Posts

Whether it’s a tagged pair of shoes in an Instagram post, or an “unboxing” video on Snapchat, brands are fighting hard to get their products into the hands of social media celebs who can move the needle on their sales numbers. The Rise of Influencer Marketing According to Influencer Marketing Hub, over one-third of marketers have a standalone budget for influencers in 2017. It’s easy to see the appeal as influencer marketing can deliver 11 times higher ROI than traditional brand marketing....

Ultimately it all boils down to one simple principle: you must have a product that solves a pressing problem, and then the right amount of paying customers to make the math work. Going Hunting Today’s infographic comes to us from Point Nine Capital, and it highlights five basic revenue models that startups can use to achieve $100 million in annual revenue. The take home message here is that to build a long-term business, a team must implement a realistic strategy that considers multiple factors including product-market fit, user acquisition, pricing, and revenue per user....

While there is no shortage of opinions on the best route forward, the timeliness of the debate also gives us an interesting chance to dive into some of the numbers around healthcare – namely how people even get coverage in the first place. How Americans Get Healthcare The following infographic shows a breakdown of how Americans get healthcare coverage, based on information from Census Bureau’s surveys. Put together by Axios, it shows the proportion of Americans getting coverage from employers, Medicaid, Medicare, non-group policies, and other public sources....

Even in 1939, General Motors had an exhibit called “Futurama” at the New York World’s Fair that presented a model of the world 20 years in the future. Central to this display was a system of automated highways and vast suburbs, with a focus on how automation could reduce traffic congestion and lead to the free-flowing movement of people and goods. Since then, many autonomous vehicle concepts have popped up at various times – but they have always fell short due to technical limitations....

And while massive amounts of store foot traffic is nothing new, the way consumers search and shop on their mobile devices is a relatively new phenomenon. In fact, 76% of people who search for nearby products on their smartphones end up visiting brick-and-mortar businesses within a day. The folks at Think With Google have crunched the numbers to see if there is any interesting correlations between mobile searches and location data....

In the mean time, investors are wondering how to best position themselves. How could the election possibly affect their portfolio, and how can they hedge against tail risks? Market Performance in Election Years The good news for investors is that historically, the market has performed well in election years with the S&P 500 ending up in positive territory 82% of the time. The bad news? This is clearly not a normal election....

Others, like oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens have quipped that the first billion is a “helluva lot harder”. Regardless of which is true, it’s interesting to examine how long it took the world’s wealthiest to reach the million and billion dollar benchmarks, as well as how many years were in between. Millions to Billions Today’s infographic comes to us from Betway, and it provides a study of the 100 wealthiest billionaires that topped the 2018 edition of the Forbes Rich List....

The world puts $1.69 trillion towards military expenditures per year, and about $375 billion of that goes towards buying arms specifically. Whether it is guns, tanks, jets, missiles, or ships that are on your shopping list, in the international arms community, there is a supplier for any weapon your country desires. Arms dealers, by sales Today’s chart organizes the world’s top arms companies by sales, location, and arms as a percentage of sales:...

The Cybersecurity Boom How Investors Can Play the Global Explosion in Cyberattacks and Cybercrime Thanks to Purefunds Cybersecurity ETF (HACK) for helping us put this together. In 1983’s WarGames, a young Matthew Broderick unwittingly hacks into military central computer while searching for video games and almost inadvertently starts World War III. This film is classified on IMDB as in the “Sci-fi, Thriller” genres. While the prospects of cybercrime and cyberterrorism are certainly thrilling (and scary), the descriptor of “Sci-fi” for the movie may no longer be necessary....

As of publication time, according to Forbes’ real-time wealth tracker, his wealth stands at $92.6 billion. Net Worth Leaders by Continent Today’s graphic comes to us from HowMuch.net and it shows the richest person on each continent. Here is the full breakdown: To be thorough, HowMuch.net also “nominated” a person to represent the continent of Antarctica, even though it has no permanent residents. Chosen for this title? It’s none other than Arnold W....

