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

<ul><li><keyword id="3252177" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="advantage-club" source="Orion">Advantage Club</keyword> to recruit 100 employees within this financial year i.e FY 21-22 across various domains like technology, sales, and marketing.</li><li>The company is also planning to hire a Global Enterprise Sales Head, Global Head of Marketing.</li><li>The Gurugram based company recently raised $1.7 million round funding from Y Combinator, <keyword id="11955348" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="broom-ventures" source="Orion">Broom Ventures</keyword>, Kunal Shah and others.</li></ul>Advantage Club, a Gurugram-based <keyword id="12260496" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-human-resources-tech" source="Orion">Global Human Resources Tech</keyword> startup, is planning to recruit 100 employees before March 2022. The company is looking forward to more than doubling its workforce to 170 employees in order to diversify its presence in international markets, especially in Southeast Asia, Middle East and North Africa and North America. The key hiring will be done across key growth functions of technology, alliance and marketing to integrate and enhance the platform with multiple new products. The company is also planning to hire a Global Enterprise Sales Head, Global Head of Marketing and various techies and sales executives. Advantage Club, which recently raised $1.7 million from Y Combinator, Broom Ventures, Kunal Shah and others, is a global <keyword id="6393327" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="human-resources" source="Orion">Human Resources</keyword> technology-based platform for employee engagement and financial wellness with benefits like perks, rewards, and early wage access. The company claims to have its presence in over 60 countries and has more than 370 clients including Maruti Suzuki, Concentrix, <keyword id="1745822" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="teleperformance" source="Orion">Teleperformance</keyword>, Hexaware, EY, Target and many more. Advantage Club is currently focusing on India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and North Africa and North America. “We operate in an untapped $13 billion market that has ample growth opportunities yet to be realized. We are focused on expanding our operations across the world and adding more tech-led products and features,” said Sourabh Deorah, Co-founder and CEO at Advantage Club. “We believe there is a lot yet to be achieved, and we want to attract talent that wants to be a part of a Made in India journey that has the potential to disrupt the employee engagement sector not just in India but across the world,” he further added. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/healthifymes-name-surfaces-in-pandora-papers-for-having-links-with-putins-former-aide/articleshow/86830083.cms">HealthifyMe’s name surfaces in Pandora Papers for having links with Putin’s former aide</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/this-robot-can-walk-fly-and-even-ride-a-skateboard/articleshow/86829344.cms">Meet LEO, a bipedal robot that can walk, fly and even ride a skateboard</a>

HRTech startup Advantage Club to hire 100 people across Technology, Sales and Marketing in FY 21-22

It's Monday, readers. This is my last day writing the newsletter before handing back the baton to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/diamond-naga-siu">Diamond Naga Siu.</a> Thanks to my many TikTok (okay, more like Instagram Reels) rabbit holes, I am obsessed with <a href="https://www.insider.com/parchment-paper-tiktok-cleaning-hack-hard-water-stains-faucets-2023-4?_gl=1*uxeyrv*_ga*MjA5MjI2NzM5Mi4xNjUwOTE0NTM1*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY4MTQ4MDUyNC4yMjUuMS4xNjgxNDg3NjQyLjUxLjAuMA..">cleaning hacks like this one.</a> While I don't go on intense Sunday reset cleaning drives, I also didn't know there were so many <a href="https://www.insider.com/right-and-wrong-way-to-clean-everything-in-your-house-2020-2">things I'd been cleaning wrong</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/right-and-wrong-way-to-clean-everything-in-your-house-2020-2#using-household-towels-and-dish-soap-to-wash-your-car-can-damage-the-wax-and-paint-13">.</a> Spring cleaning season is upon us, folks. Okay, brooms down. Monday is a fresh start. Let's get to the stories.If this was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/10-things-in-tech">sign up here</a>. Download Insider's app <a href="https://link.insider.com/click/27645591.160803/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5zaWRlci5jb20vYXBwP25yX2VtYWlsX3JlZmVyZXI9MSZ1dG1fc291cmNlPVNhaWx0aHJ1JnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9T3BlbmluZ19iZWxs/62667762063d6b9bef0cffb3Bf9c9aa56" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/we-do-not-need-to-stop-ai-2023-4"></a>1. Humans are key to responsible AI. Calls to pause AI development centered around the need to make sure we were building responsible AI. But companies just need to make sure a human is around to check on it, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/emilia-david">writes yours truly</a>. <ul><li>AI ethicists pay attention to the potential impact of a product on society — in many cases, they can delay a release if they have concerns over its safety. They also supervise AI, making sure they don't develop biases or otherwise go amok.</li><li>But some Big Tech companies laid off responsible AI employees as part of the great cost-cutting sweeping the industry, possibly undermining the greatest tool against unfettered, unchecked AI.</li><li>Those moves come right as society has come to understand what can happen if AI escapes its guardrails, making AI ethics more important than ever.</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/we-do-not-need-to-stop-ai-2023-4">Here's why humans will help bring responsible AI to fruition.</a>In other news:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-nima-momeni-bob-lee-stabbing-murder-suspect-2023-4"></a><div type="image" title="A photo of a bouquet and note tribute to Bob Lee" height="3898" width="5197" msid="99558580" hostid="261" sizebytes="1144694"></div>2. What we know about the alleged suspect in the Bob Lee case. Nima Momeni, the tech consultant arrested in San Francisco in connection with the death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, was described as friendly by his neighbors but had some run-ins with the police. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-nima-momeni-bob-lee-stabbing-murder-suspect-2023-4">Here's more.</a>3. Facebook cozies up to creators. Meta wants influencers to remember that Facebook is still around. It plans to expand its ad revenue-sharing program to entice creators to make sure they're still posting on the big, blue app. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-pitching-creators-advertising-revenue-share-program-facebook-reels-2023-4">Read more here. </a>4. Technical difficulties delayed Netflix's highly anticipated live episode of "Love Is Blind". Netflix apologized after enraged viewers lashed out at the global streaming giant. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-love-is-blind-live-reunion-delayed-apology-technical-2023-4">Read more</a>.5. Meta recovering from Apple's privacy crackdown. After Apple allowed users to opt out of apps that track their data through ads, Meta lost out on billions. But the company is poised to make a comeback after deploying new ad strategies. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-recovers-from-apple-ad-privacy-hit-major-growth-expected-2023-4">Read more on Meta's recovery.</a>6. Salesforce employee says she got laid off while on maternity leave. An employee of Salesforce thought maternity leave shielded her from layoffs, but she wrote on her LinkedIn that she found out the hard way that it doesn't. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-salesforce-employee-laid-off-while-on-maternity-leave-2023-4">Learn more here.</a>7. Meet the venture capitalist who escaped Hong Kong loan sharks. Maurice Ng, founder of Tings Capital, moved to the US at 18 to escape threats Hong Kong loan sharks made against his family. Years later, he was able to pay off his father's debt. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-this-31-year-old-vc-faced-loan-sharks-and-his-own-fear-of-death-2023-3">Read more here</a>.8. How recruiters are using AI. Jasmine Cheng, who runs the recruitment firm TopKnack, said she uses ChatGPT to search for companies and employees for her clients. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-recovers-from-apple-ad-privacy-hit-major-growth-expected-2023-4">Here's more.</a>Odds and ends:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-use-ai-to-generate-clearer-picture-of-black-hole-2023-4"></a><div type="image" title="first image of a black hole m87" height="1515" width="2020" msid="99558581" hostid="261" sizebytes="14164"></div>9. AI helped astronomers with images of a black hole. Astronomers used machine learning algorithms to cobble together a photo of the black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy so they could better study it. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-use-ai-to-generate-clearer-picture-of-black-hole-2023-4">See the photo here.</a>10. A cool new Nintendo Switch controller. If you're in the market for a new controller for your Nintendo Switch, Insider's Reviews team <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/8bitdo-ultimate-controller-review">said you should consider the 8BitDo Ultimate Controller</a>. The best news, it works for PC too.What we're watching:<ul><li>The <a href="https://conferences.ted.com/ted2023/program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">annual TED conference</a> kicks off in Vancouver, Canada, today. Speakers from the worlds of art, entertainment, activism, and tech will be present, including OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman.</li><li>Today is the day. To celebrate a haiku. Thank you for reading. It's National Haiku Poetry Day.Curated by Emilia David in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email <a href="mailto:edavid@insider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">edavid@insider.com </a>or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/miyadavid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@miyadavid</a>.) Edited by Matt Weinberger (tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/gamoid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@gamoid</a>) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/hallam_bullock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@hallam_bullock</a>) in London.</li></ul>

