in now where people are in these big companies. There's nothing wrong with that if it's set up in a way that preserves their individuality and identity. I do think that human beings innately want to feel like they matter, that their contribution to society matters, and sometimes in some of the big companies this can get lost in translation or the cogs of the machine. Entrepreneurship has gone well for me so, obviously, I'm positive about it. Everyone wants to try it out, and there's so much regret if you never do.</p><p>Entrepreneurship has gone well for me so, obviously, I'm positive about it. Everyone wants to try it out, and there's so much regret if you never do.</p><p><strong>BM: So entrepreneurship makes you feel more alive?</strong></p><p>DP: Either you'll thrive and it will be the best job you've ever had or you'll realise that the uncertainty isn't really for you.</p><p>I believe in being honest with yourself and living without regrets. A lot of my friends in the finance industry really want to try it out. And every time we meet up and they haven't done it yet, they're a bit sad.</p><p>One of the things I like the most is that it makes me a better person. It's very much about appreciating the present and what you have every day. You can lose yourself in the uncertainty or you can enjoy the immediacy of it and enjoy being the captain of your own ship. I'm way more relaxed as an entrepreneur than I was in banking, because it feels like things are in my control and what I make of every day is up to me.</p><p>You learn how to deal with your fears and insecurities and positively change. By being open and receptive to how reality is, you're in the flow, riding the wave rather than avoiding it. Like surfing, you're on the Mavericks, it's never a mellow wave, but you are fully alive. You might wipe out but at least you will have lived and enjoyed the ride.</p><p><strong>BM: Do other entrepreneurs feel the same way?</strong></p><p>DP: There is a secret language. When you meet other entrepreneurs, it's so electric because you're all trying to change the world in some way. It might be completely crazy, it might never work, but it's that feeling of hustling every day that is exciting! We're creating something out of nothing every day. The best things in life are made in that drive, for creating.</p><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Suade</span></p><p class="caption">Diana Paredes.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong><strong>BM: How quickly do you intend to grow the company?</strong></p><p>DP: Quickly, but one of the things that's really important to us is to keep our existing customers happy. The journey is not just about acquiring new customers, but growing in a way that means you can take care of the customers you already have.</p><p>Sometimes I think this is underrated. The customers that signed up early on, I feel very loyal to them. The first contracts we signed were a huge deal, you become very grateful.</p><p>We intend to be around for a while so that means designing software that's future proof. You want to design it in a way that's flexible to both changes you anticipate and the ones you do not. It needs to be able to change at the same pace as the politics and regulation change. We already started to expand in Europe and are looking at the US now.</p><p><strong>BM: Whereabouts in Europe are you focusing?</strong></p><p>DP: Some jurisdictions are more business-friendly. The Netherlands is great. There are all sorts of things we're finding out when it comes to tax treaties and starting a business. The Netherlands are kind of the best for this sort of thing. We're also looking at Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Spain and France - wherever there's demand.</p><p><strong>BM: What sort of funding models are you looking at? What about venture capital?</strong></p><p>DP: We haven't really needed to take investment. We did a very small round of fundraising with brilliant people at the very beginning and since then we've been able to grow organically from the work we've been doing. I've had really good advice from some of the best CEOs in London and there's a lot to be said from boot-strapping and building something that's sustainable.</p><p>When you look at the reality of taking investor money, unless it's really clear there's a positive externality from it, there's a chance it could even be negative. It could actually lower the value of your business, that's a real risk and it's not something that's talked about a lot.