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And the bartender asks, âdo I get dental?â
[The Hustle]( Wed, Jan 31
Brought to you by [Launchpeer]( step one for startups.
Commence disruption: Bezos, Buffett, and Dimon are getting into healthcare
It was only a matter of time until Amazon tried their hand at one of, if not the most, complicated industries on the planet.
And now itâs [happening]( Jeff Bezos is teaming up with a real nerd herd of corporate kings in Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan to [launch]( an independent healthcare company, aimed at providing cheaper coverage to their nearly 1m collective US employees.
The move is already a major headache for traditional US healthcare providers (within the first 2 hours of the announcement, the market value of 10 large health insurance and pharmacy stocks dropped by a combined [$30B](.
Just begginâ to be disrupted
With the [rise]( of corporate healthcare costs, the industry has been askinâ for a shake-up over the last few years. Â
The total cost of healthcare per worker for employers has risen nearly [3%]( this year (its 6th consecutive year of small upticks), in return pushing up the costs for what employees have to pay out of pocket.
Problem is, healthcare costs have risen faster than wages and inflation. That means premiums for employer-provided insurance plans have shot up 19%, while employee pay has increased only 12%.
Now the bigwigs are stepping in
Warren Buffett called the rapid rise in healthcare costs a âhungry tapeworm on the American economy,â while Bezos explained fixing the healthcare industry will require âtalented expertsâ and a âbeginnerâs mind.â
Sure, cutting healthcare costs for their employees means cutting costs for themselves, so itâs not all pure intentions from Bezos and the gang.
But, when 3 of titans of corporate America make a move like this, people listen -- and if Bezos and coâs personal cost-cutting interests happen to benefit [950k]( between the 3 companies worldwide, then good on them.
The million dollar question: can they do it?
There are (justifiably so) a ton of skeptics. Their actual plan to carry out this daunting task remains endlessly vague, leaving many people [wondering]( the h*ll any of this actually means.
Will Amazon hospitals soon be a thing? Are we going to start picking up medicine at Whole Foods? Is Jeff Bezos a nicer Lex Luthor? Stay tuned.
So many questions...
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Doggy king, Wag, raises $300m from SoftBank
Put down your leashes, because the dog-walking startup Wag has raised [$300m]( from SoftBank Vision Fund.
This investment marks yet another expensive deal from olâ Softy (honestly, at this point, their cash flow seems truly endless), and it makes them a 45% owner in the pup-care business.
It also gives them a ton of control in the process
Being behind the entire deal [reportedly]( gives SoftBank an âenormousâ influence over at Wag. Exhibit A: the fact that the deal hinged on Wagâs assurance to SoftBank that they would find a new, more seasoned CEO.
With two shakes of a dogâs hind legs, Wag canned their co-founder Josh Viner and brought on former LifeLock CEO Hilary Schneider as their new chief executive (though, the Viner family claims the two developments had ânothing to doâ with each other).Â
Why all this for a dog-walking company?
When asked what what he sees in Wag, one of SoftBankâs senior investors [said]( âWag is a clear leader in the rapidly growing global market for pet care services.â
SoftBank continues to throw money at the top companies of emerging, somewhat untapped, fields, like the [Indoor farming company]( Plenty, or [drug research companies]( like Roivant⦠and now dog-walking.
Because when you can afford the best, why get the off-brand?
[These dogs were made for walkinâ](
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The AI âgreasemanâ strikes out on his own
If thereâs a large-scale AI undertaking in the works, itâs likely that [Andrew Ng]( has had a hand in it.
To put it in Oceanâs Eleven terms, heâs the go-to âgreasemanâ for big tech companies looking to solve some of the biggest questions in AI. AKA, he can weasel his way around any deep learning obstacle out there.
Now, heâs doing his biggest âjobâ yet: heâs [starting a $175m fund]( for his own ideas.
And he did it without breaking a sweat
In Ngâs words, investors are so eager to get a piece of the AI action that âour fundraising process was very painless.âÂ
(His track record as the chief scientist at Chinese internet giant Baidu, and creator of Googleâs deep learning project, Google Brain, probably didnât hurt, eitherâ¦)
Now, Ng has big guns like NEA, Sequoia, Greylock, and (of course) SoftBank on board -- all attracted by his promise that AI businesses are â[more repeatable than people think]( and that he can build them faster than anyone.
To that end, the fund will operate more as an incubator for Ngâs projects, rather than an investing arm for outside startups.
Ngâs been grooming the talent -- now he has the resources to recruit
Ngâs already launched [Deeplearning.ai]( an online curriculum of classes on things like âdeep neural networksâ to fill the shortage of AI engineers, which has made it notoriously difficult to get deep learning startups off the ground.
But, niche engineers donât come cheap -- and with this extra funding, heâll actually be able to [pay their $500k salaries](.
[Yeah I could raise $175m⦠no problem](
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ENTER THE CUBE: Wall Box is a clear, soundproof office that solves⦠what?
At the turn of the millennium, open offices were heralded as the solution to âclosed-door,â corner office culture.Â
But, as many of you have probably experienced, this newfound freedom-of-floorplan makes it d*mn near impossible to take an uninterrupted phone call, or just get some dang peace and quiet.
So, in a post-open-office dystopia, where do we turn?Â
A [smaller, see-through office](.
WALL BOX (because âphone boothâ was already taken)
Created by [interior design company VANK]( (a brand name meant to be whispered in an echo-y room), Wall Boxes are portable, soundproofed chambers with glass walls, built for up to 6 people.
The smallest Wall Box has a mere 3x4 footprint -- small enough to induce claustrophobia, yet large enough (if the [promo photos]( are to be believed) to practice some solo yoga. Perfect.
And, theyâre not the only ones pitching this idea. You can buy a similar (albeit less aesthetically pleasing) knockoff of the WB for [~$3k on Alibaba](.
Look, we get it, thereâs no perfect solution
Gotta give VANK credit, theyâve managed to make a fish tank look like a pretty chill place to hold a meeting, and solved the problem of Sales interrupting your IT call with their victory gong again.
But, in a world where private space is hard to come by, a few opaque conference rooms are just fine with us.
[Step into my Wall Box](
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what the hell isâ¦
A series in which The Hustle explains things in the tech and business world that donât seem to make a whole lot of sense.
What the hell is the $1 CEO salary?
In recent decades, a curious trend has emerged: dozens of top tech CEOs -- including the likes of Larry Page (Alphabet, Inc.), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Jeremy Stoppelman (Yelp) -- have slashed their salary to a measly $1.
The $1 CEO salary is often held as a shining example of the âspirit of sacrificeâ in business: a company-first decision that aligns a leaderâs interests with those of his or her corporation.
But data tells us another story. Hereâs the GIF to break it down (share it with the people who need to know [here](
Curious about the studies cited in the GIF above? Links [here]( [here]( [here]( [here]( [here]( and [here](.
-- Zack, GIFer-in-residence
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This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by
This is how much your app will cost to develop
You read The Hustle, so letâs assume you have one or two (maybe a dozen) great ideas for a startup...Â
But, like most, the cost of actually executing those ideas is a mystery.Â
Hey, âAirbnb for home plantsâ is a good idea, but before you bet the farm (that you donât have) on the project, you should [get a sense for what it will cost](
[Launchpeerâs calculator]( is the bee's knees of Silicon Valley dreaming.Â
Get free estimates on the cost of any app, then work with Launchpeerâs dedicated staff of developers, growth marketers -- and all-around dream makers -- to make your idea a reality.
And if the price is right, mention The Hustle and [score 10% OFF]( when you work with [Launchpeer](. Itâs step one for startups.
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