Humans have to get in the way of AI to make it more responsible

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: Mild spoilers ahead for "The Flash."</li><li>The Andy Muschietti-directed superhero movie has been overhyped by early critics.</li></ul>Early critics heralded "The Flash" as one <a href="https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/the-flash-early-reactions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of the best superhero movies ever made</a>. That couldn't be further from the truth.There's a scene early in Warner Bros.' latest DC outing where the titular hero (Ezra Miller) saves a group of babies and a nurse from falling to their deaths.The dragged out, slowed-down scene involves a baby getting closed inside an unplugged microwave to save its life. Then, Miller's Barry Allen/The Flash offers mental health advice to a screaming nurse who's in shock. It's supposed to elicit laughter. Yet the fact that these scenes made the film's final cut given Miller's <a href="https://www.insider.com/ezra-miller-controversies-timeline-arrests-reports-2022-8">legal troubles</a>, "<a href="https://www.insider.com/ezra-miller-is-seeking-help-for-complex-mental-health-issues-2022-8">complex mental health issues</a>," and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ezra-miller-flash-running-a-cult-grooming-minors-carrying-guns-2022-8">accusations of grooming children</a> make it difficult to separate the actor from his superhero facade. It gets better from there, but "The Flash" isn't the spectacle some critics and <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/tom-cruise-has-seen-the-flash-movie-1235355326/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">celebrities</a> promised months ago.The Andy Muschietti-directed movie, which has been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/flash-movie-timeline-ezra-miller-b5cc7751677e1bdf7701a29b398c8e6d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in development as far back as the '80s,</a> loosely follows the popular DC story "Flashpoint," in which the speedster travels back in time to prevent the death of his mother (Maribel Verdú) during his childhood. Unfortunately, changing the past alters the present. The Flash finds himself trapped in an alternate timeline where the Justice League doesn't exist and Superman villain Zod (Michael Shannon from 2013's "Man of Steel") threatens to once again take over Earth and transform it into a new home for his nearly extinct Kryptonian race.Barry runs into his past self, a doe-eyed dingbat sans superpowers, and together they need to stop Zod and send the hero home. Help comes in the form of Supergirl (Sasha Calle) and a blast from the past — Michael Keaton's Batman, a cameo that's strategically been used in marketing, likely to take some of the attention off the film's troubled star.Stuffed with unnecessary cameos seemingly for the sake of it, "The Flash" contains glimpses of fun, but is tonally uneven. It's often in conflict with itself over whether it wants to be a Batman nostalgia fest or about the fastest man alive. <h2>Michael Keaton's Batman is the best thing about 'The Flash' </h2><div type="image" title="Michael Keaton as Batman in &quot;The Flash.&quot;" height="720" width="1280" msid="101052185" hostid="261"></div>Let's be real. Despite being called "The Flash," audiences are likely venturing to theaters to see Keaton's reprisal as the Dark Knight. And Keaton doesn't disappoint. "The Flash" meanders and relies on cringey and juvenile jokes for much of its first hour. (The film lingers on an unfunny gag that will go over young viewers' heads about <a href="https://screenrant.com/back-future-original-marty-fired-eric-stoltz-why/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eric Stoltz playing Marty McFly in "Back to the Future"</a> in a different timeline for far too long.) It's not until Keaton shows up to fight two versions of the Flash with a broom on a table in nothing but sweats and one flip flop that the movie livens up. Every moment with Keaton on screen makes this movie worth watching. The actor gets the film's best fight sequence while effortlessly taking down Russians to Danny Elfman's familiar theme. Keaton reminds us his Batman can do anything efficiently, including delivering the most straightforward explanation of the multiverse in any comic-book movie to date using nothing more than a bowl of spaghetti. <h2>Every other hero outshines The Flash in this movie.</h2><div type="image" title="Michael Keaton as Batman in The Flash" height="1582" width="3000" msid="101052188" hostid="261"></div>Miller gets overshadowed in their own film any time a version of Batman shows up (I won't spoil them all here). Affleck's latest and likely last outing as the Caped Crusader delivers an exciting chase scene through Gotham, while Keaton and one other Batman received the majority of the cheers in my early June screening filled with fans and journalists.At times, it feels like you're watching a follow-up to Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" instead of a standalone about the speedster. Throughout the film, Flash relies on Bats to formulate plans to get them out of trouble, help him restore his powers, and take down Zod.The result is that The Flash feels more like a sidekick in his own film — even the movie poster has an identity crisis over which hero should be featured more prominently in a film titled "The Flash."<div type="image" title="The Flash poster" height="4096" width="2764" msid="101052191" hostid="261"></div>It's not just the Batmen who steal scenes.Sasha Calle's Supergirl is another bright spot, featured in an adaptation of the popular "Red Son" Superman comic that explores what would've happened if Supes crash landed in Russia instead of a farm in Kansas. Though the film barely scratches the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surface of the Eisner-winning Mark Millar story</a>, Calle taps into a darker, more vengeful version of the hero than we've previously seen. <div type="image" title="Ezra Miller in The Flash" height="1666" width="3000" msid="101052194" hostid="261"></div>Unfortunately, without giving away spoilers, the way the film wraps up Keaton and Calle's storylines makes it seem likely this will be the last time we see them in live-action.<h2>The film is riddled with awful CGI</h2><div type="image" title="the flash ezra miller" height="1170" width="2642" msid="101052197" hostid="261"></div>Noticeably wonky CGI makes "The Flash" tough to fully enjoy.The babies Flash saves near the film's start <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=the%20flash%20microwave&amp;src=typed_query" target="_blank" rel="noopener">look nightmarish</a>. Any time the hero enters the Speed Force to try and turn back time, viewers see humans who look strangely animated, as if editors didn't have time to complete the film's effects. Apparently, it was intended to look "<a href="https://gizmodo.com/flash-movie-visual-effects-warner-bros-dc-films-batman-1850540141" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a little weird.</a>" Muschietti and his sister, Barbara, who serves as a film's producer, <a href="https://gizmodo.com/flash-movie-visual-effects-warner-bros-dc-films-batman-1850540141" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told io9's Germain Lussier the CGI isn't a mistake</a>. The visuals look the way they do on purpose to showcase those moments from Barry's point of view. Such an explanation would be fine; however, viewers have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtswU-tBq6g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seen scenes from Barry's POV in previous DC films</a> where his surroundings look well-defined. This jarring new take doesn't match with what's been introduced in the past. <h2>There's a better adaptation of 'Flashpoint' you can watch on Max.</h2><div type="image" title="Ezra Miller behind another version of himself as The Flash and Sasha Calle as Supergirl" height="1800" width="3331" msid="101052200" hostid="261"></div>"The Flash" is very good when it's a Batman movie and mediocre when it's about Barry Allen. The film fails to answer its biggest question: Who killed Barry's mom? Any fan familiar with The CW's nine-season "Flash" series — a show that debuted after WB's 2014 movie <a href="https://www.slashfilm.com/534369/dc-movie-slate-revealed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> and <a href="https://people.com/the-flash-series-finale-how-it-ends-7503686" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concluded</a> weeks before its release — knows the culprit as Reverse Flash. Here, the question is ignored despite being at the heart of the film.A Flash baddie could've naturally tied into the film's main story. Instead, "The Flash" bizarrely reintroduces Zod, a stale but familiar villain from one of DC's most divisive films, 2013's "Man of Steel," with a cliché goal of overtaking the planet. In doing so, the studio oddly revisits <a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/warner-bros-snyderverse-zack-snyders-justice-league-76628238" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Snyderverse era of DC that WB refused to continue</a>. (As a reminder, Henry Cavill <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/superman-henry-cavill-black-adam-1235323670/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reprised his role as Superman in October's "Black Adam"</a> only to be kicked to the curb <a href="https://www.insider.com/henry-cavill-confirms-he-will-no-longer-play-superman-2022-12">two months later</a>.)By the film's end, Barry doesn't learn his lesson about fiddling with the past as his selfish actions result in another (less life-threatening) shift to the multiverse. It feels like a rushed sunset and solution to cleanly reset the DC universe moving forward, likely without Miller.WB already made a more enjoyable Flashpoint adaptation in 2013 called "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3tochTgPVc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox</a>," currently <a href="https://play.max.com/movie/61e4efde-a2e8-47d8-a174-ab654ae6eb3f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">streaming on Max</a>. After you get your Keaton fix, watch that."The Flash," also starring Kiersey Clemons and Ron Livingston, is now in theaters.<h2>Grade: C+</h2>

