Startup Accelerator
Human Capital Accelerator
Youth Accelerator
Latest News
iStart Valley Interns Break Barriers, Land Ivy League Admissions
iStart Valley is excited to share the remarkable achievements of its high school internship alumni who have secured their places at the prestigious...
Top 10 Reasons our programs are the best
Prepare your children for the unstoppable march of future technologies that are reshaping our world with iStart Valley’s Human Capital Accelerator...
High School Scholarship 2024
Outstanding Achievement Scholarship - $3000 Igniting the Spark of Innovation in Tomorrow's Leaders At iStart Valley, we believe in fostering the...
iStart Valley ranked #10 on 2022 MAVS Top 100 Businesses
iStart Valley has been ranked #10 on 2022 MAVS Top 100 Businesses. MAVS Top 100 Businesses in 2022. iStart Valley provides resources to accelerate...
Trending Now
Here are the highest-paid CEOs in the US , some of whom have 9-figure compensation packages
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Broadcom's Hock Tan tops a list of highly paid CEOs. His comp was valued at $161.8 million in 2023.Most top CEOs' earnings come through stock awards, often payable over several years.The median pay package for CEOs was $23.7 million in 2023, an 11.4% increase from the prior year.No surprise: It pays to climb your way to the top of the org chart.
The highest-paid CEOs in the US aren't necessarily household names, but they're enjoying some pretty sweet pay packages — more than enough to avoid worries about higher prices for that morning coffee.
Take Hock Tan, head of chipmaker Broadcom. The value of his pay package was $161.8 million in 2023. Tan topped a list of the 100 highest-paid chiefs from Equilar, which analyzes data on executive compensation.
But though many compensation numbers are big, it's not all cash. Amit Batish, senior director of content and communications at Equilar, told Business Insider that much of the top dogs' hauls come through stock awards.
"That's kind of the bread and butter of executive compensation these days," he said.
To get the payouts, CEOs often have to achieve targets such as stock price thresholds.
About halfway through this year's proxy season, the median compensation package for CEOs on Equilar's list — comprised of companies with revenue of $1 billion or more — was valued at a cool $23.7 million in 2023, a jump of 11.4% from the prior year. The data were based on proxy statements filed through March 31.
The jump in compensation was stronger than the 7.7% increase CEOs overall saw at this point last year, according to Equilar data.
There are still some high-wattage chiefs a bit farther down the list, like Apple's Tim Cook, who comes in at No. 6 with compensation valued at $63.2 million, or Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO, at No. 9 with total comp valued at $48.5 million. But they haven't yet made it to the very top yet, according to Equilar.
Here are some of the highest-paid — and highest-profile — CEOs.
Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The value of Tan's total compensation jumped to $161.8 million in 2023, a 167% increase over the prior year, according to Equilar. The pay ratio — how much more he takes home than the average employee of the chip and software maker — was 510 to 1.
The company had $35.8 billion in revenue in fiscal 2023.
Reuters Staff
The value of Arora's total compensation as CEO of the cybersecurity company came to $151.4 million, a surge of 1,355%, according to Equilar. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 735 to 1.
Revenue reached $6.89 billion in fiscal 2023.
David M. Benett/Getty Images
Nabi runs the beauty company Coty. The value of her compensation package was $149.4 million, an increase of 4,100%, according to Equilar. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 3,769 to 1.
Revenue came to $5.55 billion in fiscal 2023.
Courtesy Charter Communications
Winfrey, who took the top spot at the cable company in December 2022, landed total compensation valued at $89.1 million. The boss-to-worker pay ratio was 1,635 to 1, according to Equilar.
In fiscal 2023, revenue came to $54.6 billion.
Courtesy FICO
Lansing runs Fair Isaac Corp., which developed FICO, the most broadly used model for scoring credit. The value of his total compensation came to $66.3 million, an increase of 251%, according to Equilar. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 653 to 1.
The company's revenue totaled $1.5 billion in fiscal 2023.
A FICO spokesperson, through a statement to BI, said, in part: "Under Mr. Lansing's leadership the past 10 years, FICO has delivered total shareholder return that is in the top 1% of the S&P 500. Meanwhile, his base salary for 2023 was $750,000, well below industry peers and in the bottom quartile of S&P 500 CEOs."
Michael M Santiago/Getty Images
Cook's total compensation for running the tech giant was valued at $63.2 million, a drop of 36%, according to Equilar. The pay ratio was 672 to 1.
The company's revenue totaled $383.3 billion in fiscal 2023.
Zscaler
The value of Chaudhry's compensation package for running the cybersecurity company rose 39% to $57.8 million, according to Equilar. And the CEO-to-worker pay ratio stood at 319 to 1.
The company's top reached $1.6 billion in fiscal 2023.
Prologis
Moghadam's compensation package at the logistics real estate company was valued at $50.9 million, an increase of 6%. And the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 400 to 1.
The company's revenue in fiscal 2023 came to $8 billion.
Axel Springer
Nadella's total comp was valued at $48.5 million, a drop of 12%. The chief-to-worker ratio was 250 to 1.
The software giant's revenue was $211.9 billion in fiscal 2023.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Narayen's compensation package was valued at $44.9 million, an increase of 42%. The CEO-to-worker package for the software company was 229 to 1.
The company's fiscal 2023 revenue totaled $19.4 billion.
