Kabbage recently polled 600 thriving US small business owners to better understand their cash flow issues and found that a third of them started with less than $5,000.
In this op-ed, Kabbage CEO Rob Frohwein writes that traits like self-confidence, grit, and determination are what drives the most success for small businesses.
As any entrepreneur knows, it’s easy for doubts to creep in when starting a business. It’s no surprise that having enough capital tops the list of concerns, but there’s optimism to share for those starting their business journey when it comes to limited funding. Kabbage recently polled 600 thriving US small business owners to better understand their cash flow issues and discovered that the old adage, “it takes money to make money” is not always an initial obstacle in the early days of building a business.
Fortune favors the bold
The Kabbage survey found the majority of small businesses built long-lasting companies even when facing initial cash flow deficits and short run rates:
Of the respondents surveyed, 58 percent started with less than $25,000 and one-third started with less than $5,000.
65 percent of entrepreneurs admit they were not fully confident they had enough money to start their business.
93 percent calculated a run rate of shorter than 18 months, of which 25 percent calculated a run rate of less than six months, and 36 percent didn’t calculate this at all.
Yet all companies in the survey have been successfully in business for an average of nearly 11 years.
Self-confidence drives success
Self-confidence drives the most success for small businesses. Despite the financial uncertainties, entrepreneurs have the grit, self-determination and confidence to jump start a business in an unfamiliar industry as 41 percent started a business unrelated to their previous profession. Yet, 82 percent didn’t doubt they had the right experience to start and run the new company. And like many entrepreneurs pursuing their passion — they made the crazy, risky, brilliant and bold decision to begin.
Admittedly, small business owners indicated they had the least amount of experience in financing and bookkeeping (35%), legal and compliance (29%) and marketing and advertising (28%) when starting their business.
Tony Hernandez, a Kabbage customer and owner of Cienfuegos Cuban Cafe in Simi Valley, Calif. was formerly a media executive in Los Angeles before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. He admits, “cash flow is king” when you're starting a business, especially a restaurant. “It’s critical to have enough capital in your account in case something comes up or slows down.” Although he was confident in the business idea — his sandwiches had gained a following at local farmers' markets and street festivals — Tony encountered unexpected expenses before his grand opening of his brick-and-mortar location. A state health inspection required the purchase of an industrial floor sink and a new restaurant code required him to install a specific tile for the counters. The unplanned expenses totaled nearly $10,000 and caused a rippling effect in his business.
Tony reflects, “The biggest impact wasn’t realized until later because it delayed our final inspection, which pushed back our opening date, meaning we had to incur additional rent and labor costs without a single sale. The true impact might be closer to double the construction costs.”
With access to a line of credit, Tony surpassed his first-year business projections in just eight months after opening. Today, confidence still drives Tony’s success, but he says it has to be met with investments. “After being in business for 1.5 years, our systems and people are in place. We’re confident that our concept will continue to grow as long as we continue to invest time and money on scaling.”
The cost of starting certain companies
The data also showed that while start-up money was lower than anticipated for many, there are some industries that cost more to start a company than others. Based on the initial amount of money spent within the first six months of business, these business owners in these industries noted start-up costs of more than $100,000:
Restaurants (38 percent)
Medical Offices (23 percent)
Manufacturing Companies (19 percent)
Alternatively, these three business types required the least amount of startup capital — $5,000 or less during the first six months:
Accounting (45 percent)
Online retail (44 percent)
Construction and landscaping (39 percent)
Overall the data shows cash flow and run rate uncertainties are all too common among small business owners. But while small business ownership may seem daunting, today’s funding options open opportunities to better handle cash flow and smooth those uncertainties. This, coupled with the power of an entrepreneur’s tenacity and self-confidence to succeed, champions their doubts and compels them to start the amazing journey of entrepreneurship.
Rob Frohwein is the CEO and co-founder of Kabbage, a global financial services, cash flow technology and data platform which has helped small businesses access billions of dollars in funding.
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday ostensibly protecting free speech on college campuses.
"Under the guise of speech codes and safe spaces and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shutdown the voices of great young Americans," Trump said before the ceremonial signing.
But how the order will be enforced is unclear, and the signing felt more like a partisan photo op than a principled defense of free speech regardless of political ideology.
President Trump made young conservative activists feel seen Thursday when he signed an executive order headlined, "IMPROVING FREE INQUIRY, TRANSPARENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES."
"Under the guise of speech codes and safe spaces and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shut down the voices of great young Americans," Trump said before the ceremonial signing.
The seven-page executive order actually says little about protecting free speech — its main focus is student loan transparency — and where it does talk about "free and open debate on college and university campuses" and requiring "institutions to foster environments that promote open, intellectually engaging, and diverse debate;" it says nothing about the mechanisms of enforcing the order.
The order requires federal agencies — specifically the Departments of Defense, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Energy, and Education; the Environmental Protection Agency; the National Science Foundation; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration — to withhold "Federal research or education grants" to both public and private institutions of higher education that run afoul of the order's dictate on protecting free speech on campus.
But public colleges are already required to abide by the First Amendment, and private schools will be required to be in "compliance with stated institutional policies regarding freedom of speech" — a jargon-y way of saying the schools will be required continue doing the things they say they do already.
Left unanswered by the order and the Trump administration:
What will constitute a violation of free speech?
How will grievances be remitted?
Who will be the arbiter of free speech?
Most importantly, what exactly is the point of this order?
If you were watching the president introduce conservative students, each telling familiar tales of left-wing intolerance to conservative points of view on America's college campuses, you might think institutional censorship of political points of view on campus only goes in one direction.
Unsurprisingly, it's complicated.
Is Texas A&M in violation of this executive order for requiring a podcast producer — working at a radio station affiliated with the public university — to sign an oath promising to never participate in a boycott against Israel?
Laws and policies banning the anti-Israel Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) movement from expressing itself on college campuses continue to pop up across the country, but President Trump didn't invite any of those student activists to the White House to share their tales of campus censorship.
He did, however, invite students affiliated with the conservative student organization Turning Point USA, including Kaitlyn Mullen.
Mullen had been "tabling" on behalf of TPUSA in 2017 when she found herself on the receiving end of a loud, disruptive protest from Courtney Lawton — a graduate student at the University of Nebraska. A video of Lawton shouting "Becky the neo-fascist, right here. Wants to destroy public schools, public universities. Hates DACA kids," went viral, setting in motion a series of events rising all the way to the state legislature, where conservative senators demanded the graduate student be fired from her teaching position at the university.
State senator Tom Brewer said teachers like Lawton were indoctrinating kids in "social justice," which he said is "nothing short of evil." Brewer added, "You know, it silences free speech, it creates a toxic environment where students are afraid to share their beliefs and thoughts for fear of reprisal."
But wasn't Lawton engaging in the kind of in-your-face, spare-no-feelings type of speech that TPUSA accuses left-wing "snowflakes" of being unable to handle on college campuses?
It's for lack of acknowledgment of these gray areas that the president's executive order becomes more confounding: Who's speech is being abridged in a conflict between a demonstrator and a counter-protester, especially when lawmakers have decided that the expression of one of the parties is "nothing short of evil"?
President Trump, for his part, is hardly a paragon of free speech absolutism, musing in a tweet shortly after his election in 2016 that anyone who burns an American flag should face "consequences — perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!"
Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!
Was this executive order merely a symbolic slab of red meat thrown to the president's base? It's possible. President Trump is an unabashed fan of TPUSA's Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens, and the organization has deep ties to the administration and the Republican Party.
Regarding the executive order, the devil is in the details, and at the moment we have precious few details to work with. Maybe the threat of withholding billions in research grant dollars will foster a more robust respect for free expression on college campuses, or maybe it will be used as a cudgel against institutions where TPUSA isn't held in the highest regard.
It's unclear when we'll actually see how the executive order in practice, but it's hard to view yesterday's signing as a universal defense of free speech, regardless of ideology.
Why take a vacation to an island when you can live on one? Turns out, you don't always need to spend a fortune to live in paradise.
We teamed up with Trulia to find some of the most affordable island and beachfront homes in the US, and there were plenty for sale under $1 million.
There's a contemporary home surrounded by palm trees in Honolulu, Hawaii; a Southern-style country house complete with picket fence and front porch in Savannah, Georgia; and a modern condo right across the bay of San Diego.