</p><p>It doesn't mean you never take venture capital, it just means you do it at a moment that makes the most sense. And you, as the entrepreneur, are the only person who knows exactly when that is. It's important not to be peer-pressured in to doing a round for the sake of just doing a round.</p><p><strong>BM: How has Brexit affected your plans?</strong></p><p>DP: We're in a fortunate position. Because of the nature of our business, regulatory uncertainty is actually good for us. You need flexibility in tech more than ever now. Our clients tell us they'll need us even more. But I think that as a company in London, in the UK, that services financial institutions, things are going to change.</p><p>There's a lot to see still but as we look to do business in Europe, we're looking to open offices in Europe too. That gives certainty to our customers, having a presence in Europe. I would not want to be a brand new Fintech company opening in London right now.</p><p>If the UK government wants to continue having this presence in the fintech scene, and tech in general, it's going to have to make some decisions quick. And not mildly, to show decisiveness, and that they're taking the bull by the horns. In London, it's tough now. I have friends who have had funding paused or stopped. That's another reason why building a sustainable business is so advisable, you are less affected by externalities.</p><p><strong>BM: How did the industry take it as a whole?</strong></p><p>DP: I think I speak for a lot of entrepreneurs in London by saying that Brexit wasn't well received. It was a big shock. The government has to be as vocal and as fast as possible to say clear things, such as the situation with visas and free movement. Half my staff is European. How are you supposed to attract talent from abroad?</p><p>From our perspective, as a business it's been great as I was saying because of the nature of our business, but it's not necessarily the best as a company based in the UK. We have to look at opening an office in Europe to demonstrate we're a European company. The UK has added a whole new dimension of uncertainty and cost for entrepreneurs. If you're an entrepreneur, why would you set up in the UK now? We had good support from the last government, they were around a lot, and now we're hoping to see the same thing from the current government.</p><p>We have to look at opening an office in Europe to demonstrate we're a European company. The UK has added a whole new dimension of uncertainty and cost for entrepreneurs. If you're an entrepreneur, why would you set up in the UK now? We had good support from the last government, they were around a lot, and now we're hoping to see the same thing from the current government.</p><p>We had good support from the last government, they were around a lot, and now we're hoping to see the same thing from the current government.</p><p>We're not moving but I do know of other companies that are thinking of just leaving. If you have no real reason to be here - London is expensive for talent and housing - then why wouldn't you just do what you do from Italy or Spain or the Netherlands. Technology is very mobile, you can start a company or an app anywhere.</p><p>A lot of people when they come to London feel that they give up a lot of quality of life for business opportunities, and now that's uncertain. I'm not saying that London can't continue being the best capital for fintech in Europe but we need some clear leadership and direction. The government knows how to do it, they just have to be more vocal with their support for the scene. As an entrepreneur, I am by nature positive so I still believe in London and the UK!</p><p class="tagline"><div id="categorypromo" style="border:1px solid silver; min-height:90px; padding:10px;vertical-align:top;"><a href="http://read.bi/fintechleadgen"></a><strong> EXCLUSIVE FREE REPORT:</strong><br />5 Top Fintech Predictions by the BI Intelligence Research Team. <strong><a href="http://read.bi/fintechleadgen">Get the Report Now »</a></strong></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-terrorist-attack-bombing-unsolved-2016-9">Wall Street's deadliest terror attack remains unsolved after 96 years</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9zdjV4bTqijpDyuE_LY2Cj9j8BKXGmRx" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

