4 Strategic Partnerships That Paired Wildly Different Companies

Strategic partnerships are always a smart way to grow your business faster and expand into new markets. Even smarter is to look beyond conventional or expected opportunities. To create entirely new products, keep employees happy, or achieve ambitious long-term goals, it pays to get creative about whom you team up with--and even to look far afield of your own industry. 

Here are four pairs of companies that recently reached outside of their sectors to build mutually beneficial partnerships. READ MORE

'No vaccine required' is the latest tactic to attract workers

In the search for workers in this tight labor market, companies have courted new hires with the promise of higher wages, sign-on bonuses, ample vacation time, and childcare.

The latest: "No vaccine required." READ MORE

Why giant companies are suddenly splitting into pieces

Breaking up is the newest craze for ginormous global companies. Johnson & Johnson, Toshiba and GE announced plans to split into multiple entities this week. The trend may have only just begun.

Conglomerates are big and unwieldy. Wall Street hates them, because it doesn't know how to value them properly. CEOs and corporate boards are finally getting the message: Nimble is the new big. READ MORE

Elon Musk reveals 'worst person' he's ever worked with

Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk slammed the company’s co-founder Martin Eberhard on Twitter on Friday, calling him the "worst person" he’s ever worked with and accusing him of nearly "killing Tesla."

"Founding story of Tesla as portrayed by Eberhard is patently false," Musk tweeted Friday. "I wish I had never met him. Eberhard is by far the worst person I’ve ever worked with in my entire career. Given how many people I’ve worked with over the years, that’s really saying something." READ MORE

Feeding Frenzy

Three weeks ago, “someone” floated the idea of PayPal buying Pinterest. PYPL plunged 5% the next day (shedding the value of Under Armour) and the company then denied the rumors. Our thesis: PayPal’s management leaked the story as a trial balloon, and let it float away when the market threw up on the notion of PinPal (couldn’t resist). READ MORE

Rivian is America's biggest IPO since Facebook

Rivian, the electric vehicle maker backed by Amazon (AMZN) and Ford (F), made its Wall Street debut on Wednesday, surrounded by mania that befits a market that appears to be defying gravity.

What's happening: The company priced its stock above the expected range at $78 apiece, allowing it to raise an estimated $11.9 billion. That's the biggest haul for a US firm since Facebook brought in $16 billion in 2012. READ MORE

America's prices are surging more than they have in 30 years

There's no end in sight for higher prices. US consumer price inflation surged higher again in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

Over the past 12 months, prices climbed 6.2% -- the biggest increase since November 1990. READ MORE

Onsite COVID testing tech has arrived—but there’s a catch

Following last week’s announcement of the new OSHA guidelines mandating that firms with more than 100 employees that do not require vaccinations provide proof that unvaccinated employees are tested weekly, HR technology providers are offering tools and services for both remote and onsite COVID-19 testing. READ MORE

From obscurity to superhero: Chief supply chain officer is now the toughest job in the C-suite

At most companies, the glory in the C-suite has typically gone to the executives who dream up new products, plot bold market expansions, or out-innovate the competition with money-gushing patents. Think Target’s chief merchant or Tesla’s CFO.

But this is 2021. READ MORE

How Moderna’s people strategy helped bring the COVID vaccine to market

Two years ago, few people outside of biopharmaceutical circles had likely heard of the company Moderna. Now, it’s a household name—thanks to its COVID-19 vaccine, which received emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration at the end of 2020. As of last week, more than 156 million Moderna COVID vaccines have been administered in the U.S. READ MORE

Silicon Valley is not on trial in the Elizabeth Holmes case. Classic fraud is

As the Elizabeth Holmes trial unfolds, the audacity of the alleged scheme becomes clearer by the day. The purported lies are big, the sums of money staggering, the boldface names riveting. But perhaps what is most remarkable about the case is how unremarkable it is as a legal matter. Many have suggested that the culture of Silicon Valley is on trial — the infamous "fake it 'till you make it" ethos of founders. But the trial is really about classic fraud, just in a glossy form and a high-tech context. READ MORE

There could be a seismic shift in the labor market. Here's why

America's job market is showing signs of strength — welcome news after a choppy summer.

What's happening: The US economy added 531,000 jobs in October, according to government data released Friday. That's stronger than in August and September, though gains for both months have been revised higher. READ MORE

Facebook … What To Do?

Don Draper suggested that when you don’t like what’s being said, you should change the conversation. Facebook is trying to change the conversation to the Metaverse. But we should keep our eyes on the prize, and not look stage left so the illusionist can continue to depress teens and pervert democracy stage right. In sum, nothing has changed. And something (likely many things) needs to be done to stop the most dangerous person on the planet. I first wrote the preceding sentence three years ago; it seems less novel or incendiary today. READ MORE

Democrats' spending bill could give four weeks of paid leave to people without jobs

The latest version of the House Democrats’ massive $1.7 trillion reconciliation bill contains a provision guaranteeing four weeks of federal paid medical and family leave, even if you’re unemployed.

The provision in question is buried deep in the Build Back Better Act as Democrats desperately try to get legislation across the finish line after a GOP trouncing at the polls on Tuesday. READ MORE

Nearly half of board members want to fire a colleague

A survey from PwC of around 800 corporate directors found that 47% believe a fellow director on their board should be replaced, and of those almost one-fifth (18%) believe multiple directors should leave. READ MORE

How Tyson Foods Got 60,500 Workers to Get the Coronavirus Vaccine Quickly

When Tyson, one of the world’s largest meatpacking companies, announced in early August that all of its 120,000 workers would need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or lose their jobs, Diana Eike was angry. Eike, an administrative coordinator at the company, had resisted the vaccine, and not for religious or political reasons like many others here in her home state.

“It was just something personal,” she said. READ MORE

These are the people still most likely to quit during the next wave of the Great Resignation

The hottest trend in 2021 isn’t some fad on social media or a creative new baking recipe, it’s quitting your job, and it’s taken the U.S. workforce by storm. READ MORE

4 Must-Know Tips For Building A High-Growth Startup

All startups have the same goals; develop an innovative product, find your market fit, and exit through an acquisition or IPO. Yet, very few achieve these goals. Even if they’ve built a product that blows the market away, the majority of startups fail. While some companies may suffer from a lack of product-market fit or a lackluster sales strategy, many don’t make it far because of mundane reasons. READ MORE

Inside Q4’s Action-Packed IPO Pipeline, Including The Year’s Biggest Expected Offering

This year has already been a record one for IPO volume, and by all accounts the final quarter of 2021 is set to continue that momentum with anticipated Wall Street debuts from big venture-backed companies including Weave, Expensify and—the largest expected offering of the year—electric-truck maker Rivian.

Fourteen companies went public last week in the U.S., according to IPOScoop, with Rent the Runway and Udemy among the notable public debuts for tech companies. READ MORE

Americans take essential work ‘for granted’

As American workers are leaving their posts due to coronavirus vaccine mandates, the country’s gap in filling essential jobs worsens and FOX Business’ "How America Works" host Mike Rowe says it’s no secret why.

Rowe told "Fox News Primetime" that the issue has always lied in what Americans value, which includes turning a blind eye to blue-collar careers. READ MORE