There's even a charming cottage in the Hamptons, home to the most expensive zip code in New York and multi-million dollar real estate. The median asking price for a home in the Hamptons at the end of 2018 was $2.19 million, according to Out East, but the gem we found is listed for only a little over a quarter of a million dollars.
From Florida to Maine, scroll through below for a look at some island homes across the US that will make you feel like you're on a never-ending vacation.
3DEN at Hudson Yards offers work spaces, Casper nap pods, showers, a meditation room, soundproof phone booths, and coffee and snacks in a spacious, plant-filled lounge overlooking the Vessel.
It costs $6 for 30 minutes.
Everything can be done on 3DEN's app, from seeing how busy the space is to reserving a nap pod and paying for food and drinks.
"[3DEN] is an aggregation of all the supposed good things of a coffee shop or a hotel lobby or a gym ... We're just aggregating them into a much better space," CEO and founder Ben Silver told me.
If you find yourself at Hudson Yards, New York City's new $25 billion neighborhood, and you need to get some work done, make a private phone call, sit and meditate, take a nap, or even take a shower, there's one place where you can, in fact, do all of those things.
Welcome to 3DEN (pronounced "Eden"), Hudson Yards' new multipurpose lounge space on the fourth floor of the Shops & Restaurants shopping complex.
The space includes workspaces, soundproof phone booths, nap pods, meditation pillows, and private showers, all included in the price. Hanging out at 3DEN will cost you $6 for 30 minutes.
"[3DEN] is an aggregation of all the supposed good things of a coffee shop or a hotel lobby or a gym, which are actually performed in a very dysfunctional manner," CEO and founder Ben Silver told me. "We're just aggregating them into a much better space. People associate high design with high price, and we're trying to be the total opposite of that."
Most of 3DEN's services are included in the price, but you can buy additional products, snacks, and beverages through 3DEN's smartphone app. 3DEN is partnered with a number of retailers to offer products from brands including LOLI Beauty, Dirty Lemon, Seed, Goby, and Harry's.
Silver plans to eventually open up 40 3DEN locations in New York City. Four new locations are in the works for 2019, which will all be near major transit hubs, he says. The Hudson Yards space is open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
3DEN, pronounced "Eden," is a multipurpose space on the fourth floor of the Shops & Restaurants shopping center at Hudson Yards, New York City's new $25 billion neighborhood. I went to check it out a few days after it opened.
In a telling nod to its many — and varied — offering's, 3DEN doesn't seem to have one word to encompass what it is. On its website and in press materials, it bills itself as an "urban sanctuary," an "urban respite," and a "third place."
My first thought upon stepping inside the space was that the abundance of plants and light do give it a "Garden of Eden" vibe. The plant-filled lounge includes work spaces, Casper nap pods, private showers, a meditation room, soundproof photo booths, and coffee and snacks.
3DEN overlooks Hudson Yards' public plaza and the Vessel, the 150-foot tall climbable sculpture made of 154 interconnected staircases.
Set a sleep routine that relaxes you in the hours before bed — and follow it.
When you're stressed or overwhelmed, write out a plan that helps you focus on how you'll face the challenges tomorrow.
Recognize when you're really tired. Nap. Ask others for help.
Growing evidence suggests that poor sleep habits harm our health, our relationships, and even our jobs. So if you're having trouble sleeping, then it's time to get back to the basics — military style.
Special operators, who are sent on the US military's most dangerous assignments, must sleep when they can and often face extreme sleep deprivation to complete their missions. Whether you're a new parent, have a stressful job, or are dealing with a difficult situation, there's a lot you can learn from these elite operators.
To get a sense of how to sleep like a champ in the worst situations, we pored over sleep techniques for special operators and interviewed a former Navy SEAL who trains pro athletes, firefighters, and police tactical teams on how they maximize their performance.
"There's not a harder job out there than being a mom or dad, working or stay at home," said Adam La Reau, who spent 12 years as a Navy SEAL and is a cofounder of O2X Human Performance, a company that trains and advises groups from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Boston Fire Department. "There's definitely a sleep debt that could occur over time."
Small tweaks to your routine — what La Reau called "1% changes" in a March 19 phone interview — will make a huge difference to your sleep.
These are the basics of sleep boot camp. Know these before you nod off.
Have a presleep game plan.
"It's like a warm-up routine you do for a work out," La Reau said. He then ticked off a list of do-nots: eat within two hours before bed, stare at bright lights, or start playing "Fortnite."
During this time, La Reau suggests activities that will calm your nerves, maybe reading, meditation, listening to music, or dimming the lights.
Definitely: turn off your electronics.
TV watchers, e-tablet readers, "Fortnight" gamers — "They're getting crushed with light," La Reau, whose O2X team includes a half-dozen sleep scientists. "And that's just going to disrupt their circadian rhythm, it's going to trick your body into thinking it's day and your body should be up."
Put together a list or a reminder of what you need to do the next day.
We all have a lot going on, especially new parents. La Reau says you need to tackle that head-on.
In the hours before bed, put together a list or reminder of what you need to do the next day.
"Every time I go home, I have a list of what I need to do the next day ... I feel like I'm prepared when I wake up in the morning," La Reau said. "I know exactly what I'm going to do, and I sleep better at night for it."
You can drop a pin in Google Maps and then save that location or navigate to it.
Dropping a pin is convenient if you don't know the address you're at, don't want to look up the exact address, or if a specific location has no address.
Dropping a pin on the map is as simple as clicking (on a computer) or tapping (on a phone).
Google Maps has made it so easy to navigate that it has become an indispensable tool for getting around town (and has been amusingly name checked in pop culture).
Finding almost any address is as easy as typing it into the search box, but there are times when that won't quite work.
If the location you're trying to go to doesn't have an address or the address is wrong, you might want to drop a pin on the map instead. Likewise, if you don't know the exact address, it might be fine to just drop a pin in the general vicinity.
That's a straightforward process on both a desktop computer and your mobile device.
Drop a pin on your iPhone or Android phone
The process for dropping a pin on the Google Maps mobile app is the same no matter which phone you use.
1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Find the location on the map where you want to drop the pin, and zoom in as far as you need to see it clearly.
3. Tap and hold the spot where you want to drop a pin until you see the pin appear under your finger.
Now you can use the pin. For example, you can tap "Directions" to get directions from your current location to the dropped pin.
If you prefer, you can save this pin for later. To do that, tap "Label" from the oval options on the pin and give it a name. Afterwards, you'll always be able to find it in Your Places. (Note that the Android and iPhone versions of Google Maps work slightly differently. Both apps let you save and label dropped pins, but to see the Label button on Android, tap the info box at the bottom of the screen to see all of your options.)
2. Zoom and pan around the map until you find the location you want to drop the pin.
3. Click the spot where you want to drop the pin. You should see a small grey pin appear and an info box will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Now it's time to use the pin. If you click the blue Navigate icon in the info box, Google Maps will open the navigation page. You can enter the starting location and get driving directions. Alternately, you can click anywhere else in the info box to see a pane appear with more information about the location you selected. From here, you can click the Save icon to add this location to Your Places, so you can quickly navigate to it in the future.
Remember that you can only drop one pin at a time in Google Maps; if you click or tap a second time, the new pin replaces the old one. And in order to save a dropped pin to Your Places, you need to be signed in to your Google account.
Fittingly called "Under," the restaurant — the largest of its type in the world — has three-foot-thick walls and is designed to withstand harsh weather and rough seas.
The 110-foot-long structure resembles a giant concrete tube that's half-submerged in the water.
The restaurant seats 35 to 40 guests each night, who can watch sea life go by through a 36 x 13-foot panoramic window as they eat.
Designed by Snøhetta, "Under" sits half-submerged into the sea and has three-foot thick walls designed to withstand the area's rugged seas.
Guests at Under can gaze at marine life through a 36- x 13-foot panoramic window in the dining room, which seats between 35 and 40 guests each night. Muted lighting was installed on the seabed so that guests can see the marine life in any weather conditions.
According to Arne Marthinsen, the project manager for SubMar Group, which is responsible for the project's marine operations, Under is unique among other underwater structures.
"What makes it so complicated and unique, is the fact that it isn't going to be a simple, concrete storage tank, but rather an amazing, unique experience for people due to the location, the architecture, the interior, the underwater view and of course the delicious cuisine," Marthinsen said in a news release.