FINTECH CEO: If you're an entrepreneur, why would you set up in the UK now?

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Syria is suffering from the seemingly never-ending cycle of civil war and terrorism.</p><p>The country has become a recruiting hotspot for ISIS, also known as the Islamic State and Daesh, ever since Syria descended into internal conflict in 2011.</p><p>But despite ISIS' apparent religious convictions, the spiral of violent extremism in Syria is not driven by religion, according to Syrian businessman Zaid Al Rayes.</p><p>"Extremism is a complex issue and while there are no exact or clear roots, there are two sides to the problem," Al Rayes told Business Insider. "Educational and economic."</p><p>"Some say that religious roots are the cause of the problem but if you look in depth into extremism, we see that people join these groups when they've lost hope, have no jobs, and no rights. I have visited Syrian refugee camps and I feel there is a great passion for them to want to work. But a lot of them do not have job opportunities and this is why I established a social entrepreneurship project as I wanted to create opportunities for Syrians."</p><p>Al Rayes is one of the 10 people involved in "Extremely Together," an initiative launched by the Kofi Annan Foundation and One Young World aimed at countering violent extremism within communities.</p><p>"At 'Extremely Together,' we are 10 different people from 10 different backgrounds and each of us has different experiences in witnessing extremism," Al Rayes says.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Extremely Together</span></p><p class="caption">Zaid Al Rayes works for 'Extremely Together."</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"Extremism is not a new issue but why are we only talking about it for the last few years? I think this is because of the [9/11] attacks," he added.</p><p>"But let's take the example of the massacre in Rwanda and what's happening with Boko Haram. These are not new kinds of violence, these have been happening in places where people are in extreme poverty and have no rights. We only start talking about it now because it is touching the West."</p><p>Al Rayes initially tried to join <keyword id="6358883" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Politics">politics</keyword> as part of the Syrian opposition early in his career. However, he found that no matter what type of good work he tried to do, "there were also big forces trying to push their own agenda."</p><p>He now runs the Al Rayes Group, an umbrella company that employs over 1,900 people across 16 companies, involved in industries like gas and trade.</p><p>Al Rayes believes that he can make a difference in Syria by offering economic and educational opportunities to people who would otherwise be driven to extremism by a sense of hopelessness.</p><p>He says: "People aren't thinking about the economic issues because security is the first priority. At the moment people don't know if a bomb is going to drop on their house. But the reason why I look at this from an economic point of view is because economics provide a future for people."</p><p>Syria is suffering through one of the most devastating civil wars in recent history. Bashar al-Assad has been at war with his own people since 2011. In August 2013, Assad killed 1,400 of his own citizens after he unleashed chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus. Now, the Syrian government is bombing rebel strongholds in the city which is still home to 250,000 people.</p><p>Meanwhile, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/russian-us-airstrikes-difference-2016-8">Britain, the US, Denmark, and others</a>, are bombing Syria to try and target ISIS soldiers and assets. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/syrian-first-responders-risk-their-lives-to-save-people-from-disasters-2016-8">The bombing is also killing civilians as the coalition try to rid the region of ISIS</a>.</p><p>Al Rayes believes it is this maelstrom of violence that has created the perfect breeding ground for terrorism, adding that <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/us-led-coalition-airstrikes-against-isis-in-manjib-syria-2016-8">Western military action</a> to try and stop the spread of ISIS over parts of the region in fact "absolutely" exacerbates extremism.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Syria itself is too dangerous for Al Rayes to operate in, so his focus through "Extremely Together" is on helping the refugee population.</p><p>At last count, there were 65.3 million people around the world who have been displaced by conflict, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Of those, 4.8 million are registered Syrian refugees abroad while 6.6 million are people that have been forced to flee their homes in Syria but still live within the country.</p><p>Jordan has one of the biggest populations of Syrian refugees and Al Rayes focuses on helping out Syrian refugees in camps spread across the United Arab Emirates. These camps "in Jordan and Lebanon are far worse than those in Europe," he says. "We have limited resources but we give help to those much needed people."</p><p>There is currently a humanitarian crisis in <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jordans-closed-borders-are-creating-a-humanitarian-nightmare-for-syrian-refugees-2016-6">Jordan because the army shut down some of the country's borders, making it difficult for international relief workers to help refugees</a>. This has meant that while much-needed food and care is being blocked, with only makeshift shelters and little central organisation.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>UNCHR</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Al Rayes offers three ways to improve conditions for these Syrian refugees, in a bid to show them they have a bright future and do not need to turn to extremism.</p><p>"We do business in food supply and we try to provide job opportunities to refugees this way. We bring them to countries in the UAE, such as Dubai, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia and provide work, so they are able to support their families," says Al Rayes.</p><p>Giving one Syrian a job can end up helping an entire family, he says.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Aleppo Media Center / AP</span></p><p class="caption">In this Tuesday, July. 26, 2016 photo, provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), shows Syrian citizens inspect damaged buildings after airstrikes hit Aleppo, Syria.</p></div><p></p></div></div>One of his most touching moments he has had since getting involved with "Extremely Together" was seeing how providing a job for a refugee called Halid, impacted the entire family tree. Al Rayes met Halid in a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, where he was living with 23 family members. He had lost a sister and a brother in the bombings.</p><p>After Halid was offered an assistant chef job in Dubai he was able to provide for his family and his niece ended up returning to education.</p><p>Another way Al Rayes helps Syrian refugees is by giving grants for projects that directly help them. So far, 3 have been granted in Jordan and 4 in Lebanon.</p><p>Finally, Al Rayes also helps by supporting education initiatives for Syrian refugees in Jordanian and Lebanese camps.</p><p>"When people are in extreme poverty, not allowed to work, and have no sources of funds, they turn to extremism as it provides a future," said Al Rayes. "However, to counter this, we need to show people that they have a future and will be able to provide for themselves and a family, elsewhere."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kobe-bryant-stibel-nba-stars-new-venture-capital-fund-tech-video-games-players-tribune-2016-8">Kobe Bryant is starting a $100-million venture capital fund </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZhbDdoNTE6pxSP3e0rgio_omuyYJ3ofw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Stopping the cycle of violent extremism in Syria has nothing to do with religion

