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TRUMP'S FIRST 100 DAYS: What the number of laws he signed really means compared to Obama, Bush, and Clinton

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President Donald Trump signed more bills into law in his first 100 days than his last three predecessors, but that doesn't mean he got more done.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is the reason people focus on a president's first 100 days.

Signing a dizzying number of laws and executive orders that made up the monstrous New Deal, FDR got more done in his first 100 days in office than any president before him or any since.

Part of the reason was because he took office in the depths of the Great Depression, and used his "honeymoon period" with Congress to stabilize the economy.

Of course, presidents don't have total control over their time in office.

"It helps to keep in mind that neither Trump nor Obama wrote the laws they signed," Josh Tauberer, founder of the legislative database GovTrack, told Business Insider. "They can only sign the bills that Congress gives them, and although presidents like to take lots of credit, they actually have an insignificant role in the passage of most of them."

Trump's 100th day in office was Saturday, and he did sign more laws than presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama.

But the overall number is just part of the story. The vast differences between the number of pages or words those bills contained start to reveal what types of laws they were and what effects they ultimately had.

Tauberer explained that, generally speaking, bills with more words usually create government programs, while those with fewer are often rolling back regulations or programs. Obama's stimulus package to keep the government funded had 358,113, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act had 294,307.

In his first 100 days, Trump signed a NASA bill to send humans to Mars, and a resolution to keep the government funded and prevent a shutdown for another week. The bill tied to his effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) failed to get a vote in the House.

Laws Signed AFTERSIGN

The number of pages or words in laws can be a good or bad thing, depending on what you want the federal government to do.

"If what you want is the government to roll back and simplify regulations, then you're not looking for lengthly legislation. It doesn't take many words to roll back a regulation," Tauberer said. "The 13 bills from Congress that Trump signed that rolled back regulations did do that, and some were significant, but on the whole that was a symbolic effort because 13 doesn't make even a dent."

SEE ALSO: Trump signed 78 executive actions in 100 days — here's what each one does

DON'T MISS: MEET THE NEW EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Here's who Trump has chosen for senior leadership positions

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Spicer struggles to clarify remarks after falsely claiming that Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons


6 ways to make your next flight less stressful

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Passengers board their flight at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, November 23, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

I'm on record saying that air travel is an awful experience for the most part and has been for my entire life. I came to this conclusion long before United Airlines' recent dismaying experience with a passenger who was dragged off a plane by police, sustaining injuries in the process.

As negative as I can be about the miseries of flight, over the years I've come up with some hacks that make it bearable. I put some of these to work on recent flights to Europe and Utah, in fact.

Here are my top six:

SEE ALSO: I've been flying for 40 years — and it's always been a terrible experience

1. Make a day of it.

Modern air travel is so much faster relative to what most people used to endure — long train, boat, or car rides — that we've come to believe that we'll be whisked from point A to point B with no deleterious effects.

This is foolish. Just because your flight is two hours doesn't mean that's all the time you'll be committing to the journey. You could get stuck in traffic on the way to the airport. You could be delayed at check-in or security. The flight itself could leave late. You could get bumped! You could miss a connection. And on and on.

Add to that the stress you'll endure if you fly coach, with a cramped seat, and you're confronting an ordeal. 

My practice is to write off the travel day. Even if my flight is just a couple of hours, I plan to spend the day on the move and unless there's a business commitment mixed in, I devote myself to the journey.

I get to the airport with hours to spare, have a bite to eat and something to drink, do a bit of reading, board the plane, take my flight, and then I don't rush at the other end. In effect, I impose leisure on something that for most people isn't leisurely.

All bets are off, of course, if I'm flying with my family. But when I'm, solo, I make it all about me. I didn't adhere to this rule on my most recent trip, mainly because the schedule wasn't completely under my control, and as a result I wound up a bit cranky by the end of my return flight.



2. Use the lounges.

Some travelers have airport lounge access thanks to their ticket or relationship with the airline or lounge through a credit card. But if you don't, I think it's worth it to pay for daily access. In fact, I routinely now do this.

I usually spend around $50, and if you figure that I'm already saving a fair amount of money by flying coach and would have to feed myself in any case, I think it evens out and actually can be a money saving expenditure.

Even if it isn't, it's much more relaxing to hang out in the lounge than it is in the terminal or by the gate. I'll often spend a few hours doing this, becoming a sort of temporary citizen of the airport.



3. Stay overnight at an airport hotel.

This often isn't as expensive as you might think. On a recent layover in Lisbon, I decided to spend the night at a nice boutique hotel across the street from the airport, and I spend around $100. 