The cuisine is, of course, seafood. Danish chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard Pedersen will create locally sourced dishes that include cod, lobster, mussels, and truffle kelp, which is a local type of seaweed that apparently tastes like truffles.
Here's a look inside Under, the world's largest underwater restaurant.
The 110-foot long structure resembles a concrete tube that sits half-in and half-out of the sea. It rests on the seabed about 16.5 feet below the surface.
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Tushy offers affordable, decor-friendly bidet attachments that turn virtually any toilet into a bidet (a device that sprays your behind clean, FYI) for under $70.
Founded by entrepreneur Miki Agrawal, Tushy is about more than cleanliness. It's also an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to toilet paper, seeing as the average American family spends $500 — or two trees' worth of TP — on flushable paper per year.
Using a bidet also helps prevent UTIs, yeast infections, and hemorrhoids. As a devoted fan, I can honestly say it makes you feel so much fresher and cleaner than wiping.
"If a bird pooped on you, would you wipe it off with paper, or wash it away?"
After listening to Agrawal wax poetic about the benefits of a good bidet spray via one of my favorite wellness podcasts, I just couldn't shake the feeling that I needed— no, deserved — a bidet of my very own. She made it sound so necessary. So eco-friendly. So healthy.
Still, when I finally clicked "Add to Cart" on the White Bamboo Tushy Classic (arguably the most fashion-forward toilet accessory in existence), I braced myself for the embarrassment I'd feel when the package arrived and my husband spotted it. After all, installing a bidet in my bathroom was pretty much equivalent to admitting that I actually, you know, use the bathroom — something I've been able to all but hide from him throughout dating, engagement, and marriage.
Let me backup a bit: Are you familiar with bidets?
As Tushy describes it, a bidet is "a device that sprays your bottom clean." Popular in European and Asian countries, bidets look a little different depending on where you go — in Japan, bidets are usually built right into the toilet. In France, bidets are typically separate basins situated next to the toilet. With Tushy, any toilet can become a bidet.
"I am half Japanese and half Indian, and through both cultures I grew up with bidets, so I have known about them for a really long time," Agrawal tells Business Insider. "I always thought Japanese bidets were way too expensive and I also did not want to spend money adding a French bidet next to my toilet, not to mention in my rental apartment that had no space for it." She ended up getting a Chinese bidet attachment — a Valentine's Day present from her then-boyfriend-now-husband, natch — but it was "ugly and looked like a medical device."
"It was then that I had the ding ding ding moment to create a modern, affordable, designer bidet attachment for the American consumer — a product that both was a 100% upgrade from using dry paper that only smears, and one that aided in fighting the deforestation of trees getting flushed down the toilet every year," Agrawal explains. ThusTushy was born.
When my own Tushy arrived, I asked my husband to help me install it and braced myself for some light mocking — but I was shocked on two accounts. For one, installation was super easy; it requires no plumbing experience and barely any tools, and takes only five minutes. I totally could've done it myself (and I'm clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff). And two, my husband didn't laugh. He was certifiably jealous, and ordered one for his own bathroom that same night.
Yup, we're a two-Tushy household now.
Why? Besides the fact that I just feel cleaner using Tushy, it's truly a healthier, more hygienic option than wiping. "With Tushy, you're cleaning up the mess instead of wiping it around," Agrawal says. "Using a Tushy bidet drastically reduces the likelihood of hemorrhoids, UTIs, and yeast infections, and can prevent anal fissures."
On top of that, using a bidet is just plain better for the environment.
"The average American uses 57 sheets of toilet paper per day," the founder shares, noting that the environmental factor was a driving force behind the development of Tushy. "A single roll of toilet paper takes 37 gallons of water [to make]. In a year, a family of four spends upwards of $500 on toilet paper — and cuts down two trees." Do the math: That's 15 million trees per year destined to end up in the sewer. "With Tushy, toilet paper use is reduced by 80%" — you still need a little to pat dry — "and water waste is less than a pint per week," according to Agrawal. "It quickly pays for itself."
It does take a little getting used to, though.
For the first couple weeks, I found myself wiping, thenremembering I had a bidet, before it became second nature to spray clean. And be warned: The sensation is, uh, strange in the beginning. Luckily, Tushy is equipped with a handy lever that controls the angle of the stream (so you can hit the right spot, every time) and a knob that controls the pressure (so you can start small).
Today, I can't imagine not using a bidet, and I boast the benefits of bidet-ing to anyone who will listen. Thanks to my loud-and-proud advocacy, my husband, my mom, and many of my friends are converts too.
"I am getting approached either in person or via social media every day from people who love their Tushy bidet and share with me that it has completely changed their lives," Agrawal shares. "They feel more confident, clean, and conscious regarding their health and the environment."
If you don't want to take her word for it, just check out the reviews (powered by a third party) "It's cut paper consumption in my house in half, and now I feel slighted using other peoples' toilets," says one of them.
Tushy's attachments fit all standard, two-piece toilets and some one-piece toilets, so long as you have a flexible hose connection. All you have to do is unscrew the seat, place the Tushy on top, and connect to water — that's it.
"We have some other amazing products launching soon," the founder reveals, hinting at a travel bidet designed for going on the go. Once it launches, I'll be first in line to purchase — because honestly, once you're the proud owner of a Tushy, you'll never want to use a non-Tushy toilet again.
The special counsel Robert Mueller has delivered his final report on the Russia investigation to Attorney General William Barr.
It's not yet clear what details the report contains or what will be disclosed to the public.
Legal experts say that while "collusion" is not itself an offense specifically denoted in the federal code, it does refer to a host of other federal offenses, including a conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Special counsel Robert Mueller has submitted the long-awaited report on his 19-month investigation.
It is expected to examine one of the biggest questions surrounding the legitimacy of President Donald Trump's administration: whether the Trump campaign illegally colluded with Russian officials to tilt the 2016 presidential race in Trump's favor.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly attacked the integrity of the Mueller probe, calling it a "rigged witch hunt" and claiming that not only was there no collusion between the campaign and Russians, but that collusion itself is not an even a crime.
"I have been sitting here looking in the federal code trying to find collusion as a crime," Trump's lead attorney Rudy Giuliani said during an August "Fox & Friends" interview. "Collusion is not a crime."
Legal experts say that while "collusion" is not itself an offense specifically denoted in the federal code, it does refer to a host of other federal offenses, including a conspiracy to defraud the United States.
"It's a red herring by Giuliani," Bradley P. Moss, a Washington, DC-based lawyer specializing in national security, told INSIDER in August.
"Mueller isn't investigating 'collusion.' He is investigating possible coordination between the campaign and the Russians, particularly any actual crimes committed in the context of that coordination," Moss said, adding that conspiracy to defraud the US is a crime, under18 USC 371.
Stone and Guccifer exchanged several messages on Twitter in which Guccifer expressed admiration for Stone and offered to assist the Trump campaign, including retweeting a column Stone had written for The Hill accusing the 2016 election of being "rigged" against Trump.
The special counsel's July 2018 indictment charging 12 Russian security officers for the hacking of emails from the Clinton campaign and DNC accuses WikiLeaks of disseminating them with the purpose of interfering in the 2016 election.
In the fall of 2016, Stone fired off multiple tweets that suggested he could have had advance knowledge that WikiLeaks would be releasing the hacked Clinton and DNC emails to interfere in the election.
"Trust me, it will soon be Podesta's time in the barrel. #CrookedHillary," he wrote on August 21, referring to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
On October 1, he tweeted "Wednesday @HillaryClinton is done," and "I have total confidence that @wikileaks and my hero Julian Assange will educate the American people soon" on October 3.
Four days later, WikiLeaks released a trove of Podesta's hacked emails just one hour after the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump boasted about sexual assault. NBC News reported in October that one of Stone's intermediaries between Assange, Jerome Corsi, gave Stone advance knowledge of the Podesta email dump.
Before Stone's indictment, experts predicted that Stone could be in legal peril given the special counsel's indictment of GRU officers, singling out of WikiLeaks, and the trove of evidence proving their contacts.
"Mere knowledge alone might not be enough to establish criminal responsibility," Jens David Ohlin, a criminal law professor and Vice Dean at Cornell Law School told INSIDER in October about whether Stone knowing about the WikiLeaks releases could implicate him.
"However, if Stone was not just aware of what WikiLeaks was doing but actually intended for it to happen, then he could be considered a member of the criminal conspiracy and just as guilty as its other members," he said.