The fall of Gucci was inevitable
Gucci; Kyodo News via Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
In 2015, as part of creative director Alessandro Michele's first line for the fashion house, Gucci's famous loafers got a makeover. While they still had the classic horse-bit buckle, the backs were shaved down to make them mules, and tufts of kangaroo fur were added to the heel.
They were everything but quiet luxury. Fur! Brand recognition! Impractical!
And customers loved them. Soon, they were on the pedicured feet of Gigi Hadid and Sienna Miller. You could buy dupes from fast-fashion brands like Steve Madden and ASOS for a fraction of the cost. (You can also now buy a reedition made with lambswool for $1,090.)
"It's just such a brilliant bourgeois signature — and these are both arch and fluffy," Vogue Creative Digital Director Sally Singer said at the time.
It marked the beginning of the Michele era, with logos everywhere and over-the-top designs. It also became known as a turning point for the company. Between 2015 and 2022, revenue at Gucci more than doubled, eventually surpassing $10 billion, and margins grew by about 10 percentage points.
"We got used to hearing about double-digit growth at Gucci," Fflur Roberts, the head of luxury goods at Euromonitor, told Business Insider.
The styles of Alessandro Michele were embraced by the likes of Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, and Jared Leto (L-R).Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
But the brand's fortunes have reversed. Over the past couple of months, Gucci has instead made headlines for its tumbling sales, its prevalence on discount racks, and its lack of design direction under its new creative chief, Sabato De Sarno.
"I think of what a fashion editor is wearing — it's not Gucci," Lindsey Solomon, a fashion publicist, told BI.
Last week, its parent company, Kering, reported that Gucci's sales declined 18% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year and warned that companywide recurring operating income for the first half of 2024 would be down as much as 45%.
The new collection from De Sarno, who was appointed in January 2023 after Gucci abruptly split with Michele, has failed to make waves. After taking the top spot on the Lyst Index of fashion's hottest brands in 2022, Gucci dropped to number 11 last quarter.
To put it as bluntly as Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault did during February's earnings call: "Gucci has not kept pace with its peers."
"It was slow to evolve its brand aesthetic in the wake of the pandemic," he continued. "The necessary balance between fashion and exclusivity, which supports the house ability to attract a broad range of consumers, was a little bit diluted." The company did not respond to a request for comment for BI for this article.
Gucci's pace of growth was unsustainable, even without current macroeconomic headwinds, and the strategy behind the brand — embracing a singular trend across all product verticals, appealing to aspirational customers, and relying heavily on China — was never going to have lasting success, fashion pros say.
"It did too well," Jelena Sokolova, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told Business Insider. "It was too good to be true."
From logomania to logo fatigue.
An Alessandro Michele design is easy to pick out of a lineup: They tend to be ornate and flowery, and feature the brand's classic double Gs.
"Logomania," publicist Solomon said. "It was the most influential brand in fashion in terms of maximalism."
When Michele's first collection hit, it flew off the shelves, igniting the brand's massive growth. As BI declared at the time, Gucci was cool again.
Alessandro Michele, pictured, spawned a renaissance at Gucci.Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images
It soon touched every aspect of the nearly century-old fashion house. Unlike at some other fashion houses, Michele was responsible for bags, shoes, clothing, store design, and marketing.
"The creative vision of Michele — that kind of impacted everything," Sokolova said. "It permeated all collections. It was in handbags, it was in clothes, it was in shoes."
But by 2020, the winds of the fashion world moved away from the loud, in-your-face style for which Michele was known. People locked at home during the pandemic did not want to shell out for such obviously trend-driven pieces that could be out of fashion by the time the world opened up.
Luxury buyers turned to designers focused on lasting quality, like Brunello Cuccinelli and Hermès. It's reflected in their stock prices, up about 244% and 200% since the start of 2020. The share price of Kering, which is heavily reflected by Gucci, is down almost 40% over that time.
Apple CEO Tim Cook made $63 million last year — here's how that breaks down
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty images
Apple CEO Tim Cook's base salary has been $3 million a year since 2016.His total compensation was $63.2 million in 2023, down from $99.4 million the previous year.Here's a breakdown of his stock awards, performance-based bonuses, and other compensation.Apple chief Tim Cook has been paid an annual salary of just $3 million since 2016.
However, the CEO of the second-most valuable US company also gets stock awards and a performance-based bonus, which boosts his overall earnings.
Cook's total compensation amounted to $63.2 million last year, down from $99.4 million in 2022, according to the company's proxy statement filed with the SEC in January.
His pay packet was made up of $46.9 million in stock awards and $10.7 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation. On top of that, he received $2.5 million in other compensation, which includes his security expenses and business and personal travel on a private jet.
The near-40% reduction was requested by Cook in the wake of Apple investors being urged to vote against his 2022 pay package by a shareholder advisory firm.
Cook's compensation is 672 times the median figure for Apple employees of $94,118, per the proxy filing. That figure will be skewed lower by the thousands of staff who work in Apple stores, however.
According to Forbes, Cook is worth about $2.1 billion — and he's not rich enough to make the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which requires a net worth north of $6 billion.
Cook became CEO of Apple in August 2011.
The company reported second-quarter earnings on Thursday that were slightly above Wall Street expectations of $90.3 billion in revenues at $90.8 billion, down 4%.
iPhone sales fell 10% compared with the same period last year, and its wearables revenue was down by the same amount.
Sales in China came to $16.3 billion for the quarter, down from $17.8 billion a year ago.
Shares jump
The company also announced its biggest share buyback of $110 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 4%.
