• David Blumberg, managing partner at Blumberg Capital, used to travel to Israel, New York, and beyond for work before the COVID-19 pandemic drove the world to a halt.
• Now, instead of commuting into his downtown San Francisco office, Blumberg takes calls at his home in the city starting early in the morning — sometimes in his pajamas — cooks, and spends more time with family.
• He said he feels more efficient, and he's realizing how much the business travel has disrupted his natural rhythm.
• Blumberg is one of many white-collar workers in the San Francisco Bay Area who have been sheltering in place since mid-March.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Thousands of Bay Area residents have been working from home since the shelter-in-place order was issued in mid-March — and that includes the region's top tech executives, including venture capitalist David Blumberg.

Blumberg and his family have been sheltering in place in their home in San Francisco's Inner Sunset neighborhood since mid-March. Business Insider caught up with Blumberg to see how the pandemic has altered his workday and life.

Here's how one of Silicon Valley's top investors is spending his days through a global public health crisis.

SEE ALSO: A day in the life of a Deutsche Bank managing director who used to travel 10 days a month for work and is now hunkering down in New York's Catskill Mountains during the pandemic

David Blumberg is the managing partner of Blumberg Capital, a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm.

He and his team have very smoothly transitioned to remote work, a blessing for which he said he is grateful. Many digital workers have done the same as remote work has gained a greater focus, while essential workers have not been able to do so.

His office is in downtown San Francisco at First and Folsom Streets.

Blumberg is not your typical venture capitalist. As he told Business Insider's Melia Russell in 2018, he's a white man but still a minority in Silicon Valley's technolibertarian sphere — he's gay, believes in God, and voted for Donald Trump.

"When we came out as Republicans, we got dropped from a lot of cocktail-party lists," Blumberg said in 2018. "There's a number of friends who we just don't see anymore because — we would be happy to see them — but they can't deal with it. We break the stereotype."

He used to wake up at 6:30 am, shower, get the kids up and ready, and take them to school. He and his partner would take turns driving them.

Before the order was issued, his two kids had extracurricular activities, like soccer games and Sunday school. For him, he also used to have cocktail parties, seminars, and other events in the city.

He also traveled a lot before, to New York and Israel, among other places, which is an aspect of his career that he said he doesn't miss.

"I didn't realize how disruptive it is, but the travel is kind of a break in your normal circadian rhythm," he told Business Insider in an interview for this article.

Now he wakes up around 6:30 am per usual and has breakfast with his family. He starts taking calls by 8 am, sometimes earlier.

"I'm more efficient this way," Blumberg said. "I'm able to be on the call in my pajamas. I'm able to have my kids bring me tea or lunch or breakfast while I'm sitting at my desk, and I don't have to miss a conference call, board vote, or whatever."

He has a home office and can see the Pacific Ocean from his window — Blumberg lives in the city's Inner Sunset neighborhood on the western side of the peninsula.

"My commute is a minute downstairs and I don't have to drive all the way downtown and go to the parking lot, wind up the circular ramp, and four flights to get to my parking space," he said.

He'll pause for lunch around noon, and he'll eat with his family when he can, but sometimes he's too busy and his kids will sweetly bring him his meal.

His daily meetings range from typical board meetings to investor pitches for new companies and so forth. Time zone differences have always been something he needed to consider.

Blumberg and his team have weekly all-hands meetings on Monday mornings. Everyone gives updates on how they're doing, what they did over the weekend, and how their families are.  They also have regular virtual happy hours. 

He has dinner with his family around 6:30 pm, and he said he's gotten into cooking since much of San Francisco's restaurant scene has shuttered with the pandemic. 

He said he misses trying out new restaurants, but he's enjoying eating at home, and he's even lost some weight.

He loves all kinds of food: gazpacho and other Central American dishes, spicy soups, and even sushi. He goes to a local corner store for ingredients and has gotten to know the people there and likes the sense of community.

"I think this time of physical disconnect has made us look for other types of connections," he said.

He enjoys taking walks in the evening with his family through the neighborhood.

"It's very quiet in San Francisco," he said. He doesn't hear the usual traffic from his house.

He said it reassures him when he sees signs from the outside world.

"I'm happy whenever I see a cargo ship coming in and out of Golden Gate Bridge," he said.

The kids are in bed by 8:30 pm, and then his day wraps up by 10:30 pm.

He's also been participating in a virtual Shabbat and attending virtual Jewish services regularly every Saturday morning.

He said the past couple months have been a transition, but he's handling it well.

"It's been wonderful in a certain sense because I'm able to spend time with my family and go on walks in the evening with our kids in the neighborhood or Golden Gate Park or the beach," he said. "I feel calmer."

He said he and his team are still figuring out what office life will look like in the future and when they would even be able to return. Premiere Silicon Valley design firms say companies will likely have to implement a number of distancing measures to make employees feel safe in the workplace moving forward.

But until then, he's making the most of the situation by spending time with his family.

"We're doing things that are more actually important rather than urgent," Blumberg said. "And we're doing things that are more meaningful with the people that mean most to us."

• This is a preview of The Rise of Cloud Gaming research report from Business Insider Intelligence.
• Purchase this report.
• Business Insider Intelligence offers even more technology coverage with Connectivity & Tech Pro. Subscribe today to receive industry-changing connectivity news and analysis to your inbox.

A disruptive competitive dynamic is poised to shake up the gaming industry, and it's centered on the cloud. Cloud-based streaming has generated significant buzz in the entertainment business throughout the last decade, rocking the media and music industries with the likes of Netflix and Spotify.

Now it's gaming's turn in the spotlight, with a number of cloud service providers and telecommunications companies revealing plans to enter the cloud gaming fray by launching their own services. These companies, each with unique advantages to disrupt the video gaming space, are largely driving the hype in the cloud gaming market.

Cloud gaming, by nature, is also enough to turn heads: It expands the audience for premium games beyond the current console and PC audience by making them accessible anywhere, at any time, and on any device. That huge addressable market is creating a lucrative and growing opportunity for companies gearing up to enter the space, providing a long runway for growth. 

