Finance: Stock market quotes, news, currency conversions & more: August 2016

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Do You Really Need an MBA to Succeed in the Tech World?

Are MBAs going to become more or less useful in the tech and startup industry in the next ten years? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answer by Adam Enbar, Co-Founder & CEO, Flatiron School, on Quora.

MBA skills are becoming increasingly more important, but getting an actual MBA may not be the best way to get those skills anymore.

There are actually two things that I want to address:

How important are the skills you learn in an MBA?
Is an MBA the best way to acquire those skills?

How important are the skills you learn in an MBA for the tech and startup industry?

As a startup founder myself, I strongly believe that the type of skills you're expected to gain through an MBA (sales, marketing, strategy, leadership) remain critically important to the tech and startup industry. In fact, these skills may be more important than ever. Today, most tech startups are no longer successful because of pure technological innovation, with the exception of outliers like TESLA or Oculus. They are successful because of the way they leverage technology to upend business models. Just look at Airbnb or Dollar Shave Club or Warby Parker: they are disrupting their respective industries by using existing technology in a smart and innovative way to solve a specific need for their customers.

The tech industry needs more business leaders who not only understand technology (even if they're not technologists themselves), but can also spot opportunities to apply that technology in new ways to improve business models. Then comes the really hard part of developing sales and marketing programs: acquiring new users and customers. Even with the greatest engineering team in the world, if a company doesn't have enough customers or can't differentiate their product among competitors who are all offering the same thing, it will have a hard time staying afloat.

Is an MBA the best way to acquire those skills?

Like many degree programs, an MBA has (or should have) two main benefits:

Skills that will help you to be successful on the job in the future (which I touched on above)
Access to the school's network and brand

The second benefit only really applies to a subset of elite MBA programs, though I'd argue that pedigree is generally becoming less of a differentiating factor in the workplace. Plus, the Internet now enables so many new and powerful ways to network in business, such as accelerator programs like Y Combinator, which arguably rival the networks of some of the best MBA programs.

Having worked with hundreds of hiring partners at Flatiron School, I know that what really matters to employers is whether you have the skills to succeed in a role - regardless of whether those skills are acquired on the job, through traditional higher education or via an accelerated type of education like a bootcamp.

The challenge then becomes assessing those skills. For technical roles, such as the ones we prepare students for at Flatiron School, they're fairly straightforward to evaluate (although there's still room for improvement in the hiring process for developers). We know our Full Stack Web Developer program prepares grads to be operational as junior developers on day one. But for roles in sales or marketing, it's much harder to assess someone's skills, and that's why some employers still rely on a degree or credential to demonstrate that a candidate has, at the very least, completed coursework that's relevant to the job.

But is that a good enough reason for you to invest a lot of time and money into an MBA? Is it the most efficient way to acquire relevant business skills? I'm not sure. In fact, based on my experience running Flatiron School and helping hundreds of grads find jobs, my gut tells me no, it's not.

That's not to say an MBA is not the right option for some people (I went into a huge amount of debt for my MBA and can confidently say it was more than worth it). Where we go wrong in education is assuming that there's only one path to success. In my experience, a one-size-fits-all approach in education is rarely the answer. I imagine new types of business training programs will begin to emerge (if they haven't already) that will give people more options when deciding where to invest their time and money.

This question originally appeared on Quora. - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

More questions:

Programming Bootcamps: What's the future of the coding bootcamp industry?
Capitalism: Do coding bootcamps have a problem of being too focused on making money?
Venture Capital: What should startup founders who want to go VC know as they take steps to that end?

Mylan CEO Should Resign (And Take Her 'Coupons' With Her)

I recently wrote a Huffington Post piece demanding that embattled Mylan CEO, Heather Bresch, cut the price of EpiPens and resign. After days of media coverage regarding Mylan’s price gouging of the EpiPen auto-injector, Bresch finally took an interview with CNBC that could, at best, be described as a friendly exchange. There were no hard hitting questions. This wasn’t journalism; it was public relations’ version of tee-ball. I am writing again to reiterate my demand that Heather Bresch cut the price of EpiPens and resign immediately.

When Bresch finally broke her silence, it was to offer coupons and an increase in a program that gives low-income families free access to EpiPens. Coupons! I can’t make this up. This gives us more perspective on how important the systematic EpiPen price increases are to Mylan and its CEO.

Bresch and her fellow Mylan executives undoubtedly have spent dozens of hours over the past few days hunkered down in a conference room with a public relations crisis team, lawyers and other advisors. After days of public outcry over yet another case of extreme corporate greed and indifference for human life, they decided to offer us coupons.

After days of public outcry over yet another case of extreme corporate greed and indifference for human life, they decided to offer us coupons.

Heather Bresch’s comments on CNBC’s Squawk Box were a distraction. Bresch didn’t even consider cutting the price, stating, “Had we reduced the list price, I couldn’t ensure that everyone that needs an EpiPen gets one.”

Look closely at what she is actually saying in this statement that was clearly drafted with legal expertise. Bresch is saying that if she cut the price, she could not guarantee that every single person who needed an EpiPen gets one. This statement is true to the extent that if she lowered the price and even a single person wasn’t aware that they could now afford this life-saving drug, that one person might not receive an EpiPen. This statement was artfully crafted to make it sound as if Bresch has no ability to increase access to EpiPens for millions of people who need them. But Bresch knows this isn’t true. The best way to increase access to this life-saving medication is to cut the price.

Bresch also offered to increase the income threshold for lower-income families who have free access to EpiPens. This is also calculated. In my professional role, I work with many lower-income families. I know from experience that these families are the more likely to be unaware of complicated programs that may require forms, a visit to the doctor, and other obstacles. It’s often very difficult to increase awareness of programs that benefit these lower-income families. Bresch and Mylan are making an offer that appears to be more altruistic than it really is. They know that many of these families will still pay for EpiPens or go without them because they won’t have an awareness of this program and any changes to it.

You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign.

What happens when the national public outcry dies down because Mylan has appeared to appeased people just enough so that our short-term memory news cycle moves on to the next big scandal? The coupon and the program for lower-income families can be cut or eliminated altogether. And Mylan still has a virtual monopoly in the national epinephrine auto-injector market.

Why is Bresch even offering coupons and additional access to a free EpiPen program? Bresch and Mylan have lost billions of dollars in stock value in a number of days due to the negative press about their systematic price gouging. If they act quickly and quiet the national fervor, they will disappear from the national media spotlight, the waters will calm and their stock may continue to gain back those billions.

The really disgusting part of all of this? Mylan’s stock could actually gain value as a result of Bresch’s sleight of hand comments and offers to customers. The only way that real change will come to Mylan is if our nation’s media outlets - and all of us regular hardworking Americans – continue to demand price cuts and Bresch’s resignation.

The calculated response and “fixes” that Mylan CEO Heather Bresch offered people like my two-year-old daughter are further evidence of a culture of greed that employs deceit and misdirection to maintain its extortionate prices and profit margin.

The most despicable part of Bresch’s theatrical CNBC comments was that she claimed, “No one’s more frustrated than me.”

I’ll bet you your $19 million salary that I’m more frustrated than you! You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign!

Mylan CEO Should Resign (And Take Her 'Coupons' With Her)

After days of public outcry over yet another case of extreme corporate greed and indifference for human life, they decided to offer us coupons.

You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign.

The most despicable part of Bresch’s theatrical CNBC comments was that she claimed, “No one’s more frustrated than me.”

I’ll bet you your $19 million salary that I’m more frustrated than you! You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign!

5 Technologies Helping Big Companies Harness The Upstart Ethos

Companies spent more on acquisitions in 2015 than ever before, and it seems safe to assume that the working world of the future will be dominated by big businesses.

Yet many large companies are increasingly finding that real success may actually come from thinking small. According to PwC’s “Future of Work” study, which surveyed over 1,300 workers and 200 C-level executives, employees at small businesses are significantly happier than their counterparts at larger corporations are, thanks to less red tape, more flexible work arrangements, closer-knit company cultures ― not to mention the latest communications technologies helping to make those workplace communities a reality. These feelings of meaning, satisfaction and independence can lead to greater productivity and innovation on the part of workers, and big businesses are taking note. Now, with the help of data-sharing platforms and collaboration tools, enterprises are achieving the best of both worlds: the intimacy and personal touch of the small-business approach, expressed across an international organization and bolstered by deep pockets.