Batman aside, 'The Flash' is far from one of the best superhero movies ever made

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/jryan.art/">James Ryan</a> is the founder of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grovesquaregalleriesofficial/">Grove Square Galleries</a>, an <keyword id="11931454" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="art" source="Orion">art</keyword> gallery that champions social causes.</li><li>Ryan talked to Insider about carving a space in the exclusive industry without any experience. </li></ul>Name: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jryan.art/">James Ryan</a> Age: 32Location: <keyword id="11897569" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="london" source="Orion">London</keyword>, England Business: A contemporary <a href="https://www.grovesquaregalleries.com/">art gallery</a> that champions social causes like climate change and food insecurity. Backstory: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jryan.art/">James Ryan</a> got the keys to his newly launched <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grovesquaregalleriesofficial/">Grove Square Galleries </a>in February 2020. A month later, the <keyword id="11897975" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uk" source="Orion">UK</keyword> went into lockdown because of COVID-19. But as people were laid off, he was able to rapidly hire because of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvvIONB6yio">UK job retention</a> scheme, in which struggling businesses could <a href="https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/perspectives-events/blogs/2020/03/uk-government-announces-employee-furlough-scheme">furlough employees</a> without having to let them go and the government would pay 80% of their wages temporarily, up to a maximum limit. "There were a lot of people being made redundant, let go from competitive places, even auction houses," he said, adding he was able to hire those workers who were furloughed. Launching an online gallery helped Ryan acquire customers throughout Europe and the Americas, and as lockdowns eased, in-person opening events helped bring back the ritzy flare of the art world. Seeking to do something "worthwhile," Ryan said the gallery wants to champion and advise artists who are often struggling to find the right supportive gallery to build their profiles, in addition to working with established artists. The gallery also donates a portion of its sales to the charities of the artists' choice, such as <a href="https://www.fauna-flora.org/">Fauna and Flora International</a>, the world's oldest wildlife conservation charity. Now, Ryan — who doesn't have a background in art — is part of a rising crop of entrepreneurs redefining an industry long known for being exclusive.<div type="image" title="Painting of flowers" height="4745" width="3167" msid="88839667" hostid="261"></div>Growth: The gallery netted $10 million in revenue in 2021, according to documents seen by Insider, and aims to double that number by the end of this year. Since the gallery's inception, Ryan has signed eight artists, including <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jimnaughten/">Jim Naughten,</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/orlandabroom/">Orlanda Broom</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/elenagual.art/">Elena Gaul.</a> The gallery also hosted six exhibitions in 2021, the latest one was attended by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/emmaweymouth/">Emma Thynn</a>, who is Britain's first Black marchioness, which is <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/04/viscountess-weymouth-emma-thynn">a noble title</a> given to the spouses of British aristocrats known as marquesses. Proceeds from the event went to the vegan charity <a href="https://ffl.org/">Food for Life Global</a>. Before Grove Square Galleries: He worked for a property business where he helped homeowners rent units on booking platforms such as Airbnb. "It just didn't fulfill me," he said. He never went to college and worked as a bank teller before becoming a travel agent at 17. He had stints selling <keyword id="11921510" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="luxury" source="Orion">luxury</keyword> watches and looked at being a sports agent. "I've always tried different things," he said. Challenges: Ryan had to build a reputation for the gallery fast in order to find artists to represent. Additionally, he had financial troubles in the beginning, as the venture was self-funded. "Everything's been done on being very frugal," he said. Business advice: "Believe in what you're doing," he said. "You really have to have a huge amount of passion for it; really believe in that vision." <div type="image" title="Painting of the ocean" height="2500" width="1668" msid="88839668" hostid="261"></div>Business mentor: He admires investor <a href="https://www.peterjones.com/">Peter Jones</a>, saying he likes the way Jones conducts himself in board meetings. Ryan described him as calm, cool, and calculated, in addition to being passionate about the projects he funds.Why now is the best time to start a business: Ryan believes it's an especially good time to start a digital business, because there's a massive amount of opportunity and access to resources that make doing so easier. "We've gone through this pandemic. You've had a job that you haven't enjoyed doing," he said. "What else have you got to lose?" On hiring: There are 20 people working at the art gallery full time right now. He hasn't had trouble getting people to work for him, as the government's furlough scheme helped him find young talent in need of work. That ended in September, and he's still planning to hire more people this year. On managing burnout: Ryan takes time to do sports and leans on his support network, including his fiancée and children, to get by. In the gallery office, there is table tennis and music playing all the time. "We're always talking, always having a laugh," he said.

This entrepreneur opened Grove Square Galleries as the pandemic started. He did $10 million in revenue last year and plans to double that number in 2022