A convergence of technological and consumer behavioral forces is pushing cloud gaming to move the needle in the gaming industry, something it's failed to do in the past decade. Cloud gaming depends heavily on the cloud and connectivity — areas of strength for cloud service providers and telecoms that are launching their own services.

And advancements in connectivity standards and hardware functionality, new benefits to the end user over traditional gaming experiences, and the ability to meet gamers' evolving tastes are playing — and will continue to play — a significant role in helping cloud gaming reach its full potential.

In The Rise of Cloud Gaming, Business Insider Intelligence takes a deep dive into the evolving cloud gaming market. The report sizes the cloud gaming opportunity and examines the various drivers and barriers, identifies the most noteworthy big tech companies and telecoms poised to dominate the space, and discusses the distinct strategies they're undertaking to capture a piece of the multibillion-dollar market. 

The companies mentioned in this report are: Amazon, Google, LG Uplus, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nvidia, Sony, Tencent, and Verizon. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report: 

• Several significant changes in the decade-plus since cloud gaming's emergence have led the gaming format to move from a futuristic what-if to a massive opportunity for companies outside the traditional gaming space.
• Cloud service providers and telecoms are investing in cloud gaming because their technological strengths are well suited to the new format and can help them corner off the immediately massive addressable market.
• But nontraditional gaming companies will have to consider several factors — like identifying target audiences and building and maintaining appealing content libraries — before and after launching their cloud gaming offerings.

In full, the report: 

• Examines how recent technological and consumer behavioral developments are playing — and will continue to play — a significant role in helping cloud gaming reach its potential.
• Explores the disruptive class of companies whose unique advantages position them to capture a large share of the burgeoning market. 
• Identifies several factors that may be most inhibitive to consumer adoption of cloud gaming, and how new entrants to the space can work to overcome them. 

Interested in getting the full report? Here's how to get access:

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• Tenants such as Airbnb, Yelp, Allianz, and Macy's are tossing big blocks of sublease space on the office market.
• That's threatening to flood supply at a moment when the commercial real-estate market is already struggling in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. 
• By adding to supply, sublease inventory pushes down office rents, squeezing landlords at a moment when diminished demand is already hurting the commercial real estate business.
• New York City has lost over 200,000 jobs so far due to the pandemic crisis, far higher than prior recessions. It could push a record amount of space onto the market if companies don't quickly hire back workers. 
• The offerings also come as companies rethink the workplace and adopt remote work strategies employed during the lockdown. 
• For more stories like this, sign up here for our Wall Street Insider newsletter.

Moda Operandi, the online luxury apparel site, which sells upscale brands such as Prada, Oscar De La Renta, and Dolce & Gabbana, had big real estate plans to match its prodigious fundraising in recent years.

The company, which received $100 million in its latest round of debt and equity at the beginning of the year, was about to begin readying an 84,000 square foot office space it leased for its headquarters last summer in Lower Manhattan.

Instead, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis, it has abandoned the office and placed it on the market for sublease, according to a spokeswoman for the firm.

It's not alone. A growing group of tenants, buffeted by layoffs, a sudden recession and uncertainties whether the workplace will be supplanted by remote work strategies adopted during the lockdown, have cast space on the market for sublease.

Read More: IBM is ditching a big WeWork office in NYC, revealing the risks of the popular flex-space model as the pandemic prompts Blue Chip companies to rethink real estate.

Companies from banks to advertisers are seeking to shed space

Justworks, a payroll and benefits administrator, has put about 100,000 square feet of its space on the market at 55 Water Street in Lower Manhattan, according to three real estate executives familiar with the offering. The firm did not immediately respond to comment. 

On Manhattan's West Side, First Republic Bank is offering over 100,000 square feet of space it only recently leased at 410 Tenth Avenue, two sources told Business Insider. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment.

The Zurich-based insurer Allianz just made roughly 50,000 square feet available at 1633 Broadway.

"We are looking at the release of space on one floor as we look to find a more efficient configuration of our space within the building," a spokeswoman for the company said.

Read more: Life-insurance giant Transamerica just told all its salaried workers they need to take a one-week unpaid furlough in what the company is calling a 'responsible step' during the downturn

Wunderman Thompson, an advertising subsidiary of WPP, is seeking to sublease almost 200,000 square feet at 237 Park Avenue along Manhattan's most prestigious office corridor, according to three sources familiar with the company's plans.  A spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

As Business Insider previously reported, Macy's just made 330,000 square feet available at its new global headquarters in Long Island City, an offering that totals roughly 40% of the office.

The amount of sublease space on the market has picked up sharply during past downturns in the economy as tenants dump offices to try to cut costs and to cull unneeded space as they lay off workers. By adding to supply, sublease inventory pushes down office rents, squeezing landlords at a moment when diminished demand is already hurting the commercial real estate business.

Read More: As WeWork and its rivals stumble, 18 million square feet of space in NYC is at risk. Here's how that could intensify a real-estate market downturn.

During the financial crisis that began in 2008, 11.2 million square feet of sublease space was added to the market over a period of 18 months, bringing the city's total inventory of sublease space to about 16.4 million square feet, according to CBRE.

After the early 2000s dot-com bust and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, sublease space spiked to 17.7 million square feet in the city.

Currently there's a total of about 10.5 million square feet of sublease space on the market, CBRE said. Although that's significantly less, the city is still early into the current downturn. Given the scope of the job losses so far, some experts say the amount this time could end up even higher than those two prior recessions.

Read More: A flagship Neiman Marcus store in the glitzy Hudson Yards mega-mall is being marketed as office space, showing how developers are making a big pivot as retail bankruptcies mount.

Companies are reassessing needs for post-pandemic space

"We had roughly 11 million square feet of sublease space on the market before Covid and I wouldn't be surprised if it significantly increases," said David Falk, the New York area president of the brokerage and real estate services firm Newmark Knight Frank. "There are so many companies, in media and in fashion and in other businesses, that have been directly affected."

Driving the potential for large sublease availabilities are the outsized job losses that have resulted from the Covid-19 crisis.