Apple shares rose almost 6% in premarket trading on Friday, which would almost erase this year's losses if it holds up at the opening bell.
Apple hosts its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where Cook is expected to reveal details about its generative AI plans.
It's also scheduled a virtual event on May 7, and a new iPad Pro reveal could be on the cards. Bloomberg reported in March Apple planned to launch new iPads in early May.
Apple didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Gen Zers say they're hooked on fast fashion, but regret their Shein hauls when the 'high' wears off
xijian/Getty Images
Gen Zers are sharing the regretful aftermath of their shopping sprees on fast-fashion sites.Shein, TikTok's store, and other sites all offer clothes at very low prices.Studies show Gen Z's shopping habits often clash with their interest in sustainability.When the "10-minute Shein high" is over, reality comes crashing down.
Maddy Lane, a Gen Z TikToker, shared what it's like in a recent video, showing the detritus of her latest haul all over her bed.
Her room was covered in packaging, skirts, and tops, all from the budget fast-fashion site Shein.
Lane turned the camera to her face — one of slight embarrassment and regret.
Commenters sympathized and said — us too.
They were responding to a familiar dynamic, stocking up on cheap clothes they've seen trending even though it grates against their principles.
On Lane's Shein haul, she realized half didn't fit right and the other half she didn't even like that much.
"Post-Shein clarity," one commenter termed it. Another characterized the feeling after the rush of opening new stuff: "Then life is boring again."
Buying weighty hauls for so little reward may seem irrational, but many Gen Zers can't stop. As a result, Zoomers are racking up credit card debt and falling behind on payments faster than any other generation.
Some on TikTok say it's less about what they buy, and more about the frenzy of "blackout shopping" — the rush of spending and the feeling of anticipation before the stuff arrives.
A 2022 report by ThredUp, an online thrift store, surveyed some 2,000 college students and found that 72% reported shopping at a fast-fashion retailer in the previous year. A third described themselves as "addicted."
Things may be speeding up. A survey of 1,000 people from January by the digital analytics platform Quantum Metric found that 64% of Gen Z respondents were buying more than they did last year.
The advent of the in-app TikTok Shop plugging cheap clothes makes the drumbeat near-constant.
(Neither Shein nor TikTok responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.)
Some popular items all over TikTok right now include a $5 carry-on bag, a flower-adorned cardigan for around $10, a swimsuit for less than $1, alongside a flood of summer dresses, skirts, and pants.
Sharmin Attaran, a marketing professor at Bryant University, described the Shein-haul paradigm in an interview with BI.
"After the packages are opened and the novelty wears off, many young shoppers start feeling a pang of buyer's remorse," he said.
"While the initial purchase can feel like a win, the aftermath might not feel as sweet."
Contradictory to Gen Z beliefs
Cheap clothing hauls do not sit well with the much-discussed Gen Z passion for environmentalism.
Fast fashion comes at a huge environmental cost, consuming vast amounts of water and creating huge carbon emissions.
The clothes are often polyester, nylon, and acrylic, which can take decades to break down. And they can feel easy to just throw out, unlike higher-quality, more expensive pieces.
Melanie Parncutt, a Zoomer who works as a publicist at Otter Public Relations, told BI Gen Zers probably realize that their hauls are not helping.
But, she said, ads on social media make it hard to resist the "traps of compulsive buying."
"As a result of the constant bombardment of targeted advertising and the offering of online deals, young consumers like myself tend to buy on impulse more than ever before," Parncutt said. "It can be hard to break out of the cycle."
Gaby Mendes, a Zoomer and founder of Talk Twenties, a media and events company for Gen Z, told BI she tries to avoid fast fashion but has her lapses.
"I get sucked in easily and have to remind myself that something is often cheap because it's either poor quality or someone has been exploited in the process of it being made," she said.
"When the products don't last, fit properly, or break, I'm reminded why I shouldn't give in to the high."
A worker makes clothes at a garment factory that supplies SHEIN.JADE GAO/Getty Images
Breaking the cycle
Siena Barry-Taylor, a Zoomer and senior marketing executive at the secondhand clothes marketplace Thrift+, told BI that disposable clothes aren't the whole story of Gen Z fashion.
They are also propelling the secondhand market, she said. There's been a Gen Z surge in buying and selling on digital thrift shops.
Teens have been turning their side hustles on social shopping apps like Depop or Vinted into full time jobs over the past few years. Gen Z was dubbed the "Depop generation" by Vogue Business, and makes up 90% of the app's user base.
Barry-Taylor said she now asks herself if she would wear something at least 40 times before buying a new item — or at least be able to sell it on.
"It's becoming harder to justify shopping new," she said. "Both for the planet or our wallets."
I was fired from a new job in less than a week after I started. It taught me not every opportunity is a good opportunity.
Jordan Hefler
Calli Nguyen, 24, was fired from her job as a director of digital marketing after less than a week.Nguyen highlights the importance of mental health and employee respect in the workplace.She emphasizes Gen Z's unwillingness to settle for toxic work environments.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Calli Nguyen, a 24-year-old social media marketer from Baton Rouge, LA, about getting fired after less than one week of work. It's been edited for length and clarity.
Before I started as the director of digital marketing for a medical spa, I gave my boss the benefit of the doubt because I just wanted a job. What could go wrong?
Turns out, everything.
