Venture Capital

2022-09-01 21:00:10 America's Biggest Employers Now Say They Are Overstaffed

We've made a number of charts in recent months about how tight the labor market is and how hard it's been for companies to get enough workers. So it was a bit of a shock this week to hear that Walmart and Amazon — America's biggest private employers — both reported being overstaffed in the first quarter of this year.

Amazon, which has grown into a 1.6 million strong workforce in record speed, reported that as COVID-19 subsided in the second half of the quarter and employees returned from leave, the company quickly went from being understaffed to overstaffed, which resulted in $2bn of extra costs. For years Amazon has been on a hiring spree — that might have finally changed. Open / Comment

2022-09-01 20:00:13 Hey!
How much do you think this picture cost?

Check out the answer Open / Comment

2022-09-01 14:00:10 Huge Business Have Been Built On The Back Of "Buy Now, Pay Later"

The simplest notion of credit, lending someone something, has been around in some form for literally thousands of years. Yet even in the 21st century people are still iterating on that core idea — the most recent innovation being "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) — a simple mechanism offered by companies like Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm that have become enormous businesses in the last few years.

BNPL companies allow consumers to pay for stuff in a set number of interest-free installments, taking a fee from the merchants that are doing the actual selling. Not ones to miss out on a convenient offer like that, 40-50% of all Americans have now used a BNPL service.

One of the earliest entrants into the space was Swedish company Klarna which last year was valued at $46 billion. Open / Comment

2022-08-31 21:00:10 ​These Powerful Maps Show the Extremes of U.S. Population Density

America’s 328 million people are spread across a huge amount of territory, but the population density of various regions is far from equal.

It’s no secret that cities like New York have a vastly different population density than, say, a rural county in North Dakota. Even so, this interactive map by Ben Blatt of Slate helps visualize the stark contrast between urban and rural densities in a way that might intrigue you.

How many counties does it take to equal the population of these large urban areas? Let’s find out. Open / Comment

2022-08-31 14:00:09 ​Mapping the Migration of the World’s Millionaires

Throughout 2022, a projected 88,000 millionaires will move to a new country, according to the latest Henley Global Citizens Report.

Which countries are these millionaires moving to, and where in the world are they coming from?

This graphic maps the migration of high net worth individuals (HNWIs)—people with a net worth of over US$1 million—showing where rich people are flocking, and where they’re fleeing. Open / Comment

2022-08-30 21:00:09 ​The Population of China in Perspective

China is the world’s most populous country with an astounding 1.44 billion citizens. Altogether, the size of the population of China is larger than nearly four regions combined: South America, Europe (excluding Russia), the U.S. & Canada, and Australia & New Zealand.

Using data from the United Nations, this unconventional map reveals the comparative size of China’s population next to a multitude of other countries.

Note: To keep the visualization easy to read, we’ve simplified the shapes representing countries. For example, although we’ve included Alaska and Hawaii in U.S. population totals, the U.S. is represented by the contiguous states map only. Open / Comment

2022-08-30 14:00:10 After 50 Years Of Business Bed Bath & Beyond May Be Beyond Help

Bed Bath & Beyond is ditching its CEO after another lacklustre quarter that saw the ailing retailer's sales drop by 25% relative to this time last year.

After 3 years at the helm, the strategy of outgoing CEO Mark Tritton — who had focused on switching out branded goods for private-label products and cleaning up crowded stores — just hasn't worked. The once venerable retailer may not be bankrupt yet, but time is against the company, and investors don't appear to be holding much faith — the company's share price is down 68% this year and the market cap of the company is now
just $400m, a tiny fraction of the $5-7bn in sales the company is likely to record this year.

just $400m, a tiny fraction of the $5-7bn in sales the company is likely to record this year. Open / Comment

2022-08-29 21:00:11 Nike Is Still Struggling In China

Nike is still having a tough time in China.

In its latest set of results, Nike reported that sales in Greater China had fallen almost 20%, as COVID disruptions continue to play havoc on parts of the country's supply chain. That result, plus a cautious outlook for the coming quarter, sent Nike shares down 7% yesterday, wiping more than $11bn from the company's market cap.

But Nike can't blame everything on COVID. Indeed, there is an increasing amount of evidence that Chinese consumers are starting to turn away from western apparel companies, towards homegrown brands like Anta, Li-Ning, and Xtep. Front Office Sports reports that for the year ending January 31, 2022, domestic Chinese brands saw sales grow by 17% while foreign brands saw sales decline by 24%.

Endless growth in China is no longer a certainty for Nike and other western consumer brands — even if COVID and supply chain disruption is fully resolved. Open / Comment

2022-08-29 14:00:10 Cigarette Sale Have Fallen, But Big Tobacco Is Still Big Business

Big tobacco is still big tobacco

After 40+ years of declining cigarette sales and graphic public health warnings about the damage that smoking causes, it might be easy to think of big tobacco as a frail industry on its deathbed — it's anything but. In fact, even in the wake of falling sales, Altria has eked out record earnings over the last decade. The $12-13bn that it has presumably lost on the Juul deal is an enormous sum... but it's one that Altria can — quite easily — afford. It's racked up operating income of more than $10bn for the last 3 years in a row. Big tobacco is still just that... big. Open / Comment

2022-08-28 21:00:10 ​A Decade of Population Growth and Decline in U.S. Counties

There are a number of factors that determine how much a region’s population changes.

If an area sees a high number of migrants, along with a strong birth rate and low death rate, then its population is bound to increase over time. On the flip side, if more people are leaving the area than coming in, and the region’s birth rate is low, then its population will likely decline.

Which areas in the United States are seeing the most growth, and which places are seeing their populations dwindle?

This map, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, shows a decade of population movement across U.S. counties, painting a detailed picture of U.S. population growth between 2010 and 2020. Open / Comment