<ul><li>Dyson recently launched its most advanced vacuum cleaner V15 Detect, in India.</li><li>It is priced at ₹62,900, which makes it an expensive piece of tech, but it's also one of a kind.</li><li>It's a good investment, but you must be sure of your cleaning requirement as it has some caveats. Is it for you? Read the full review to find out.</li></ul>Dyson has launched another high-tech and high-priced vacuum cleaner in India. The latest machine is called <keyword id="14550029" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dyson-v15" source="Orion">Dyson V15</keyword> Detect and is touted as the most powerful and intelligent cordless vacuum cleaner to date; it better be as it's priced at a whopping ₹62,900, which makes it one of the most expensive cordless vacuum cleaners in the country. The vacuum cleaner is the most popular product from the company for its visually distinctive design, and it's been among the favorites of many ever since it debuted in India. Having used the previous models of the machine, I can say the functionality is also as good as the design. Although, I am not sure of its durability in Indian homes as I've never used them for more than a month or two. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 1" msid="93143385" hostid="261" sizebytes="277760" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The Dyson V15 Detect still looks the same, but doesn&amp;#39;t feel old.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>The V15 Detect has been with me for around a month, and so far, it's been a great experience using it. It is said to have 1.5 times more suction and 54% more bin capacity than the Dyson V12 Detect Slim. This means the suction is more powerful and can now store more debris in the bin. Why is the price so high? The price is not surprising for those aware of Dyson's products. As per the company, they usually carry a premium price tag for their design, service, and innovative technology. In addition, it has some great-sounding tech built inside, like a laser on the cleaning head to highlight microscopic dust particles, a sensor to track evidence of cleaning by gauging particle data, self-adjusting suction intensity, and a digital motor apart. All this in a good-looking cordless vacuum experience without compromising suction power. So I decided to test all of these features and see whether it does what it promises, and if yes, is it worth the premium? Design and build: Same futuristic laser blaster design <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 2" msid="93143451" hostid="261" sizebytes="190122" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The bin on the V15 Detect is larger than its predecessor.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>As I mentioned, the design is similar to the V11 Absolute Pro, with a slightly larger 0.75-liter bin and handheld unit weighing 3.1kg. Unfortunately, the weight takes away the ease of use; although I didn't have an issue, someone like my 55-year-old mother would not be able to run it for a long stretch. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 Detect" height="900" width="1200" msid="93143692" hostid="261" sizebytes="2066023"></div>The increased weight is also because it has got some significant upgrades on the inside over its predecessor. The most prominent one is the 230W motor which is more powerful than the V11. Further, an acoustic piezo sensor tells the amount and type of dust particles it picks on an LCD and the remaining battery run time. I couldn't verify the particle data, but the battery stats are reliable so far. The particle stats essentially tell how dirty the floor is before and after cleaning. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15" msid="93143588" hostid="261" sizebytes="1669657" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The click and attach mechanism for attachments is still the same as seen on V11 range.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>The attachment mechanism remains the same. It has a simple click of a button to detach and insert to attach extensions and attachments. I really like this element of the Dyson design. Removing or adding parts to their products is a very satisfying experience and can quickly be done by anyone as it doesn't ask for added power or precision. That said, I faced some issues while opening the bin flap of its predecessor, which seems to be fixed on this one and is no longer flimsy. Although, it's still the exact push-to-eject mechanism as before. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 5" msid="93143776" hostid="261" sizebytes="1530850" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The dust sticks to the bin&amp;#39;s surface, which is why regular cleaning is a must.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>The quality of the material is consistent across the vacuum and its attachments. It also has a detachable battery. That means you can invest in a spare battery and double the output. I miss a design feature on this machine: a lock switch for the power trigger. Right now, I must keep one finger on the button while using it. While not having a lock may avoid accidents, it's also tiring for some. So much so that I felt the need for it in just 15 minutes of cleaning. That's also because it's heavy. I'll have no discomfort putting one finger busy for long if this was a lighter machine. Attachments: Made to reach anywhere but not to scratch hard stains Unboxing Dyson's products is an inviting process, and repackaging them is a nightmare. Anyhow, it comes neatly packed in a box that has eight attachments. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 5" msid="93143945" hostid="261" sizebytes="80914" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Dyson V15 Detect&amp;#39;s packaing is neat.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>There are two main cleaning heads of all. The first is the Laser Slim Fluffy cleaner head with a soft brush bar meant to clean hard floors without damaging them. Note that this is the only one with the green laser and the one I used the most at my home, where there's a mix of marble and tile flooring. The laser projects a green beam in front of the cleaning head, exposing the microscopic dust particles on the floor. This particular feature is an addition to those obsessed with cleaning. I had a similar individual at my home, and trust me, they did not let the vacuum cleaner rest unless it died. Despite getting the floor cleaned with conventional 'jhadu and pochha' (broom and mop) in the afternoon, this laser showed a floor full of fine dust after a few hours. What's better is that you can clean floors even in the dark. Imagine someone with a habit of compulsive cleaning having this at home - they're going to have one arm more muscular than the other. Jokes aside, this feature not just wants you to clean more but also shows how dirty the floors are even when not visible to the naked eye. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 6" msid="93144434" hostid="261" sizebytes="1757057" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The fluffy laser cleaner head is very effective on hard floor.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>The other cleaning head is the High-Torque, which is noisier and more powerful against bigger particles, hair, and rigid surfaces. It also has a layer of polycarbonate teeth which also scratches and collects soiled dust. A miniature version of this cleaning head, the Hair Screw Tool, is designed for smaller tasks that the High-Torque can't reach. But I noticed a few scratches on its bottom after cleaning my wooden cupboard, which is a letdown. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 7" msid="93144459" hostid="261" sizebytes="1298159" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In a weird incident, the Hair Screw Tool got scratched after I used it on wood.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>Both the cleaning heads are movable, so you don't have to lift and change the cleaning path. Instead, you can tilt it to either side to turn the head in different directions. In addition, it comes with four more attachments that allow it to reach tight spaces like gaps between sofas, keyboards, cars, under the bed, and similar. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 Detect comes with seven attachments, each for different purposes." msid="93144498" hostid="261" sizebytes="90400"></div>Lastly, you get a wall mount to make a stand for the machine and a storage clip that lets you attach two accessories to the extension tube’s barrel. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 8" msid="93144559" hostid="261" sizebytes="1974179" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;You get a storage clip that lets you attach two accessories to the extension tube’s barrel.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>These attachments cover most of the cleaning needs. But it can't mop, and that's a need in typical Indian households. It also fails to remove dry stains on the floor. So be clear that this tool can remove dust from every corner of your house but not wipe the floor. Maintenance: Easy to keep clean and working The Dyson V15 Detect doesn't really need a lot of maintenance, but there are a few things you need to clean periodically. Dirt compartment- It is easy to clean; you just have to empty it and then wash it once in a while so that it doesn't collect debris in the corners. You might need to use a brush or a cloth to clean it. Laser Slim Fluffy cleaner head roll- It comes with a soft brush roll made of a material that will need regular cold water. The laser sensor will also need cleaning if you use it regularly. High Torque brush roll- You can detach the brush rolls by removing the side cover using a coin. Then slide out the brush roll to clear debris or hair without damaging the bristles. HEPA filter- The HEPA filter is found on the top of the handheld unit, right below the LCD. It can be removed by twisting the purple head anti-clockwise. Like the fluffy brush roll, this must be washed under cold water when the machine indicates it. Make sure to put it back after drying it, and it's fixed properly. Performance: It sucks so well that it blows away every other cordless alternative This is where the Dyson V15 Detect shuts down the alternates and wins even at a higher price. After using it, I can confidently say that its only competition in terms of performance is a Dyson vacuum cleaner. The Indian market is still short of its alternatives; an advantage Dyson is leveraging. I shifted to a new house in the first week of July, and guess who did most of the cleaning? This machine. I got a chance to use it on hard floors, small carpets, sofas, mattresses, car, and cupboards, and I'm pretty impressed with how quickly and easily it cleans all types of places and surfaces. The cleaning heads do a brilliant job. Especially the laser head is great at picking up microscopic dust. Pass it through the floor once, and it's all gone. Check the image below. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 9" msid="93144617" hostid="261" sizebytes="1558591" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Vacuumed area vs normal floor condition hidden from human eye. &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>Even the intensity of suction changing with the floor and dust type is impressively accurate. You get to feel the heaviness and release while sweeping through the floor. Overall, it is the best vacuum cleaner for cleaning efficiency and ease. But as I mentioned, it doesn't mop, and it doesn't scrub stains off the surfaces. Charging and battery life The first bummer after paying almost ₹63K for a vacuum cleaner is that it takes five hours to charge from 0-100%. That's a common issue with cordless vacuum cleaners. And with all that suction power, it only cleans for an hour in the best possible case. Put it on a thick carpet, which will come down to 40 minutes on 'Eco' mode. <div type="image" title="Dyson V15 10" msid="93144682" hostid="261" sizebytes="1582781" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;LCD displays the suction modes. Auto is best for most requirements.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>It has three modes- Eco, Auto, and Boost. Eco mode is the most power efficient and provides light suction, which is suitable for tile and marble floors. Auto mode adjusts the suction power as needed to give you a balance of cleaning and battery efficiency. And Boost mode uses the full force of the machine and offers lesser battery backup. With a mixed-use on a marble floor, mattresses, and others, I got around 43 minutes in Eco mode, 19 minutes in Auto mode, and 11 minutes in Boost mode. If you have a big house requiring over an hour of cleaning, buying an additional battery is best. Should you buy it? The high price of this vacuum cleaner strikes off a large chunk of the customer base for a market like India. However, that doesn't take away the utility of this machine and makes it a superb vacuum cleaner for those who want to make cleaning easy and need one solution for most cleaning needs. Its powerful suction and ability to detect and remove microscopic dust are unmatched. Additionally, pet owners will find this extremely useful to pull their hair from carpets, sofas, and other surfaces. Don't buy it if you're expecting to mop and if you have a large house, as it dies in under an hour and takes close to five hours to charge. Unless, of course, you are okay with investing in an extra battery. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/rapido-ceo-unicorn-india-invest-in-windo-that-is-helping-small-businesses-take-their-business-online/articleshow/93139058.cms">Rapido CEO, Unicorn India Ventures invest in social commerce startup Windo</a>w <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/unclaimed-deposits-after-10-years-will-be-transferred-to-education-and-awareness-fund-as-per-rbi/articleshow/93137699.cms">RBI wants depositors to act on unclaimed deposits</a>

Dyson V15 Detect review: The best just got better, but at a premium

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">HandUp</div></div></div>San Francisco is so often highlighted for its wealth that it can be shocking to see how severe the city's homeless problem has gotten. Walk down a street in almost any highly-trafficked neighborhood and you're likely to spot at least a few homeless people. In select spots, you'll even find <a href="http://kron4.com/2016/06/29/proposed-law-would-allow-police-to-clear-out-tent-cities-in-san-francisco/">mini tent cities</a>. It's hard to know what to do as a passerby. But <a href="https://handup.org/">HandUp</a>, a startup that aims to make it easier for donors and nonprofits to to have an impact on poverty, has one possible solution: gift cards for the homeless.The cards, which are now available in San Francisco, can be purchased by donors and distributed to the homeless, who exchange them for goods and services (clothes, food, and so on) from HandUp's local nonprofit partners. Every card comes with an info sheet, including information and maps for redemption centers.HandUp's gift card program launched in the fall of 2015, and according to founder Rose Broome, it's been a success. The executive director of Project Homeless Connect, a HandUp partner, told Broome that she passed by the same homeless man every day and always encouraged him to come into her organization's headquarters. He never did - until she gave him a gift card. Then he came in the next day. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">HandUp</div></div></div>"People like [the cards]. They're engaging, and people like the flexibility of knowing they can use them how they want," says Broome.According to Broome, awareness about the gift cards is growing among San Francisco's homeless population. HandUp recently teamed up with <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/lava-mae-turning-buses-into-bathrooms-and-showers-for-san-francisco-homeless-2016-6">Lava Mae</a>, an organization that turns old buses into bathrooms and showers for the homeless, to offer gift cards to people as they finished their visits. The next day, there was a line stretching out the door of people wanting to redeem their cards at Project Homeless Connect.Big companies have also expressed interest in the cards. Google recently bought $15,000 worth of gift cards for its employees to distribute, and for a limited time, the tech giant is also giving out free additional cards to anyone who <a href="https://handup.org/giftcards">purchases gift cards</a> on HandUp's website.Broome's dream is to one day make the gift cards redeemable for housing, so recipients could <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy">go into an SRO </a>and exchange them for a night's sleep. But first, HandUp is piloting the existing program's first expansion in Detroit.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">HandUp</div></div></div>The gift card project is just one aspect of HandUp's work. The three year-old for-profit company has backing from investors like Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, venture capital fund 500 Startups, and Eric Ries, and also offers a platform that allows nonprofits to raise money for programs or groups of individuals. Nonprofits can work with HandUp to track what happens to the cash. HandUp is now working with 50 nonprofits across the US."For a long time, there was this focus on international poverty and giving. Now everyone's thinking about income inequality and the housing crisis, and people are recognizing that poverty is right here at home on our doorstep," says Broome. "People want to see their impact and that there is more accountability around how their funds are used." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tiny-houses-to-end-homelessness-2015-12">One man is trying to end homelessness in Los Angeles by building tiny houses</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="E1dDhqeTpcSiKXkOcQqPstn94obn23pe" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