As part of the What’s Working: Purpose + Profit platform, we collaborated with PwC to profile the emerging technologies that big business are using to build the workplace of tomorrow. By emulating the perceived benefits of smaller companies, these big firms are boosting employee morale and productivity, as well as increasing satisfaction among workers and customers.

Replace Water Cooler Conversations With New Communication Tools

Eric Audras via Getty Images

In a small office, you can merely walk down the hall to catch up with Steve in Marketing. But having that check-in about the latest sales strategy or your March Madness bracket becomes a more onerous task when Steve is based on the other side of the country. That is, unless you have a powerful enterprise social networking tool at your disposal. Virtual coworkers can feel free to discuss sensitive company information or fire off one-liners about more lighthearted matters ― the network’s private, so you only see what’s in your channel.

This ability to keep lines of communication wide open, strengthening an employee’s connection to her team and company, is catnip to C-suite decision makers: 85 percent of Fortune 500 businesses are using services like these to bolster internal networks.

Let Employees WFH (Finally!)

LDProd via Getty Images

It’s not just about being able to video conference into a meeting in your pajamas. Working from home means fundamentally tipping the scales of work-life balance in favor of quality of life. Things like a stress-free commute and greater childcare options are becoming bigger priorities for employees, and can actually lead to greater productivity. But according to the PwC study, workers at larger companies don’t get to exercise this option the way their counterparts at smaller businesses do: Only 26 percent of employees at large companies report having the opportunity to work from home, while over half of small-business workers say they do.

With sophisticated telepresence tools now on the market, big businesses can mirror the flexibility inherent in smaller companies when it comes to allowing employees to work from home. A popular (though now defunct) “always-on” group video chat that streamlined the process of connecting co-workers paved the way for other tools that create virtual workplaces.

Nurture The Startup Innovation Mentality

monstArrr_ via Getty Images

These days, it goes without saying that large companies have a healthy respect for the startup model. They’ve been disrupted by it enough times to see that staying nimble, eschewing bureaucracy and teasing out innovative ideas from unlikely places can reap serious dividends. That’s why they’re creating startup environments within their ranks, hiring smaller companies as mentors and designing employee incentives to encourage outside-the-box ideation.

That brainstorming process gets a big boost from enterprise services that facilitate collaborative coding. As the preferred tool of developers who dream of building the next industry-leading company, this system is a natural fit for big businesses that are looking to tap into the entrepreneurial spirit. Its repository hosts projects and keeps track of revisions, helping users collaborate as efficiently as possible.

Track Team Spirit

phototechno via Getty Images

As popular wisdom would have it, a happy employee is a productive employee. And productive equals profitable: There’s a considerable payoff for an employer if she can figure out the magical formula for worker satisfaction. For small businesses, it’s easy to check in with employees and stay engaged. But what’s an executive to do when you have to ask 10,000 people how you’re doing?

Enter apps that employ the now-ubiquitous swipe-to-match model to gauge employee satisfaction: Swipe right if you’re happy with the status quo or left if you’d like to see some changes. Companies can customize the platform to include more built-out surveys, and can also seek a yea-or-nay on specific issues, such as whether staffers think the office is overdue for a good cleaning. Though it may seem simplistic, this approach is easy to scale, which may make it an attractive option for big companies hoping to discern if they have happy ― and therefore productive ― employees.

Create A Personal Connection With Customers

Sydney Roberts via Getty Images

In sales, size can be both a blessing and a curse. A mom-and-pop store doesn’t have the deep pockets of a national retailer, but because it’s small, mom and pop have a clear advantage when it comes to cultivating personal, profitable relationships with customers and sharing their purpose. According to PwC’s “Putting Purpose to Work” survey, both consumers and employees want to hear about an organization’s purpose and impact via social media

It’s this personal touch that certain startups are looking to replicate on a large scale. By analyzing publicly available data from other social media networks, this company assigns people personality types and then suggests the preferred and less appealing ways to communicate with them. For example, would a potential international client prefer a more formal greeting, or would she be more receptive to your pitch if you dropped the stuffy “Dear” in the salutation of your email? Technology can guide you on this point and a number of others, optimizing the relationship-building process.

What Being Kidnapped Taught Me About Entrepreneurship

On May 20th of 2004, I was kidnapped and held hostage by gang members. One of the "captains" was angry with me because I was working to help his girlfriend find a safe haven from his extreme abuse. For years my mother worked as a gang violence interventionist, mediating closely with the Latin Kings, the Bloods, and the Crips. She provided safe havens to people looking to escape violence. I grew up listening at the dinner table to my mom's tales, accumulated from the 20 years of conflict management and violence prevention work. Before her, my grandparents went toe-to-toe with both the mafia and the government in their quest to create better conditions in factories for hard working Americans like themselves, during the 40s, 50s and early 60s. They were no strangers to dangerous situations and their bravery inspires me to this day.

In a way, I was born to be a crisis worker. My life was the training ground. I knew there were risks, but some things you just don't see coming. After being chased across an open field for sport, forced into a car at gunpoint, and questioned for hours, I was left in the pitch black to wonder how many more minutes I had left to live. Much to my surprise, I survived. After being threatened with death, castration, and exposed to violent force, the time I spent with those men influenced the past 12 years of my life. Training from the Alternatives to Violence Project (originally developed in prisons by inmates serving life sentences) that I received at the age of 13 helped me to be set free. I convinced the people holding me that I was no threat, and to let me go. I would walk away from that experience as a different man, and in some ways, a much better person. From then on, I wanted to help others survive life-threatening situations, and to rebound from extreme stress. When I was 22, I helped found a company for that purpose.

Traumatic Stress, PTSD, and professional trauma exposure are said to often leave its survivors with what is known as the 4 F's (fight, flight, freeze, and fold.) These four F's describe the common automatic responses that people fall into when they are triggered or feel threatened. The brain releases these survival chemicals that are designed to keep us alive when we are overwhelmed.

Being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle that can be overwhelming, traumatizing, scary, and also wonderful and joyous. Learning to manage extreme stress, to understand how to respond to feelings of overwhelm and march forward in the face of uncertainty are attributes that helped me become successful as a small business owner. That's why I am thankful for May 20th, the 48 hours with those men, and every day that came after it.

Bruce Lee had a famous quote, "Be like water." These words were the key to my survival. In business, following that mantra can also help you thrive. When it comes to the integrity of our company, Red Kite Project, we are like stone. However, one must know when to adapt and flow rather than stand still or become rigid. Your business will not survive if you can't learn to pivot and flow with sudden changes or threats from the market, internally from your own team, or even yourself.

Today, I find many parallels between the two experiences:

People who aren't in your shoes will question your choices, motivations, and your sanity. It's always good to reflect and there is nothing wrong with entertaining wise counsel. However, unless they live the life of an entrepreneur, many are ill-equipped to guide you or second-guess your decisions. That does not mean that we should ignore them! Only recognize that they may not understand our vision and the sacrifices it requires to actualize it.

According to research from Gallup, as well as articles from Inc and Business Insider, up to 50 percent of entrepreneurs deal with depression and mood swings. There are many ways that entrepreneurs can learn to cope with stress, anxiety, and fear, but don't underestimate its impact. Practicing martial arts helped me to overcome the anxiety I experienced after my situation. It wiped away my anxiety and fear and helped me to develop strong emotional and mental control. Fear can be helpful to warn us; worry is generally useless. Those who have achieved true greatness pushed past their fear and risked everything to do what they felt was right. They used ritual, regimens, exercise, healthy eating, and strong resiliency to thrive.