Alex Whiting, a law professor at Harvard and former federal prosecutor, told INSIDER that "there is no crime of 'collusion' ... but plenty of potential crimes within the act of collusion."
"Russian companies and individuals have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States as a result of their alleged acts of election interference and hacking and distribution of emails," Whiting added. "If American citizens knowingly assisted these efforts, which could be described as 'collusion,' they could also be charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States."
Whiting said there are potential campaign violations that could be charged, "in particular prohibitions on foreign contributions to campaigns, if it were discovered that Americans 'colluded' with Russians to interfere with the campaign."
The Trump Tower meeting
Another contact investigators are examining for conspiracy to defraud and such possible campaign finance violations is the July 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. It featured Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, other officials, and Kremlin-linked attorney and lobbyist Natalia Veselnitskaya, who promised the campaign damaging information on Clinton.
Veselnitskaya was connected to Trump Jr. through Rob Goldstone, a music publicist representing Emin Agalarov, the son of billionaire real estate developer Aras Agalarov who is closely allied to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
When The New York Times first reported on the Trump Tower meeting in July 2017, Trump Jr. initially said the meeting had nothing to do with the Trump campaign, asserting that Veselnitskaya instead came to lobby against sanctions on high-level Russian officials.
But the he amended his statement several times after it emerged that he agreed to the meeting after he was offered "dirt" on Clinton. Trump Jr. tweeted out an email from Goldstone saying the information was "part of Russia and its government's support" for Trump's candidacy.
The Washington Post later reported that Trump "dictated" the initially misleading statement his son put out after he was contacted about the story. He later admitted the meeting was, in fact, part of an effort to benefit the Trump campaign.
Bob Bauer, a former White House counsel and current Professor at New York University, told The Washington Post in August that the federal law prohibiting accepting foreign campaign donations is extremely broad. He said it could land members of the Trump campaign in legal peril even if Veselnitskaya did not the provide dirt on Clinton.
"The law prohibits Americans from soliciting foreign nationals' assistance," he said. "The solicitation provision is very broad. You don’t have to specifically say, 'I really would like you to do X'; you could indicate, since they've already said they want to help you out, that you're open for business. That you actually want their support."
Attorney General William Barr now has the special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia.
"Following General Barr's confirmation, senior career ethics officials advised that General Barr should not recuse himself from the Special Counsel's investigation," a Justice Department spokesperson told INSIDER.
Barr's decision comes as the special counsel Robert Mueller's team is close to completing a lengthy report of their findings in the Russia investigation. A person with knowledge of the matter told INSIDER that senior Justice Department officials expect to have a draft of the report by the end of the month.
Barr has been consulting closely with aides over how much information from Mueller's findings to report to Congress.
Two congressional aides told INSIDER that if lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives feel that Barr inappropriately concealed or omitted information from Mueller's report in his summary to Congress, they would take "appropriate legal actions" to obtain Mueller's original report from the Justice Department.
Asked whether Democrats would subpoena Mueller's report if necessary, one aide said "all options are currently on the table."
Attorney General William Barr now has the special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Their concerns stemmed from a controversial memo Barr sent last year to the Justice Department and President Donald Trump's legal team — as well as lawyers representing other defendants in the Russia probe — in which he argued that Mueller's obstruction-of-justice investigation was "legally unsupportable" and should not be sanctioned by the department.
At his confirmation hearing, Barr said he wrote the memo because he was concerned Mueller's obstruction investigation was based on an overly broad interpretation of the law and could have far-reaching ramifications down the road.
During his testimony, Barr committed to seeking the advice of ethics officials at the Justice Department regarding potential recusal from the investigation. He did not commit to following their advice.
"Following General Barr's confirmation, senior career ethics officials advised that General Barr should not recuse himself from the Special Counsel's investigation," the department spokesperson said.
Barr's decision also comes as Mueller's team is close to completing a lengthy report of their findings in the Russia investigation. A person with knowledge of the matter told INSIDER senior Justice Department officials expect to have a draft of the report by the end of the month.
Once the report is complete, Barr will review it and submit his summary of Mueller's findings to Congress, which can then make the information available to the public. It's unclear how much of Mueller's report Barr will eventually choose to make public, but he's been consulting closely with his aides about the decision in recent weeks.
Two congressional aides told INSIDER that if lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives feel that Barr inappropriately concealed or omitted information from Mueller's report in his summary to Congress, they would take "appropriate legal actions" to obtain Mueller's original report from the Justice Department. Asked whether Democrats would subpoena Mueller's report if necessary, one aide said "all options are currently on the table."
Even the completion of a Mueller report does not mean the Russia probe will be over, however.
There are currently over a dozen ongoing investigative threads and court cases that will continue long after the report is made public. There are also several witnesses who are still cooperating with prosecutors, and legal scholars said there may even be potential future indictments connected to the Mueller investigation and the Manhattan US attorney's investigation into Trump's business dealings.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats just kicked off a sprawling investigation into what House Judiciary chair Jerry Nadler characterized as Trump's "obstruction of justice, corruption, and abuse of power."
On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee sent document requests to 81 people and entities connected to Trump.
The list of people and entities the committee requested documents from signals the broad nature of its investigation; it included people and agencies linked to the Trump campaign, the Trump Foundation, the White House, the Justice Department, Trump's inaugural committee, the Trump Organization, and dozens of Trump's closest aides and senior campaign officials who were in his orbit while he launched broadsides at top FBI and Justice Department officials.
One committee aide, who requested anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to divulge details about the investigation, characterized it to INSIDER as an "investigative blitz."
This person added that Democrats wanted to collect any evidence of wrongdoing in the event that Mueller and, separately, federal prosecutors in New York were unable to publicize the details of their investigations into Trump.
The special counsel Robert Mueller has turned in his final report in the Russia probe to Attorney General William Barr.
Barr will now prepare to submit a summary of Mueller's report to Congress in the coming days.
But Justice Department veterans told INSIDER that even with the release of the Mueller report, the Russia probe and the investigations related to it are far from over.
There are still myriad court cases, cooperation agreements, potential future indictments, and related investigations being handled by other US attorneys' offices that will continue well past the Mueller report's release.
Mueller was tasked with investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 US election, whether members of President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow, and whether Trump sought to obstruct justice after the public learned of the investigation's existence.
Barr is now expected to prepare his own summary of Mueller's findings for Congress, which will in turn release Barr's summary to the public.
But Justice Department veterans cautioned to INSIDER that the release of Barr's summary of Mueller's findings does not necessarily signify the end of the Russia investigation. They pointed to, in particular, a plethora of court cases, cooperation agreements, and potential future indictments that could drop well after Barr submits his report to Congress.
Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign deputy chairman, is still cooperating with multiple investigations.
Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen is still cooperating with multiple investigations.
The Manhattan US attorney's office is probing Trump's involvement in several hush-money payments during the election to women who said they had affairs with him. Cohen, Trump's former bookkeeper, and several Trump Organization executives are cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
New York federal prosecutors subpoenaed Trump's inaugural committee for documents related to its finances. The committee has long been under scrutiny from investigators examining whether foreign governments — such as Russia and the United Arab Emirates — illegally funneled money into the operation to influence White House policy.
Paul Erickson, a GOP strategist and the boyfriend of the Russian spy Maria Butina, was charged by the Justice Department in an unrelated fraud scheme, and if he strikes a plea deal, it could open up new investigative threads for prosecutors.
The House Intelligence Committee recently sent over the transcripts of testimony from several individuals that lawmakers believe may have lied to Congress, including Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump associate Erik Prince.
Mueller was locked in a legal battle with an unknown foreign corporation that's fighting a grand-jury subpoena for documents and testimony.
Prosecutors are also in a court fight with Andrew Miller, a Stone associate who's fighting a separate grand-jury subpoena to provide witness testimony.
In January, Mueller's federal grand jury was extended for six months, so it could continue to meet and vote on criminal indictments brought by other parts of the Justice Department.
The US attorney's office in Washington, DC, has stepped up on assisting Mueller's team with case work that will continue even after the release of a report. Some of those cases reportedly include Stone's, one involving a Russian social-media conspiracy, and the court battle with the unidentified foreign corporation.
President Donald Trump is adamant that he has no financial interests in Russia.
"Russia has never tried to use leverage over me," he tweeted in January 2017. "I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!"