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Andrew Harnik/AP</span></p><p class="caption">President Barack Obama meets with Duolingo's Gina Gotthilf and Luis von Ahn.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>When language-learning service <a href="https://www.duolingo.com">Duolingo</a> got an invite from the White House to Tuesday's inaugural <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/demo-day">Demo Day</a> celebration of American entrepreneurs, Duolingo leaders expected to meet fellow founders and catch a closing speech from President Barack Obama.</p><p>Instead, cofounder Luis von Ahn and VP of marketing and international development Gina Gotthilf were asked to pitch their company directly to <span>Obama,</span> as if he were a potential investor.</p><p>"He is extremely intimidating," Gotthilf said. "But as a human being, he's very warm and inviting. He was doing everything he could to make the situation as comfortable as possible."</p><p>And while the president was there to promote the efforts of the approximately 30 entrepreneurs who were invited to Demo Day, he moved beyond surface questions and had Gotthilf and von Ahn explain their strategy for making their language-learning software profitable.</p><p>The event was held to inspire diversity in America's startup culture. <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/30/female-founders-fare-much-better-in-2014/#.m9zig7:b4DG">According to TechCrunch</a>, only about 10% of venture-backed companies in the US have at least one female founder, and according to the White House, only 1% have a black founder.</p><p>The entrepreneurs who were invited to Demo Day represented a much more diverse demographic. "The next Steve Jobs might be named Stephanie or Esteban," Obama said in a speech.</p><p>"There will always be challenges in starting your own business, but the institutional support is at an all-time high; that will only further motivate entrepreneurs from all sectors of industry," said "Shark Tank" investor Daymond John, who was one of the event's moderators and was also recently named by the White House a presidential ambassador for global entrepreneurship.</p><p>John said that he found the collection of entrepreneurs from all walks of life to be both personally inspiring and a hopeful sign of a growing entrepreneur culture.</p><p>Jason Crain, cofounder of manufacturing part database app <a href="http://partpic.com/">Partpic</a>, said he and his cofounder Jewel Burks were initially incredibly nervous about the prospect of meeting with the president, a hero of theirs, but relaxed after they began speaking with him.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Andrew Harnik/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Partpic cofounder Jason Crain demonstrates his app to President Barack Obama.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"He's the man!" Crain said. "I mean seriously, he is in the middle of pitching a nuclear deal to Congress, addressing local terrorism and hate attacks, and celebrating his birthday [he turned 54 Tuesday], but took time out of his day to push the agenda of technology equality and understand Partpic's business model.</p><p>"He didn't have to do that. We would have been happy with hearing him address the audience or just shaking his hand. His actions show that he cares about small businesses and diversity."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Andrew Harnik/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Obama meets with Declara cofounder Ramona Pierson.</p></div><p></p></div></div>In his closing speech, Obama mentioned the story of Ramona Pierson, a former Marine who was hit by a drunk driver at 22 and woke up from a coma 18 months later, blind. She went on to help found the learning platform <a href="https://declara.com/">Declara</a> and was able to regain confidence and sight in her left eye after years of surgeries. Her company has raised $32.5 million and she has become a <a href="http://startout.org/ramona-pierson">mentor for fellow LGBT entrepreneurs</a>.</p><p>Pierson said that pitching her company to Obama was a pleasure, since he engaged her on an emotional level. "The difference between President Obama and most investors is that he is listening with a view to improve the world rather than to simply advance portfolio value," she said.</p><p><span>Pierson</span> added that the president's skillset reminded her of some of Declara's investors, including Silicon Valley power player Peter Thiel. She thinks the president could make a good VC someday.</p><p>"Perhaps President Obama should consider working for a firm like one of these after his term to help guide funding and decision-making to solve real world problems," she said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-pitches-shark-tank-small-business-2015-6">This is what 'Shark Tank' investor Mark Cuban looks for in the perfect pitch</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="N4bm5ndTouTuBRcrhCmkPSA31ZBO0mZE" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