"Don't let the bastards grind you down." This was a saying that adorned a plaque on my grandfather's desk and I saw it every day as a kid. It stays stuck in my mind during the toughest moments of my life. You will hear "No" a lot. You may even face ridicule for having a new way of doing things. For years, people said that the RKP team was crazy to do "resiliency building." People laughed at us for taking a non-traditional, outside the box approach to workforce development. Now we assist some of the top hospitals, transit companies, and government organizations in the world, and we get results. If we gave up because people ridiculed us, if we let them grind us down, we wouldn't be making the impact that we do. You will look like a mad person until you succeed - then they will tell you that they believed all along.

Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome. An adage borrowed from the soldiers and veterans with whom we have worked, which speaks to the true nature of what a successful entrepreneur needs to do. In order to survive my ordeal, and to survive making our small family-owned venture into a successful consulting firm, I needed to constantly be able to shift my approach. If you only have one style of communicating, one way of managing, one tool for handling crises, you will most likely fail. Rigidity is the death of innovation. Be ready to pivot!

Use your scars, failings, mistakes as armor. If you see life as a classroom, you will never be disappointed. Life is hard. Helping to run a business is one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I have made many mistakes. There is no failure in making an error. It is the refusal to learn from that mistake, that makes it a failure. Each wrong turn can be used to make you stronger. Many of the most resilient and successful CEOs had extremely hard lives, or failed many times before they hit "success." We've heard the stories of Oprah Winfrey growing up in poverty, J.K. Rowling writing Harry Potter on napkins while on government assistance, and John Paul DeJoria, the creator of a hair-care empire and founder of Patron Tequila, living in a foster home and in his car. From the outside we see an overnight success, but for those who spent years dreaming and sweating for their vision, it's anything but. They would not have made it without extremely thick skin developed from scars accumulated over many years.

I am thankful every day for the things I have endured, as much as I am thankful for my joyful experiences. Without struggle, I never would have been prepared to be an entrepreneur and navigate the emotional, mental, and physical battlefield that is called "small business ownership." As a professional resiliency builder, I know that the obstacles that I have faced help me to be more authentic with the soldiers, nurses, crisis workers, EMTs, doctors, bus drivers, and law enforcement workers with whom I facilitate. I wear my scars proudly and this is the first time I have publicly told this story. I hope that it serves as a beacon of light to those who have endured so much, but dream even more.

This blogger graduated from Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program. Goldman Sachs is a partner of the What Is Working: Small Businesses section.

This Woman Lived In A Tent, Car And Boat To Escape Insane San Francisco Rents

Here’s one way to deal with the insane housing costs in California’s Bay Area: ditch your home altogether.

That’s exactly what Kristin Hanes did for four months last year. The outdoorsy 35-year-old slept in a “cozy” Toyota Prius as well as in a tent in various campgrounds, all the while working full time at KGO, an AM radio station in San Francisco. Hanes wrote about being “intentionally homeless” in an essay published in online magazine The Bold Italic last week.

Hanes gave up her studio apartment in Mill Valley, a city north of San Francisco, in May 2015. She also gave up her $1,800 monthly rent. For the next few months, she spent about $400 a month on living expenses: $200 for a gym membership; $150 for a storage space for extra belongings; and about $50 for various camping costs.

Reducing her costs by more than 75 percent allowed her to save money and pay off thousands of dollars of debt, her main goal.

In September, Hanes ended her “intentionally homeless” experiment and found a houseboat for rent with a roommate. She stayed there until spring, when she was laid off from her job. In May, she moved into her boyfriend’s 41-foot sailboat, which they are restoring. In the meantime, they do not have a working toilet and cook on a camping stove.

She currently spends a few hundred dollars a month on living expenses while working as a freelance voiceover artist and writer.

“Yes, I could have spent half my income on an apartment and lived a fancy life, but I would have always had debt, and possibly would have gone into more debt to do so, especially after being laid-off,” Hanes told The Huffington Post in an email.

Credit: Kristin Hanes

Kristin Hanes and her boyfriend live in a small but homey vintage sailboat in the Bay Area, but forgo modern plumbing and a functional kitchen.

Hanes takes pleasure in the non-fancy life she shares with her boyfriend in the close quarters of the boat. She also found unexpected joys during her months living without a roof over her head, she explained in her essay:

We had a blast, roasting salmon in foil over campfires, playing guitar and drinking beer under the pinprick lights of a thousand stars. We heard the deep-throated hooting of owls and the pitter-patter of rain on our tent, and breathed in fresh pine air. On weekends, we’d get out of town and backpack Lassen Volcano and Yosemite National Parks. Unfettered by rent or the need to clean, we both felt so free and closer to both nature and each other than we’d ever felt before.

The lifestyle also came with challenges ― imagine not having a kitchen or a bathroom. Sleeping in a car, which they did most nights, was particularly nerve-wracking.

“It was also hard always being on alert, not wanting to be caught,” Hanes told HuffPost. “Sleep could never be fully relaxing.”

While Hanes refers to that time as being intentionally homeless, she also thinks of it as an adventure, like “playing an adult game of ‘fort.’” She was quick to distinguish her experience ― a choice she had the luxury to make, made easier with amenities like a gym membership and evenings spent at happy hours ― from the forced homelessness that’s a systemic issue in San Francisco.

More than 6,800 adults go without shelter on any given day in San Francisco, according to volunteers’ citywide count on a single night in January 2015. However, the San Francisco Chronicle notes that the figure may exclude a significant portion of the homeless population and could actually be much higher.

A lack of housing and an influx of tech workers have helped rents and housing costs skyrocket in the Bay Area, pushing out less affluent residents and minorities. More than 2,000 San Francisco residents were evicted last year, as advocates call for more affordable housing and anti-displacement initiatives.

Hanes’ response to high rents might seem unusual, but others have also created offbeat homes rather than spend a few thousand dollars each month for a cramped apartment.

An engineer at Google received attention last year for his choice to live in a truck he purchased for $10,000 ― just five months’ worth of rent at his previous apartment. Earlier this year, a San Francisco resident built and lived in a small wooden pod in a friend’s apartment, paying $400 a month. However, he was soon forced to dismantle his makeshift room, which violated housing codes. Others live in garages or share bedrooms with multiple roommates.

“I think the wealth of many is pushing others out onto the streets,” Hanes told HuffPost. “Many people are getting evicted and have to move out of the Bay Area or to a different part of the Bay. Others end up living in a tent under a freeway, or in their cars.”

“It’s probably the biggest social issue in the region today,” she added.

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Kate Abbey-Lambertz covers sustainable cities, housing and inequality. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow her on Twitter.

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How Peak TV Has Transformed The 2016 Election

Rajiv Menon, Cultural Analyst, TruthCo.

The term “Peak TV” has become the accepted way to describe the current TV landscape, which is producing more critically acclaimed, challenging, and culturally influential programming than ever before. While the debate rages on as to whether we have actually reached Peak TV yet, the idea that TV today is more significant and omnipresent than ever before undeniably has legs.

In addition to the major changes that this idea has brought on in broad TV programming strategy, this shift has particularly strong implications in 2016 given the presidential election. As both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton strive to produce messaging that resonates in a hyper saturated content marketplace, the dominant norms of Peak TV appear to be the answer. In an election year defined by a hyper-productive, culturally influential television industry, candidate and party messaging have taken on the cues and codes of the wider TV landscape.

While in previous election cycles, candidates could safely assume that their presence and messages would dominate the television landscape, the era of Peak TV presents the risk of candidates being lost in a much wider sea of entertainment and news media. Presidential candidates have defined the television landscape in previous cycles, but as that field becomes richer and more influential, candidate and party messaging is becoming much more reflective of the wider media world than definitive of it.

The link between the Trump campaign and the wider TV landscape is obvious. Rising from the world of Reality TV through his tenure on The Apprentice and his lesser known (but nonetheless memorable) time in the world of professional wrestling, immeasurable amount of ink has been spilt on the significance of a “Reality TV candidate.” His candidacy and official messaging have consistently demonstrated these roots, as Trump and his campaign exemplify the type of characterization popularized by a genre defined by shocking, dramatic moments.