But a glimpse at his actions over the last few decades paints a quite different picture, one that shows a concerted effort by the real-estate mogul to lay a foundation for the Trump name in the heart of Moscow.
Trump's business ties to Russia jumped back into the spotlight this week, after his former longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, admitted that he lied to Congress about the extent of the Trump Organization's push to open a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 election.
Prosecutors said Cohen "discussed the status and progress of the Moscow Project" with Trump "on more than the three occasions Cohen claimed" to the Senate Intelligence Committee last year and that "he briefed family members" of Trump within the Trump Organization about it.
They also said Cohen admitted to pursuing the deal as late as June 2016, after Trump became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
After Cohen's stunning revelations about the timeline of discussions on building Trump Tower in Moscow, Trump tweeted that he "lightly looked" at "doing a building somewhere in Russia." But the president added that he "didn't do the project" and claimed he made no verbal or financial commitments. The defunct Moscow project is just the latest in a long history of the president trying — and failing — to make his mark in the Russian capital.
Here's a rundown of Trump's attempted business dealings in Russia:
Trump's interest in doing business in Russia was first piqued in 1986, when he met the Soviet ambassador Yuri Dubinin and they began discussing building a "large luxury hotel across the street from the Kremlin in partnership with the Soviet government," as Trump recounted in his 1987 book, "The Art of the Deal."
Trump in 1988 said the hotel plan failed because "in the Soviet Union, you don't own anything. It's hard to conjure up spending hundreds of millions of dollars on something and not own."
Trump went back to Russia in 1996 and announced a plan to invest $250 million in Russian real estate and slap his name on two luxury residential buildings.
Trump boasted about his plan when he met the Russian politician Aleksandr Lebed in New York in 1997, telling Lebed, "We are actually looking at something in Moscow right now ... Only quality stuff. And we're working with the local government, the mayor of Moscow, and the mayor's people. So far, they've been very responsive ..." The plan never came to fruition.
But that wasn't the end of Trump's connection to Russian money. According to The Washington Post, the real estate mogul began seeing significant returns from Russian investments in US properties bearing the Trump name in the 2000s.
A Reuters investigation last year found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida, for instance.
Reuters noted that its tally of Russian investors may be conservative. At least 703 — or about one-third — of the owners of the 2,044 units in the seven Trump buildings are limited liability companies, or LLCs, which have the ability to hide the identity of a property's true owner.
In the mid-2000s, the Trump Organization partnered with a company called the Bayrock Group, contracting it to pursue a development deal in Moscow. This effort was led by the Russian-born businessman Felix Sater, who's become a key figure in Mueller's investigation and Cohen's plea deal.
In 2005, Sater found a former pencil factory he thought could be converted into a high-end skyscraper, and was in discussions with Russian investors about it. The deal ultimately fell through, but Sater continued to maintain a relationship with the Trump Organization.
At a real estate conference in 2008, Donald Trump Jr. discussed the family's attempts to break into the Russian business world. "As much as we want to take our business over there, Russia is just a different world,” he said at the time. "It is a question of who knows who, whose brother is paying off who...It really is a scary place." Trump Jr. at that point had traveled to Russia a number of times, including a 2006 visit with Sater his sister, Ivanka Trump, and Sater.
At the 2008 conference, Trump Jr. also said, "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets." He explained that despite the difficulties his family had in trying to build in Russia they were still determined to keep pushing for it. In the 18 months prior to the conference, Trump Jr. made six trips to Russia.
In 2013, Trump traveled to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. During the visit, he said, "I have plans for the establishment of business in Russia. Now, I am in talks with several Russian companies to establish this skyscraper."
In 2015 and 2016, Cohen and Sater teamed up in an attempt to put up a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen said discussions on the plan lasted until June 2016, which was after Trump had clinched the GOP nomination for president.
Cohen was in touch with the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary over the matter, which reportedly included a plan to offer Putin a $50 million penthouse in the tower. Those talks fell through as well and the plan eventually crumbled.
Welcoming a new puppy into your home isn't always easy.
It can be time consuming getting your new furry friend to settle in.
Luckily, a few companies offer "pawternity leave" so you can spend some time together.
We've rounded them up in honour of National Puppy Day.
Anyone who has experienced getting a puppy knows it can be hard work. Owners often refer to their pets as "fur babies," which makes a lot of sense considering how much attention puppies require when you first get them.
Puppies need time to settle into their new home and bond with their owners. They've probably just been taken from their mothers and introduced to a brand new environment, so there's likely to be a lot of crying. And that's before you can even think about house-training.
As it turns out, some companies sympathize with this transition and offer what's known as "pawternity leave." In fact, research from Petplan found that 5% of owners have been offered paid leave from their job to adjust to their pet owning duties.
These are some of the companies which give you a few days off to bond with your new best friend.
Mars Petcare was one of the first companies to offer pawternity leave. The company offers its employees 10 hours of paid leave when they get a new pet, and they can bring them into the office after that.
Mparticle
The data platform provider Mparticle offers two weeks of paid leave if an employee adopts a rescue dog. According to The Times, the recruiter for the company Laurel Peppino said it's to provide time for training and walks.
"We offer maternity and paternity leave and a pet is just another member of the family," she said. "We don't discriminate just because they aren't human."
BitSol Solutions
A tech company based in Manchester called BitSol Solutions offers its employees a full week of paid leave if they get a new pet. According to the Metro, company owner Greg Buchanan said: "Pets are like babies nowadays, so why shouldn't staff have some time off when they arrive?"
Brian Ahern is co-head of the London music division of William Morris Entertainment (WME), one of the biggest talent agencies in the world.
He told Business Insider that the concept of a "rock star" is evolving.
He believes hip hip is so widely accepted now that it's "probably the new rock and roll," and the likes of Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar are the new rock stars.
Along with traditional musicians like Drake and Rihanna, the agency works with digital stars and influencers like Casey Neistat and Lily Singh.
Ahern believes these modern artists are rock stars in their own right, too.
Brian Ahern knows the music industry inside and out.
He started in the mailroom of William Morris Entertainment (WME), an Endeavour network talent agency which is one of the biggest in the world and looks after actors, musicians, athletes, and authors like Rihanna, Drake, Ryan Reynolds, Adele, Oprah Winfrey, Lewis Hamilton, LeBron James, and Serena Williams.
Now, he heads up the company's entire music division in London.
Ahern told Business Insider he originally studied finance and was "not really a music guy" until he met with a Hollywood producer in Los Angeles who suggested he try working for a talent agency.
He applied to a number of agencies and was hired by WME in LA, where he worked in the mailroom for nine months before going on to work as a line agent for indie bands. He became an assistant to Lollapalooza cofounder Marc Geiger (head of music at WME), which he said taught him a lot about the "backbone of the music industry."
"He [was] representing bands like The Pixies and Nine Inch Nails," he said. "I got a lot of perspective of the business — not just booking bands. I worked with him for almost two years and then he sent me on the road."
Ahern worked as a tour manager "jumping off trucks and tour buses" across the US, which he said is something "a lot of agents don't have experience doing."
From 2005, he became an agent doing what he called the "normal day job" of booking shows for artists and bands, including rappers and DJs.
He even went on to run the EDM department with a colleague, overseeing the DJ business, which involved Las Vegas and was a "cool experience."
In 2016, Geiger asked him to move to London to run the music department alongside co-head David Levy — a role Ahern has been doing for two and a half years.
His role mainly involves coordinating with the company's offices and teams around the world and working out how to grow the business. However, he still books shows and festivals for his own clients, which he explained is the main job of a talent agent.
The role of the talent agent
Ahern calls the artist the "CEO of their enterprise," but added that they "outsource a lot of their responsibilities on a day-to-day [basis] because they're supposed to be creative individuals."
"I think ultimately the artist is the decision-maker in every equation, [but] they may trust people to make a lot of decisions for them," he added.
These people include lawyers, publicists, an "army of people at record labels" including marketing, in-house publicists, and A&R people, then business managers "doing the finance and number crunching and making sure they can afford to live," financial planners for people who "have a lot of money and want to invest it," plus the manager, who Ahern called "the epicenter of overseeing a lot on their behalf," from "making sure the kids get picked up from school" to "dealing with the finances and talking to the lawyer about what they need to be doing."
Then there's the talent agent, who traditionally books shows and events on behalf of an artist.