These gifts cards could change how you help the homeless

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Elaine Thompson/APAmazon employees tend to their dogs in a canine play area adjacent to where construction continues on three large, glass-covered domes as part of an expansion of the Amazon campus, Thursday, April 27, 2017, in downtown Seattle.</div></div></div><ul><li>Several American cities that did not make the shortlist for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon-hq2">Amazon's second headquarters</a>, HQ2, are investing heavily into IT education programs, groups that fund local tech companies, and workforce development programs that focus on tech talent.</li><li>An official from Cincinnati, Ohio, said that Amazon's feedback after the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon-hq2">HQ2</a> process persuaded the city to put its current tech programs "on steroids."</li><li>Some experts say that not every city should attempt to become a tech hub, but instead focus on boosting specific industries that fuel local economies.</li></ul>In January, <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/AMZN-Quote">Amazon</a> named <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-reveals-hq2-candidates-2018-1">20 finalists</a> for its $5 billion second headquarters, HQ2, which promises 50,000 jobs over the next two decades. The announcement meant <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-headquarters-cities-in-a-bidding-war-2017-9/#chicago-illinois-1">over 200 North American cities</a> that had applied for the project did not make the shortlist.As The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hi-its-amazon-calling-heres-what-we-dont-like-in-your-city-1525253400">reported</a>, Amazon made calls to these rejected cities in early January. Some of these cities are now making changes based on the tech giant's feedback.Several cities were told by Amazon that their tech talent was lacking, and are now pouring more resources into their local tech industries as a result. Cincinnati, Ohio, and Sacramento, California, are revamping workforce development programs to focus on tech. Kansas City, Missouri, is pushing for education reform that would make computer science classes an important part of its high-school curriculum. And Orlando, Florida is working to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hi-its-amazon-calling-heres-what-we-dont-like-in-your-city-1525253400">create</a> a community fund to invest in local tech companies and attract more entrepreneurs. <h2>Not every American city should try to become the next Silicon Valley</h2>Some city-planning experts say that taking Amazon's criticism to heart could be a gamble. Richard Florida, an urbanism professor and the Director of Cities at the University of Toronto, advises cities to instead focus on boosting specific industries that fuel their local economies."For some reason, this idea of Amazon's second headquarters throws the entire profession [of economic development] - in 230-plus cities - into a tailspin. Whatever Amazon says, goes." It is if they are saying, "Whatever Amazon wants me to do, I do. They're the gods," Florida said. "These calls, and the community saying, 'We have to fix this, we have to fix that, because Amazon told us' ... It's just terrifying. It's a s---show of epic proportions, the way that cities are rushing to please Amazon."Baye Adofo-Wilson, the former City of Newark Deputy Mayor, <a href="https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/what-should-hq2s-237-losers-do-next">wrote in an op-ed for Next City</a> that rejected cities should instead look to diversify their economies, and not focus solely on the wishes of Amazon."A municipality should always attempt to diversify its income streams with an assortment of small business development, regional and national corporations, mixed-income housing, <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword>, local attractions and other services," he wrote. "The local and regional economies, the communities and the families of the Amazon HQ2 'losers' may obtain a better return on their investment if their creative ideas and resources are used for a more place-based, people-centered strategy than making Amazon and Jeff Bezos richer."<h2>Many cities are following Amazon's advice</h2>Based on Amazon's criticism that Cincinnati didn't have enough tech talent, the city's regional chamber refocused an internship program for high-school students on IT firms."The outcome of the Amazon bid helped put wind in our sails in the tech space and position Cincinnati as a tech hub," Jordan Vogel, who runs talent programs for the chamber, told Business Insider. "It put everything on steroids."Cincinnati also secured funding for a website aimed at attracting tech workers to the region, Vogel said. Before the HQ2 competition, the chamber couldn't get enough interested donors. In addition, the city has established an "IT roundtable," where local decision-makers discuss how to make Cincinnati's tech industry more competitive.The city believes that tech will drive its economy in the future, even though retail, advanced manufacturing, and finance are its <a href="http://choosecincy.com/Economic-Development/Industries.aspx">main industries</a> at the moment."I don't think there's a downside to taking feedback [from Amazon]," Vogel said. "When we get feedback from a big place, it's great to hear and it helps us double down on bets we were already making."Following Amazon's postmortem call to Kansas City, KC Tech Council started partnering with local tech companies, like Sprint and Garmin International Inc., on a plan for education reform.It was "in an effort to continue to build a 21st century workforce for current and future employers," Mayor Sly James told BI.In late January, the group <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2018/01/17/kc-tech-employers-promote-tech-edu-reform.html">met</a> with legislators to lobby for two bills that would allow computer science classes to count as a math, science, or foreign language credit that students need to graduate high school.<h2>Cities have a history of attempting to please big companies</h2>There is a long history of American cities making major economic decisions to please big companies - with mixed results.When General Electric <a href="http://www.wbur.org/news/2016/01/13/general-electric-boston-headquarters">said</a> it would bring its second headquarters to Boston, Massachusetts in 2016, the city promised $5 million for an innovation center to forge connections between GE and tech workers from local research institutions and universities. Boston also said it would give <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/01/ge-boston-taxpayers/424938/">$150 million in subsidies</a> to GE, and the state spent about $60 million to buy two old Necco buildings for the campus. But in late 2017, GE announced it plans to delay construction of its Boston headquarters for at least two years. It's now unclear if and when the city will receive the jobs that GE promised. In Charlotte, North Carolina, GMAC financial services announced in 2009 it would add 200 high-paying jobs with the help of a $4.5 million subsidy from the city. A year later, the company said that it would <a href="https://www.wral.com/job-incentives-often-fail/14052627/">lay off 160 workers</a>.These kinds of outcomes are not necessarily universal. It might make sense for cities near Silicon Valley to beef up their tech industries, in order to attract the overflow of tech workers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-are-leaving-san-francisco-2018-3">who've been priced out of the Bay Area</a>. Take Sacramento, California: According to Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, the city is restructuring its workforce training programs - particularly those aimed at low-income communities - to focus on tech. The programs will emphasize everything from basic tech skills, like email and data input, to more specialized skills, like coding and development.Before the HQ2 competition, local experts had already advocated for the programs. But after Amazon recommended a similar strategy, the city immediately greenlit and fast-tracked the effort."The goal for us now is to be more aspirational about our constituency that's being left behind and create a workforce model that will digitally train an urban workforce - so that if you're struggling economically, it's not about getting you 15 bucks an hour. It's about getting you the skills, so you can be mobile and move around in the tech world," Broome told BI.Although Sacramento considers agricultural science, healthcare, and food processing its three key industries, the city has seen <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2017/03/08/tech-in-metros-the-strong-are-getting-stronger/">substantial recent growth</a> in its tech sector (which Broome partly attributes to tech workers migrating from San Francisco)."If you want to grow your economy from a jobs perspective, you've got to prepare yourself to compete in new industries that are scaling," Broome said. "We've been world-class in food and agriculture for 50 years, and it's a major cluster here. But from a workforce standpoint, that's still very much a science and digital expertise - procession agriculture, sensor technology, water technology, improving the composition of soil. And farming models are becoming more automated," Broome said.Based on Amazon's feedback, the city has come out this month with <a href="http://www.sacrt.com/apps/sacrt-seeks-public-input-for-world-class-transit-system/">a recommendation</a> to improve its public transit system as well.<h2>The opportunities and costs of becoming a tech hub</h2>A number of US cities have become bustling tech hubs in recent years, but their efforts have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-new-headquarters-reaction-problems-2017-9">come at a cost</a>. Since Amazon arrived in its first home of Seattle in the late 1990s, the city has developed a booming tech industry. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2015/01/28/the-highest-paying-cities-for-tech-jobs-4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seattle is now the second-highest-paying city in tech</a>, with an average salary of $99,400, according to tech recruiting company Dice Holdings. The growth has made Seattle's housing less affordable for some longtime residents, who have <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiM8fma253WAhUIhlQKHaaWDlMQFggmMAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fview%2Farticles%2F2017-05-12%2Famazon-has-made-seattle-richer-and-angrier&amp;usg=AFQjCNGz7UcePmHy0epoZDgrkmujU5erww">accused</a> Amazon of perpetuating income inequality in the city.In the past several years, economic-development departments have gained more power over urban-planning departments of cities, which can affect how cities imagine the future of their communities. <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2017/10/03/beyond-hq2-how-should-local-economic-development-officials-respond-to-amazon/">Some urbanism</a> <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/02/hq2-cities-theres-a-better-way-to-do-economic-development/554510/">writers say that </a>Amazon's HQ2 competition has become something of a poster child for this trend."Cities now seem to be organizing their policy with an eye toward pleasing large companies that are afar, as opposed to figuring out what their specific strengths and opportunities are," said Stacy Mitchell, the co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that's skeptical of big business. "I'm struck by the notion that every city should put more of their workforce dollars into tech. I think that's really questionable."The movement to lure tech companies to downtowns has been most prevalent in the nation's top-tier cities, like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, all three of which are finalists for HQ2. Only a few medium/small cities - <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2017/03/08/tech-in-metros-the-strong-are-getting-stronger/">Indianapolis and Austin are examples</a> - have seen robust tech industry growth in the past decade.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Cushman &amp; WakefieldVenture-capital value (bars) and number of deals (line) in 2016 in various metropolitan areas.</div></div></div>There may be a few reasons for this. High-tech talent (often spawned from prestigious engineering universities that are concentrated in bigger cities) and a large number of tech startups are crucial characteristics of emerging tech hubs. But perhaps even more important is local access to venture-capital - the majority of which is concentrated in just a handful of cities. <a href="http://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/research-and-insight/2017/tech-cities-report/?_ga=2.62983081.722228573.1497466158-912960181.1497466157">A 2016 study</a> from real estate firm Cushman &amp; Wakefield aimed to find the country's leading cities for tech. For one of the measures, the researchers looked at the distribution of VC funding among 25 metro areas. Combined, San Francisco and San Mateo, California make up <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/06/wheres-the-real-next-silicon-valley/530352/">nearly 40%</a> of the national total, with $28.5 billion in funding going towards startups there in 2016. Without this funding, it's hard for homegrown startups in many smaller cities to expand.Some rejected HQ2 cities have pursued economic models beyond tech. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, for example, has found recent success by diversifying its economy with a slew of industries. As Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-28/maybe-cities-don-t-need-tech-hubs-to-succeed">notes</a>, companies headquartered in the region include retail chains, energy companies, food brands, industrial manufacturers, and more. Meanwhile, the Twin Cities has seen significant <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-28/maybe-cities-don-t-need-tech-hubs-to-succeed">growth</a> in its population, average income per capita, and employment rates since 2001. While Minneapolis-St. Paul does have a brimming tech industry, it doesn't define the region's economy.The same will not be true for whichever city wins HQ2, where tech will likely dominate the economy. Amazon plans to make its decision some time in 2018.Not every HQ2 contestant received in-depth feedback from the company in January. Spokane, Washington's mayor, David Condon, told BI that Amazon's "government relations called the night before, and just said, 'Mayor, I'm sorry, we will not be announcing you tomorrow.'" <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/prevent-stop-robocallers-spam-calls-2018-5">How to stop robocallers</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Amazon's HQ2 competition is pushing 'loser' cities to become the next Silicon Valley - but some experts say it's a dangerous plan