To start, numerous prominent speakers at the GOP convention—Antonio Sabato Jr., Scott Baio, Willie Robertson—were from the Reality TV world. Moreover, Trump himself has positioned himself around the norms of the genre. Trump oscillates between established Reality character tropes like unapologetic honesty—think Tyra on America’s Next Top Model, the Duck Dynasty crew, innumerable Real Housewives, and, most notably, the Donald Trump we saw on The Apprentice. More recently, Trump appears to have taken on the character trope of “The Trainwreck,” an often villainous character set up to self-destruct in spectacular ways—again, think innumerable Real Housewives, numerous Bachelor contestants, and Trump’s current director of African American outreach, Omarosa Manigault.

Whether or not there is credence to theories that Trump is intentionally sabotaging his campaign, his official messaging, public statements, and general cultural presence still deeply resonate with the hugely popular Reality genre in the Peak TV world. Trump is hardly being celebrated as a cultural innovator. However, drawing upon the symbols and character tropes of Reality TV is undeniably a strong strategy for audience engagement, a trend consistently demonstrated through the genre’s general dominance in the ratings. While the solvency of this strategy as a means of electability stands to be seen, it is a strong move for audience engagement.

While the Clinton campaign has avoided the Trump campaign’s bombastic, Reality TV-worthy moments, their general messaging strategy still speaks to the Peak TV world. In contrast to Reality TV, the Clinton camp seems to be following much more from the slow-burn world of Premium Scripted Drama. As opposed to over-the-top moments, the Clinton campaign has taken a deliberate, measured approach to narrative and storytelling. In its early months, the Clinton campaign received the same type of criticism that many Premium Dramas do in their infancy—too boring, too uninspiring, and not engaging. However, as the campaign has progressed, Clinton’s camp has refused to mirror Trump’s tone, staying committed to its Premium structure and gaining cultural praise for doing so.

The resonance between Hillary’s campaign and the world of Premium Drama felt especially clear during the DNC convention, where much of the programming felt strikingly in line with the current conversations happening in the scripted world. As opposed to Reality stars, high profile celebrities like Meryl Streep and Lena Dunham signaled the campaign’s cultural red in the same way a high-profile star can communicate a scripted drama’s premium quality. Khizr and Ghazala Khan’s speech, which gracefully touched on questions of grief, sacrifice, identity, and patriotism, felt strikingly resonant with the types of broad cultural conversation we see in recent Premium Drama like The Night of and The People vs. OJ Simpson.

At its fundamental core, the campaign is tasked with building goodwill behind a figure who is often culturally portrayed as distrustful, ambitious, and morally ambiguous; this mission is fundamentally in the DNA of a Premium Drama landscape defined by complex antiheroes. While drawing on the codes of this cultural space might not make the same headlines as Trump’s dynamism, the Clinton camp seems to be betting that complex, measured storytelling might be the stronger long-term plan.

What still stands to be seen is what will happen when these two distinct Peak TV approaches to candidacy come into direct conflict in the form of televised debates. Will the candidates have to adapt to each other’s strategies, or will we see one form of storytelling arise victorious from the encounter? Either way, while 2016 already looks unlike any election we have seen before, it does look a lot like a lot of TV we’ve seen before.

Rajiv Menon is a Cultural Analyst at TruthCo., an omnicultural branding and insights company that analyzes the current cultural landscape to deliver actionable recommendations that keep entertainment brands and their offerings relevant. Connect online at www.truthco.net or on Twitter @TeamTruthCo.

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Looks Like Ivanka Trump Doesn't Pay Her Interns

Ivanka Trump, who markets herself as a champion of working women and learned about business by walking her father’s construction sites, apparently does not pay interns at her namesake fashion and jewelry company in New York City, according to a blog post on IvankaTrump.com that also appeared on her official Twitter page on Thursday.

How to make it work as an unpaid intern: https://t.co/pwMIYWh4kw #nomoneynoproblems #interntips #internships pic.twitter.com/BRoWuO6bq7
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 18, 2016

Yes, that actually says #nomoneynoproblems, and comes from the Twitter account of the daughter of self-proclaimed billionaire and Republican nominee for president Donald Trump.

In the post, unpaid intern Quincy Bulin offers tips and includes advice from three of her unpaid colleagues ― all women, two named Mackenzie.

The advice includes finding a part-time job that actually pays, saving money during the school year, setting a budget and socializing cheaply.

Of course, Bulin leaves out the real key to surviving an unpaid internship: having well-off parents. Kids with families that can support them while they take on jobs for nothing are more likely to take on jobs for nothing.

Unpaid internships at for-profit companies are not legal in New York City, where Ivanka’s workers are based ― unless the positions are for college credit. And even then, there are a host of restrictions around how the job is structured. Regulations regarding unpaid interns at nonprofit organizations are slightly less strict.

Ivanka Trump is certainly not the only employer to use unpaid interns. In an email, Chief Brand Officer Abigail Klem told The Huffington Post, “We strive to create a fulfilling learning opportunity tailored to the unique interests and career goals of each intern. It is our goal that at the end of the program, our interns leave with experiences that will help guide them into choosing a fulfilling career path.”

The company didn’t respond to requests for comment on whether those interns also leave with school credit or some other kind of reimbursement. And Trump herself likely didn’t even send out the tweet yesterday. She’s vacationing in Croatia while her father’s campaign goes into full meltdown mode.

The notion that she would employ women without paying them is newsworthy for a couple of reasons, though.

@IvankaTrump what the hell do you know about being an unpaid intern? Or making it work? Why all your emojis black women?? #TrumpPence16
— bodhizwanya (@malikazwanya) August 18, 2016

Ivanka and her brothers sold themselves as in-touch with working-class people at the Republican National Convention last month, talking up their experience on their father’s construction sites when they were growing up.

Unpaid internships just aren’t the province of working-class people. An unpaid internship is “a handout that, best intentions aside, accelerates a cycle of privilege and reward,” Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, pointed out in a piece for The New York Times recently. Companies should get rid of unpaid internships, Walker argues, because they reinforce a lack of diversity. Unpaid interns land jobs eventually at these companies, and you wind up with a pretty homogenous workforce, which leads to all kinds of problems.

.@IvankaTrump is this a joke? Is all of this some sort of Kaufman-esque performance art piece?
— Chris Bea (@CJosephBea) August 18, 2016

Not paying these women for their work also looks off, coming from Ivanka, who is a self-proclaimed supporter of women’s equality in the workplace. Indeed, her website bills itself as the “ultimate destination for women who work.”

Unpaid internships lead to lower-paying jobs, according to research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. For these unpaid interns, that first lower-paying job would start a cycle of under-earning of the sort that reinforces pay gaps between men and women.

Speaking of supporting women: Ivanka reportedly gives 8 weeks paid parental leave to her employees. That’s not terrible, considering the United States has no paid leave policy. Yet, it falls short of what most proponents of paid leave and maternal health researchers consider optimal. She recently came under fire because her label works with companies that do not offer any paid leave.

In all, not a great look for a fashion company.

This article has been updated to include additional information about regulations surrounding unpaid internships, and with a comment from the company.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

Olympics A Chance To Showcase Innovation, Entrepreneurship

It's hard to deny the inspiration the Olympic Games provide every other year, whether for children aspiring to be future Olympians, weekend warriors hoping for glory in their group bike ride, or recreational age groupers looking for a personal best. Certainly for those who are not athletically inclined, the games still offer an unparalleled combination of entertainment and sporting performance across a variety of domains.

And while the raw athleticism is inspiring in itself, the games have always offered a showcase of innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation often comes at the pinnacle of performance--from the most demanding and competitive user or customer pushing the envelope of performance. This inspiration can drive subsequent benefits to the rest of us, including recreational athletes and weekend warriors alike.

From Dick Fosbury who pioneered the "Fosbury Flop" in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico to David Berkoff's underwater kick dubbed the "Berkoff Blast" 20 years ago, entrepreneurial athletes experiment and sometimes land on innovations that change human possibility. More recently, witness the efforts of Indiana University alumnus and now gold medalist high jumper Derek Drouin, who changed his technique to jump even higher despite years of successful competition.

