Lingfield College Business

This is time limited people, so listen to it this weekend. Send an email to me, copying in Mr Hagan & Mr Dewey with comments once you have listened to it, please. BBC podcast on FDI into the UK

RICHARD REED: ANIMAL SPIRITS There is only one winner when start-ups advertise on Facebook Richard Reed September 3 2017, 12:01am,  The Sunday Times One hell of an ad sales guy: Mark Zuckerberg I think about Mark Zuckerberg every single day. Not in a bromance sort of way. Although anyone who makes billions while wearing a hoodie to work is my kind of guy. No, it is more because every day at Jam Jar, our angel investing fund that backs UK entrepreneurs, we sit through pitch after pitch, for every conceivable type of start-up, from dog food to posh watches, and everyone — and I do mean literally everyone — is selling their equity and raising millions and millions of pounds seemingly for one reason — to pay for ads on Facebook. It is a phenomenon so consistent across the companies we see, the money being raised is so big and the faith in the strategy so absolute, that at the end of every pitch, we are always left with the same conclusion: we should just buy share...

China Drives Record Venture Capital Dealmaking In Asia By Preqin on August 30, 2017 9:10 pm in Business 2017 sees largest ever venture capital deal announced, but fundraising and exit activity fail to match pace The boom in venture capital activity in Asia reached new heights in Q2 2017: the quarter saw a record $47bn in deals announced, including the $5.5bn financing of Didi Chuxing, which became the largest venture capital deal ever. In 2017 so far, Asia represents almost half of global venture capital deal value, the largest proportion of any region. However, fundraising and exit activity is not showing the same level of growth: Asia-focused venture capital fundraising peaked at $11bn in Q3 2014, but since then has trended downward, and in Q1 2017 venture capital funds secured just $1.8bn for the region. At the same time, exit activity for Asian ventur...

If you want to do well in your A2 exam, a wider understanding of business in general is required. This article highlights challenges to some existing business sectors; you can use it as part of a strong conclusion, or as evidence when evaluating: These Are the Industries 3D Printing Just Might Blow Up Why you should care Because 3D printing might be a big part of your next job. By Christine Stoddard The Daily Dose  JUN 13 2017 OZY and GE are partnering to bring you an inside look into how additive manufacturing is changing the way things are made across industries and across the world. When many people think of 3D printing, they think of 3D printers that build prototypes out of polymer, says Laurence Vigeant-Langlois, executive marketing leader of GE’s Additive division. “The average person doesn’t know yet what ‘additive’ means. There’s a lot of basic education to be had,” she says. “Unless you’re at an industrial company or an engin...

Capturing the mood of the times The head of Unilever, Paul Polman, is spearheading a new approach — responsible business that works for society.  By  Dave Waller  June 20 2017, 12:01am,  The Times In early June President Trump announced that the US was leaving the Paris climate accord. The reason? The cost of the commitment and the impact it would have on the US economy. The president was sticking close to his populist script, playing on domestic economic fears, showing contempt for the scientific and political consensus, and hailing the move as “a reassertion of America’s sovereignty”. The usual suspects, from Al Gore to Greenpeace, reacted furiously, pointing to the immeasurably larger cost of the world’s second-largest carbon producer pulling out. So did a wave of business leaders, among them Tesla’s Elon Musk, Disney’s Bob Iger, Apple’s Tim Cook and Goldman Sachs’s Lloyd Blankfein. Paul Polman, the chief executive of Unilever, says the reaction to th...

Have a look at this BBC News report on a cafe that charges 6p a minute. Information like this is useful for counterbalance & extension: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-37716210/my-shop-6p-a-minute-cafe-thrives-in-north-of-england

China's first passenger aircraft

Why U.S. hardware startups will start moving to China SLAVA SOLONITSYN, RUVENTO VENTURES @SOLONITSYN MARCH 19, 2017 8:35 AM Hardware startups seem to be “in” one minute and “out” the next in Silicon Valley. For years, venture capitalists wouldn’t go near hardware startups. They were,  as Wired put it , “the ugly stepchild of venture capital.” This started to shift a couple years ago thanks to cheaper parts, rapid prototyping, and crowdfunding. However, the tide is turning once again. VC investments in hardware now seem to be slowing. We’re seeing a  drop in funding to IoT , for example, and  fewer deals in smart home hardware . We’ve also seen some big  failures  in consumer hardware. Take Lily,  a drone startup that raised $34 million  in preorders in 2015 and announced in January that it will not be going into production. Or consider Google’s acquisition of Nest, which has been described as a “ disaster .” Pebble is anot...

McDonald's announces plans to begin home delivery service in the UK The fast food giant is looking to extend its delivery services   CREDIT:  RUI VIEIRA/PA WIRE   Helena Horton   2 MARCH 2017 • 1:44PM M cDonald's has announced it is looking into extending its delivery service to countries including the UK. The fast food giant already delivers to countries including China and Singapore, and now it's set its sights on the US, France, the UK, Germany and Canada. The company said with the rapid increase in food delivery in these countries “the landscape has created an exceptional opportunity for growth”. “Because of our extraordinary footprint, McDonald’s is uniquely positioned to become the global leader in delivery,” it said in a statement. Watch |  Ronald McDonald to limit public appearances 01:16 B ecause most customers in its five biggest markets live within  three miles of a McDonald's , deli...

An in-depth look at how big data is changing the way retailers treat customers The Future of Shopping Is More Discrimination For you, a very special price indeed. Harris & Ewing / Library of Congress / PureSolution / Shutterstock / Zak Bickel / The Atlantic JOSEPH TUROW     FEB 27, 2017     BUSINESS Share   Tweet   … TEXT SIZE   Like  ​The Atlantic ? Subscribe to  ​ The Atlantic Daily​ , our free weekday email newsletter. Two years ago, at a retail-marketing conference called “The Internet of Things: Shopping,” a consultant took the stage and predicted that by 2028, half of Americans will have implants that communicate with retailers as they walk down stores’ aisles and inspect various items. By 2054, he added, this would be true of nearly all Americans. The rest of the vision went like this: Based on how long shoppers hold an item, the retailer’s computers would be able to determine wh...