While I've worked many jobs, this director role was my first time working in digital marketing. I rationalized that maybe I was going through a learning curve; or that I just had the jitters. But on the third day of work, when I left my desk for a quick mental health break, I was fired on the spot. To be fair, I saw the red flags but ignored them.
I read the negative Glassdoor and Google reviews left by former clients and employees. One review said that five employees quit within two weeks. The review underscored that employers should not mistreat their employees regardless of their age. Also, before I even started the job, I agreed to change my role from client care coordinator to director of digital marketing without changing my hourly pay of $16. Yet, immediately after I was fired, I felt like a failure.
I now feel that getting fired after less than a week of employment was a blessing in disguise. The experience taught me that not every opportunity is a good opportunity. But more importantly, protecting my mental health and having employers see the value in me is more important than earning money.
My boss refused to take my advice
I didn't think it was a big deal that my former boss wanted me to switch gears to social media marketing after I applied on Indeed for an office coordinator role. Afterall, I did list my social media marketing skills on my résumé.
After I accepted the new role over the phone with her general manager, I looked forward to honing in on my creative skills while helping a small, independent business grow and gain more customers. But how can I help someone who refuses to listen to my advice?
My boss wanted her social media marketing to look a certain way: showcasing stock photos of attractive women with outdated fonts.
I showed her the analytics on the low-performing social media posts and that I knew how to update her online presence to gain more customers, but she refused to absorb anything I had to say. So I followed her creative lead — until I became overwhelmed by her demands.
I was shocked to find out that my boss wanted more from me than what I produced
On my third day, I started a project to build posts for the company's social media accounts and research her competitors' special offers. I presented everything she asked for. While she seemed happy with my social posts and the offers that I found, she needed more from me.
Without warning, she asked which products the other medical spas used. I spiraled into a tailspin.
I didn't know anything about specific products in the medical spa industry. I didn't even know what she wanted me to research. She never brought up my level of product knowledge in our initial interview, nor did anyone ask me to find out about the competitors' products when explaining the project to me.
She said I should've known to research the different products used by our competitors. Then, she launched into a list of other deliverables that I should've done. After a few minutes of her feedback, I felt overwhelmed.
Mental health and respect at work are mandatory
I stood up and told her I needed to take a break. So, I walked toward the front door.
She tried stopping me. I didn't give in. I already vowed to never let anyone disrespect me at work. I said, "Ma'am, respectfully, I need to step outside and take a breather. I'll be back in a few minutes."
She fired me, saying that I wasn't going to work out for her. I thought to myself, "Oh, awesome," as I tried to keep my demeanor professional. I was so pissed off.
To be fair, I wanted to quit, so she got me before I got her. As I approached the front desk, I looked at the general manager and trainer and told them that I was fired. The general manager offered me a recommendation letter despite all the drama.
I said goodbye to my coworkers after 2.5 days
I felt like a failure after two days and about six hours of work on day three. I said goodbye to my coworkers and told them that I was fired as I walked out the door for the last time. But I really felt depressed too.
I texted "9-1-1" to my mom while she was at work and started sobbing on the phone with her in the parking lot. I kept apologizing to her for being a failure, even though I knew I worked in a toxic environment.
Afterward, I spent a month in bed while working remotely for another company.
I've been in the workforce since I was about 16 or 17 years old and have worked with various age groups. That said, some Gen Z workers are lazy and unreliable, and I've seen the TikToks that say that Gen Z is rude, too. At the same time, we want what everyone else wants: for our employers to value us, to enjoy our jobs and work environment, and to receive proper training so that we'll thrive.
Gen Z knows that there's somewhere better for us
While the older generations might have put up with toxic work environments, we're speaking up for ourselves and not settling.
I'm more than happy to receive constructive criticism, as long as the feedback does not cross the line into degradation and disrespect. The workforce continuously changes, and employers must be open to flexibility, growth, and change.
Gen Z knows that there's somewhere better for us if we don't get what we want out of a job — that's why I'm working at a reputable advertising agency that respects me, advocates for mental health, and cultivates a fun and enjoyable work environment.
As an employee, it's not on me if a boss doesn't want to learn or be flexible. I can't help a boss to grow, and I can't grow in a toxic environment, right?
If you're a Gen Z worker and want to share your story, email Manseen Logan at mlogan@businessinsider.com.
I moved to Chicago from Portland for an affordable big city life. It's been easy to make friends and I'm never bored.
Jessica Kirshner
Jessica Kirshner is an interior designer who moved from Portland to Chicago in August 2023.She loves the affordability, walkability, and cultural vibrancy, despite a higher cost of living.Kirshner intends to stay in Chicago for a few years before planning a move to Europe.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jessica Kirshner, a 26-year-old interior designer in Chicago. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm originally from the Bay Area, and I moved to Eugene, Oregon, in 2015 to study interior architecture. When I graduated, I moved to Portland for a job at a large firm.
After three years in Portland, I moved to Chicago in August 2023. I wanted to live in a bigger but still affordable city, and I'm familiar with the area because I have family here. I live 10 minutes from downtown, and I love it.
Affordability and job market
The Chicago skyline.Jessica Kirshner
Chicago is affordable compared to other big cities like LA, San Diego, the Bay Area, or New York.
The biggest difference I noticed from Oregon to Illinois was the income tax because Oregon's is high. The pay is definitely better in Chicago, but the cost of living is higher here, too, so it evens out.
When I first moved, I kept my Oregon-based job and worked remotely for seven months. Once I started looking, it took me about two months to find a new job in Chicago.