Again, you're taking care of yourself with this move, reducing the stress of getting the airport on time. For early flights, I think this a total no-brainer. You wake up, maybe enjoy a free breakfast, and you either stroll over to the airport or jump on a shuttle.

This works our best if the hotel is in the airport itself. Or nearby. I stuck by this rule in Lisbon this year and in Paris last year and the results were great. I arrived for my flights with plenty of time to spare.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's how often Trump has traveled in his first 100 days compared to Obama, Bush, and Clinton

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Donald Trump Air Force OnePresidents do all kinds of travel during their first 100 days, depending on their priorities and agenda.

President Donald Trump appears to have taken his "America First" platform to heart. So far in his term, he has yet to travel internationally.

By comparison, Presidents Obama, Clinton, and Bush had each visited at least one country at this point in their presidencies.

Obama visited nine countries during his first 100 days, attempting to reset US policy in the Middle East and elsewhere after many years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Trump, meanwhile, has focused on domestic travel, visiting 11 states since taking office.

However, since taking office, Trump hasn't stayed overnight anywhere except the White House or Mar-a-Lago, his private club in South Beach, Florida. His day trips to US states haven't ventured west of the Mississippi River.

 Travel by State

Trump has yet to travel outside the US. He will for the first time in office in May, when he will attend a NATO meeting planned in Brussels, Belgium. 

 

Travel by Country

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NOW WATCH: 'Just a loose hunch': Watch Alec Baldwin impersonate Trump and Bill O'Reilly on 'SNL'

Here's how often Trump golfed during the first 100 days compared to Obama, Bush, and Clinton

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Donald Trump practices his swing at the 13th tee of his new Trump International Golf Links course on the Menie Estate near Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain June 20, 2011.

President Donald Trump criticized Barack Obama often during his presidency for his golf outings.

Trump once said that, as president, he was "not going to have time to go play golf."

During his first 100 days in office, Trump has found more time for golf than than each of his last three predecessors.

Clinton played more golf than Obama did in the first 100 days, according to his official daily schedules.

Here's how often Trump and his three predecessors golfed during each's first 100 days in office:Golf Outings

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Spicer struggles to clarify remarks after falsely claiming that Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons

A photographer spent 25 years documenting rich people — here's what she learned

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Award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has been photographing and interviewing the wealthy since the early 1990s. After attending college at Harvard, Greenfield returned to her home in Los Angeles, and began documenting youth culture.

At that time, she didn't realize that she was photographing the beginning of "a period of rampant materialism and wealth obsession," as economist and sociologist Juliet Schor writes in the introduction of "Generation Wealth," Greenfield's newest book.      

Since then, Greenfield's work has expanded internationally — examining megamansions, extravagant bottle service at night clubs, a 24-karat solid gold toilet, America's obsession with plastic surgery, and much more.

"What I learned from many of [my subjects] is that chasing wealth is unending and ultimately unsatisfying. As the former Wall Street trader Sam Polk recognizes, it’s an addiction like any other, and the more you have, the more you want and the more you think you need," wrote Greenfield in her introduction. Ahead, a look inside "Generation Wealth." Captions written by Greenfield.   

SEE ALSO: How Kellyanne Conway makes and spends her $39 million fortune

"Limo Bob, 49, the self-proclaimed 'Limo King,' wears thirty-three pounds of gold and a full-length fur coat given to him by Mike Tyson. His fleet of limousines, including a 100-foot-long Cadillac, are outfitted with crystal chandeliers, Jacuzzis, and stripper poles."



"Xue Qiwen, 43, in her Shanghai apartment, decorated with furniture from her favorite brand, Versace, 2005. In 1994 Xue started a company that sells industrial cable and has since run four more. She is a member of three golf clubs, each costing approximately $100,000 to join."



"Christina, 21, a Walmart pharmacy technician, en route to her wedding in Cinderella’s glass coach, drawn by six miniature white ponies and with bewigged coachman, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The founder of LinkedIn says too many of us are using the site all wrong

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If you use LinkedIn, you've undoubtedly received invitations to connect with people you've never met or may never meet in your life.

The more you stay on the site and the more you gain prominence in your field, the more requests from strangers you'll get.

And while it could seem natural to decline a Facebook friend request from a stranger because you don't want to give them access to your personal information and photos, the dynamic on LinkedIn is much different.

You may think that because it's a social network for professionals, you should accept all invitations and see which of them stick.

It's the approach that Keith Ferrazzi, the author of "Never Eat Alone" and a management consultant to Fortune 100 companies, took for years. Not long ago, Ferrazzi wrote in the 2014 updated edition of his best-selling career guide that he had the privilege of meeting LinkedIn's founder, Reid Hoffman, and discussing the site with him.