"Some artists only require us to book shows and that's a one-dimensional job at times," Ahern said.
The booking process involves looking at the festivals and shows happening over the next few years and figuring out when and where an artist wants to play.
"Somebody we represent globally, we look at when's the best time to be in Australia, when's the best time to be in Asia, similarly Europe, the UK, US, South America, Mexico," Ahern said.
"Lollapalooza is in South America around March, we want to be there, we want to be at Coachella in April, Glastonbury in June, Reading and Leeds in August — we look at those things."
He added that there are some venues that are considered to be prestigious because they've been associated with historic artists.
"If you're a big Zeppelin fan and you know they did something at [London's Royal] Albert Hall, you might say 'I really want to do something at Albert Hall someday,'" he said. "Some of it's alignment with personal goals of the artist — they might be interested in stadiums, they might be interested in small clubs that service their fanbase."
He added that performing at the likes of Coachella, New York's Governors Ball, Glastonbury, or Reading "lends credibility" to an artist.
A post shared by Brian Ahern (@bjahern) on Apr 1, 2018 at 11:51pm PDT on
"In the past it used to be a lot more album cycle driven — the record drops here so we'd have to figure out where to tour on the back of that. Now it's a little bit more [about] where are the looks we want to get, where do we gain notoriety, where do we gain market share [or] the most eyeballs?"
He added that venues have availability issues and there are "bumps along the way."
"Someone gets sick and we have to make adjustments, all the way through to fulfillment when the tour happens," he said.
Artist first, musician second
However, he said that at WME, the role of the booking agent has involved into more of a "consultant."
"We still do our primary function and responsibility, [but] the agency has other wings and departments to service clients needs, so if they want to write a book or star in a movie or go into business or whatever it is, we're here to employ ourselves in that way as well. As a full service agency we want to help the artist build their career across the world."
"We're here to fulfill their desires but also be the expert in the room, the doctor you go to for advice. You don’t go in and tell your doctor 'This is how you’re going to operate on my leg,' the doctor says what’s best for you to get better."
WME has helped artists get into movies (either through acting or getting a spot on the soundtrack) or land brand partnerships, like becoming the face of Coach or Rolls Royce.
"My colleagues are able to jump into those arrangements and say, 'Here's the right brand to be associated with, here's what we can get from that."
"Obviously sometimes [these deals] arise because of their own notoriety, but often times we bring those opportunities to them directly and solicit for them on their behalf."
There are a few other unexpected tasks that come up along the way, too.
"Tyler the Creator built a festival in LA we were heavily involved with," Ahern said. "He's a genius and creative mastermind... but we have a team that were able to help him.
"You may look at an [artist] as an actor first, as a musician first, but we look at them as an artist. Putting them into multiple places is important."
Digital celebrities
Part of Hen's job has also involved learning to adapt to the constantly changing concept of what a celebrity or artist actually is.
Along with its Motion Picture, Television, Endorsement, Music, Theater, Book, Sports, and Speakers divisions, WME also now has a "Digital" business, looking after the likes of YouTube stars and influencers like Joe Sugg (8.5 million YouTube subscribers), gamer JackSepticEye (20 million YouTube subscribers), Casey Neistat (11 million subscribers), and Lily Singh (14.5 million YouTube subscribers.
"Kids are looking into small screens rather than big screens, or both, and that has created new stars and celebrities, which is why we have a digital department at WME that's global," Ahern said. "I think your Jake Paul or Lily Singh or Casper Lee or Joe Sugg or whoever it is, those people are rock stars in their own right now too.
"They may not play music every day — though Joe does music as part of his discipline — but I think some of those other people, they have their own credibility, their own sway in the marketplace as a result of being present in kids' lives every day."
Ahern added that the distribution of content "leads to more opportunities for these artists, more tours, more everything."
"We took a company mandate a few years ago to sign as many of them as humanly possible right off the bat to make sure we were positioning ourselves to be competitive in the long run with the next crop of talent. Digital talent is just talent in general... they're just traditional talent, traditional actors, musicians in the making, they're just breaking in a different medium and they're doing it themselves in a lot of ways."
"We recognized that eventually they were going to populate a lot of the big screens just like they did the little screens, and [we'd] probably see them some day next to a Hugh Jackman or Matt Damon or whomever it is... Some of them want to stay in their bedrooms and do what they do because they're good at it and they get paid well, that's what they're comfortable with, but some of them want to go on tour and do a podcast and so different stuff."
He added that the money they earn is comparable to other non-digital A-list celebrities, too.
"Digital talent doesn't have a ceiling," he said. "You can't draw a distinction between an entire genre and another genre to say this one sells better than that one, but demand is demand — if people want to see something, they want to pay to see it.
"Some of the digital or YouTube stars or podcasts that we tour, tour similarly to some of the other live events that we book."
The new 'rock stars'
Ahern said within the company, there are a lot of debates about "what a rock star is any more."
"I think obviously there are people that are popular for very different reasons, whether it's their fashion influence or their musical influence or whatever it is. I grew up looking at a rock star as a Robert Plant or a Kurt Cobain or whatever it was, [but that has] certainly evolved.
"There are examples like that now, but the Travis Scotts of the world are rock stars. They definitely are. The Kendrick Lamars are rock stars... It doesn't mean you're not a rock star if you just rap now."
He added that hip hop is "so across the board accepted now [that] it's grown to a place where it's probably the new rock and roll."
"You play guitar, you can be a rock star. You can be a DJ [too] — Skrillex is a rock star.
"When you become an iconic artist who has influence culturally, not just with your music but with the words you say and the associations you make and the choices you make as a brand filter or cultural filter or whatever you want to call it, those people are rock stars. They're the people people want to look up to."
'I want to remember what I was capable of doing'
While his mindset may have changed throughout his career, Ahern has had the chance to work with plenty of traditional rock stars, too.
He's also seen plenty of them live — a clear perk of the job.
He recalled seeing the Foo Fighters with his mom when he was a kid — she worked for Delta Air Lines and was able to bring him on trips for free.
"I missed Nirvana which is my favourite band ever," he said. "I begged my mom to let me go see the Foos... I saw this amazing show. I've never sweated so much in my life. It was great."
A post shared by Brian Ahern (@bjahern) on Apr 10, 2016 at 1:15pm PDT on
Other gig highlights for Ahern include a sound check with Nine Inch Nails when they re-formed the band, and standing on stage when the Pixies got back together in 2004.
"I have every laminate, every ticket, every backstage pass because I want to remember what I was capable of doing and what I had access to," he said. "I'm very lucky."
Business Insider spoke to British Airways flight attendant Rob Staines about how men can best prepare themselves for long haul flights.
Air travel for extended periods of time can be a nightmare for your body, thanks to the dry environment caused by low cabin pressure.
While there's a wealth of information out there for female travellers, guys are left pretty much in the dark when it comes to skincare and diet advice.
Staines picked out bad practices and solutions across four themes, from drinking onboard to clothing.
There are plenty of articles and blog posts out there about what to bring on a long flight if you're a woman — from shawls, to makeup, to hair ties.
As a result, guys are left pretty much in the dark when it comes lengthy flights, which can be a nightmare for your body if you're not prepared.
Business Insider spoke to British Airways flight attendant Rob Staines to find out where guys are going wrong and how they should best ready themselves for the trials and tribulations that air travel poses. He came up with four main themes, ranging from moisturization to correct clothing.
1. You let your skin dry out
One of the biggest issues with air travel is how much it dries your skin out. This is because the air in the pressurised cabins of planes is often less than 20% humidity, which is comparable to a desert, while humidity in the home is normally over 30%, according to the World Health Organization.
As such, Staines stressed the importance of keeping your skin moisturized at all times.
"Always have a good moisturizer," he said. "It doesn't have to be an expensive one. The one I use is Clinique for Men because it's lightweight, it's oil-free and it's very intensive."
It's best to moisturize before your flight, then reapply during and after as necessary.
While it might not be a staple of every guy's washbag, Staines also recommends using a facial mist to keep things fresh.
"They're so easy to use," he said. "They're always in really small packages so they fit great into your liquids bag.
How dry your skin is can actually depend on the aircraft you're in, Staines added, as some have different cabin pressures to others.
"We have more modern aircraft in our fleet like the Dreamliner, which do make you feel fantastic when you get off because the cabin pressurisation is lower and they don't have as much of a drying effect on the skin.