The roots of the Olympics and "firsts" go way back. Who does not harken back to the hero of the first recorded Olympic Games in 776 B.C., the Greek cook Coroebus, who won the footrace called the Stade (root for the modern stadium)? And of course, Heracles (Hercules), son of Zeus, who is reported to have wrestled his father in an even earlier contest. One can imagine that lost to history is the first Wheaties box featuring said Heracles and the innovative wrestling move which, with a clever agent, could have been known as the "Heracles Hip Roll!"

Some innovation is in treatment. For example, marking the conversation this year (and bodies of some Olympic swimmers) is the practice of "cupping." You may have seen athletes with those circular welts on their bodies--adornment which will likely be all the rage after the 2016 Olympics. Cupping may be a centuries-old practice for some cultures, but the "innovation" is newly adopted in some circles (pun intended). Therapists place cups on a patient's body, sucking the air out of the cups to create pressure. Some say this helps athletes recover more quickly, stimulating blood flow and facilitating repair of damaged tissue. No matter what you think about the technique, when it's showcased on an international stage, you can't help but notice. Might these be branded the "Phelps Welts" with do-it-yourself home kits to follow? (I copyright this idea).

Other innovations are product driven and create new industries--like the aerodynamic cycling gear dreamed up and used by Boardman and Obree in cycling and likeTour de France winner Greg LeMond's "aero bars" that he used so successfully in the final time trial for the 1989 race. Similarly, the University of Florida's training staff originated GatorAde as the early sports drink to replace sweat that has since spurred a multibillion-dollar market that allows us to replace not only fluids but needed salts and electrolytes when engaging in endurance sports.

Where would we be without the Roger Bannisters of the world? As a medical student and runner, his experimentation with new techniques like interval and lactate threshold training led to the first sub-four-minute mile. We can learn from these new techniques and training methods from top competitors and benefit from offerings from innovative companies to reach new levels ourselves. Entrepreneurship, innovation, and human achievement are inextricably linked--both in sport and in business--for the benefit of all.

I, myself, have completed multiple Ironman events and am inspired by top athletes, but I confess, a four minute half-mile would be medal-worthy for me right now!

Starbucks: Changing the World One Barista at a Time

"Our role as leaders is to celebrate the human connection that we have been able to create as a company, and to make sure people realize the deep level of respect we have for the work they do and how they act. That is the legacy of the company. It's not to get bigger or to make more money."

--Howard Schultz, CEO Starbucks

I met Ashley Peterson, a barista at my local Starbucks, over six years ago during my morning ritual--stopping in for a grande extra hot soy latte on my way to taking my three kids to school, and myself to work. Ashley's big, totally genuine smile was truly comforting in the midst of my morning wrangle. And she looked like she meant it when she looked us in the eyes and said, "Good morning. How is everyone today?"

It wasn't long before Ashley learned all of our names, our favorite drinks and breakfast items. One Fall, my daughter Caroline developed a taste (read: obsession) for Starbucks' pumpkin scones, and then was crushed when Ashley explained that they disappear after Halloween. On our next visit, Ashley handed Caroline a bag with a gingerbread cookie in it, thinking that since she loves pumpkin, she might like this, too. In other words, Ashley just gets it; customer service is second nature to her. Not surprisingly, she was recently promoted and moved to a different Starbucks further uptown. Manhattanites all up and down Broadway have changed their morning migration patterns to get their morning fix from her.

Which is to say, when I began researching companies that are dedicated to creating a human workplace, I immediately thought of Starbucks, i.e. Ashley.

I recently sat down with her to learn more about how she works her magic. And she shared with me three sage bits of advice: Focus on Interactions, not Transactions; Love it, or Let me Know; and Provide Feedback. It Makes People Feel Human. The ideas are a combination of her own smarts, and Starbucks', but the words are hers.

Focus on Interactions, Not Transactions

One of Starbucks' values is treating our customers like family. They want us to get to know them, interact with them, and to connect with them. While we get training on different customer service scenarios, no one can really teach you how to connect...that has to be something that you want to do. I do it because of the atmosphere, because of the neighborhood. I see the kids grow up. One minute the mom is pregnant, and the next year the kid is walking into the store. As a customer, I wouldn't come into a place where I didn't feel welcome or where the people were not trying to get to know me. I love what I do and everyone that works for Starbucks loves what they do. It's a business that's so -- it's different than any other business. We want to actually connect with our customers, we want to better the experience.

Love It or Let me Know

At Starbucks, we are empowered to make the customer experience the best we can. We can say, "Listen, love it or let me know. What can I do to fix it?" I want to teach the baristas around me that customer service is the most important part of our business. Without the customers, we wouldn't be in business. So I really want them to take that seriously. And if that means going above and beyond for the customers, then that's what I want [them] to do. I want everybody that comes into Starbucks to leave happy. I don't want anyone to leave unsatisfied; I don't want anyone to leave upset. I don't want anyone to leave with the thought in their head that they're not coming back.

Provide Feedback: It Makes People Feel Human

I always want to make sure that the baristas feel appreciated, so I always recognize them. To do that, we have green apron cards, where we just write a little note, and let them know what it is that they're doing well. Starbucks wants everyone -- baristas, shifts, assistants or store managers to feel appreciated. You don't have to be a store manager to write these things; baristas write them to each other. So you don't have to be in a certain position to write these things.

In case I haven't been clear, I think the world of this young woman. And so when I heard that Howard Schultz and his wife Sherry were going to be awarded a Public Leadership Award from the Aspen Institute, where I just happened to be for the summer, I made it my business to attend. After Howard and Sherry's inspiring talk on values-based leadership, I was able to hand-deliver this note from Ashley.

Hi Howard,

My name is Ashley Peterson and I've been a partner for 6 years. I recently got a promotion to become a store manager, which I'm really excited about. When I first started at Starbucks, it was just a job for me. Before my Starbucks career, I was on my way to college, but life happened. I was expecting a child, my daughter Mckenzie, who is now five years old. Within a year of being at 81st & Broadway, I knew that Starbucks was for me. With so much I can write, I just want to thank you. Thank you for sharing such a great company with me. Thank you for allowing me to provide for my child. Thank you for the opportunity to work for Starbucks. I will continue to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time.

Ashley Peterson

Here I am, giving Howard Schultz Ashley's letter.

Some of us might feel funny expressing such gratitude to the CEO of a multinational corporation as mighty as Starbucks. But not Ashley, whose first job in the food industry was as a manager at White Castle when she was I5. This girl knows how to work. And Howard Schultz does, too. And he knows how to make the workplace a place for humans like Ashley to thrive. In his words, "We are living in a society where there is a need for human connection and a sense of community. And what we do every day is bring people together."

Me at my local Starbucks in Aspen.

I would be lying if I said I don't miss Ashley since her move uptown. Or that I don't feel a little sad each time I walk by her old store and don't see her beaming smile in the window. But I know this an amazing opportunity for Ashley and for the company. She is excited to use her skills and experience to build a strong culture within her new store. And we will all reap the benefits of the work she'll do, spreading the Starbucks gospel, helping other baristas bring their human to work.

7 Ways A Supportive Community Helps Women In Business Thrive

COMMUNITY is something I deeply believe in and is interwoven into my mission.

I believe that sisterhood among women is one of the first steps we can take toward pursuing our soulful mission in the world, and is vital to our continued success and feeling free, fulfilled, and in flow as 21st century women.

Below are 7 ways in which COMMUNITY (aka Sisterhood in my world) can help us thrive in business and leadership as women today:

1. ACCOUNTABILITY

The most common problem I see from clients and women in general who are working toward actualizing a dream, a mission, or anything else they might be creating is that they know what they SHOULD do, but they're just not doing it. It is proven, time and time again, that consistency is what leads to success.

In other words, SHOWING UP to life and being open to receive the opportunities you're presented with to carry out your mission is the #1 obstacle to overcome. So many of us "know" what we should be doing, or have a million and one ideas of what to do, but the difference between a dream and reality is taking ACTION and behind held accountable for following through on that action.

Accountability begets results. And when you have committed to showing up to a group of other inspired women every week who are holding you in integrity with your word, ready to celebrate your success beside you and cheer you on, you tend to avoid letting those women down!