"'You're doing it all wrong, Keith!' That is, in essence, what Reid Hoffman told me when I told him how I was using LinkedIn," Ferrazzi writes.

Here's the gist of what Hoffman told him, as written in "Never Eat Alone" (emphasis ours):

"LinkedIn is a closed network, and for a very simple reason: For the network to have value as an introduction tool, the connections need to have meaning. It's up to you to vet each and every request so that if someone comes to you and says, 'Would you introduce me?' you're in a position to evaluate whether the connection would be of mutual benefit."

You don't need to do a deep analysis of every person who asks to connect with you, but if you'd feel awkward chatting with them or introducing them to someone in your network, decline — without a guilty conscience.

And if you want to use LinkedIn as it was intended, make "at least one quality introduction a month," Hoffman suggested in his 2012 book, "The Start-Up of You."

SEE ALSO: How to write a cold email that gets a response from even the busiest people

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 'Shark Tank' star Barbara Corcoran shares her keys to making a good first impression

An early Uber investor who sold his last startup for $150 million has a new app that takes aim at on-demand services

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Scott BelskyThe biggest problem with “on-demand” apps, the Uber for XYZ model, is that they make whichever service they are selling a commodity, according to tech entrepreneur and investor Scott Belsky.

That's fine for some services, specifically ones where it doesn't really matter who exactly is fulfilling your request. In fact Belsky, who was an early investor in Uber, thinks the on-demand model is perfect for two crucial areas: driving and delivery.

But for "relationship-based" services — tutors, acupuncturists, chefs, fitness instructors, dog walkers, and so on — Belsky told Business Insider there’s value in finding someone you trust, and can stick with. And he thinks these types of service professionals have been hurt more than they've been helped by technology.

“You don’t need 10,000 hairstylists” on an app, Belsky said, matched to you based on optimal proximity, or user ratings from tons of people you don’t know. You just need a friend you trust, perhaps one with similar taste, to recommend you a good one.

prefer screen 1That insight is what has led Belsky, a venture partner at VC firm Benchmark who sold his previous startup Behance to Adobe for a reported $150 million, to spend the last year-and-a-half quietly building Prefer. Prefer is an app that uses the recommendations of your social network — your friends, and friends of friends — to help you find and book service professionals across any industry. Prefer had its wide launch Monday.

Old problems, new problems

“I like to start with a problem,” Belsky said. In this case, his was that the service professionals he'd had conversations with were dissatisfied with both the old model of doing business and the one provided by new technology.

Here’s how Belsky described it: On-demand apps turn their work into a commodity, online marketplaces (where they can list their services) de-personalize them by focusing on a “star” rating system, and companies that book everything for them take a huge cut of their revenue.

Belsky talked particularly about a massage therapist who he started seeing a few years ago, after traveling back and forth all the time from New York to California took its toll. After a year of seeing her, she told Belsky that the person she used to book clients took 30%.

"I almost choked,” Belsky recalled.

So Belsky started pitching everyone he knew on the idea of a new way to book service professionals, trying to figure out what stuff might work. He got encouragement to keep at the idea from people like Uber cofounder Garrett Camp, and also eventually found the team that would Prefer, including CEO Julio Vasconcellos, the founder of Peixe Urbano and a former member of the Facebook growth team.

Small-town mentality

But for Belsky, one of the crucial elements in building Prefer was getting feedback not just from techies, but from service professionals of all kinds as well. And it led to some surprises about what they actually wanted out of the platform.

“We assumed they would be excited about superior booking and payments,” Belsky said. “As a client, people are annoyed by the back and forth [of booking appointments]. But it turns out service professionals didn't mind it as much. So much of their time is under-utilized. They don't see it as much as a pain point. The thing that got them really excited was getting referrals to their clients' friends. That’s the Holy Grail for them.”

That aspect became the central piece of Prefer. The app uses your phone’s address book — where you presumably have the numbers of both your friends and the service professionals you use — to build out a network of who is employing whom. You can hide certain ones if you wish, but the point is to be able to see which people your friends have trusted to do certain kinds of work. You can also add testimonials.

“I love this idea of bringing stuff to a small-town mentality,” Belsky said. In a sense, Prefer wants to build you a virtual small town of service providers.

unnamed 2The concept will also, in theory, stop service providers from simply going off-platform once they find a new client. Because of the way Prefer is built, every time someone books a service provider using the app, the system takes that into account when recommending. “When you stop booking me, I will sink down,” Belsky said. The app has its own payments and bookings functions as well.

Prefer makes money by taking a fee of every transaction, from 3% to 5%. New clients discovered on prefer platform are in the 5% category, and existing clients are in the 3% one. In addition, Prefer charges a convenience fee for booking.