Adam Pemble/ASSOCIATED PRESSTom Blum, a clean energy angel investor, says energy storage is one of the most promising slivers of the industry. Here, a pumped hydro energy storage facility in the Czech Republic.<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tom Blum, a prominent clean-energy angel investor, has directly invested in around 30 companies since 1998. </li><li>Business Insider asked Blum to explain which slivers of the clean-tech industry he finds most and least promising, and what advice he has for new investors. </li><li>Blum said that energy storage and "smart building" technology are especially promising, but he's not betting big on startups that pull carbon out of the air. </li><li>If you're looking to invest in clean tech, his best advice is to join an established venture fund capable of evaluating the technical components of an energy startup. "It's a lot easier to build a PowerPoint than it is to build a power plant," he said. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Clean tech isn't new. Fifteen years ago, Silicon Valley investors referred to it as the "third stool," alongside info tech and biotech, and some of the largest VCs - including Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins - loaded the industry with hundreds of millions of dollars, and then billions. That was clean tech 1.0.Then the financial crisis struck. It erased a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2012/01/ff_solyndra/">quarter of the wealth</a> that VC firms accrued between 2003 and 2007. At the same time, natural gas prices started to fall and China's solar industry ascended, altogether dealing a triple punch to the US clean tech sector. Between 2008 and 2009, venture investments in clean tech fell from $6.65 billion to $4.16 billion, according to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/cleantech-venture-capital-continued-declines-and-narrow-geography-limit-prospects/">Brookings Institute</a>. Now clean tech is bouncing back. The numbers show it; 2018 saw the <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/cleantech-venture-capital-is-back">highest venture capital and equity investment</a> since 2010. And investors like Tom Blum are talking about it. He's an angel investor who's been funding companies in the clean-tech industry for more than 20 years. "We're seeing a resurgence in the last two years," said Blum, a member of Clean Energy Venture Group, which funds early-stage startups in New York. "<a href="http://www.fundingpost.com/venturefund/venture-fund-profile.asp?fund=294"></a>Ten to 20 funds have been raised. Renewables, which had been plodding along steadily, are taking a huge upturn." Coalescing forces have given clean tech venture capital a second wind, Blum says. Among them are the urgency of climate change and an increasingly unreliable grid, populated by a growing number of intermittent energy sources.That's made room for a raft of startups, which have built businesses around everything from energy storage to carbon capture. With thousands of companies flooding an industry known for highly technical - and often lofty - propositions, it can be difficult to find focus. That's where Blum comes in. Business Insider asked him to share the most and least promising slivers of the clean-energy industry and his best advice for how to win big as a clean-tech investor. VCG/VCG via Getty ImagesAerial view of a photovoltaic power generation project on barren hills at Chaoyang village on August 21, 2019 in Linyi, Shandong Province of China.<h2>Energy storage is a fast-growing sector, but Blum isn't betting big on batteries</h2>"You have a grid that went from on-demand production to one that's going to have intermittent production," Blum said. "That's going to drive this whole market for energy storage. The storage could be for a day or so, but you also really need weeks and months. I'm seeing a lot of interesting ideas." These ideas don't describe your typical lithium-ion batteries.He mentioned <a href="https://www.highviewpower.com/">one company</a> with offices in Brooklyn that uses extremely cold temperatures to turn air into a liquid, which is then stored in insulated vessels. When the air warms, it expands 700-fold, according to the company website, and that can drive a turbine and create electricity. "What's nice about the liquid air is you don't need a big footprint to do this," Blum says. "This is a fairly energy-dense medium."Other ideas for long-term storage, he says, include compressing air in underground caverns (and releasing it when you need the energy) and <a href="https://qz.com/1355672/stacking-concrete-blocks-is-a-surprisingly-efficient-way-to-store-energy/">stacking concrete blocks</a>. Cranes use excess energy on the grid to lift the blocks up and "when you need power, you let them descend," Blum said. That turns a generator, which produces new energy. Blum thinks the future of energy storage will include a diverse mix of approaches. But that doesn't mean all business models will work. For one, he says, you need to consider whether a company will have site requirements. Pumped hydro, for example, requires "a little mountain," or an underground cavern - not to mention a permitting process that could take years. "I'll retire before this thing actually happens," he said. And Blum doesn't typically bet on batteries. He joked: "Send me a list of people who've made money in batteries.""Batteries are pure equipment," he said. "There's always going to be pressure on price. And just because you invented the best battery doesn't mean anything until you've spent hundreds of millions and actually have a commercial plant. Even then you still might not be making money." AP Photo/Gerry BroomeIn this photo taken Friday, July 13, 2018 Grid One Solutions employee Spencer Powell removes an older electric meter to install a new smart meter for Duke Energy Progress at a residence in Raleigh, N.C.<h2>Clean energy doesn't produce many unicorns. 'Smart building' tech could be the exception </h2>There haven't been many billion-dollar exits in the clean-energy industry. That comes down to one factor, Blum says: Clean tech doesn't typically generate new networks of users."You're making electricity, but those electrons actually don't make your lights do anything differently," he said. "It's coming from a source that's not releasing greenhouse gases, but you didn't make the light better. So you didn't create this new network of users that opens up a new business model, in most cases."He highlights one exception: Data gathered by smart-building startups.While "most people don't care about how much energy a building is using," he says, regulations are changing, requiring buildings to become more efficient. Plus, companies are proving that efficiency can translate into savings. One company that Blum has backed tracks every piece of major equipment in commercial buildings, on a second-by-second basis."They're building up millions of operating hours of data," he said. "Just studying the electric draw and several other variables has the potential of being very valuable. Maybe somebody will come along and say, 'We need to own that business because they really have all this data.'"<h2>Startups that pull carbon out of the air are flashy, but Blum says they're often not economically viable at early stages</h2>The viability of carbon-capture technologies comes down to scale, Blum says. George Rose/Getty ImagesThe forest is viewed from a boardwalk at Yosemite's Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias on October 6, 2019, in Yosemite Valley, California."Look at the scale of every tree in the world, which essentially pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and turns it into a biomass product," he said. "That gives you a sense of what you have to do to be meaningful." The technology exists, and startups like Carbon Engineering are already using it. The question that Blum raises is, "Can you do this across the whole state of Kansas? You really need scale to have impact." There's also a relatively small amount of carbon dioxide in the air, he says, so it's expensive to suck up huge amounts of it. "It's nice to have investments in ideas," he said (and mentions that <a href="https://carbon.xprize.org/prizes/carbon">Carbon XPRIZE</a> is a good place to find startups working on negative emissions). "But it's going to take some time." <h2>His best advice: To avoid risk, steer clear of direct investments. Join a clean-energy venture fund instead </h2>"It's a lot easier to build a PowerPoint than it is to build a power plant," Blum said. Startups in the clean-energy industry often peddle complex technologies, making it hard for investors to know if they actually work. Plus, even if the technology is sound, the company's plan for scale may not be. "There are some businesses where the issue is not: Does the technology exist and can it work?" he said. "It's: Can you actually make it work on a regular basis in a real-world environment? The answer is usually no. It's not really commercially viable."That's why Blum recommends joining existing clean-energy investment funds. They typically compensate technical experts to evaluate patents and other technical components of a business. "So my first piece of advice is that if you want to make sustainable investments, then invest in a fund because that's got a team of people who are doing this professionally," he said. "The second is that if you just want to make some sustainable investments to feel good, that's good. Just don't depend on seeing that money. Do it because it makes you feel good." This story is part of Business Insider's expanding coverage of new energy. Do you have a tip or story idea about the people and companies shaping the future of energy? Contact this reporter at bjones@businessinsider.com. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/million-mile-battery-tesla-miles-lifetime-2019-11">Here's how the million-mile battery could lead to Teslas lasting a lifetime</a></h3>