What it's like to pitch your startup to President Obama

LIVE: Obama's Speech To The UN General Assembly...

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">President Barack Obama in Washington.</p></div><p></p></div></div>President Barack Obama on Thursday laid out his view of his administration's legacy and achievements.</p><p>In a <a href="https://medium.com/the-white-house/to-my-fellow-americans-649af4c5fc49#.o289mtx95" target="_blank">Medium post</a>, Obama reflected on the dire economic environment he inhereted when he took office in 2009 amid the financial collapse.</p><p>"In the depths of that winter, on January 20, 2009, I stood before you and swore a sacred oath. I told you that day that the challenges we faced would not be met easily or in a short span of time - but they would be met. And after eight busy years, we've met them - because of you," Obama wrote.</p><p><span>Obama hailed the healthcare reform effort, expanded </span><span>green</span><span> energy access, a lower unemployment rate, the troop withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, and greater civil rights protections as key touchstones of his administration.</span></p><p><span>"This is where America stands after eight years of progress. By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started - a situation I'm proud to leave for my successor. And it's thanks to you - to the hard work you've put in; the sacrifices you've made for your families and communities; the way you've looked out for one another," he wrote</span></p><p>But the president also acknowledged his failed legislative goals, including comprehensive immigration reform and gun control, and warned Republicans against undoing his achievements.</p><p>He noted that Republicans seeking to roll back the Affordable Care Act, his signature legislative achievement, could be taking away a major entitlement helping many of the same voters whose anxieties propelled President-elect Donald Trump to office.</p><p>"What won't help is taking health care away from 30 million Americans, most of them white and working class," Obama said.</p><h2>Read the full memo below:</h2><p>To my fellow Americans,</p><p>Eight years ago, America faced a moment of peril unlike any we'd seen in decades.</p><p>A spiraling financial crisis threatened to plunge an economy in recession into a deep depression. The very heartbeat of American manufacturing - the American auto industry - was on the brink of collapse.</p><p>In some communities, nearly one in five Americans were out of work. Nearly 180,000 American troops were serving in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the mastermind of the worst terror attack on American soil remained at large. And on challenges from health care to climate change, we'd been kicking the can down the road for way too long.</p><p>But in the depths of that winter, on January 20, 2009, I stood before you and swore a sacred oath. I told you that day that the challenges we faced would not be met easily or in a short span of time - but they would be met. And after eight busy years, we've met them - because of you.</p><p>Eight years later, an economy that was shrinking at more than eight percent is now growing at more than three percent. Businesses that were bleeding jobs unleashed the longest streak of job creation on record. The auto industry has roared its way back, saving one million jobs across the country and fueling a manufacturing sector that, after a decade of decline, has added new jobs for the first time since the 1990s. And wages have grown faster over the past few years than at any time in the past forty.</p><p>Today, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, another 20 million American adults know the financial security and peace of mind that comes with health insurance. Another three million children have gained health insurance. For the first time ever, more than ninety percent of Americans are insured - the highest rate ever. We've seen the slowest growth in the price of health care in fifty years, along with improvements in patient safety that have prevented an estimated 87,000 deaths.</p><p>Every American with insurance is covered by the strongest set of consumer protections in history - a true Patients' Bill of Rights - and free from the fear that illness or accident will derail your dreams, because America is now a place where discrimination against preexisting conditions is a relic of the past. And the new health insurance marketplace means that if you lose your job, change your job, or start that new business, you'll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable care and the security and peace of mind that comes with it - and that's one reason why entrepreneurship is growing for the second straight year.