Belsky’s hope is that this business model will prove attractive for service providers, and perhaps even stretch beyond, into the economy at large.

“We really like this idea of questioning the notion of a ‘firm,’” Belsky said. For service professionals, the benefits of working with firms are the automatic billing process and getting new clients, according to Belsky. The smartphone could replace that for some. “In this modern day where everyone has this small town in your pocket … why do professionals need to work for firms or salons?”

Business Insider's US Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell recently interviewed Belsky for her podcast, "Success! How I Did It." Listen here.

SEE ALSO: The 'messy' way a former Goldman Sachs employee grew a $150 million startup, then turned half his employees into millionaires

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Hasan Minhaj roast Trump at the White House correspondents' dinner

The organizers of the doomed Fyre Festival are now facing a $100 million lawsuit

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Fyre Festival organizers Billy McFarland and Ja Rule are facing a major lawsuit.

The pair, who attempted to put on a music festival in the Bahamas last weekend only to have it collapse before it began, are the target of a new lawsuit filed Sunday in the US District Court for the Central District of California, according to Variety.

The suit was filed by celebrity trial lawyer Mark Geragos, who is seeking class-action status with an anticipated 150 participants, according to Variety. The plaintiff is Daniel Jung.

The suit alleges that the "festival's lack of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care created a dangerous and panicked situation among attendees — suddenly finding themselves stranded on a remote island without basic provisions — that was closer to 'The Hunger Games' or 'Lord of the Flies' than Coachella," according to Variety.

Jung is accusing the organizers of fraud, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith, and negligent misrepresentation, according to Variety. The suit is seeking at least $100 million in damages. This is based on an estimated 6,000 tickets sold for the festival. Ticket prices started at $1,200, though some reports say that prices for luxury packages ballooned to over $200,000.

Festivalgoers arrived on the island of Great Exuma on April 27 but found a lack of food, shelter, and organization. As it became clear that the luxury music festival would not happen as planned, efforts to leave were hampered by a lack of infrastructure for getting people off of the island.

The suit also mentions the models Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Emily Ratajkowski, who appeared in ads for the event. They are currently not a part of the complaint.

McFarland apologized to attendees in an interview with Rolling Stone on Friday. He promised refunds and a ticket to next year's festival, which he is still planning.

"We were overwhelmed and just didn't have the foresight to solve all these problems," McFarland said, adding that they were "a little naive" to think they could pull off the festival.

McFarland is also the founder of Magnises, a social-networking startup that charges members a $250 annual fee for discounted access to exclusive events. In interviews with Business Insider earlier this year, former members said the company offered them tickets to exclusive events like "Hamilton" or the Super Bowl but canceled shortly before them.

SEE ALSO: A supermodel-backed music festival where tickets cost up to $12,000 turned into a nightmare — here's what happened

DON'T MISS: Members of a private club for 'elite' millennials want their money back

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Fyre Festival expectations vs. reality — here's what attendees thought they were getting when they bought $12,000 tickets


Why you'll never have to wait in line at the pharmacy again

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Phil pharmacist

If you've ever picked up prescription medication from the pharmacy and found the experience frustrating, you're far from alone.

Nearly half of Americans have taken prescription medication in the past 30 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But for many, dealing with doctors, insurance companies, and pharmacies can be overwhelming. Medical practitioners practically speak a different language, and consumers are forced to bear the burden of managing their multiple prescriptions. This leads as many as 20% of consumers not filling their prescriptions, and that has financial ramifications: Medication non-adherence drives between $100 billion and $300 billion in unnecessary medical costs each year.

The process can be annoying, expensive, and confusing. Not only do you have to take the time to pick up your prescriptions but you may also face long wait times or, worse, have to go back or search elsewhere if your medication isn't in stock — a problem that affects 40% of customers.

This complicated landscape has left many consumers looking for an alternative. Fortunately, one company is providing an answer.

A seamless way to refill

"Our customers appreciate the convenience of having their monthly medications delivered for free," says Deepak Thomas, founder and CEO of Phil. "However, the real reason they love us is because we do the heavy lifting of coordinating with insurance and doctors on their behalf."

When patients sign up to use Phil, refilling prescriptions becomes as simple as waiting for them to arrive at their door — literally. Using its proprietary software, Phil coordinates directly with local pharmacies to do all the heavy lifting — filling out paperwork, troubleshooting with doctors and insurance companies, and managing each prescription that a patient needs.

All patients need to do is simply wait for their pharmacy to deliver their medications each month, and on time.