"Some aircraft can just dry you out completely."
2. You use baby wipes
The dry air on planes sets off a vicious chain of events for your skin. As a result of drying out, your skin can overproduce oil, making your skin feel greasy and potentially leading to blemishes.
Many guys, therefore, tend to bring baby wipes to clean their faces onboard, or even resort to washing their faces in the tiny bathroom sink.
However, baby wipes are often so gentle that they don't give your face a proper clean, and, as Staines notes, their thin, soft texture means they can often get caught in your stubble and leave fluff.
"I always use face wipes that are specifically targeted towards men," Staines said.
"Men's ones tend to glide over your skin much more easily.
While you may have read a thousand times that you're more likely to get an upgrade while wearing your best suit, Staines said attitudes are changing.
"I think that probably was the case years ago," he said, "but now people are more interested in comfort.
"I think a lot of brands are waking up to that and I think the airline industry is waking up to that as well."
Staines is quick to add, though, that comfort does not have to come at the cost of style or elegance.
Hugo Boss, for instance, has a Travel Line of breathable suits and shirts designed specifically for business travellers.
Staines likes to wear a pair of Adidas NMD sneakers, which have a knitted textile upper and are extremely easy to slip on and off.
"The sole is cushioned too," Staines said, "so they're really comfortable, and they're so lightweight that they just kind of fold up into nothing.
"Because they hug your foot, they don't let in any draft. They're also great for when you land because they're suited to any environment."
Staines likes to pair his sneakers with a Uniqlo tracksuit, because it's comfortable, stylish, and has zip pockets for all his valuables.
4. You take advantage of the beverage service
"We do offer some fantastic wines," Staines said, "but I would try not to overindulge on alcohol. It's just really dehydrating."
While it can be tempting to go straight for the booze (especially if it's free) to celebrate the start of your vacation, drinking alcohol will do you no favours onboard an aircraft.
Lucas Paluch of the Lean Traveller Guide previously told INSIDER: "During the flight, you lose a lot of water from your body due to dry, air-conditioned air in the plane.
"Researchers show that during a 10-hour flight you lose from 1.6 to 2 liters of water — it's about 4% of water in your body. If you skip drinking enough water, soon you will feel fatigue and your head will start to ache."
What's more, the alcohol may have more of an effect on you in the air than it would on the ground.
"When on a plane, the barometric pressure in the cabin of a plane is lower than it normally is," Dr. Clare Morrison, from online doctor MedExpress, told HuffPost UK.
"This decreased pressure means that the body finds it harder to absorb oxygen - this can produce light-headedness or hypoxia. In other words, the lower level of oxygen in your blood means that you may seem more drunk in the air than you would on the ground after consuming the same amount of alcohol."
Instead of alcohol, Staines recommends mixing chia seeds into a bottle of water and bringing that onboard.
"Chia seeds are really good because they're packed with Omega 3," he said.
"They also fill you up and help you absorb the water more. Because they've got omega 3 in, they're really good for your brain function and I think that really helps when you're tired."
At schools that have been tested, more than a third of the taps were contaminated. Schools in cities like Portland, Los Angeles, and Atlanta have water that has tested positive for lead.
No one should be drinking lead. The neurotoxin can cause brain damage and lower a person's IQ.
But unless your taps have been tested recently, you can't know for sure that you're not consuming the poisonous metal in concentrations that could hurt your health.
Generally, tap water from municipal pipes in the US is extremely safe to drink, and is even subject to more stringent standards than bottled water. But recently, kids across the country have found out that the water in their schools is contaminated with lead. A 2019 Harvard study looked at water tests from 10,888 schools in 12 states, and found that nearly half of the schools (44%) had at least one water sample with worrisome lead concentrations.
In 2018, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that of all the US public schools that had tested their water in the previous two years and reported the results, more than a third (37%) found elevated levels of lead. But perhaps even more worrisome: less than half (43%) of schools had tested for lead at all over the last couple of years. At least 10 US states and the District of Columbia mandate lead testing in schools, but in the rest, it's done on a voluntary basis or not at all.
Jacqueline Nowicki, who works on education policy at the US GAO, estimates there are still close to 15 million US students who don't know whether their water is safe to drink at school.
This is troubling because lead is especially harmful to kids' young, developing brains.
But EdSource reported that as of 2018, some schools were still dealing with concentrations of lead in their water that were well above state and federal limits.
Under a new state law, all California public schools will have to test their taps before July 2019.
Maine has some of the most rampant lead problems in the country when it comes to schools and day-care centers.
High lead levels were recorded at other fountains and faucets in at least 25 different facilities in the state.
This year, Maine lawmakers are considering new legislation that would require schools to do more testing, as the Portland Press Herland reported in February.
More than 50 Detroit public schools have found out that their drinking water is contaminated with high levels of lead, copper, or both.
Within weeks, donations began pouring in to help cover the bulk of the $3 million cost of new hydration stations for schools, according to an October report from the Detroit Free Press.
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The coolest activity you can do on a Friday night, at least according to startups like Brooklinen and Casper, is to stay in and relax.
The growing popularity of these companies is timed well to Millennial shoppers moving into their first homes and deciding how to make them feel like their own.
The relentless pressure to work and be "on" at all times is also driving these shoppers back indoors.
Instead of shopping with traditional brands and stores, they're turning to innovative and fairly priced startups to help them create this haven.
"The city never sleeps but you do," reminds the subway ad seen on your morning commute. "Renounce pants," implores the billboard outside your apartment. And "PSA: Instead of waiting in line for brunch you can actually just eat cookies in bed," says the Instagram post you just scrolled past on your phone.
Everywhere we go, we're being told to stay in for the night, sleep in, lounge, cook, eat, binge-watch, and spend time at home with ourselves, our friends, partners, family, and pets. Lock the doors, close the blinds, and put your phone on Do Not Disturb because it's time for pure, uninterrupted "you" time in the comfort of your own home.
According to a number of home, kitchen, and food startups, the best way to go out is to simply not. Stay at home instead and enjoy the space you've made for yourself.
As a large portion of the highly coveted Millennial shopper segment settles into domestic life and begins to figure out how to create their first home that's not a college dorm room or a cramped apartment filled with roommates, they're looking to non-traditional retail companies for help.
The initial call for what is essentially glorified hibernation and leisurely, intimate get-togethers with only people you like certainly persuades us — a generation struggling with burnout and a group of native tech users simultaneously inspired and disillusioned by the picture-perfect social media adventures surrounding us — to take a curious glance at the websites.
Here, aesthetics are still paramount to the browsing and shopping experience: artfully ruffled, carefully lived-in sheets that the light through the window hits in warm, golden slivers, or a table setting that contains a half-eaten dish and near-empty glass of wine abandoned in favor of conversation.
But more importantly, they're accompanied by context — product details and attributes that shoppers care about, like if the sheets are organic and where and by whom the ceramic plates are being crafted. They want to make sure they're getting their money's worth, especially for a product they'll be using and interacting with often.
One popular product these Millennial shoppers are drawn to is Brooklinen sheets, which are as cool, crisp, soft, and breathable as luxury hotel sheets, but sold at a fraction of the luxury price. The company's bestselling Classic Hardcore Sheet Bundle (from $189) boasts more than 34,000 online reviews talking about its comfortable feel and variety of simple but stylish designs.
Meanwhile, the "softer-than-a-cloud" comforters from bedding favorite Buffy really are as fluffy as they look. They're breathable to boot, and made from sustainable eucalyptus and eco-fiber spun from reclaimed PET bottles. If you want to be both incredibly cozy and friendly to the environment, you don't have compromise these values or look far to find a startup that fulfills them.
It's thanks to the quality construction and performance, delivered at a fair price, that shoppers become real-life versions of the ads, snuggling into their beds long after they've hit the snooze button for the third time or in the middle of a dreary, rainy weekend.
In a world where they're constantly online and made available to the whims of both corporate and personal obligations, they're looking to invest in a space that will reinvigorate them and bring them peace.
It might be ambitious to say a Casper mattress is the singular solution to this deeply ingrained cycle of work and availability, but it can't hurt to enjoy a well-engineered slab of premium foam to help you sleep better at night. Casper has even expanded past the mattress to create other sleep products like bed frames, night stands, and a new Glow Light. Consumer products like these, made more affordable and innovative by online startups, are fulfilling this universal need and desire for rest.