</p><p>Our dependence on foreign oil has been cut by more than half, and our production of renewable energy has more than doubled. In many places across the country, clean energy from the wind is now cheaper than dirtier sources of energy, and solar now employs more Americans than coal mining in jobs that pay better than average and can't be outsourced. We also enacted the most sweeping reforms since the Great Depression to protect consumers and prevent a crisis on Wall Street from punishing Main Street ever again.</p><p>These actions didn't stifle growth, as critics predicted. Instead, the stock market has nearly tripled. Since I signed Obamacare into law, America's businesses have added more than 15 million new jobs. And the economy is undoubtedly more durable than it was in the days when we relied on oil from unstable nations and banks took risky bets with your money.</p><p>The high school graduation rate is now 83 percent - the highest on record - and we've helped more young people graduate from college than ever before.</p><p>At the same time, we've worked to offer more options for Americans who decide not to pursue college, from expanding apprenticeships, to launching high-tech manufacturing institutes, to revamping the job training system and creating programs like TechHire to help people train for higher-paying jobs in months, not years. We've connected more schools across the country to broadband internet, and supported more teachers to bring coding, hands-on making, and computational thinking into our classrooms to prepare all our children for a 21st century economy.</p><p>Add it all up, and last year, the poverty rate fell at the fastest rate in almost fifty years while the median household income grew at the fastest rate on record. And we've done it all while cutting our deficits by nearly two-thirds even as we protected investments that grow the middle class.</p><p>Meanwhile, over the past eight years, no foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland. Plots have been disrupted. Terrorists like Osama bin Laden have been taken off the battlefield. We've drawn down from nearly 180,000 troops in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan to just 15,000. With a coalition of more than 70 nations and a relentless campaign of more than 16,000 airstrikes so far, we are breaking the back of ISIL and taking away its safe havens, and we've accomplished this at a cost of $10 billion over two years - the same amount that we spent in one month at the height of the Iraq War.</p><p>At the same time, America has led the world to meet a set of global challenges. Through diplomacy, we shut down Iran's nuclear weapons program, opened up a new chapter with the people of Cuba, and brought nearly 200 nations together around a climate agreement that could save this planet for our kids.</p><p>With new models for development, American assistance is helping people around the world feed themselves, care for their sick, and power communities across Africa. And almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago. All of this progress is due to the service of millions of Americans in intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security, diplomacy, and the brave men and women of our Armed Forces - the most diverse institution in America.</p><p>We've also worked to make the changing face of America more fair and more just - including by making strides towards criminal justice reform, making progress towards equal pay, repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and advancing the cause of civil rights, women's rights, and LGBT rights. I appointed two extraordinary women to the Supreme Court, marking the first time in history that three women sit on the bench, including the first Latina. And today in America, marriage equality is finally a reality across all fifty states.</p><p>This is where America stands after eight years of progress. By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started - a situation I'm proud to leave for my successor. And it's thanks to you - to the hard work you've put in; the sacrifices you've made for your families and communities; the way you've looked out for one another.</p><p>Still, through every victory and every setback, I've insisted that change is never easy, and never quick; that we wouldn't meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime. And for all that we've achieved, there's still so much I wish we'd been able to do, from enacting gun safety measures to protect more of our kids and our cops from mass shootings like Newtown, to passing commonsense immigration reform that encourages the best and brightest from around the world to study, stay, and create jobs in America.