Through its desktop and mobile website, Phil gives customers the power to schedule refills whenever they like, manage prescriptions for their entire family, including aging parents, and quickly chat with pharmacy staff, while removing all of the usual frustration. It's the convenience of Uber meeting the reliability of a utility (there's a guarantee your prescriptions won't run out), and for patients it's essentially free: You pay nothing more than your usual copay and delivery is free.

Plus, Phil works only with top-rated local pharmacies, driving new business to those who make great customer service a priority. "Our goal is not only to simplify filling prescriptions, but to help small businesses that are rooted in the communities that they serve. The highest-rated pharmacies in most communities are often independently-owned," says Thomas.

A growing prescription for convenience

The idea has struck a nerve and led Phil to become one of the fastest-growing healthcare startups. In three months, the 25-employee company scaled from serving one state, California, with just a handful of pharmacy partners, to 18 states, covering two-thirds of the US population.

Today, Phil has filled prescriptions from more than 5,000 doctors, teamed up with more than 40 pharmacies, and expects to cover more than 90% the national population by the end of June.

It's not just patients and pharmacies who are noticing. Phil recently raised $12 million in venture-capital funding from investors who previously backed companies such as Airbnb, Warby Parker, and Jet.com.

With founders who have experience from some of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley, we may see the day when the frustrations of filling prescriptions are a thing of the past.

This post is sponsored by Phil.

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LinkedIn's gorgeous San Francisco offices are unlike anything we've ever seen

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Business Insider was recently invited to check out LinkedIn's gorgeous new office building in downtown San Francisco. The building has been open for just over a year and is decked out with an open office floor plan, interactive art installations, a gourmet cafeteria (where employees eat for free), rooftop deck, and an impressive gym. With all of those perks, it's no wonder why employees have ranked LinkedIn as one of the best companies to work for in 2017.

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Organizers of the doomed Fyre Festival warned celebrities not to attend, lawsuit claims

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The Fyre Festival was intended to be a weekend of luxury, music, and partying on a beach in the Bahamas.

What happened instead was an epic disaster, with attendees complaining of half-built tents, inadequate food and drinks, and canceled performances.

Now the event's organizers, the rapper Ja Rule and tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland of Magnises and Fyre Media, face a lawsuit filed on Sunday by Mark Geragos, a celebrity trial lawyer.

The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, and Geragos is seeking class-action status with an anticipated 150 participants, according to Variety. The plaintiff is Daniel Jung.

Jung is accusing the organizers of fraud, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith, and negligent misrepresentation. The lawsuit seeks at least $100 million in damages.

There were ominous signs that the festival would not go according to plan.

According to The Wall Street Journal, there had for weeks been concerns about whether the event would happen. Its organizers had missed several payments to performers, though they seemed to have caught up before it began. Some attendees were nervous because few logistical details had been communicated to them. Sources told The Journal that contractors worried about the organizers' lack of festival experience.

Documents filed in the lawsuit allege that the Fyre Festival's organizers were aware of the issues and had reached out to celebrities beforehand to tell them not to come to the Bahamas.

"More troublingly, Mr. McFarland and Mr. Atkins began personally reaching out to performers and celebrities in advance of the festival and warned them not to attend — acknowledging the fact that the festival was outrageously underequipped and potentially dangerous for anyone in attendance," the lawsuit says. "Nevertheless, defendants refused to warn attendees about the dangerous conditions awaiting them on the island. Defendants only 'cancelled' the event on the morning of the first day — after thousands of attendees had already arrived and were
stranded, without food, water, or shelter."

A host of supermodels had promoted the festival on social media, including Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski, and Bella Hadid. Blink-182, Major Lazer, Migos, Tyga, and Disclosure were among the artists scheduled to perform, according to the festival's promotions. Blink-182 dropped out of the festival on Thursday before it began.

"This outrageous failure to prepare, coupled with defendants' deliberate falsehoods in promoting the island 'experience,' demonstrates that the Fyre Festival was nothing more than a get-rich-quick scam from the very beginning," the lawsuit says. "Defendants intended to fleece attendees for hundreds of millions of dollars by inducing them to fly to a remote island without food, shelter or water — and without regard to what might happen to them after that."

Tickets started at $1,200, but reports have said some attendees paid close to or over $100,000 for the weekend.

SEE ALSO: Organizers of the doomed Fyre Festival face a $100 million lawsuit

DON'T MISS: Members of a private club for 'elite' millennials want their money back

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Fyre Festival expectations vs. reality — here's what attendees thought they were getting when they bought $12,000 tickets

This VC's mansion just got a $20 million price chop, but it's still one of the most expensive homes in Silicon Valley

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Los Altos Hills $80 million

It turns out that a modern California masterpiece of a mansion is a harder sell than previously thought. 