2. A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS

We become most like the 5 people we spend the most time with, so if the people you're currently surrounded by in your life are not entrepreneurs with big dreams who get your vision, that's going to distract you from your mission and business growth.

How, you ask? Because you'll be faced with a constant battle trying to defend yourself instead of using that precious time and energy to build your business, build connections, take action, and fail forward. The people who love us most are also those who want us to be SAFE. Because they love us so much, they want to help us minimize risk, and maximize certainty.

But what we know to be true is that this mindset is NOT entrepreneurial by any means, and is certainly NOT the type of mindset that will set you free to achieve your dreams. The greater the risk, the greater the reward, and the more comfortable we can become in the presence of uncertainty (i.e. the more we can TRUST ourselves, life, and a favorable outcome), the more successful we will be.

3. BEING SEEN AS THE GODDESS YOU ARE

When was the last time you truly felt 100% SEEN, HEARD, APPRECIATED, + POWERFUL? When we enter into sacred community with other women, we are able to be seen in our wholeness, power, + greatness, and that is reflected back to us to reaffirm how we see ourselves.

When we learn to see ourselves as limitless beings with an infinite capability to create anything we can envision, absolutely anything is possible. Like... literally... ANYTHING, no matter how crazy it may seem to you. If you can see it, you can create it. And when you have a team of women around you who can ALSO see the vision, and uphold it with you and for you when you need to be reminded in the moments of doubt, you are unstoppable.

4. TEAMMATES + CHEERLEADERS

Having a team to support you so you don't give in to fear (...or fall apart/give up when shit hits the fan) is critical when you are creating something revolutionary or visionary. We all need teammates and cheerleaders -- people who we know have got our back, and people who can cheer us on in all kinds of conditions. When we continue to "push through," and "do it alone," we lose momentum and can't go as far as we could together. At times, just knowing that you have support available to you, even if you don't reach out to them, is comforting and allows us to stay on course toward fulfilling our mission and sacred duty.

5. INSTINCTUAL FULFILLMENT

Sisterhood is our instinct as women. We used to live in tribes, with other women along side us to share the everyday burdens of life. In our isolated society today, we feel disconnected, which allows us to live in our own heads most of the time, not realizing when our thoughts or beliefs are completely out of alignment and ludicrous, and we fail to give ourselves permission to dream, act, and think bigger. In other words, we get stuck. Community allows us to stretch, dream bigger, play harder, live more, and do better, instead of doing "more."

4. BALANCE OUR GIVING WITH RECEPTIVITY

As leaders, we should always be giving from the overflow so we don't become depleted, burnt out, and resentful of our work in the world. Being a "giver" is great, but we don't want YOU to feel depleted at the end of the day and burn out, unable to pursue and spread the mission you were sent here to this earth to bring to people, do we?! No way. So it's necessary, then, to learn to honor yourself first, set boundaries, and receive support instead of just dishing it out all the time. No one benefits when you give from an empty cup, including you. So let's stop pushing so hard, lean back, and allow ourselves to receive.

6. SAFE SACRED SPACE

Being a leader and being in community are NOT about being perfect. It's a safe, sacred, and intentionally held space where we are able to show up in our messiness, rawness, and realness, AND still be fully heard, witnessed, and unconditionally loved and supported by other women who understand the struggles we're facing, and can lift us out of our fear and back into connection with our truth, our divinity, our power, and the reality that each of us is a powerful creator and there are no victims. You are totally capable of dealing with whatever life presents you with, because it is all FOR you.

Sisterhood and communities of women remind us of this universal truth, so that we can avoid feeling "stuck," "blocked," or overwhelmed by the everyday minutia and opportunities for growth that are inevitable put in our path as we carry out our soulful mission. We get to be our full selves, no judgment, and learn how to be fully and authentically expressed in all other aspects of who we are, in our lives and businesses.

7. STRONGER (AND SMARTER) TOGETHER

In sisterhood and community with other women, we are able to pool our resources so everyone always has more than enough and never gets "stuck" in a rut, unable to move forward.

Imagine having a customized think-tank specifically for YOUR dreams, including your business, how much money you're calling in, and the version of yourself you want to become. All of it is totally possible when we stop falling into our outdated mindset that we can (and should) do it all alone. We don't have to choose to struggle any longer, and can instead give ourselves grace and the abundant resources we need to create success that feels sexy and soulful in our lives.

As women entrepreneurs in the 21st century, at a time of so much chaos, confusion, discord, and shadow, we are being called to shine our light more brightly, band together, and leverage our true inner power to create change for a better tomorrow, not just for ourselves, but for the entire world.

To learn more about embracing a new paradigm of feminine leadership in your life, business, or career, visit my website at EmilyCassel.com.

Follow Emily Cassel on Instagram: www.instagram.com/emilycasselofficial.

After Being Called Out, Trump Hotels Join Federal Fire Safety List

All Trump hotels are now on the government’s list of hotels and motels that have been approved as “fire safe” for federal employees.

As The Huffington Post reported in July, a number of Trump Hotels properties were not on the approved list ― meaning that if he were president, Donald Trump’s staffers would not be allowed to stay there.

Only the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago was on the Hotel-Motel National Master List, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency maintains to ensure that federal employees traveling on government business stay in lodging that meets certain basic requirements, such as having fire alarms and sprinklers. Federal employees can’t be reimbursed for nights they spend at hotels that aren’t on the list, or attend conferences or events there.

Trump Hotels spokeswoman Christine Da Silva told HuffPost shortly after the original story ran that “there are many optional programs such as this which our hotels regularly evaluate. While some of our properties do not participate in this particular program, our hotels are extremely vigilant and adhere to required fire and safety codes.”

But in the weeks since the story was published, five hotels in the Trump Collection, as well as Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, have been added to the federal list of hotels approved for fire safety.

“When you contacted us regarding the list, we reached out to FEMA. The organization was very responsive and easy to work with so our properties were able to quickly be added,” a Trump Hotels spokeswoman told HuffPost Tuesday.

The process for being added to the list is indeed relatively easy, and 87 percent of the 53,423 hotels and motels in the U.S. are on it, according to data from FEMA and the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Properties that aren’t on the list are not necessarily unsafe, and local fire departments and a review of public records did not uncover any outstanding fire safety issues at Trump hotels.

The Hotel-Motel National Master List was created as part of the 1990 Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act, which passed in response to deadly fires at hotels that lacked basic fire safety measure like effective sprinklers and alarms. One such tragedy was a fire at the Hotel Dupont Plaza in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on New Year’s Eve 1986, which killed 96 people and injured more than 140.

Cisco Reportedly Plans To Lay Off About 14,000 Employees, Or 20 Percent Of Its Workforce

(Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc is laying off about 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20 percent of the network equipment maker’s global workforce, technology news site CRN reported, citing sources close to the company.

San Jose, California-based Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks, the report said, as the company transitions from its hardware roots into a software-centric organization.

Apart from Cisco, the other tech giants, which have announced job cuts in the face of PC industry decline in recent years, are Microsoft Corp, HP Inc and Intel Corp.

Microsoft Corp kicked off one of the largest layoffs in Tech history in July 2014 after it said it would slash 18,000 jobs.

HP Inc said in September 2015 that it expected to cut about 33,300 jobs over three years.

Intel said in April that it would slash up to 12,000 jobs globally, or 11 percent of its workforce.

Cisco, which had more than 70,000 employees as of April 30, declined to comment.

Cisco increasingly requires “different skill sets” for the “software-defined future” than it did in the past, as it pushes to capture a higher share of the addressable market and aims to boost its margins, the CRN report said citing a source familiar with the situation.

Cisco has been investing in new products such as data analytics software and cloud-based tools for data centers, to offset the impact of sluggish spending by telecom carriers and enterprises on its main business of making network switches and routers.

The company has already offered many early retirement package plans to Cisco’s employees, according to CRN.

Up until Tuesday’s close of $31.12 on the Nasdaq, the company’s stock had risen about 15 percent this year, compared with a 10.5 percent increase in the Dow Jones U.S. Technology Hardware & Equipment index.