The city has shed roughly 212,000 office-using jobs through April, according to CBRE, which used state labor department statistics to calculate the number. In the 2001 and 2008 recessions, the city lost roughly 80,000 and 140,000 jobs respectively, CBRE said. Although seemingly much worse, the current layoffs could be blunted if employers quickly hire back workers as the economy stabilizes and recovers.

In total, the city has lost nearly 900,000 jobs and the country shed over 19 million jobs in April compared to employment levels from a year prior, according to the state's labor department. Those numbers are expected to continue to swell.

One of the surprises of the Covid-19 crisis, which drove the US economy into a recession in February, has been the relative lack of new sublease space so far. In New York City, tenants offered roughly 340,000 and 234,000 square feet during April and May respectively, according to CBRE. That was a fraction of the roughly 800,000 square feet added on a monthly basis on average during the two years prior.

Amid the current sublease activity, those two months increasingly appear to be outliers during which companies may have temporarily frozen real-estate decision making in the hope that the crisis might quickly subside or out of uncertainty how to immediately react.

Companies are now cutting spaces as it becomes clearer the pandemic has wrought lasting economic damage and may shift the way tenants occupy the workplace, prompting some to embrace work-from-home strategies adopted during the lockdown that will allow them to downsize their offices.

Read more: The office as we knew it is dead

More sublease space could hit markets in the second half of 2020

A spokeswoman for Moda Operandi, for instance, said it will ask its 250-person staff in the city to work remotely going forward. It will make available a production studio it operates in Brooklyn for those who need to be in an office or require a space to gather for meetings.

"Many companies are contemplating subleasing space to reduce their inventory to align with not just their new headcount, but how operationally their workforce will be working and where they'll be working once they come back," said Mark Weiss, an executive vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield. "Our expectation is that it will result in a fair amount of sublease space hitting the market in the third and fourth quarters of the year."

In SF, Airbnb, Yelp, and KeepTrucking place space on the market 

Other major metropolitan centers beyond New York City have also seen an increase of sublease availabilities.

Robert Sammons, a research director at Cushman & Wakefield's San Francisco office, said that subleases have also begun to sharply rise in that city.

Airbnb just placed 61,000 square feet on the market at an office it occupies at 808 Brannan Street. In recent weeks, Yelp and the truck fleet management software company KeepTrucking both tossed about 70,000 square feet each on the market as well. Today there is about 3.1 million square feet of available sublease space in San Francisco, Sammons said, almost three times what it was at the start of the year.

Sammons saw a silver lining in the offerings, pointing out that subleases will offer some tenants an affordable option in what had become one of the country's most expensive office markets. Average asking rents in San Francisco have reached $84.65 per square foot, even higher than Manhattan's roughly $81 per square foot average.

"It opens up the market and there are prime spaces that are now available," Sammons said. "If a tenant wants or needs to be here, or wants to expand here, there are now opportunities and, frankly, they will be at a lower price than they were six months ago."

Have a tip? Contact Daniel Geiger at dgeiger@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 352-2884, or Twitter DM at @dangeiger79. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

SEE ALSO: Macy's is slashing the size of its brand-new global headquarters by nearly 40% in another drastic step to cut costs

SEE ALSO: As WeWork and its rivals stumble, 18 million square feet of space in NYC is at risk. Here's how that could intensify a real-estate market downturn.

SEE ALSO: Life-insurance giant Transamerica just told all its salaried workers they need to take a one-week unpaid furlough in what the company is calling a 'responsible step' during the downturn

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Pathologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths

• Offices, hotels, and malls were emptied by the coronavirus. While some are reopening, the disruption has created a new normal. 
• The coronavirus has provided the largest experiment ever in remote work. Experts say it will forever change our relationship with the physical office.
• Flex-space providers like WeWork, Knotel, and Convene, rental startups like Sonder and Zeus Living, iBuyer Opendoor, and brokerages including Compass and Redfin have laid off or furloughed staff. 
• Companies are also rethinking their office footprints and warehouse needs. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

The coronavirus threw the real-estate world into disarray, as people empty out of offices, hotels, and malls and work from their homes. The spread of the virus and the economic disruptions that followed are transforming how people and companies finance, operate, and occupy real estate. 

Big firms are rethinking office needs — and some commercial real-estate deals are being put on ice. A surge in e-commerce, meanwhile, is fueling demand for warehouse space at companies look for new ways to reach customers.

We've also been tracking a slew of layoffs in the venture-backed real estate world, as empty short-term rentals and coworking spaces have hit once-buzzy industries hard.

Here's the latest news on how commercial and residential real estate is being upended, and how experts think these markets will play out in the long run. 

Have a tip about layoffs or major changes in this space? Contact this reporter through the secure messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 768-4772 using a non-work phone, email at anicoll@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @AlexONicoll. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Here's everything we know right now: 

Latest news

• Companies from banks to tech giants are looking to shed huge chunks of office space. Here's a look at 8 key sublease offers — and what they mean for rents in big-city markets.
• Amazon just signed a lease on a huge NYC warehouse used by one-time rival Jet.com. The e-commerce giant has been gobbling up industrial space as demand for deliveries surges.
• Bankrupt Neiman Marcus's $80 million flagship store in the glitzy Hudson Yards mega-mall is now being marketed as office space. It's another black eye for the city's retail market.
• Burning through cash and nothing coming in: We talked to 7 VC investors about what's keeping them up at night in their proptech portfolios
• Inside a 'big short' bet against malls: Investors are claiming wins, and a research analyst who said the wagers were misguided is out
• WeWork's US head of real estate is leaving the coworking giant as the firm works through a major turnaround attempt
• IBM is ditching a big WeWork office it has been renting in NYC — showing risks for the flex-space model as the pandemic prompts big companies to rethink real-estate needs