First listed back in 2015 for $88 million, this home in the Silicon Valley town of Los Altos Hills just got a $20 million price cut.

That original number made it "one of the most expensive properties ever to be publicly listed in the area," listing agent Michael Dreyfus of Sotheby's International Realty told The Wall Street Journal. It's important to note, however, that homes in the area have changed hands privately for more.

The home is owned by tech entrepreneur Kumar Malavalli, founder of Brocade Communications Systems and current head of venture capital firm VKRM.

The $68 million compound includes two structures: a 20,400-square-foot main house and a 1,024-square-foot "executive center." Malavalli uses the compound for both living and working, ensuring a commute as easy as a walk through the property's meditation gardens.

He and his wife are now selling the home to be closer to their grandchildren.

Michael Dreyfus of Sotheby's International Real Estate has the listing.

SEE ALSO: Report: 'Trump whisperer' Kellyanne Conway just bought an $8 million DC mansion

Hidden in the Silicon Valley enclave of Los Altos Hills, California, lies a huge, eight-acre estate.



This is no mere cookie-cutter McMansion.



The grand entryway is framed by lattice and guarded by a lion statue.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A supermodel-backed music festival turned into a nightmare — and now the founders are facing a $100 million lawsuit

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Fyre

Instead of dancing on the white sand beaches of Great Exuma in the Bahamas, Fyre Festival attendees found themselves stranded in airports, some without any food or water, unable to get home.

The three-day party, organized by Ja Rule and tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland, was supposed to take place on a private beach in the Bahamas for two weekends, April 28-30 and May 5-7.

But guests, most of whom had spent between $1,200 and $100,000 on tickets — some spent more than $200,000— described the festival as a "complete disaster" with half-built tents, delayed flights, and no one around to help.

Now Ja Rule and McFarland, who also owns Magnises and Fyre Media, are the targets of a lawsuit filed on Sunday by Mark Geragos, a celebrity trial lawyer. The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, and Geragos is seeking class-action status with an anticipated 150 participants, according to Variety.

The plaintiff, Daniel Jung, is accusing the organizers of fraud, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith, and negligent misrepresentation. The lawsuit seeks at least $100 million in damages.

Here's how it all went down:

SEE ALSO: Here's what Fyre Festival attendees thought they were getting when they bought $12,000 tickets — and here's the nightmarish reality

DON'T MISS: The founder of a private club for elite millennials is behind a supermodel-backed music festival that has descended into chaos

The three-day party was supposed to be on a private beach on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas.

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A host of supermodels had promoted it on social media, including Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski, and Bella Hadid.

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Major artists were planning to headline the party.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

This kit lets you build your own spiral staircase

Ja Rule and other Fyre Festival organizers have reportedly been banned from doing business in the Bahamas

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billy mcfarland ja rule fyre

The team behind the doomed Fyre Festival have been banned from doing repeat business in the Bahamas, TMZ reported, citing sources at the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. 

The Fyre Festival, which was supposed to be a weekend of luxury and music performances on Great Exuma in the Bahamas, had been organized by rapper Ja Rule and tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland. 

What happened instead was an epic disaster, with stranded attendees complaining of half-built tents, inadequate food and drinks, and canceled performances.

According to TMZ, the Bahamas tourism board also plans to be more strict when vetting future festivals to be planned there, and will check in with organizers several times in the process.

Ja Rule and McFarland, who is also the founder of Magnises, are now facing a lawsuit filed on Sunday by Mark Geragos, a celebrity trial lawyer. The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, and Geragos is seeking class-action status with an anticipated 150 participants. The plaintiff is Daniel Jung.

Jung is accusing the organizers of fraud, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith, and negligent misrepresentation. The lawsuit seeks at least $100 million in damages.

"More troublingly, Mr. McFarland and Mr. Atkins began personally reaching out to performers and celebrities in advance of the festival and warned them not to attend — acknowledging the fact that the festival was outrageously underequipped and potentially dangerous for anyone in attendance," the lawsuit says. "Nevertheless, defendants refused to warn attendees about the dangerous conditions awaiting them on the island. Defendants only 'canceled' the event on the morning of the first day — after thousands of attendees had already arrived and were
stranded, without food, water, or shelter."

fyre festival

A host of supermodels had promoted the festival on social media, including Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski, and Bella Hadid. Blink-182, Major Lazer, Migos, Tyga, and Disclosure were among the artists scheduled to perform, according to the festival's promotions.

Tickets started at $1,200, but reports have said some attendees paid close to or over $100,000 for the weekend.