Why Elon Musk’s Plan To Merge Tesla With SolarCity Will Probably Work

Elon Musk’s plan to consolidate his clean-energy empire has few fans on Wall Street.

Tesla, Musk’s electric car and battery maker, and SolarCity, his energy firm, are notorious for burning through cash. Their boards of directors, stacked with Musk’s family and allies, threaten a “corporate governance nightmare” with few checks on power, The Financial Times has warned. There are real concerns that Musk accelerated his plans to fuse the two companies ― he serves as Tesla’s chief executive and SolarCity’s chairman ― because SolarCity is struggling and needs to be bailed out before things get worse.

But the deal is likely to happen. And it should. The companies need each other’s manufacturing muscle and sales savvy. Combined, they could speed efforts to wean the world off carbon and push competitors to provide more clean energy options. And, as investors have learned time and time again, it’s rarely smart to bet against the 45-year-old man with the lilting South African accent.

“If you don’t believe in Elon,” said David Whiston, an equity strategist covering car companies for the Chicago-based research firm Morningstar, “why are you buying these stocks in the first place?”

Musk’s vision, outlined in his updated “master plan” last month, is clear: Rooftop solar panels produce enough electricity to store in a home battery for nighttime use and charge the electric car parked in the garage. The network of homes equipped with sleekly designed SolarCity photovoltaic panels and the sort of Powerwall batteries Tesla released last year sell so much green electricity back to the grid that utility companies pay Tesla for software services to better manage demand. Everyone breathes easier, as the local coal- or natural gas-burning power plant no longer needs to spew climate-ravaging greenhouse gases into the air. And, assuming he isn’t making good on his plans to colonize Mars anytime soon, Musk is at the helm of it all.

Mainstreaming solar panels the way Tesla breathed new life into electric cars may prove a unique obstacle, but one that a combined Tesla-SolarCity would have the infrastructure to hurdle.

The merger could solve SolarCity’s marketing problems. Many industries rely on customized software to target new customers. But after the scandalous collapse of Solyndra, which went bankrupt on the brink of the solar boom in 2011, venture capitalists shied away from investments in companies producing enterprise software for the solar industry. Without such software, SolarCity has relied on less-than-ideal proprietary software, word-of-mouth marketing (“hey, neighbor, look how much I’m saving on my electricity bill!”) and deals with retailers like Home Depot and automakers Honda and Acura to promote solar panels in their stores. The merger could fix this, transforming Tesla’s roughly 200 showrooms around the world into one-stop shops for both homeowners and drivers.

That’s crucial, given that SolarCity can only succeed if it gets bigger. The company wants to someday function as a distributed power plant that, using its network of panels and batteries, could eliminate the need for utility companies to burn fossil fuels when there isn’t enough sun or wind to meet demand, CEO Lyndon Rive, who is Musk’s younger cousin, told HuffPost in a June interview. To do that, it needs a lot of SolarCity panels and Tesla batteries in a lot of homes.

So far, that hasn’t been easy. The economics of Tesla’s pricy Powerwall batteries don’t make sense for most homeowners. Electricity rate policies make it cheaper to sell excess solar energy back to the grid during the day than it is to store it for later use at night.

Over the past five years, a huge surge in solar installations, particularly at the utility-scale level, has driven down the cost of solar energy. Solar panels, too, have become much cheaper. But an average 5-kilowatt system still costs about $30,000.

SolarCity built its business on people signing decades-long leases to finance the installation of rooftop solar panels. But the company now faces new headwinds as a growing number of U.S. consumers opt to buy their panels outright. In the last quarter, the company lost about $200 million, according data from Bloomberg.

“It’s a question of whether retail stores are an ideal way to sell solar to somebody ― and you can see why that makes sense,” Kann said. “There’s only a subset of the population that can put solar on a roof ― they have to homeowners, they have to have good enough credit to get financed.

“You can imagine that people going into a dealership to buy a car are probably disproportionately more likely to be able to buy solar,” Kann added. “You can naturally weed out some of the bad leads that way.”

The timing for the deal seems right, too. Tesla christened its $5 billion lithium-ion battery factory at an opening ceremony last month. Dubbed the “Gigafactory 1,” the 13.6 million-square-foot facility will, by 2018, produce more of the lithium-ion packs used for Tesla’s cars and Powerwall in a year than every other manufacturer today. With that capacity, Tesla could drive down the cost of producing batteries by up to 70 percent, to about $38 per kilowatt-hour.

Tesla plans to ramp up battery production sometime around November, Musk said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call last week.

“I think it’s going to be really exciting when people see it, that’s why I expect kind of exponential growth from there,” Musk said of the company’s plans for mass-producing batteries. “I think it’s really going to go ballistic.”

Consider what Tesla has already accomplished for electric cars. Exactly 10 years ago, film director Chris Paine released his hit documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” ― a 92-minute dissection of how the auto and oil industries for decades stifled any alternative to dirty combustion engine. Two years later, Tesla released its first vehicle, the Roadster, a super-expensive race car. Four years after that, Tesla unveiled the Model S, its first luxury consumer sedan. Last year, the company launched its first SUV, the Model X, and revealed the Model 3, its most affordable vehicle yet. When Tesla began taking preorders for the Model 3 in March, the company sold nearly a half-million within weeks, making it the “biggest one-week launch of any product ever.”

Musk made electric cars sexy. Now, BMW, Ford, General Motors and nearly every other consumer automaker are racing to release or promote their own entrants to the revived electric-car market. Apple’s rumored car, dubbed Project Titan, is expected to be electric. A bevy of new players, likely spurred in some small way by Tesla’s pledge two years ago to give away its technology to newcomers, have entered the fray, too.

If transforming Tesla and SolarCity into the world’s first major vertically integrated clean giant company can have the same effect on the energy industry, humanity might stand a chance of avoiding the worst effects of climate change. At the very least, it could tap into a market worth trillions.

More Stores Closing Signal Urgency for Change in the Retail Space

Macy's just announced that it plans to close 100 more stores. They join a chorus of retailers that have determined that store real estate is more valuable than the business prospects at many of their locations.

Why stores are closing

There are numerous reasons why store chains are closing locations. Seven of the more important ones are provided below.

Internet. The Internet is increasingly becoming a disruptive force for bricks and mortar (B&M) stores. The reason is that for many people, the buying of non-perishable products online is more convenient. Buyers can order products wherever they have access to the Internet. Good marketers understand that distribution is the convenience function. Unless bricks and mortar stores can provide something buyers cannot find online, it will be hard for them to compete with the convenience of the Internet.
Traffic and parking. With the insane volume of traffic is so many major metro areas, such as Los Angeles, too many would rather get a root canal than hop in their car, drive to a store, find a parking place, and navigate their way through the aisles looking for the items they want.
Price competition. Many online stores can provide lower prices because they do not have the overhead of their B&M rivals. Some even have virtual inventories where they show products online and have their suppliers drop ship them to the buyer. Rather than create and market their added value, too many B&M stores try to price compete with online resellers. Because of the high cost of convenient retail space, that is a game they are destined to lose. What makes matters even worse for B&M stores is the practice of "showrooming" where buyers will go into a store, touch and feel the merchandise, waste sales people's time asking questions, and purchase the product online at a lower price.
Aging stores. In simpler times, many stores looked good, smelled good, and had helpful sales people that could answer product questions and give advice to buyers. Rather than reinforce this advantage, too many retailers are letting their locations get worn and run down and they are not hiring the people they need to give buyers a good in-store experience. Why? They feel they need to compete on price. To do that and still make money, they cannot afford to hire better people or pay for the upkeep of their stores. Therefore, they lose an important added value advantage, which only serves to strengthen their online competitors.
Fewer and less-qualified people. Stores are not only hiring less talented inadequately trained salespeople, they are hiring fewer people to service customers. As they try to compete with online stores B&M stores are cutting staff and paying the survivors less. Any good marketer knows that happy employees make for happy customers. Poorly trained low paid workers do not exude the happiness required to keep buyers coming to stores.
Cost cutting extends to promotion. As store chains cut costs to price compete with online rivals, they cut promotional budgets needed to bring people into the stores. If buyers are not informed of new merchandise or special sales, what will bring them into the stores?
Busy or lazy. To make ends meet, buyers are too busy working hard to invest the time required to visit physical stores. Those that are not too busy are too often lazy. The busy ones that seek to relax when not working don't want the hassles enumerated above when they are off duty.