State of the commercial real estate market

• Lease obligations are 'suffocating' retailers — and a potential court fight over a Victoria's Secret flagship NYC store highlights a wider battle between tenants and landlords
• Big investors poured billions into student housing — thinking it was a recession-proof bet. Then the pandemic emptied campuses and turned that thesis on its head.
• Facebook is eyeing offices in cities like Dallas, Atlanta, and Denver to act as 'hubs' to support 50% of its workers staying remote — and it's a move that could upend Silicon Valley and NYC real estate
• Warehouses are the new darling of commercial real-estate thanks to a surge in e-commerce, with firms like Macy's and Boeing selling while Amazon snaps space up
• Knotel and insurance startup Rhino didn't disclose its CEOs were brothers when it struck a complex financial deal. Now a key partner could be on the hook as Knotel scrambles to pay bills, slashes staff, and plans to shed portions of its portfolio.
• Macy's is slashing the size of its brand-new global headquarters by nearly 40% in another drastic step to cut costs
• WeWork's revenue growth rate was cut in half in Q1, as the company burned through nearly $500 million in 'free cash outflow'
• Global firms are cutting down on their real-estate footprint as CEOs across industries are considering a permanent switch to remote work
• Meet the 4 dealmakers driving Blackstone's $325 billion commercial real estate portfolio. They walked us through how they're thinking about opportunities in the downturn.
• A blockbuster Facebook office deal is a make-or-break moment for the future of commercial real estate. 3 leasing experts lay out the stakes.
• Neiman Marcus just filed for bankruptcy, and it could mark a major blow to NYC's glitzy Hudson Yards — one of the most expensive mega-malls in US history. Here's why.
• Inside the drama over control of the iconic Chrysler Building: A real-estate tycoon and a prestigious college are renegotiating a critical $150 million deal
• The CEO of real estate heavy-hitter Eastdil explains the types of deals that are must-do right now — and warns that a 'de-retailing' trend is set to accelerate
• As WeWork and flex-space rivals stumble, 18 million square feet of space in NYC is at risk. Here's what that means for the real-estate market.
• Airbnb and RXR Realty are scrapping a partnership at Rockefeller Center that the home-sharing giant had touted as a '21st-century hospitality model'
• The lender to a trendy Brooklyn hotel is looking to offload an $80 million mortgage as the hospitality sector craters — and it's the type of deal distressed-debt investors have been waiting for
• Real-estate tycoon Aby Rosen is abandoning $600 million worth of acquisitions as the coronavirus slams New York City's multibillion-dollar sales market
• Major tenants are delaying big leases in NYC as they re-think their office space needs for the post-coronavirus world
• Blackstone bet big on 4 huge Las Vegas casinos. Then the coronavirus brought Sin City to a halt, right as the PE giant was trying to unload one of its multi-billion-dollar jewels.
• Airbnb-backed corporate housing startup Zeus Living is asking landlords to renegotiate their leases and withholding April and May rent until they sign
• Knotel is scrambling to pay millions in bills that started stacking up before the coronavirus hit, and hasn't paid April rent at some locations
• Leaked documents from Knotel show the WeWork competitor struggled to hit financial targets well before the coronavirus hit
• 'This is the day of reckoning' for companies like WeWork. 10 real-estate insiders lay out the future of flex-offices, and how employers are preparing now.
• Hospitality startup Sonder is pushing ahead with plans to open its largest NYC apartment hotel yet as coronavirus cripples the travel industry
• 7 charts show how the coronavirus could clobber real estate, from retail vacancies of nearly 15% to plunging office rents in Texas cities
• A surge in grocery deliveries is creating a huge opportunity for industrial real-estate developers. Here's how the coronavirus is transforming retail and warehousing.

The future of real estate

• Construction firms that get tech right could see Silicon Valley-like valuations. Here's how an old-school industry can transform itself.
• Silver Lake just added to a string of recent travel bets by leading a $108 million investment in vacation property startup Vacasa
• Companies need to add contactless-entry tech to safely reopen offices. Here are 7 firms ranging from startups to huge conglomerates that are set for a surge in business.
• Robots, remote hires, and insourcing: A top UBS exec lays out how the Swiss bank is tackling the future of work and thinking about real-estate needs
• A smart home startup that raised $41 million from Amazon and Bain just launched an app that lets landlords and residents give remote access for deliveries, guests, and self-guided tours
• Zillow tapped a former US surgeon general for advice as it restarts its iBuyer business. She laid out how the company will get home-flipping up and running safely.
• Here's which real-estate tech startups will soar and which will flop in the new normal of how we occupy space, according to 7 top proptech VCs
• 10 CEOs from Coldwell Banker, JLL, Cushman Wakefield, and more lay out a post-pandemic future of how we'll buy, build, and use real estate
• The office as we knew it is dead
• Mandatory temperature-taking is largely seen as a critical way to return workers to offices. But some big NYC landlords are worried about its effectiveness.
• The future of real estate could be virtual open houses on Facebook. Coldwell Banker's CEO explains why the in-person industry needs to embrace going digital.
• 'We should be prepared for a new normal': 3 real estate experts on how the coronavirus is transforming offices and accelerating the rise of industrial property
• What to expect when you're back in the office: 7 real-estate experts break down what the transition will look like, and why the workplace may never be the same
• Virtual tours are being hyped as a way for commercial real estate giants like CBRE and JLL to keep deals flowing. Here's a look at how they work — and what factors they can't replace.
• Real-estate services giant JLL explains how the coronavirus could usher in a permanent 'paradigm shift' towards more remote work