SEE ALSO: Organizers of the doomed Fyre Festival warned celebrities not to attend, lawsuit claims

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NOW WATCH: Fyre Festival expectations vs. reality — here's what attendees thought they were getting when they bought $12,000 tickets


These California 'nuns' are making a living selling pot products on the internet

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sisters of the valley marijuana nuns 7035

Christine Meeusen, who goes by the name Sister Kate, grew up going to a private Catholic school and was taught by nuns. The sense of sisterhood and honorable work appealed to her.

But these days, Sister Kate, 58, answers to a different, higher calling.

Sister Kate is a self-proclaimed nun, though not of the Catholic order, and the founder of a medical cannabis company that operates out of her home in California's Central Valley. Her mission is to erase the negative stigma around the plant and create jobs for women who believe in its healing powers. In 2016, Sisters of the Valley generated roughly $750,000 in sales.

"No matter what we read about cannabis in the last 20 years, we didn't listen to it," Sister Kate told Business Insider last year. "Because we knew we were dealing with a healing plant. We knew, intuitively, without having the science [to back us], that it was being demonized."

Business Insider visited the Sisters of the Valley in March 2016. Take a look inside the most pot-friendly abbey in America.

SEE ALSO: Inside the $1 billion marijuana 'unicorn' that operates out of a once-abandoned Hershey's factory

In a California ranch house, the seven members of the Sisters of the Valley wear white blouses, long denim skirts, and habits made from old pillowcases.



They might look the part, but the Sisters of the Valley are hardly the convent types.



The sisters make a line of salves, tinctures, and oils derived from hemp, a type of cannabis plant that contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive ingredient in weed.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Zillow is launching a new site just for millennials looking for their first home

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Home for sale

Contrary to what many have believed to be true about millennials, those between the ages of 18 and 34 are indeed choosing to buy homes. 

According to Zillow Group's Consumer Trend Report, which was based off of a survey of a group of 13,000 homeowners, sellers, buyers, and renters, millennials make up 42% of all buyers today. Additionally, more than half of first-time buyers — 56% — are millennials. 

These young new buyers have concerns that are distinct from those of generations before them. They're entering a market with record-low inventory and high price appreciation, and many millennials don't end up getting the first home they make an offer on. 

Keeping all of those findings in mind, Zillow Group is launching a new site that's geared towards the first-time homebuyer, called RealEstate.com

"[First-time homebuyers] were way more likely to go over budget, "Jeremy Wacksman, CMO of Zillow Group, told Business Insider. "Budget is the primary way of navigating the site."

RealEstate.com is unique in that it allows buyers to clearly see their all-in monthly cost, which you can adjust according to your budget and how much you've been able to save for a down payment. Each listing shows a list of fees that first-time homebuyers may not have known to factor into their monthly cost, like PMI and homeowners association fees.

"We see nearly half of first-time homebuyers consider renting as well, so [this makes it so they're] really thinking of them side by side," Wacksman said. "As a renter, you're usually thinking of one cost per month."RE.com   All In Cost Calculator

Millennials are also different from past generations in that they see home purchases as reflections of who they are as people. In order to achieve their ideal living situation, many are skipping the "starter home" and waiting longer to buy and move into their "forever home."

The idea is that since buying a home is harder to do now than it has been in the past, it benefits the millennial buyer to get it right the first time around. This involves spending more time on research, usually using high-tech tools to do so. 

"We know they're going to do the most shopping around. Millennials, more than anyone else, are looking at more agents before picking one," Wacksman said. "They have a close-knit group to share listings with, whether that’s a spouse or a family."

"They also want speed and want tools that work on their time ... They are buying homes — they're just waiting to do it on their terms. They're more careful, and they're doing it a little bit later."

RealEstate.com has all of the traditional homebuying tools — photos, maps, and filters by square footage and bedroom count — in addition to the all-in monthly cost tool. There are first-time buyer's guides that detail all of the steps you'll need to follow to be prepared for the purchase. 

The site also has functionality in Mandarin and Spanish. 

RealEstate.com English

SEE ALSO: It's especially hard to find a home to buy right now — and it could get worse for millennials

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NOW WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres is selling her Santa Barbara mansion for $45 million — take a look inside

John Cena reveals how he stays in incredible fighting shape

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WWE superstar and actor John Cena is one of the busiest entertainers in the world. With roles in four upcoming movies scheduled for release between now and 2018, Cena doesn't even have time to work a full-time schedule in WWE. In addition to that, he's also in high-demand as a host and celebrity spokesperson.

Cena's latest endorsement deal is with the footwear company Crocs for its "Come As You Are" campaign.

We were able to ask Cena, who recently turned 40, a few questions during a Crocs commercial shoot. We asked him about the secrets to how he's able to stay in such incredible shape.  