If you're not relaxing, lounging, or sleeping at home, you're probably cooking and eating. Material is a kitchen startup that makes curated sets of cooking tools, specifically only the versatile essentials you need to cook a dinner for one or for eight. A sturdy, sharp knife, multi-functional metal spoon, and a pair of easy-to-manage tongs are a few of its sleek cooking tool standbys you can use to make your favorite meals.
To serve and enjoy your dishes, look to companies like Snowe and Year & Day, which are both making substantial dinnerware, drinkware, and serve-ware to last a lifetime. Their polished, matte, and glass eating and drinking accessories are both beautifully simple and durable, and made in Europe by experienced craftspeople. Shoppers more likely to be caught ordering from Seamless than flipping through an Alison Roman book shouldn't feel left out because Snowe and Year & Day encourage use of their dinnerware for any occasion, from reheated Chinese takeout to gourmet tasting menu.
Equally emphasized among these food-related brands is how their products inspire gathering and sharing with loved ones. Instead of getting dressed up and going to a pricey, loud restaurant, have a dinner party or potluck with friends at one of your apartments. You can spend less money, bond over the communal love of food, and revel in the pleasure of avoiding the hustle and bustle of the outside world.
Whether they're spending it in the dining room or bedroom, more people are staying in, and it's all too understandable given their position in life and the exhausting nature of work.
Creating the home they're excited to return to at the end of the day, spend time in through the weekend, and host loved ones is a process that plenty of online startups are willing to help nurture and provide the product solutions for.
Learn more about the startups mentioned in this article:
Africa's best-knownsafaridestination is the Serengeti, 12,000 miles of grasslands, forests, swamps, and woodlands teeming with wildlife.
Eighty percent of tourists to Tanzania visit the Northern Circuit, where the Serengeti is located. During peak season the parks are flooded with safari jeeps.
That meant that any time there was something spectacular happening — like a pride of lions feeding — the area was swarmed with other tourists. The crowd sometimes scared off the wildlife.
Going on safari is about taking a journey into nature; "safari" is the Swahili word for journey. But, if you thought that would mean you'll be rumbling through the savannah with only the wind as your companion, think again.
For many, the dream safari is the Serengeti, a park spanning 12,000 square miles in northern Tanzania that looks like the setting of The Lion King. Most visit the Serengeti to see the Great Migration, where 1.5 million wildebeest migrate annually along a nearly 2,000-mile cycle in search of new grass and fresh water.
It's by far one of the most popular safari destinations. Out of the 1.4 million annual visitors to Tanzania, 80% visit either the Serengeti, the adjacent Ngorongoro Crater, or Mount Kilimanjaro — the three destinations that make up Tanzania's Northern Circuit.
Most visitors travel to the Serengeti during one of two peak seasons: January through February, or June through October. The first is known as "calving season," when wildebeest and zebra migrate south to find grasses suitable to give birth to new calves. During the second, the dry season, wildebeest and zebra migrate north in search of water.
In February, I took a safari through the Serengeti. While dry season is a more popular time to visit than calving season, the Serengeti was still bustling with tourists.
Anytime something spectacular was happening — like someone spotted a pride of lions or a leopard in a tree — half a dozen jeeps or more soon pulled up to watch, too.
Take, for example, the pride of lions I photographed at the top of this article. We spotted them near one of the main roads in the park. As soon as jeeps saw our car stopping, they, too, immediately pulled up. Within five or ten minutes, there was a traffic jam.
It looked like this:
It's more than annoying. Sometimes it scares the wildlife. One morning, my guide had heard word that there was a caracal cat hiding out beneath a tree in the bush near our camp. By the time we got there, there were too many jeeps around.
The cat had gotten spooked and hid under some bushes until the jeeps left.
The number of tourists in Tanzania's northern parks and game reserves is a big reason many safari junkies swear by the country's Southern Circuit, made up of Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha, Mahale, and Gombe national parks.
While there is a lot of tourist infrastructure around the Serengeti, the southern parks are about as off the grid as you can get, requiring a day's drive or an extra flight. There is little in the way of development, with most people staying at camping sites or a few high-end lodges.
Because so few tourists visit, it's unlikely you'll ever see another jeep during your jaunt through the wilderness. It's practically untouched by tourism, a near impossibility in 2019.
More tips from Business Insider's international correspondent:
Glossier announced Tuesday that it had raised an additional $100 million in funding in a round that valued the company at $1.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
CEO Emily Weiss launched the company in 2014, off the back of a successful blog that she launched in 2010.
Glossier has found success in selling makeup directly to customers through Instagram, where the brand has more than 1.9 million followers.
Glossier is making big moves to dominate the global beauty industry.
On Tuesday, the company announced it had raised $100 million in a funding round that valued Glossier at $1.2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Founder and CEO Emily Weiss started the company in 2014 after running a well-known blog, Into The Gloss, for four years. Weiss has turned traditional beauty retail on its head and cracked the code for selling makeup directly to consumers through Instagram, where the brand has more than 1.9 million followers.
See how Weiss built the company up from a beauty blog into a billion-dollar business:
Weiss moved to New York at 18 to study at New York University, majoring in studio art. It was at this point that she made her first foray into the fashion and beauty realm by taking up a three-day-a-week internship at Teen Vogue during her studies.
While working as a fashion assistant, Weiss set up her beauty blog, Into The Gloss, spotting a gap in the market for beauty product coverage.
"I was surrounded by so much magic … All these models and makeup [artists]," she said in an interview with Fashionista in 2015.
"That was the inspiration for Into the Gloss, wanting to know more about these women who were so cool and interesting for all these different reasons."
Insider Pickswrites about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
I haven't bought coffee in years, not because I stopped drinking it but because I started making my own.
I've saved thousands on coffee over the years with these five items — a cold brew maker, a traditional coffee machine, reusable filters, a stovetop espresso maker, and a milk frother.
They're all super easy to use, well-reviewed on Amazon, and the results are probably better than what you'd get at your usual coffee spot.
When it comes to coffee, I'm a purist. I'm brand agnostic and will always take my cup black without any sugar or milk. That's why I hate paying for such an easy order knowing that I can brew my own (and usually better) at home. In fact, excluding business meetings or vacation where I can't BYO, I don't think I've bought coffee in a few years.
Here's how I save thousands of dollars on coffee by making my own.
Cold brew is basically a coffee concentrate made by steeping beans in cold water for at least 12 hours. Because it takes a lot of time and beans to develop, it also costs more than regular coffee. But for the price of three cups at your usual coffee joint, you can get this cult-favorite Takeya cold brew carafe and make your own forever.
It's made of incredibly durable, shatter-proof, and BPA-free Tritan plastic with a fine mesh filter that screws into the airtight lid. There is a 1-quart and 2-quart size; I have the 1-quart carafe and it fits perfectly in the refrigerator door. To use, just dump coarsely ground coffee into the filter (it says 14-16 tablespoons but I just fill up most of the filter), add cold water, and let it sit for up to 36 hours in the refrigerator. Whenever you're ready to take it out, you'll have a coffee concentrate that's stronger than normal coffee and less acidic too. Cut it with water, ice cubes, or milk, and live your best caffeinated life.
When I'm not in the mood for cold brew, I'll make a cup of basic hot coffee. My fiancé surprised me with a Keurig machine a few years ago and it's honestly one of the best gifts ever.
We have the older K-Classic that takes up a lot counter space, but it has a large 6-cup water reservoir so we can brew several cups before needing to refill. The newer ones are much more compact but also have a much smaller reservoir.
Using the machine is the same no matter which style you have. Fill the reservoir with water, add in the coffee pod of your choice, and brew one of three available sizes. You can also use it for hot water if you don't add in a pod. At first, we made coffee with the single-use K-cup pods because they came with the machine as part of a combo deal, but once we realized how bad they were for the environment, we bought reusable filters that fit our machine along with our own beans. In fact, our current coffee of choice is an 1820 medium roast that we brought home from Costa Rica that you can actually get from Amazon.
Speaking of reusable filters, these are the ones that I've been using for years. They fit all Keurig-brand machines so there aren't any guessing games when it comes to compatibility and they're easy to use and clean. Just pour your ground beans up to one of two fill lines in the filter, lock it back into the plastic canister, and brew. Once you're done, just rinse the grounds out of the filter. (Side beauty hack: Sometimes I'll use the grounds as a quick hand scrub!)