Bypassing resellers

Since humans started transacting business, buyers and sellers have been looking to cut out the middle people to save money and sell more. This is to be expected. Resellers that have not succeeded in proving their added value have gone out of business. An example is travel agents. What too many forget, however, is that if you cut out the middle people, you still have to provide their function. That is a fundamental rule of distribution. Unless you are selling digital products that can be distributed over the Internet, if you bypass the middle people, you have to acquire (or pay someone else for) warehouses and you have to provide the convenience to the end buyer.

Losing the marketing performed by them

There is another important issue that is often forgotten when companies consider eliminating middle people. When you bypass them, you also eliminate the benefits of their locations, marketing, and sales efforts. That is, distributors and dealers have their own locations and sales people, and they spend money on marketing. If you cut them out, you also lose their locations, sales people, and marketing efforts. You cut convenience for yourself and the end buyers.

How can Bricks and Mortar stores survive and thrive

The key to surviving and thriving in the face of external disruptive forces such as the Internet, increasing traffic, and energy costs, is to understand and prove your added value. The following steps are what physical stores need to do.

Find out what your audience wants that they are not getting. Step one of every good marketing place is to start with your target audience. What do they want that they are not getting from competitive alternatives? To figure this out, companies need to develop an always-on marketing information system to continuously collect marketplace data and make the necessary adjustments.
Be willing to make the changes necessary to give it to them. Too many stores are in the habit of doing what they always did to become successful in the past. They need to understand that things change, and when they do, they need to make adjustments or more appealing alternatives can take away their customers.
Understand the advantages of physical stores. Stores are locations where customers can browse, touch and feel the merchandise, try it on, measure the size of items, and enjoy the experience. Rather than compete with online stores on price, stores should give customers a better experience - helpful salespeople, good looking and smelling stores, neatly arranged merchandise, beacons to facilitate finding items quickly, and in-store services that customers cannot find online.
Re-invent your brand. So that buyers understand the added-value your stores provide, a well designed and orchestrated brand is the necessary first step. The focus should not be on price since online retailers usually have that advantage. It should be on value, entertainment, and in-store experience. When you cannot compete on price you focus on return-on-investment.
Deliver on the brand promise. Once stores have the right brand architecture, the store experience has to deliver on the added value promised by the brand, and successfully communicate their added value in all forms of promotion.

Easier said than done

Being successful in business is rarely easy. However, it is much easier than closing stores, laying off employees, and losing money. There are many good examples of stores that understand their added value and are thriving in spite of the obstacles discussed above. A post in Forbes by Phil Wahba provides information on the 10 most successful malls in the US. Please notice that #2 on the list is The Grove located in one of the most competitive and traffic congested locations in the US - the middle of Los Angeles.

Advantage retail stores

Retail stores can be successful despite disruptions caused by the Internet and mobile technology. Many people will always like the social interaction and comfort of checking out the products in person, asking questions of knowledgeable sales people, and making sure the products fit their needs. As with all methods of distribution, a new one may come along that renders the old way of doing business less desirable or obsolete. If and when that happens, you have to re-invent your added value or competitive advantage in ways that the new methods cannot duplicate.

Reinventing your retail space

In addition to the five steps listed above, you need to reimagine your retail space in ways that cannot be duplicated by other channels. Create a destination that focuses on live interactions with people. Some examples include the following:

Entertainment. Provide a showcase where local entertainment can perform. You have a physical place of business. Use it in ways that your competitors on the Internet cannot. Make an interactive person-to-person environment.
Speakers. Invite designers and inventors to talk about the benefits and advantages of their products.
Demonstrations. Show people the various ways they can use your products. For food items, invite chefs to hand out samples, provide recipes, and demonstrate cooking techniques.
Ambiance. Create a space that looks, smells, and sounds good the way stores were in the "old days" before they made the mistake of price competing with discounters and the Internet.
Logistics. Form alliances with various transportation options that can safely bring shoppers to your space and take them back home.
Touch and feel. Provide an environment where shoppers can touch, feel, try on, and properly size the products you sell.
Human assistance. Hire a competent staff that can answer questions and help buyers to buy the products. This can be done with the right combination of people and technology.

Making changes to your business is rarely easy, but in the ever-changing environment in which we live, it is those that are willing and able to make the changes necessary that will most likely survive and thrive into the future. Best of luck.

How to Pay Off A 30-Year Mortgage In 15 Years -- Without Being Scammed

The 15-year fixed-rate home mortgage is far and away the best option for consumers because of the low interest rate. All other things the same, including originations fees, the 15-year rate in today's market is 0.75% below the 30-year rate.

I recently assessed a $240,000 loan to a borrower with a high credit score who will put 20% down. The lenders reporting prices to my site quoted 2.50% on a 15-year mortgage and 3.25% on a 30. The total interest paid over the life of the 15 would be $48,054, while over the life of the 30 it would be $136,320. That is, for every dollar of interest paid on the 15, the borrower would pay $2.84 of interest on the 30. That reflects both the lower rate and the shorter payment period.

The drawback of the 15, of course, is the higher monthly payment. In the case at hand, the payment on the 15 would be $1600 compared to $1046 on the 30. What has surprised me is the number of borrower who can afford the payment on the 15, but nonetheless choose the 30 because it gives them greater freedom to spend on other things. They are present-oriented rather than future oriented, and the only thing I have to say to them is "lots of luck -- you will need it."

There is another group of borrowers who can afford the 15 but choose the 30 because they plan to invest the difference in payment and earn a return greater than the rate difference between the 15 and the 30. I doubt that more than one in 10 of those who have told me about their plan to do this have been able to follow through successfully, for a variety of reasons I have explained in several other articles. The crux of the matter is that the rate of return required to offset the loss of the low rate on the 15 is several percentage points higher than the rate on the 30, which very few borrowers are positioned to earn.

The borrowers to whom this article is addressed are those who cannot afford the monthly payment on the 15 but they will be able to afford extra payments on the 30 in the future.

The affordability of a mortgage payment as determined by lenders, regulators and most borrowers is based on earning power and is essentially backward looking. The income used to qualify must be documented, which is looking backward. A borrower's expectations of future earning power do not enter the picture. These expectations, however, may affect a borrower's plans for making extra payments in the future.

A borrower unable to meet the payment required on a 15 who anticipates an increasing ability to pay in the future can develop an extra payment game plan for paying off early - possibly in 15 years. Every such plan must be hand tailored to the individual needs of the borrower. I will illustrate with two examples.

Jones expects a large salary increase next year, and annual increases thereafter. His game plan is to increase his payment from $1046 to $2070 in month 13, to $2170 in month 37, to $2270 in month 61, to $2370 in month 85, and to $2470 in month109, where it will remain until payoff in month 180. The reward? In addition to being out of debt in 15 years, total interest payments will decline from $136,020 when payments are made for 30 years to $68,371 with the 15-year payoff.

Smith has fairly stable income but enjoys a sizeable bonus every year. His game plan is to make an extra payment of $8,000 in months 12, 24, 36 and so on until payoff in month 180. In her case, total interest will decline from $136,020 when payments are made for 30 years to $64,562 with the 15-year payoff.

These two cases were developed using one of the mortgage payoff calculators on my web site. To find the combination of payments that will result in a zero balance in month 180 (or any other month) involves a bit of trial and error. While every case is different, the calculator will handle them all.

Of course, there is nothing sacred about payoff in 180 months. Some borrowers might only be able to manage 210 months while some others might be up to payoff in 150 months. The important thing is to have a concrete objective based on a realistic appraisal of what is possible, and a systematic and disciplined approach toward achieving it.

For more information on paying off your mortgage early, visit my website The Mortgage Professor.

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