For my interior design profession, there were many options in Chicago. It was also good timing for me because Portland had very few options. I tried to use LinkedIn but ultimately found my job through a friend.
I now work as an interior designer at a large international firm. I wanted to work somewhere with offices worldwide because I eventually want to move to Europe.
Quality of life
My dad is from Chicago, so I came here often while growing up.
After living in Oregon for eight years, I missed my family, but I didn't want to move back to the Bay Area just because it's so expensive. I also wanted a bigger Jewish community, and Chicago is a good option for that.
I love how lively Chicago is during the summer, with everyone out and about. I went to an air and water show last summer, and everyone was out on the lake all day long. It was so fun to people-watch.
I love the architecture, too. It's great to walk around all the different neighborhoods and see the diversity in the buildings.
Culture and walkability
Kirshner's apartment.Jessica Kirshner
I'm never really bored here. When I first moved, I joined a kickball league to meet people. I'm taking a sewing class because I want to make my own clothes. I plan to apply for German citizenship soon, so I'm going to enroll in German classes.
I didn't know anyone except my family, but making friends has been easy. I've mainly met people through work, organizations like IIDA, and reconnecting with college and high school friends who I knew lived here.
I chose an apartment that's within walking distance from grocery stores. I found it online and didn't see it before signing the lease, but I watched a 3D walkthrough. The cost of a one-bedroom apartment here is similar to a two-bedroom in Portland.
There's a mall, many shops, and outdoor areas within a five-minute walk from me. I'm near bars, clubs, restaurants, and whatever I want to do. I didn't want to have to rely on a car anymore, and as a pedestrian, it's very easy to get around.
I plan to stay for a while
My worst experience was my first time seeing a rat. You don't see rats on the street in Portland. I clearly haven't had any really bad experiences if that's the worst that's happened to me so far.
One downside is the biking culture is kind of nonexistent. There are bikes you can rent through an app, but there are no bike lanes and it feels almost dangerous to bike here, which was quite shocking to me coming from Portland.
I feel like I can do anything I want here. I moved halfway across the country, so I will probably stay here for a few years before moving to Europe when the time is right.
I love Chicago. I'm 100% sure I made the right decision, and I'm happier than I was in Oregon.
I'm a Palestinian startup founder. I wanted to do my part for my home country, but now we have to leave.
Mohammad Alnobani, Tyler Le/BI
Mohammad Alnobani co-founded a tech startup in the West Bank in 2022.Six months into the Israeli-Hamas war in nearby Gaza, Alnobani and his cofounder are relocating to escape the conflict.Alnobani said he did not regret founding his company in his homeland and hopes to return someday.This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Mohammad Alnobani, 34, who cofounded "The Middle Frame," a tech startup based in Ramallah, a city in the Palestinian Territories. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
At around 1 a.m. on October 7, I arrived in Amman, Jordan, on the way back to my home in Jerusalem from a trip to Belfast, where I attended the One Young World Summit.
I met my CTO at the airport; they were traveling to Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. We'd decided to travel together to the borders, which opened at 8 a.m.
We got into a bus that was supposed to move between Jordan and Israel at around 8.30 a.m. Then, we were told they were closing the borders. We started checking the news. I read that Hamas got through a fence surrounding Gaza.
I was nervous as hell — whether you're pro-Palestine or pro-Israel, once you hear a major event is happening in the region, you know what's coming next is not going to be good.
We got off the bus and went back to Amman. We didn't know what to do.
I founded a tech startup in Ramallah in 2022
I was born in Saudi Arabia but grew up in Jordan. My mom is from Nablus, a city in the West Bank, and my dad grew up in Jerusalem. I moved to Jerusalem at 16 and went to university in Ramallah. After living in Qatar and London, I moved back to Jerusalem in 2019 and set up an advertising agency with my brother in 2020, which I was a part of until January 2022.
In February 2022, I set up "The Middle Frame," a stock image platform, with my business partner Raya, a photographer I met in Boston during an entrepreneurship fellowship in 2021.
Raya told me she wanted to build a platform for authentic stock images from the Middle East and North Africa.
I knew where Raya was coming from. Back when I worked in advertising, creatives always struggled to find images that accurately represented local cultures from Arab regions on international platforms like Shutterstock and Getty Images.
Over 1,800 contributors are signed up on our platform. Photographers upload their own images, which we moderate.
The Palestinian startup scene
Our business is based in Ramallah, where Raya lives. We're both familiar with the city; it's where I went to university, and half of my family lives there. It made sense cost-wise for us to work locally and set up our business there.
The Palestinian startup community is very small. I think a lot of people around the world don't know it exists. It's very easy to get into and it felt like a good environment to find our feet.
I knew there was almost no political and economic stability in the area, but as it was my home country, I felt like I had to try and do my part. If starting a company in Ramallah could benefit the community by creating jobs and further building on the small startup scene there, we wanted to try.
We wanted to onboard Palestinian team members to give them experience in a tech startup, but we had been struggling to recruit people due to the ongoing conflict.
Myself and Raya are the only two working full-time for "The Middle Frame," but we have a part-time CTO and web developer who are both Palestinian, as well as six part-timers in Egypt.
As a stock image platform, we wanted to provide local photographers with passive income from sharing their images.
We're targeting advertising agencies and media outlets that can download our images, but since the Palestinian population and market are small, we felt there was a limitation on our growth and scalability. Only a handful of companies and publications would be using the images.
Since the startup community is also small, there aren't as many opportunities to collaborate with other startups or gain knowledge from them. There's only one VC, and there aren't any mature startup accelerators.
We planned to expand into a bigger market eventually.
We were determined to keep working despite the uncertainties caused by the conflict
During the first week after the events of October 7, I was checking the news every day. Waking up was a struggle. People living in Europe and the US invited me to healing circles, but I wasn't ready to talk about the situation yet.
On October 9, I got on a call with Raya, who was with her family in Ramallah, and our CTO, who was with me in Jordan, to discuss the next steps. We had been running small testing advertising campaigns for "The Middle Frame" and were supposed to start larger campaigns in October, but we decided that, ethically speaking, it didn't feel right. We stopped our advertising efforts until February.
We took a screenshot of the call as a statement that we will keep working even in the toughest times. When "The Middle Frame" goes through a hard time in the future, we can look back at that screenshot.
Raya and I talked about the possibility of her moving to Jordan, but she said it wouldn't be easy — her kids and husband have their lives in Ramallah — and the conversation didn't go anywhere at the time.
We're thinking about the people dying and the struggles that our people are facing. Being in the media industry, we're documenting life in the region. It's not easy for us to ignore what's happening.
We know other startup cofounders from Gaza whose office buildings were bombed and who have officially stopped working. A cofounder who I met in Jordan just last year was killed — it was the toughest news I'd ever received in my life.
We're now planning to relocate to the UAE
During Israel's war on Gaza that followed the October 7 attack, the whole Palestinian economy faced the consequences. Middle Frame sales had halted completely in the area.
Due to the situation, I've been on the road travelling. Since October, I've been in Egypt, Dubai, Jerusalem and Ramallah. I was in Jordan until the end of January, and we initially decided to focus our efforts on the Jordanian market. I met with potential clients, like advertising and news agencies, and pitched to potential investors.
We don't know what the future holds. We took a risk by operating in Ramallah for nearly two years, but we knew we should acknowledge that there was no more room for growth and no longer risk our investors' money in a market filled with uncertainty.
Recently, Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank have been very frequent. In mid-April, I was returning from a wedding and got stuck in a village for hours because the settlers were blocking the road. That was the same night Iran fired on Israel; it really hit me that we can't stay here.
We've been discussing whether we're willing to relocate. We know that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are bigger markets, and we think the UAE — where I believe there's a very diverse business market — would be the best place for us to go.
We're waiting on news from a local investor, but Raya, our CTO, and I hope to relocate at the end of this year. Luckily, Raya's husband is understanding and open to moving.
We hope to return in the future
If I had started "The Middle Frame" anywhere else, we might have been able to grow faster and raise more investments, but I don't regret what we did.
In the future, when our business is stable in a different market, we could maybe have a smaller operation in the Palestinian market.
The Palestinian startup ecosystem needs more examples of successful startups in the wider region to support the startups in Palestine and more investment bodies to support the early-stage startups.
Because the Palestinian startup community is so small, we've had to get on calls with investors and startup founders from other countries to get support and advice; it's pushed us to make connections internationally and it's made us more resilient.
However, taking a minute to zoom out and look at the big picture is important. Some days, you wake up to a news story that is painful to see and hear, making your day 10 times harder to work through.
I was Ryan Gosling's stunt double on 'The Fall Guy.' Filming car crashes was dizzying, but I broke a Guinness World Record.
Astrida Valigorsky / Getty Images
Logan Holladay was Ryan Gosling's stunt driver in "The Fall Guy."Holladay was driving the cars during the early car crash scene and the final car jump scene.He recalled breaking the Guinness World Record for most cannon rolls performed in a car to Business Insider.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Logan Holladay about his experience being a stunt driver on "The Fall Guy." The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When I was hired as Ryan Gosling's stunt driver for "The Fall Guy," the film's stunt coordinator gave me one big objective.
He wanted me to beat the Guinness World Record for the most cannon rolls performed in a car, which is where a device below a vehicle shoots toward the ground and propels it to flip over.
I only needed eight rolls to beat the previous record held by Adam Kirley, Daniel Craig's stunt double for 2006's "Casino Royale," but it's much harder than it sounds.
The stunt took months of planning, refitting cars, and test runs to attempt the rolls correctly and safely.
On filming day on a sandy beach in Sydney, our first attempt was unsuccessful and wrecked the car. This left us with only one car and one more shot at beating the record.
On the second attempt, I was strapped tight into the containment seat of a modified Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was for my safety, but I felt claustrophobic and hot. I was dripping in sweat and feeling dehydrated as I waited 30 minutes for the final adjustments to be finished.
A picture of the cannon roll being filmed.Eric Laciste / Universal Pictures
I wanted to get out of the car by the time I got the all clear to start driving onto the beach, but I had already committed so much time to this stunt. I accelerated to 80 miles per hour, the cannon kicked in, and the car was propelled into the roll.
Having 16 G-force pressing down on me as I spun repeatedly was so uncomfortable and I quickly lost count of how many times the car rolled over as I started to feel dizzy.
When the car stopped, I had lost all sense of direction and had to let my arms hang out to realize I was upside down.
I had a feeling that we'd achieved the record this time, but I felt really good once I found out we had broken the record with eight-and-a-half rolls. Although we had other stunts and cannon rolls to perform for other scenes, completing this big stunt felt like a real victory.
We had to do around 100 trial runs before filming the jump scene in the movie's climax.
Ryan Gosling, director David Leitch and Logan Holladay on the set of "The Fall Guy."Eric Laciste / Universal Pictures
I had to be a part of "The Fall Guy" as soon as I heard about it. The movie is the first blockbuster of the summer, when audiences flock to cinemas for family and action movies. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, a jaded stuntman who tries to save missing actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to win back his former lover (Emily Blunt). The movie is a homage to stunt performers whose work is often overlooked in the industry.
As one of Gosling's stunt doubles, I spent a lot of time with him, and that man has the most fun. He was keen to learn from me and his other stunt doubles to prepare for his role, and I even trained him to do cool drifts and slides with cars.
A big chunk of my time was also spent planning how we would carry out the stunts for the movie. The film's stunt coordinator, Chris O'Hara, who is a friend of mine, called me before production started in Australia to work out how to do the beach cannon roll, and we spent months figuring out the perfect conditions and equipment to complete that stunt safely.
We also spent a lot of time planning another major stunt in the movie's climax. In this scene, Colt and Ryder drive off a ramp, launching their car 80 feet into the air.
For this stunt, we brought in a trophy truck with suspension to handle a big jump and built a 16-foot-high ramp on the ground. For the tests, we started at a 75-foot jump distance and pushed back the end goal until we reached our 200-foot jump target.
When the truck was set up to handle a 200-foot jump, it was difficult to drive because the shock valve was very stiff and bouncy. This process took around 100 trial jumps before we were ready for the real thing.
A side-by-side picture of the car jump.Universal Pictures
The real jump was on a 40-foot-high cliff edge, so we had to raise the ramp to the correct position. After scheduling delays due to rain and high winds, which could affect the jump, we finally filmed the stunt on a slightly breezy morning as the sun rose. The wind was starting to pick up, so we knew we might not get another chance at doing the jump.
The film crew's helicopter went to its position, the car was lined up to the ramp and then I was off. Driving up to the ramp, I had to reach the perfect speed. Too fast and my car could nose dive and flip when it landed. Too slow and I wouldn't make the landing pad.
Once I hit the ramp, I couldn't see where I was landing. I was just a passenger to the elements, flying through the air and waiting to see where I landed.
Soon enough, the tires hit the ground, and I felt the same exhilarating feeling I had as a motorcycle racer before I became a stunt performer.
Though doing incredible stunts like these may make one feel invincible, I must always be focused and sharp to avoid mistakes. Getting complacent can be dangerous.
But completing two huge stunt scenes felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. Now, everyone can see the fruits of my hard work.
China's true military spending in 2022 was likely worth $711 billion, or 'nearly equal' to the US military budget that year: US think tank
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
A new report says China's $229 billion military budget in 2022 was actually equivalent to $711 billion.A similar figure was touted by lawmakers last year when they cited US intelligence estimates.The report, by think tank AEI, breaks down that figure to show where China's money is likely going to.In June 2023, Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska warned Congress that China's military was catching up to America's faster than previously imagined.
The US intelligence community, the Republican senator said, estimated that Beijing spent an equivalent of $700 billion on its defense budget in 2022 — more than triple its reported topline of $229 billion.
Sullivan's legislative push to dig further into the matter came amid renewed interest in China's true military budget, with think tanks and observers running their own analyses of Beijing's coffers.
A new report published Monday by the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute seeks to break down how the US might have internally reached that $700 billion estimation for 2022.
The report's author, Mackenzie Eaglen, writes that the Chinese budget is worth about $711 billion when weighed against America's, slightly higher than the one quoted in June by Sullivan.
That makes Beijing's spending in 2022 "nearly equal" to the US defense budget of about $740 billion that year, wrote Eaglen, a senior fellow at AEI.
"Considering that the Pentagon has labeled China the 'pacing challenge,' this revelation should cause concern," Eaglen wrote.
She mostly pieced together the new figure by comparing older Chinese budget reports and spending breakdowns, extrapolating them onto the $229 billion Beijing announced.
That's because Chinese spending reports are kept tightly under wraps. Most US observers haven't been able to pin the $700 billion on hard evidence.
Understanding $711 billion
Notably, the $711 billion estimate listed by Eaglen doesn't mean that China is spending that exact amount of money on defense. Rather, it describes the purchasing power of its military budget compared to America's, especially considering lower wage and material costs in China.
Based on a 2020 Chinese report to the United Nations, Eaglen wrote that China's 2022 military spending was likely divided into three major categories: equipment, training and maintenance, and personnel.
With purchasing power parity factored in, China likely spent the US equivalent of $135 billion instead of $85 billion on equipment and $121 billion instead of $76 billion on training and maintenance, the report said.
But the biggest jump comes from Eaglen's estimation of Chinese military wages, which typically aren't publicly recorded.
"Labor costs are demonstrably cheaper in China, where soldiers are paid just one-sixteenth the wage of a US Army infantryman," Eaglen wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill.
In her report, she compared the average wages of US and Chinese government workers and found that the former are paid 4.31 times as much as their counterparts in China.
Using that factor, Eaglen wrote that it's highly likely China's spending on personnel that year was worth $293 billion of US military spending.
Then there's research and development, which the US said China doesn't account for in its military budget announcements. Eaglen estimated that China spent about $45 billion on R&D, based on the country saying it spent that amount on research in "nondisclosed agencies."
The rest of the total budget comes from significant expenses listed by China as non-military, but ones that Eaglen argued should be considered defense spending.
She wrote that one such expense was $45 billion for maintaining the People's Armed Police, a paramilitary organization focused on internal security but tasked with bolstering the People's Liberation Army's ranks in times of crisis.
A serviceman uses a deminer to detect a "minefield" during an explosive disposal training of People's Armed Police in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, May 16, 2023.CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Another $45 billion was spent on retirement, military pensions, and demobilization, $2 billion on China's Coast Guard, and $21 billion on space forces — which Eaglen calculated for growth based on an official 2013 Chinese budget of $10.8 billion for space.
"Equal defense spending between the United States and China plays to Beijing's benefit," Eaglen wrote, noting that the US defense budget is spread across various theaters worldwide while China focuses on only one region.
The researcher called on the US to provide transparency on its findings about China's military spending power, citing concerns that the "American public is too often at ease in believing the US military remains ahead of all its competitors."
US military spending is also often cited as higher than the actual defense budget. Some estimates for 2023 are as high as $1.4 trillion when factoring in costs like veterans affairs spending, homeland security, security for international affairs, and interest accrued from debt.
Meanwhile, the US in March passed a bill allocating $825 billion to the American defense budget in 2024, the smallest proportion of its GDP since World War II. In the same month, China announced a military budget of $231 billion for the year.
Donald Trump says he wasn't sleeping in court but simply closing his 'beautiful blue eyes' so that he could 'listen intensely'
Mark Peterson/Pool via Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump says he didn't fall asleep during his hush-money trial in Manhattan.Trump says he closes his "beautiful blue eyes, sometimes" so that he can "listen intensely." The trial, which began on April 15, is expected to take about six weeks.Former President Donald Trump says he didn't fall asleep during his hush-money trial.
Multiple reporters from outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post have published reports noting that Trump appeared to doze off during his first criminal trial.
Trump has been regularly appearing in a Manhattan court since the trial kicked off on April 15. He is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a sexual affair with the porn star Stormy Daniels.
But the reports of him snoozing, Trump says, aren't true at all.
"Contrary to the FAKE NEWS MEDIA, I don't fall asleep during the Crooked D.A.'s Witch Hunt, especially not today," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday. "I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!!"
Trump's remarks come just a day after The Times' Maggie Haberman told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that it is "100 percent true" that he was sleeping at some points during his trial.
Haberman, however, did acknowledge that there were times where Trump really was just closing his eyes.
"That is how he tries to just basically stay calm and deal with it. And whether that then leads to sleep or whatever, who knows?" Haberman said. "But he is sitting there with his eyes closed for long periods of time. It's not always sleeping."
Maggie Haberman Says Trump Pals Admit To Her Trump Has Been Sleeping In Court — But Points Out 'It's Not ALWAYS Sleeping'
Full Story ➡️ https://t.co/UBLPJEbA0y
pic.twitter.com/Q51I1v7P6J
This isn't the first time the Trump campaign has refuted reports of him catching some shut-eye while in court. A representative for his campaign said in a statement to The Independent last month that the reports are "100% Fake News."
But that hasn't deterred people from cracking jokes at Trump's expense.
"Imagine committing so many crimes, you get bored at your own trial," Jon Stewart, the host of "The Daily Show," said of Trump during an episode that aired on April 15.
Besides the case in Manhattan, Trump has been charged in three other criminal cases, including a state criminal case in Georgia over accusations that he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results.
The former president is also on the line for two federal cases: one relating to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and another where he's accused of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office.
None of the three cases have firm trial dates set yet.
Tweets by iStartValley
Discover the Entrepreneur in You and
prepare for the 21st Century Skills
WHAT THEY SAYTESTIMONIALSOUR GREAT CLIENTS
“The involvement of iStart Valley in the startup community has provided an outlet for people to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship. Without their efforts, I would not have met my current co-founder. A catalyst would be how I see them within the startup ecosystem.”
“iStart Valley is an incredible resource for anyone with an early stage start up to gain some technical knowledge revolving around business model and commercializing your product. Their weekly session will give you the vocabulary you need to speak with authority to clients, customers, and in.”
“The road was not an easy one. I had to keep my day job for two years, which slowed me down considerably. Three important things kept me going: first, ending second at Startup Weekend validated my project. Second, iStart Valley gave me invaluable moral support, and its educational workshops and.”
“iStart Valley has a completely revolutionary process as to how to assist start-ups in getting started and be prepared for success. They bring you some of the best resources and as long as you bring a good ethic, you will be set up for success. They introduce you to some of the most seasoned.”
“iWe are making significant progress continuing to work with iStart.”
“The workshops & educational resources at iStart Valley will help you to create a successful business from a simple idea. Their invaluable source of contacts is instrumental to any startuper in the North Florida area. I highly recommend all entrepreneurs to get in touch with them. It rea.”
“MomentStrong feels very fortunate to be associated with the iStart Valley team. We participated in workshops, training sessions and other events. They even helped connect us to potential investors. I think my favorite part has been the camaraderie and sense of team with all the other entrep.”
“The personal attention, guidance and mentoring from iStart Valley helped us in understanding the startup ecosystem and coming up with the best strategy to develop a world-class enterprise level product. We are fortunate to collaborate with them in our journey towards success and look forward.”
“iStart Valley program has a one-of-a-kind schedule flexibility that's perfect for bootstrapped and early-stage startups. Their structure helped me fit the meetings and online assignments around my day job, family, and other responsibilities. It's covers all the best practices you.”