Layoffs, pay cuts, and furloughs

• Airbnb-backed Zeus Living slashes almost half of its remaining staff less than two months after a round of layoffs
• Leaked WeWork document reveals a huge reorg under way for people who manage its buildings. Here's how the new structure works — and the complex process for staff to save their jobs.
• WeWork is rolling out global layoffs over Zoom and has kicked off talks to slash jobs in the UK as the coworking giant struggles to cope with coronavirus fallout
• Flatiron School slashed at least 100 jobs and is permanently shuttering some campuses as part of bigger WeWork cuts. Here's everything we know about the layoffs WeWork is quietly rolling out.
• Read the full memo Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky just sent to staff announcing 1,900 job cuts. It lays out severance details and which teams are getting hit the hardest.
• SoftBank-backed Compass is cutting pay and offering equity in exchange — a month after it slashed 15% of staff
• Some of WeWork's outsourced cleaners just lost their jobs — even as the coworking giant keeps offices open and charges members for space they can't use
• SoftBank-backed iBuyer Opendoor just slashed 35% of staff after the coronavirus forced the startup to halt its home-flipping operations
• Real-estate brokerage Redfin is furloughing agents and laying off 7% of staff as housing demand plunges
• Peter Thiel-backed insurance startup Jetty lays off 40% of staff days after pausing the sale of all new policies
• Flex-space unicorn Knotel just laid off 30% of workers and furloughed another 20% as the coronavirus cripples a once buzzy industry
• Days after laying off 20% of its workforce, Brookfield-backed Convene furloughs more than half of remaining employees due to coronavirus closures
• Brookfield-backed Convene just laid off 20% of its workforce as the coronavirus upends the flex-space and events industries
• Airbnb-backed Zeus Living just laid off 30% of staff as the coronavirus upends travel and hospitality startups
• The coronavirus is slamming iBuyers, and firms like Zillow and SoftBank-backed Opendoor are halting their capital-intensive home-flipping businesses
• SoftBank-backed real estate brokerage Compass just slashed 15% of staff and is pausing marketing as coronavirus slams the housing market

SEE ALSO: The ultimate guide to Wall Street's summer internships: Here's how they'll go virtual, and how to impress remotely

SEE ALSO: POWER PLAYERS: Meet the bankers, traders, investors, and lawyers seeing huge opportunities in a wave of corporate distress and bankruptcies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence

• The PlayStation 5 finally got its big debut this week, with Sony announcing on Thursday that there would be two versions of its next-generation game console.
• Both the standard edition PS5 and the Digital Edition PS5 play the same games, but the Digital Edition is unable to read discs.
• The console is a design departure from the past several PlayStation models and is the first to feature a two-tone colorway.
• Check out the full debut trailer for the PlayStation 5 below.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SEE ALSO: This is the PlayStation 5, coming in holiday 2020

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tested a machine that brews beer at the push of a button

• The storied investment bank is seeing leadership shakeups under CEO David Solomon and a slew of partner departures. 
• Goldman has been moving away from high-risk businesses like trading and is making pushes into more stable areas like consumer lending, wealth management, and transaction banking. 
• There have been big cultural changes, too. Solomon is looking to create a more transparent workplace, while new tech execs are taking cues from Silicon Valley heavy-hitters. 
• At Business Insider, we are closely tracking the latest developments at Goldman. You can read all of our Goldman coverage on BI Prime.

Storied Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs is going through some massive changes under CEO David Solomon.

It's taken big steps involving transparency and inclusion to change up its culture. It has seen a slew of partner departures — many in the securities division. And it's making big pushes into businesses like wealth management and transaction banking.  

The latest on people moves, wealth strategy

• $60 billion quant fund Two Sigma just hired Goldman Sachs' first-ever chief data officer to lead its massive tech team
• Why Goldman Sachs, which has a $509 billion wealth business geared towards ultra-rich clients, is buying a small Virginia fintech for financial advisers and retail investors
• Goldman Sachs just hired Kurt Hoffman, an expert in distressed situations and bankruptcy, to join a trading unit known for some of the bank's most lucrative deals
• Goldman Sachs' top tech exec explains how a fresh slew of senior hires are transforming the bank's approach to building products
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent naming 4 execs to lead its private-equity investments across the merchant-banking division

Culture and talent

• Goldman Sachs' summer internship is going virtual, joining the likes of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley who are running remote programs
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent to staff announcing its new head of regulatory affairs. The former White House counsel will be tasked with helping clean up the bank's 1MDB drama.
• Goldman Sachs just hired 2 senior recruiting execs focused on luring top talent from other firms —and it's a huge departure from the firm's traditional promote-from-within mentality
• Read the full memo David Solomon just sent to 38,000 Goldman Sachs employees explaining why he's moving his management team out of stuffy offices and into open seating
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and his management team are ditching their stuffy offices and moving to an open floor plan closer to the people so they can feel the buzz of New York headquarters
• Goldman Sachs just unveiled a new gender pronouns initiative as part of a broader inclusion push at the Wall Street firm
• Read the memo Goldman Sachs just sent to its employees unveiling a new pronouns initiative

Coronavirus response

• Inside a 38,000-person remote work rollout at Goldman Sachs: sleepless nights, assembly lines, and an Amazon-like hub on a Manhattan trading floor
• How a massive New York hospital secured 130,000 N95 masks from China with help from a senior partner at Goldman Sachs, private jets, and a call to Warren Buffett
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon just sent a firm-wide voicemail about the coronavirus crisis. Here's what he told employees.
• Goldman Sachs and Bank of America just updated their WFH policies — again. Here's what they're telling employees about the latest steps aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus.
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs top brass just sent detailing the firm's coronavirus contingency plans, including separating employees into 'blue' and 'white' teams to alternate working from the office and home

Consumer push, transaction banking, wealth management

• Goldman Sachs just announced its first partnership for transaction banking as it looks to build a new $1 billion business moving money around the world
• Goldman Sachs is sending much less mail to potential Marcus customers. A senior exec lays out the reason why.
• A Goldman Sachs exec explains why the bank isn't sweating concerns over the Apple Card's profitability
• A Wall Street firm crunched the numbers around how much Apple will make from its new credit card with Goldman Sachs
• Here's why Goldman Sachs just did its biggest deal in nearly 20 years as part of a pivot to less wealthy clients
• Goldman Sachs execs are opening up about their plans for Marcus, and they think it can do to banking what iTunes did to the music industry
• Goldman Sachs' partnership with Apple could move it a step closer to being 'a bank branch in your pocket'
• Human resources is the next battleground for Wall Street wealth advisers as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs jockey over new turf
• Goldman Sachs has a novel method for predicting the next economic slump, and it's at the heart of its hot new business

Technology

• Amazon just entered the small business loan market with Goldman. Here's how the e-commerce giant is building a bank for itself.
• JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are finally beginning to embrace fintech startups. Here's how they test the waters before committing to working with them.
• We talked to the execs behind Bloomberg's new data partnership with Goldman Sachs. Here's why they think it's a sign of Wall Street's future.
• Goldman Sachs is putting its own Marquee app on Amazon's cloud in a pitch to lure more fintech developers
• Goldman Sachs is embracing open-source code and its chief data officer says it's part of a "new world" of software
• Read the memo the new Goldman tech chief sent to the firm's 9,000-plus engineers where he urges them to ditch presentations in favor of Amazon's famous narratives
• A new Goldman Sachs tech exec hired from Amazon is taking a page from the Jeff Bezos playbook by urging engineers to ditch PowerPoint and write memos
• Goldman Sachs' new CTO shares his strategy for attracting outside developers to work more closely with the bank, giving a glimpse into the future of how Wall Street will work
• A Verizon executive is joining Goldman Sachs as chief technology officer as the Wall Street bank reshuffles its ranks
• Marty Chavez is retiring from Goldman Sachs. We chatted with him about the bank's tech transformation, why now is the right time for him to step down, and what he's planning next.
• Goldman Sachs tech guru Marty Chavez is retiring from the bank
• Goldman Sachs' CEO just warned that the bank's big tech bets might not pay off as quickly as people hope
• Goldman Sachs is scrapping a homegrown email app it once touted — and it's a sign the bank is moving away from building tech in house
• Goldman Sachs is exploring plans to create a Netflix for data, and it marks a new frontier for Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs' internal idea factory hatched a plan for the Google of Wall Street, and it's now looking for the next big thing to disrupt the bank
• Goldman Sachs' big bet on the future of Wall Street had a rocky start. Here's the inside story of the bank's struggle to grow its next business and an exclusive look at its plans

Trading

• Bank of America is shaking up its global markets division and poached a Goldman Sachs exec to fill a key new role
• Goldman Sachs' massive quant business now rivals AQR and Two Sigma. We talked to the bank's top quant about asset growth, finding data sources, and why critics of computerized trading are wrong.
• Goldman Sachs' CEO tells us the bank is winning over quant clients. That helped it outpace rivals like JPMorgan last quarter.
• Goldman Sachs is cutting about 5% of sales and trading staff after senior equities leaders delivered a tough town-hall talk
• Goldman Sachs is moving away from a tool championed by its former CFO as it pushes its traders to see clients where they once saw quick wins
• Goldman Sachs is shuffling its top stock trading executives as the business tries to claw back market share from Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan
• Goldman Sachs's bond trading unit is still trying to find its way — and it represents a key challenge for new CEO David Solomon

Alternatives

• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent naming 4 execs to lead its private-equity investments across the merchant-banking division
• Goldman Sachs is making targeted hires for a 'storefront' for alternative investments that's modeled after firms like KKR and Blackstone
• Goldman Sachs' push into private equity is ruffling feathers at Blackstone — and it might be a sign of big client skirmishes to come
• Goldman Sachs execs are jockeying for control of the firm's lucrative private investing units after a plan to merge it — and the stakes couldn't be higher
• Meet the Goldman Sachs execs tasked with building the firms' new Blackstone-esque private-investing unit — and pumping up the bank's flagging stock price
• 'It's good to be Rich': Meet the Goldman Sachs banker who has built a private investing empire that goes head-to-head with Blackstone — and you've probably never heard of him
• Goldman Sachs is considering a shakeup of its alternative investing units as part of a plan to simplify the bank's strategy

Deals

• Goldman Sachs is assembling a team of senior bankers focused on middle-market private equity. Here are the key hires and the playbook they'll use to land new clients.
• Goldman Sachs unloaded some of its WeWork shares before its investment bankers pitched investors on what it once considered a $60 billion-plus IPO
• Goldman Sachs just revealed it sold part of its Uber stake to SoftBank and it helped boost a $4.5 billion business
• A senior Goldman Sachs fintech banker was about to join JPMorgan — but then got lured back —and it's another sign of the fierce battle for M&A talent
• Goldman just promoted a star tech banker close to Tesla and Microsoft to co-head one of its most profitable businesses, as incoming CEO Solomon makes his mark
• Goldman Sachs just announced a shakeup of its leadership — and it signals the rise of bankers over traders
• A tug-of-war between Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan over a top banker highlights Wall Street's $1 trillion battleground

Investor day 2020

• Inside Goldman Sachs' first investor day, where avocado toast and crab apples were served with tech talk, 3-year plans, and a surprising trading mea culpa
• Goldman Sachs just revealed a new wealth brand at its first-ever investor day. It shows how the bank is trying to reshape its strategy — and image.
• Goldman Sachs just unveiled hundreds of slides laying out the future of the company. Here are the 10 crucial slides that show how it plans to transform into a bank for everyone.
• Goldman Sachs is rethinking how it makes private-equity bets with its own money – and one analyst thinks that shift will be a big driver of its stock price

Careers 

• Goldman Sachs is now hiring high-school graduates for roles in Salt Lake City, one of the company's 'high value' locations
• Goldman Sachs has lost at least 54 partners since David Solomon became CEO. We're keeping a running list — and compiling details from insiders about how the exits are being celebrated.
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs' top brass just sent to staff announcing 2 heads of the bank's private-investing arm are out as it's gearing up to raise billions
• 2 coheads of Goldman Sachs' private-investing business are retiring, in a blow to David Solomon's fundraising plans
• A Goldman Sachs partner who just resigned is leaving behind a job overseeing $2 billion for a London VC with a leading stake in neobank Revolut
• Read the memo announcing the departure of Adam Korn, the Goldman Sachs exec who was 'instrumental in building and championing' innovations like the bank's Marquee platform
• Another Goldman Sachs partner is out. HR chief Dane Holmes is the latest key player to leave the Wall Street bank in a matter of days.
• Goldman Sachs is offering buyouts to encourage partners to leave as CEO David Solomon works to shrink one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs is making renewable energy a big priority based on its hiring strategy. It's a sign that its ideas incubator is working.
• The David Solomon era at Goldman Sachs kicked off with 43 words Lloyd Blankfein would never say
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon shares his best leadership advice
• Goldman Sachs is shaking up the way it stocks one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street — and it shows how banks are back to making money again
• Goldman Sachs' 1MDB problems are eating into employee morale, and insiders worry the firm will use its legal woes as an excuse to scrimp on bonuses
• Goldman Sachs is about to move dozens of jobs out of pricey New York to Utah as Wall Street turns to cheaper cities

SEE ALSO: We identified the 70 most powerful people at JPMorgan. Here's our exclusive org chart.

SEE ALSO: We mapped out Citi's 40 most powerful investment bankers. Here's our exclusive org chart.

SEE ALSO: Here are the 30 most powerful people in Bank of America's $8 billion bond-trading division

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tax Day is now July 15 — this is what it's like to do your own taxes for the very first time

• "Artemis Fowl" is now available to stream exclusively on Disney Plus.
• The fantasy film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release on May 29, but was moved to Disney Plus as a result of theater closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• "Artemis Fowl" stars Ferdia Shaw, Colin Farrell, Josh Gad, and Judi Dench.
• A Disney Plus subscription costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year.
• See more: Disney Plus: All your questions answered about Disney's ad-free streaming service

Disney Plus subscribers can now stream the brand-new fantasy film "Artemis Fowl." Though the movie was initially intended to be released in theaters on May 29, the studio decided to delay the film's premiere to June 12 and shift its debut to Disney Plus. 

"Artemis Fowl" is based on the 2001 young adult novel written by Eoin Colfer. The story follows a 12-year-old criminal mastermind who must face off against a secret group of fairies in order to locate his missing father. The movie stars Ferdia Shaw as the title character, and features Josh Gad, Colin Farrell, and Judi Dench in supporting roles. "Artemis Fowl" is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who is best known for directing Marvel's "Thor" and Disney's live-action version of "Cinderella".

Below, we've detailed everything you need to know about watching "Artemis Fowl" on Disney Plus.

How do I watch 'Artemis Fowl' on Disney Plus?

"Artemis Fowl" is currently available exclusively on Disney Plus. To watch the movie you'll need a subscription to the streaming service.

Disney Plus is available for $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. New members can receive a free seven-day trial. In addition to "Artemis Fowl," the Disney Plus service includes access to a large catalog of movies and TV shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox. 

For people who want access to even more streaming content, Disney Plus is also available as part of a discounted bundle with Hulu and ESPN+ for a total of $12.99 per month. That's about $5 less per month than you'd pay if you subscribed to each platform separately.

Once you subscribe to Disney Plus, you can watch "Artemis Fowl" directly through the Disney Plus app or website. The Disney Plus app is available on most connected devices, including iOS and Android smartphones, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, various smart TVs, and streaming players from Amazon, Apple, Roku, and Chromecast. You'll need an internet connection to stream the movie, and Disney Plus offers an option to download titles to a mobile device for offline viewing.

What other exclusive movies can I watch on Disney Plus?

Disney Plus features a growing library of original movies developed exclusively for the service. Other major releases currently available to stream on Disney Plus include the holiday film "Noelle", a live-action version of "Lady and the Tramp," the historical drama "Togo", and the adventure movie "Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made."

A movie version of the popular Broadway musical "Hamilton" is also set to premiere exclusively on Disney Plus. "Hamilton" will premiere on July 3.

You can check out a full listing of all the major exclusive movies on Disney Plus here. For more streaming recommendations, be sure to check out our guide to the best streaming services.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tax Day is now July 15 — this is what it's like to do your own taxes for the very first time

• Slack recently disclosed it made a minimum commitment to Amazon Web Services to spend $425 million in the next five years as the companies announced a new partnership.
• Cloud spending disclosures are relatively uncommon, but Business Insider dug through recent earnings reports and other securities filings to compile a list of companies that disclosed a minimum obligation to a provider like AWS, Google, or Oracle. 
• Below is a list of how much companies like Snap, Netflix, Zoom, Pinterest, and Lyft have committed to spending with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle Cloud.
• Are you a current or former Amazon Web Services or Microsoft employee? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@businessinsider.com).
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When Slack recently revealed a commitment to spend at least $425 million on Amazon Web Services in the next five years, it provided a rare window into how much companies actually spend on cloud services.

Most companies don't disclose this kind of spending, though they will occasionally tell investors when they agree to spend a minimum amount with a cloud provider, since they often receive discounts for those types of deal.

Business Insider poured over earnings statements and other securities filings to compile a list of company's current public commitments to cloud providers AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Oracle Cloud. 

Notably, companies on this list may be customers of multiple cloud platforms, even if they only listed one in their filings. Also, although Business Insider found very few references to Microsoft Azure, that's not a reflection of a lack of big customers. Instead, the way that Microsoft structures customer agreements may not require disclosure in securities filings, one expert said. 

Here's how much companies like Snap, Netflix, Zoom, Pinterest, and Lyft have committed to spending with cloud providers Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle Cloud:

SEE ALSO: Leaked internal messages show Microsoft employees calling for leadership to take a firmer stand on the George Floyd protests

Slack just agreed to spend at least $425 million on AWS cloud services through 2025.

When Slack made AWS its "preferred cloud provider" last week, the company upped its commitment to AWS to $425 million from $250 million, according to its most recent earnings report.

Slack agreed to increase its annual AWS commitment to $75 million from $50 million, and that amount will increase by $5 million every year until 2025.

In return, Amazon will be rolling out Slack's chat platform to its employees. 

Snap is spending considerably on both AWS and GCP.

In Snap's most recent earnings report, the company disclosed more than $1.5 billion in cloud hosting commitments over the next three years.

Snap has a contract with AWS from March 2016 in which the company committed to spend $1.1 billion for cloud services between 2017 and 2022. As part of that deal, Snap committed to spend $215 million on AWS cloud services this year, $280 million in 2021, and $349 million in 2022.

Snap also has a deal with GCP from 2017 to buy at least $400 million worth of "certain cloud services" within five years, meaning through 2021.