The user metrics continue to impress, and the app just recently passed Twitter with 150 million daily active users. Snapchat has also vaulted past Instagram in time spent by users, making it the second-most used app by iPhone users, trailing only Facebook. With a median user age of 18, Snapchat’s business premise is that it allows marketers to tap into the mysterious Millennial and Gen Z audiences that continue to perplex many brands....

The Top 10 Oil and Gas Companies in the World When North Americans think of oil and gas companies, they often think of the big private sector companies such as Exxon Mobil or ConocoPhillips. However, it is always interesting to look at the sheer size and scope of some of the major government owned (or partnered) oil and gas firms to really see the extent of the industry. Saudi Aramco, the Saudi Arabian oil and gas giant, is by far the biggest energy company in the world....

Before speculative bubbles could form around Dotcom companies (late-1990s) or housing prices (mid-2000s), some of the first financial bubbles formed from the prospect of trading with faraway lands. Looking back, it’s pretty easy to see why. Companies like the Dutch East India Company (known in Dutch as the VOC, or Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) were granted monopolies on trade, and they engaged in daring voyages to mysterious and foreign places. They could acquire exotic goods, establish colonies, create military forces, and even initiate wars or conflicts around the world....

While these depths are impressive, mining is limited by the frailty of the human body. Going much deeper would be incredibly dangerous, as limitations such as heat, humidity, logistics, and potential seismic activity all become more intense. Luckily, the oil industry does not have such human obstacles, and drilling deep into the Earth’s crust is instead limited by a different set of circumstances – how deep can the machinery and technology go before the unfathomable heat and pressure renders it inoperable?...

Is Big Tech In Another Bubble? “It’s different this time.” Right now all the talk is about big tech IPOs – particularly with Alibaba completing the biggest IPO ever and companies like Uber moving towards $40 billion valuations. Warren Buffett says that in business, the rear-view mirror is always clearer than the windshield. To this point, we would have to agree: even though it may feel like this time it is different, there may be something unexpected hidden that clouds our collective judgement....

The fact is that 80% of Americans live in cities – and the 10 largest metro areas alone combine for a whopping 34% of the country’s total GDP. The 10 Largest Metro Areas by GDP Today’s map comes to us from HowMuch.net, and it highlights recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis that estimates the GDP for each U.S. metro area in 2016: Not surprisingly, New York City and its surrounding area is the breadwinner here with an annual economic output of $1....

R&D spend is also casting a wider global net. In 1960, the U.S. made up nearly 70% of global R&D spending, and by 2020 this had fallen to 30%. From job creation and public health to national security and industrial competitiveness, R&D plays a vital role in a country’s economic growth and innovation, impacting nearly every corner of society—either directly or indirectly. Along with R&D spend, other key ingredients play an important role in driving progress and innovation....

This graphic uses survey data from Travel + Leisure (T+L) magazine to highlight the 25 top-ranked islands to visit around the world. Methodology of the World’s Best Awards Before diving in, it’s worth summarizing the methodology and briefly explaining how T+L compiled their findings. Each year, T+L conducts an annual global survey that uncovers the top travel experiences worldwide. In the survey, readers were asked to rate a range of things, including their favorite islands to visit....

Cotton is present in our everyday life, from clothes to coffee strainers, and more recently in masks to control the spread of COVID-19. As the most-used natural fiber, cotton has become the most important non-food agricultural product. Currently, approximately half of all textiles require cotton fibers. The above infographic lists the world’s top cotton producers, using data from the United States Department of Agriculture. Fancy Fabric Originating from the Arabic word “quton,” meaning fancy fabric, cotton is a staple fiber made up of short fibers twisted together to form yarn....

Those Cuban cigars are probably not Cubans, the Louis Vuitton bag is a cheap replica, and the Versace sunglasses too cheap to be the real thing. But what if you placed an order for something you thought was truly legitimate, and the fake brand had you fooled? What if this imitation product fell apart in a week, short-circuited, or even caused you direct harm? Can you Spot a Fake? Today’s infographic comes to us from Best Choice Reviews, and it highlights facts and figures around counterfeit goods that are passed off as quality brands, and how this type of activity damages consumers, businesses, and the wider economy....