An angel investor who's funded 30 companies explains what to watch for in the resurgent clean-energy industry

I visited the world's largest 'Harry Potter' store. Here are the must-see sections, plus games and snacks to try.

<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image">REUTERS/Anindito MukherjeeA man rides a motorcycle through a flooded street after a heavy monsoon rain shower in New Delhi July 20, 2013. <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s monsoon rains turned average last week and may pick up over areas that grow cane, oilseed and cotton in northern and western regions next week, weather department officials said, helping most summer crops into their last leg of planting.</div></div>Deep in India's northeast, villagers use grass to sound-proof their huts from deafening rain, clouds are a familiar sight inside homes and a suitably rusted sign tells visitors they are in the "wettest place on earth".
Oddly enough, lifelong residents of Mawsynram, a small cluster of hamlets in Meghalaya state have little idea that their scenic home holds a Guinness record for the highest average annual rainfall of 11,873 millimeters (467 inches).
"Really, this is the wettest place in the world? I didn't know that," Bini Kynter, a great-grandmother who estimates she must be "nearly 100 years old" tells AFP.
"The rain used to frighten me when I was a young girl, it used to make our lives hell. Today people have it easy," she says, wrapping a green tartan shawl tightly around her shoulders.
Meteorologists say Mawsynram's location, close to Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal is the reason the tiny cluster receives so much rain.
"What happens is that whenever any moisture gathers over the Bay of Bengal, it causes precipitation over Mawsynram, leading to a heavy, long monsoon season," Sunit Das of the Indian Meteorological Department told AFP.
While annual monsoon rains lashed the national capital last week, causing traffic chaos and flooding at the international airport, such problems are mild for Mawsynram.
Just thirty years ago, Mawsynram had no paved roads, no running water and no electricity, making its six-month long monsoon an insufferable experience for its mostly impoverished residents.
Landslides still occur regularly, blocking the only paved road connecting the hillside hamlets. Rainwater still seeps into the mud huts occupied by some villagers. And, while most homes now have electricity, outages are commonplace.
Every winter the people of Mawsynram spend months preparing for the wet season ahead, anticipating nonstop rain and no sunshine for several days at a time.
They repair their battered roofs. They cut and hoard firewood -- a source of light and fuel for cooking. They buy and store foodgrains, since few will venture out to shop during the wettest months between May and July.
The women make rain covers known as "knups," using bamboo slivers, plastic sheets and broom grass to create a rain shield that resembles a turtle shell, meant to be worn on one's head while being large enough to keep rain off one's knees.
The labour-intensive process of weaving a knup -- each one takes at least an hour to complete -- occupies the women of the village right through the rainy season, when they are cooped up indoors for months at a time.
Bamboo and broom grass -- a delicate, fragrant, olive-coloured grass used to make Indian brooms -- are among the chief plants grown in this rocky, hilly region.
Broom grass is dipped in water, flattened using wooden blocks and finally dried on rooftops across Mawsynram. According to Prelian Pdah, a grandmother of nine, this makes the grass stronger and more likely to survive a downpour.
Pdah, 70, spends part of the winter and all of the monsoon season making bamboo baskets, brooms and knups which are bought by visiting businessmen who sell them around the state.
"I don't like the heavy rainfall, it's boring to stay indoors all day. It's annoying," she tells AFP.
Although few Mawsynram residents seemed to know or care about their record-holder status, the right to the Guinness title has been hotly disputed by a nearby town, Cherrapunji, which used to lay claim to that honour.
In sleepy Mawsynram, many find the record-setting monsoon downright depressing.
"There's no sun, so if you don't have electricity it's very dark indoors, even during the day," Moonstar Marbaniang, the pyjama-clad headman of Mawsynram says.
Those who have second homes elsewhere flee to escape the season. Others catch up on their sleep, according to Marbaniang, whose first name suggests one of the more striking legacies of colonial rule in India's northeast.
Historians say the past presence of British soldiers and missionaries in this region has seen many people name their children after random English words or famous historical figures, often with no knowledge of what they might mean.
State capital Shillong's former nickname as the "Scotland of the East" also goes some way to explain the popularity of tartan scarves and shawls, even in the most far-flung and underdeveloped villages of Meghalaya.
Somewhat fittingly for a state whose name means "the abode of the clouds" in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, it is not unusual for clouds to drift through people's homes in Mawsynram, leaving a wet film on their furniture.
The grass-covered roofs are meant to muffle the relentless drumming of the rain, but a heavy downpour will usually dislodge the grass to deafening effect.
"We have to talk a little louder to be heard during the monsoon!" 67-year-old Marbaniang tells AFP, his mischievous eyes sparkling.
When the monsoon finally ends, there are no parties to mark its exit. The rainy season simply gives way to the repair season, Marbaniang says.
"We don't hold any celebration or festival to mark the end of the rain. We just start drying our clothes outside," he says, flashing a toothless grin.
Despite enduring record amounts of rain, sanguine villagers say there is no other place they would rather live.
Marbaniang, whose children all live in Shillong, says: "I'll never leave, this is my home, I was born here, I will die here."
"Sure, it rains a lot, but we are used to it. We just wait it out."
<div>
Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.
</div>