</p><p>And for all the incredible progress our economy has made in just eight years, we still have more work to do for every American still in need of a good job or a raise, paid leave or a dignified retirement. We have to acknowledge the inequality that has come from an increasingly globalized economy while committing ourselves to making it work better for everyone, not just those at the top, and give everyone who works hard a fair shot at success.</p><p>And here's the thing - over the past eight years, we've shown that we can. Last year, income gains were actually larger for households at the bottom and the middle than for those at the top.</p><p>We've also made the tax code fairer. The tax changes enacted over the past eight years have ensured that the top one percent of Americans pay more of their fair share, increasing the share of income received by all other families by more than the tax changes in any previous administration since at least 1960. Simply put, we've actually begun the long task of reversing inequality.</p><p>But as the global economy changes, we'll have to do more to accelerate these trends, from strengthening unions that speak for workers, to preventing colleges from pricing out hardworking students, to making sure that minimum wage workers get a raise and women finally get paid the same as men for doing the same job.</p><p>What won't help is taking health care away from 30 million Americans, most of them white and working class; denying overtime pay to workers, most of whom have more than earned it; or privatizing Medicare and Social Security and letting Wall Street regulate itself again - none of which middle-class Americans voted for.</p><p>We will have to move forward as we always have - together. As a people who believe that out of many, we are one; that we are bound not by any one race or religion, but rather an adherence to a common creed; that all of us are created equal in the eyes of God.</p><p>And I'm confident we will. Because the change we've brought about these past eight years was never about me. It was about you. It is you, the American people, who have made the progress of the last eight years possible. It is you who will make our future progress possible. That, after all, is the story of America - a story of progress. However halting, however incomplete, however harshly challenged at each point on our journey - the story of America is a story of progress.</p><p>Recently, I asked each member of my talented and dedicated Cabinet to prepare a detailed report on the progress we've made across the board these past eight years, and the work that remains to make this country we love even stronger. Today, I'm sharing them with you. And I hope you'll share them with others, and do your part to build on the progress we've made across the board.</p><p>It has been the privilege of my life to serve as your President. And as I prepare to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen, I'm proud to say that we have laid a new foundation for America. A new future is ours to write. And I'm as confident as ever that it will be led by the United States of America - and that our best days are still ahead.</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>Barack Obama</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-russia-compared-other-countries-putin-2016-12">11 facts that show how different Russia is from the rest of the world</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RtbDU1bDra7DfSubgs0WuD4Pg0DTxjxx" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "Terrorism vs entrepreneurship" and got 12 results

Survey in North Africa: Terrorism more rewarding than entrepreneurship?

Guest Author

We spoke to employees of NYC's beloved 93-year-old Strand Book Store who say its millionaire owner's attempts to save the struggling business are making it harder than ever to run the store

Jennifer Ortakales,Bartie Sco…

Telegram CEO breaks silence after arrest, says it's not true that the platform is an 'anarchic paradise'

Kwan Wei Kevin Tan

Some Amazon managers say they hire people they intend to fire later just to meet their turnover goal

Matt Turner,Jordan Parker Erb

FINTECH CEO: If you're an entrepreneur, why would you set up in the UK now?

Ben Moshinsky

Stopping the cycle of violent extremism in Syria has nothing to do with religion

Lianna Brinded

What it's like to pitch your startup to President Obama

Richard Feloni

LIVE: Obama's Speech To The UN General Assembly...

Brett LoGiurato

Here's Obama's exit memo to America

Maxwell Tani

Obama Just Finished His Speech In Israel, And People Are Already Saying He Made History

Grace Wyler

Full transcript of PM Narendra Modi's TV interview

BI India Bureau

How a founder went from being worth millions to -$10,000 almost overnight - then rebounded to a $100 million fortune

Anna Mazarakis,Alyson Shontell

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides