Arianna Huffington's wellness startup launched only 6 weeks ago and has already doubled its revenue targets for 2017In August last year, Arianna Huffington made the surprising announcement that she was leaving the namesake Huffington Post news organization she cofounded in 2005 to launch a new wellness startup called Thrive Global. Less than six weeks after its official launch, Thrive Global — which comprises corporate training, a consumer media platform, and a commerce business, selling items like pillows, candles, Fitbits, and a $100 smartphone bed — has already surpassed revenue expectations, Huffington told Business Insider. The Other Kushner Brother’s Big Bet Just days after the 2016 presidential election, a young venture capitalist called an emergency staff meeting. Prepare for a storm of publicity, he told one of the start-ups that he had helped found. There would be questions about his political affiliations and loyalties, he said. There would be questions about the survivability of the start-up, a health insurance company named Oscar Health. The world was about to change, he said. The venture capitalist was Joshua Kushner, whose older brother is Jared Kushner — the husband of Ivanka Trump and one of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s closest confidants. And that meeting at Oscar Health was just the beginning of a new and unsettling chapter for the younger Mr. Kushner. At 31, Joshua Kushner has built his technology investment firm — Thrive Capital, which has financed the photo-sharing app Instagram and the e-commerce company Jet.com, among others — largely behind the scenes, keeping his head down while pursuing deals. But with his older brother’s rising profile and growing role in the incoming administration, Mr. Kushner is now getting caught up in the scrutiny. Two of his worlds are colliding. Y Combinator chief, founders say Affordable Care Act is vital for startupsY Combinator chief Sam Altman is worried about what will happen if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, as President-elect Donald Trump has called for. So are a lot of founders in his Mountain View startup accelerator who Altman quoted at length in a blog that he posted on Friday. "The Affordable Care Act is far from perfect," Altman wrote. "For one thing, I think health insurance should be entirely separate from employment. But I hate the thought of losing it without a replacement for people who will lose insurance. If Congress ends up repealing it, I hope they earnestly try to preserve the best parts, and put in place something better." Congress started making moves this week to repeal the coverage known as Obamacare which an estimated 20 million Americans turn to to pay for their health care costs. It's not clear yet what will come of that or when changes will kick in. "One thing the ACA definitely did was help a lot of founders start their companies," Altman wrote on Friday. "Without it, being a founder would make sense for less people." Evan Spiegel is selling his vision to investors ahead of Snap's huge IPOEvan Spiegel, the cofounder and CEO of Snap Inc., met with potential investors in New York City last week as the company starts to mobilize backers for its highly anticipated initial public offering, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Snap, the Los Angeles-based parent company of the picture-messaging app Snapchat, filed confidential paperwork last fall for an IPO, setting the wheels in motion for what's likely to be the largest tech debut in years. [ Business Insider ] |