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Here's what you learn at Ford's Track Attack racing school that's free for some customers (F)

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Ford Track Attack Racing School

Ford sells seven thrill-inducing vehicles through its Ford Performance division. Anyone who buys one can take advantage of perhaps the greatest perk in the car world: a full-day of driving instruction at Ford's Performance Racing School. 

The program is free to all new owners of Shelby GT350s and 350R Mustangs, Focus RS and STs, Raptor pickups, and Fiesta STs. (And something is under construction for the $400,000 Ford GT supercar, which is just beginning to be delivered to the first of 250 customers in 2017.)

All that's required is that your get yourself to the Salt Lake City, Utah area and make your way to Utah Motorsports, where track-ready versions of your car will be waiting for you, along with a group of experienced instructors with serious racing credentials. 

It's called Track Attack, and while I was in Utah to test drive the new GT at the racing complex, I was put through the course, alongside a group of newly minted Shelby GT350 owners.

I'm under no illusions that I'm a good track driver, but I do have some track experience. Little did I know how much more I had to learn.

The Racing School and the Track Attack program are based at the Utah Motorsports Campus, a complex of two tracks complete with paddocks, pits, race-control towers, and even a karting course. The facility is about a half hour drive from Salt Lake City.



Welcome to the fun! I was preparing to participate in a drive of the Ford GT supercar and welcomed the chance to get some instruction before taking on the $400,000 Le Mans-winning beast and its 647-horsepower engine.



Any Ford customer who buys a Ford Performance vehicle is offered the chance to attend a one-day racing program for free. All they have to do is get to the venue.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Starbucks' Frappuccino Happy Hour starts Friday with a drink that's 'better' than the Unicorn — and baristas are dreading it (SBUX)

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Baristas who hated the Unicorn Frappuccino are about to enter a new stressful cycle as Starbucks launches its annual Frappuccino Happy Hour promotion.

On Tuesday, Starbucks said its Frappuccino Happy Hour would start Friday and last until May 14.

During the promotion, the coffee chain will sell half-priced Frappuccinos from 3 to 6 p.m. to encourage customers to purchase the icy, blended drinks as the weather warms up.

"Frappuccino Happy Hour is going to be a huge home run this year," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a call with investors on Thursday. "We're going to bring at least one entirely new drink into Happy Hour this year that is going to be as good as Unicorn or better. And we've extended our hours this year on some other tactical things to really make sure that Happy Hour is set up for success."

It's so pretty looks like a liquid peppermint patty to me. 🤗😍 #starbucksaddict #midnightmintmocha #starbucks #fraps4life

A post shared by Robert Fry III (@fryguy330) on May 2, 2017 at 6:06am PDT on


The new flavor is the Midnight Mint Mocha Frappuccino, a layered drink made with extra-dark cocoa, mint sugar crystals, and whipped cream. Starbucks said in a statement that it drew inspiration from the "dark foods trend" — foods like black macarons and charcoal ice cream going viral on Instagram.

The popular S'mores Frappuccino is returning, too. Both the S'mores and the Midnight Mint Mocha Frappuccino are available starting Tuesday.


While Frappuccino lovers will rejoice at the news, many Starbucks baristas likely will be less than thrilled with the extended happy hour, new drink, and emphasis on the time-intensive Frappuccino.

If you're a Starbucks employee with a story to tell, email ktaylor@businessinsider.com.

Last year, the Starbucks blog Barista Life published an article titled "A Barista's Worst Nightmare: Frappuccino Happy Hour."

"You can begin to see the horror in their eyes," Haley Hinds wrote, recalling her coworkers' faces in the moments before "Frappy Hour." "Although they try to make it look like it's easy, I think deep down, no matter how many times you have been through this, you are truly never prepared for what is coming."

Starbucks baristas are already using social media to prepare themselves for the hectic promotion.

The success of the Unicorn Frappuccino and more new drinks on the menu could lead to more customers than in years past. While that would be great news for Starbucks' sales, it means baristas could be cranking out even more messy and difficult-to-make beverages.

One barista has a solution that would encourage Starbucks to keep baristas happy while increasing Frappuccino sales.

"New idea, with every Frappuccino promotion Starbucks does partners get payed time & half for it. How about it?" said Twitter user @SeagullDan_.

Starbucks has long pledged to work to improve employees' lives, with benefits such as free college tuition and an emphasis on baristas being "connected to something bigger." With baristas' angst in the era of the Unicorn Frappuccino, perhaps it's time for those perks to include a "Frappy Hour" bonus.

SEE ALSO: The Unicorn Frappuccino infuriated baristas — but it was one of Starbucks' best decisions in a long time

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NOW WATCH: People are outraged by a Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner — here's how the company responded

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