38 FEET A YEAR: What It's Like To Live In The Rainiest Place On Earth

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">SimpleSimple cofounders Shamir Karkal and Josh Reich.</div></div></div>When Josh Reich arrived in Pittsburgh from Australia in the summer of 2004 to start grad school, his first order of business was finding an apartment and setting up utilities. But he quickly discovered one major problem: he didn't know how to write a check. Stumped by the phrase "Pay to the order of" and unable to Google it, Reich was forced to sheepishly knock on his neighbor's door to ask how to fill out the check so he could set up electricity service. That experience, he says, began "an adversarial relationship" with American banking. Reich was stunned by how difficult it was to transfer money, the number of fees that quickly began to add up and the fact that he constantly had to keep an eye on his accounts. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with an MBA in finance, economics, and accounting, Reich went on to work for a hedge fund. But his problems continued. "Any nanosecond of the day, I could tell what was going on with billions of dollars of other people's money, yet when I came home and tried to figure out what was going on with my household finances, it was really hard," Reich told Business Insider. "I knew it wasn't because I didn't know what I was doing."Reich and a fellow CMU graduate, Shamir Karkal, decided to start their own banking platform. They both quit their jobs and began building <a href="https://www.simple.com/" target="_blank">Simple</a> out of Reich's basement in Brooklyn at a time when there was little to no trust in the banking system: it was 2009, at the peak of the financial crisis. In the midst of Occupy Wall Street, Reich and Karkal devised a plan for how to fix some of the problems people were protesting about. Then they began to shop around their idea to the venture capital community. "I remember speaking with a certain VC who will remain nameless," Reich said. "He told me, 'Well, I've got a Wells Fargo account and if I need a check, I just call up the bank and they come bring it to my office.' And I said, 'No sir. You have a Wells Fargo account with like eight digits in it. You're a very wealthy gentleman. They will do that for you - they don't do that for average people.'"<h2>'We're well able to punch above our weight class'</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">SimpleSome of Simple's employees in late 2015.</div></div></div>Now, Simple is approaching its seventh birthday and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/20/simple-acquired-for-117m-will-continue-to-operate-separately-under-its-own-brand/" target="_blank">was acquired in February 2014</a> by financial services corporation BBVA. Simple is about to build a new, 50,000-square-foot office building in its home city of Portland, Oregon, next door to Simple's existing headquarters.According to Reich, the company is just trying to avoid having to hold meetings in the bathroom or broom closets. "Over the last six months, we've grown 43%," he said. "If we were a traditional bank, we would have needed 945 branches to support the growth that we've had. We have 320 people and we're well able to punch above our weight class." The company focuses on a combination of encouraging saving while tracking spending, all on a minimalist mobile platform. There are no physical bank branches - instead, Simple uses fee-free ATMs inside places like CVS, 7-11, and Walgreens. The company makes money splitting interest margins with its partner bank and splitting the service fee on debit card purchases. Reich says there are no overdraft fees, late fees or any other more traditional banking fees.So will Simple actually replace traditional banking? Will users switch their money over to a mobile platform with no brick-and-mortar branches? Can a 7-year-old startup compete with the likes of Wells Fargo and Chase Bank? Reich is confident: "If you build a process people like, people will use it." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/an-israeli-startup-invented-a-special-compost-bin-2016-5">An Israeli startup invented a compost bin that converts kitchen waste to cooking fuel</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5mYzBnMzE60bFkzJwPM_Wh80f0iBlcy4" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

This Australian was shocked at how terrible American banking was, so he created a company to disrupt it

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">PAPA: The Story of Papa John's PizzaSchnatter in 1978, next to the Camaro he sold to fund his first venture into entrepreneurship.</div></div></div>Today, Papa John's is the third biggest pizza chain in the US, with more than 5,000 locations. But, 27 years ago, it was just a kitchen in a broom closet.In his new book, "PAPA: The Story of Papa John's Pizza," which will be released on January 30, Papa John's Founder and CEO John Schnatter recounts the ups and downs of Papa John's history.The excerpt below describes just one of the challenges Papa John's faced when there were just four restaurants in 1986.We were doing serious volume at this point-roughly 4,000 pizzas a week across all four Papa John's. Unfortunately, some of our machines were absolutely ancient. The World War I-era T-80 mixer is the best example. It was so old that it would break every few months. The main culprit was the drive shaft, a deceptively complicated piece of equipment that repeatedly snapped. When this happened, it was a total disaster that could slow us down for hours at a time-an emergency for a pizzeria that promised your pizza would be ready in 20 minutes or less.The only thing that kept us going in these situations was my uncle Bill, a machinist at the Naval Ordnance Station in Louisville, who was talented enough to make drive shafts himself. He would make them at his own day job, hide them in his pants and then bring them to me.Our constant struggles remind me of a Winston Churchill quote: "Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">PAPA: The Story of Papa John's PizzaSchnatter preparing to open the first Papa John's location.</div></div></div>We couldn't keep this up, especially since our volume was constantly growing, putting even more stress on this ancient machine. I needed a new mixer and fast. So I called up Chris Karamesines, the Greek who ran Greek's, where I made pizzas in college. I've always viewed Chris as one of my mentors-he taught me as much about making pizzas as anybody. He was also quite a character. He had a voice you could never forget.When I told him my predicament, he yelled at me through the phone: "JOHN! JOHN! I thought I taught you better than that! John, John, don't use a T-80! You need an M-80!"I didn't know what that was. He kept going: "You got a World War I machine, John! John, you got the wrong machine! The M-80 is a much bigger and stronger model. You don't even have to take it out of first gear. I can't believe you're that stupid!"After messing with me a little more, he gave me the number of a farmer in Greenville, Indiana who had the M-80 mixer that I needed so badly just sitting in his barn. Apparently it was from a Greek's franchise that had shut down in the past year. Chris' parting wisdom was that I shouldn't pay more than $250 for the machine.I wanted to solve this problem quickly, so I got in my pickup truck and drove up to get the M-80 mixer. My girlfriend (and future wife) Annette joined me. Sure enough, the heavy-duty piece of machinery was sitting in the back of the farmer's barn.After some haggling, the farmer agreed to sell the mixer to me for $220. After I handed over the cash, he thanked me and started walking away. I ran after him, saying, "Hey, how am I supposed to get this thing in the back of my pickup truck?"He responded: "That's your problem, pal."I was angry, mostly at myself. But there was nothing I could do about it. So I asked him, "Well, how'd you get the mixer in the barn in the first place?"<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">PAPA: The Story of Papa John's Pizza</div></div></div>He told me he used a tow truck, which had a small crane on the back. I didn't have any choice, so I called the nearest tow truck to come hoist the mixer into the back of my pickup. That cost me another $40, pushing me over budget on this one project. I was pretty pissed off.Once the mixer was in my truck, I faced another big problem: getting it back to the commissary in Clarksville. The mixer itself was a top-heavy monstrosity that weighed 1,200 pounds. My truck, an '84 Toyota, weighed 2,800 pounds. e mixer looked so top-heavy sitting in the truck bed, I was afraid the truck would roll over on the hour-and-a-half drive back to Clarksville. Even worse, it was starting to snow.Here we were, driving down I-65, slipping and sliding all over the snow-covered roads while carrying a massive piece of machinery in the bed of my pickup truck. At one point, Annette asked me, "Is this safe?" I wanted to impress her, so I didn't even hesitate to say, "Oh yeah, we're fine."I was hoping she couldn't tell I was terrified on the inside.Fortunately, we got back to Clarksville without any problems. But then we had to get the mixer into the building. We set up a winch attached to the Papa John's sign and used it to hoist the mixer out of my truck. After that, we set up some dowel rods in the parking lot and rolled the mixer onto the sidewalk, which was flush with the parking lot. Then we rolled the machine into the actual building.Anyone who saw this from the street probably thought we were stealing something or were part of a slapstick comedy routine. But that's what things were like at that point. We didn't have any spare cash to spend on projects like this.Our focus wasn't on frills-it was on delivering a better pizza to as many people as we could. When it came to projects like this, we just had to put our backs into it and stay devoted to the original Papa John's vision. It would have been easy to cut corners here and there, but I wasn't willing to let that happen. You can't make a traditional, superior-quality Papa John's pizza by cutting corners.By late 1986, the Clarksville commissary was up and running. It immediately benefitted the business. Just like we expected, it helped us improve our productivity, which helped us double down on quality. As Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, once said, "Your quality is only as good as your consistency."We learned through trial and error that your customers stop trusting you when you give them something different every time. They wanted a quality Papa John's pizza, nothing else. Now that every pizza at every store was being made with ingredients produced in a central location, we could ensure consistency across the board. There's no excuse for a Papa John's pizza to be of lower quality than the best Papa John's pizza. That was true in 1986, and it's still true today. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-water-bagels-and-pizza-signature-minerals-expert-florida-2016-12">A water scientist explains why New York bagels and pizza are one-of-a-kind</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="w4YnhtODE6tVeGQvqlYfntRsKcTCgnmb" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "broom ventures" and got 12 results

HRTech startup Advantage Club to hire 100 people across Technology, Sales and Marketing in FY 21-22

Vaamanaa Sethi

Humans have to get in the way of AI to make it more responsible

Emilia David

Batman aside, 'The Flash' is far from one of the best superhero movies ever made

Kirsten Acuna

This entrepreneur opened Grove Square Galleries as the pandemic started. He did $10 million in revenue last year and plans to double that number in 2022

Dominic-Madori Davis

Dyson V15 Detect review: The best just got better, but at a premium

Sudhanshu Singh

These gifts cards could change how you help the homeless

Ariel Schwartz

Amazon's HQ2 competition is pushing 'loser' cities to become the next Silicon Valley - but some experts say it's a dangerous plan

Leanna Garfield

An angel investor who's funded 30 companies explains what to watch for in the resurgent clean-energy industry

Benji Jones,Benji Jones

I visited the world's largest 'Harry Potter' store. Here are the must-see sections, plus games and snacks to try.

Erin Ajello

38 FEET A YEAR: What It's Like To Live In The Rainiest Place On Earth

Ammu Kannampilly, Agence Fran…

This Australian was shocked at how terrible American banking was, so he created a company to disrupt it

Avery Hartmans

Founder of Papa John's: How an early setback almost killed my business

John Schnatter

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides