Business

How Florence Butt—Not Her Son—Launched the H-E-B Empire

Have you ever shopped at H-E-B, the beloved Texas grocery chain? You may be surprised to hear that the mastermind behind it all was not the man whose initials its name is based on, but his mother, Florence Thornton Butt. In 1905, with her husband ill with tuberculosis and her family relying on her, Florence opened the first Butt family grocery enterprise in the Hill Country town of Kerrville. Despite the odds, Florence persevered and her store grew, eventually becoming the H-E-B we know and love today. Her generous spirit lives on in the company, and in the 114,000 square feet of the newest H-E-B, which even features a replica of the facade of the original store. Read full article here

The DNA of entrepreneurs: How your genes could determine your business success

It’s no secret that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in influencing a person’s ability to become an entrepreneur. What’s interesting is that up to 50% of this propensity may be down to genetics. For example, the DRD4 gene, which controls dopamine, has been linked to an increased likelihood of taking risks, while the 5-HTTLPR gene has been associated with higher levels of financial risk-taking. Furthermore, the MAOA gene has been shown to regulate monoamines which can impact a person’s mood, motivation and reward. All of these factors combine to create the perfect environment for entrepreneurial success – proving that genes really can make a difference. Read full article here

What the Most Productive Companies Do Differently

Once a powerhouse of prosperity, US productivity growth has dwindled in the past 15 years. But if companies can unleash their inner productivity superheroes, they could add a whopping $10 trillion to GDP by 2030! Enter the “Titanium Economy” – fast-growing, highly profitable, small and often privately held firms thriving across sectors. These productivity champions invest in digitization, intangibles, a future-ready workforce, and adopt a systems approach. So grab your cape, follow their playbook, and join the productivity league to turbocharge America’s economy! Read full article here

Grocery Store Robot Gets Brief Taste Of Freedom

Giant Food Stores made headlines when one of their robots, aptly nicknamed Marty, was caught attempting to escape its retail confines. The six foot tall robot, equipped with googly eyes, was caught making a slow and steady dash across the parking lot outside the Hellertown, Pennsylvania store. Though Giant staff managed to stop the robot in its tracks, it’s amusing to think that Marty may have been looking to make a statement against robots in the workplace. Read full article here

Nobody Needs a Faster Dishwasher

Engineers-led startups often make the mistake of optimizing variables which bring little to no benefit to the end user. To understand this, think of the JTBD framework: people don’t buy a dishwasher, they buy clean dishes before their next meal. So, it’s not necessarily speed that the consumer cares about, but cleanliness, energy rating, and capacity. Therefore, it’s important to focus on what job people are trying to achieve and what will truly benefit them. Read full article here

Biden’s Visa Breakdown

The broken US visa system is a huge disruption to American companies and budding entrepreneurs, and is threatening our economic competitiveness and credibility as an international partner. As President Biden prepares to host 49 African leaders for the White House’s summit, the White House must urgently fix – and rethink – the broken visa system and its long wait times, if it wants to bolster US relations with the continent. Read full article here

Netflix lets advertisers take their money back after missing viewership targets

Netflix’s foray into the world of advertising has not been as successful as initially hoped, with advertisers having to take back money due to the streaming service’s inability to deliver on its guarantees. The issue has been attributed to the rapid launch of the ad-supported tier, as well as a lack of marketing push to promote it. Despite this, Netflix is still seeking ad deals, although advertisers are using the slow start to haggle for a further price reduction. Read full article here

You’re not a product designer

A product designer and a UX (user interface) designer may look similar at first, but the roles contain significant differences. Many people claim that they’re product designers, when in reality, they’re UX designers. Put simply, all product designers are UX designers, but not all UX designers are product designers. While both focus on the usability of the product or service, product designers also work on areas like marketing and product management. This is why some UX designers can’t do everything product designers do. Read full article here

Unconscious Biases That Get in the Way of Inclusive Design

Are you ready to design for the masses? Great! But watch out for those sneaky unconscious biases creeping into your research and design process. They can mean the difference between an inclusive and exclusive experience for your users. From Confirmation Bias to Optimistic Bias, Omission Bias, False Consensus Bias, Perception Bias, and Status Quo Bias, these 6 common biases can lead to some serious design fails. But don’t worry, once you recognize them, you can take steps to reduce their influence and create more inclusive experiences for all. Read full article here

Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose $10 billion this year

While Amazon Alexa has been an innovative leader among digital assistants, the Alexa division at Amazon has been posting terrible losses recently. In the first quarter of 2022, the hardware division lost more than $3 billion and the largest part of that is attributable to Alexa being unprofitable. With sweeping layoffs hitting the unit responsible for Alexa, it could forecast the end of the popular digital assistant. Read full article here

FASCINATING READS, SUMMARISED

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