Netflix recently said it has more than $1 billion in spending obligations, primarily — but not exclusively — related to streaming delivery and cloud costs.

In Netflix's most recent earnings report, it disclosed more than $1 billion in spending obligations "primarily related to streaming delivery and cloud computing costs," mostly over the next three years.

The company said the amount also includes "miscellaneous purchase orders," and a small portion is due beyond three years.

The filing doesn't explicitly name any specific cloud providers, but Netflix is a marquee AWS customer.

Zoom entered into a $18 million cloud deal around the same time it announced it was working with Oracle Cloud.

In Zoom's most recent quarterly earnings report, the company disclosed that it entered into an agreement on April 30 to spent at least $18 million in as little as 12 months "related to third-party cloud hosting to meet the significant increase in usage of our services."

Around the same time, Zoom announced the company was partnering with Oracle to support a "sudden spike" in video calls during the coronavirus crisis.

Zoom has yet to respond to a request for information about whether the $18 million deal is related to Oracle. Zoom in the earnings report disclosed it works with AWS, Oracle Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

AWS CEO Andy Jassy during a recent virtual speech made sure to clarify "the vast majority of Zoom's cloud infrastructure runs on AWS and it will for foreseeable future."

Pinterest had $171.3 million remaining in its commitment to AWS at the end of last year.

Pinterest, in its last annual earnings statement, disclosed that the company agreed in May 2017 to purchase at least $750 million worth of cloud services from AWS through July 2023.

Only $171.3 million of that benchmark remained as of the end of 2019.

Lyft agreed to spend $300 million on AWS services by 2021 – but has since extended its term.

In 2019, Lyft agreed to spend at least $300 million on AWS cloud services through June 2021.

According to the company most recent earnings report, however, Lyft amended that agreement to give it more time to reach the $300 million mark: until June 2022.

Lyft reported better-than-expected earnings in May, but has faced challenges during the pandemic, including laying off 1,000 employees in April, about 17 percent of its staff, and furloughing hundreds more.

The amendment to Lyft's agreement with AWS shows the potential unstable nature of these cloud agreements: While companies agree to a minimum commitment, it doesn't guarantee they will be able to pay it in time. Companies that don't hit spending commitment minimums are usually on the hook to pay the difference. Lyft's filing did not disclose any terms for extending the agreement.

$22.7 billion data-analytics company Datadog has a $225 million commitment with AWS and a $37.5 million commitment with GCP.

Data-analytics company Datadog has disclosed hosting commitments with AWS and GCP.

Datadog agreed in April 2019 to spend at least $225 million on AWS cloud services through April 2022. Later in the year, Datadog signed another cloud agreement, this time with GCP, to spend $37.5 million through September 2022.

Datadog, which offers infrastructure and performance monitoring tools for cloud applications, went public in September and now has a market value of more than $22.7 billion.

Carbon Black had a $27.8 million cloud commitment, likely with AWS, prior to being acquired by VMware last year.

VMware acquired cybersecurity company Carbon Black in October 2019 for $2.1 billion.

At the end of the company's last full fiscal year in 2018, Carbon Black disclosed the company had a nearly $27.8 million "non‑cancellable capacity commitment with a hosting provider" through November 2020, including about $10 million in 2020.

While that section didn't name the provider, Carbon Black disclosed elsewhere in the filing that it used AWS for its cloud-based products. VMware's most recent earnings statement does not disclose any hosting commitments, but mentioned partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud.

• On May 29, Brex, a three-year-old fintech that had skyrocketed to a $3 billion valuation, laid off 62 members, or roughly 17%, of its staff.  It had announced a $150 million fundraise less than two weeks prior.
• Among those cut was Paul-Henri Ferrand, Brex's recently hired COO, along with senior employees on the customer experience, compliance, and marketing teams. 
• Insiders revealed a fast-growing company that was already grappling with employee turnover and aggressive financial targets in early 2020.
• Click here to read the full investigation.

Early on the morning of May 29th, an email landed in the inbox of members of Brex's customer-experience team.

The note, sent from a manager's address, explained how difficult the recent meeting had been and how, unfortunately, some members of the team would be let go. Those who were safe would receive a separate email, while those who would be let go would get a meeting invite, according to a recipient of the note who verbally described it to Business Insider. 

The problem? No meeting had taken place yet. 

The email was sent around 6:30 a.m. PST, according to one of the recipients of the note. The day was just getting underway for the team, which was spread across Brex's offices in San Francisco, Salt Lake Valley, Utah, and Vancouver.

It didn't take long to understand layoffs were coming. The coronavirus had crippled much of the economy, and Brex, a startup offering corporate charge cards for early-stage companies, was no exception, despite raising $150 million a few weeks earlier at a $3 billion valuation. 

A few hours later, an all-hands meeting appeared on all Brex employees' calendars. By 11 a.m. PST co-founder Pedro Franceschi addressed his 400-plus employees. Brex was laying off 62 people.

Business Insider talked to eight current and former employees to learn more about the run-up to the layoffs and how the cuts went down.

To read the full story, which is exclusive to BI Prime subscribers, click here.

SEE ALSO: Read the full memo Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky just sent to staff announcing 1,900 job cuts. It lays out severance details and which teams are getting hit the hardest.

SEE ALSO: Silver Lake has been plowing money into bets like Airbnb, Twitter, and Waymo. Here's a look inside why it's being called the Warren Buffett of tech.

SEE ALSO: 4 top VCs explain why Stripe, Square, and Finix are going to be big winners in a post-COVID-19 world

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NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence

• Holberton School offers a two-year program that promises graduates the skills they need to break into the tech industry. And rather than traditional tuition, students repay a percentage of their future income to Holberton after they get a job that pays at least $40,000 a year.
• The school counts VC firms like Trinity Ventures and even celebrities like Ne-Yo and Priyanka Chopra Jonas among its investors. 
• But current and former students tell Business Insider that the school is more like "Lord of the Flies." Students are largely left to teach each other everything from the fundamentals of programming to how to nail a job interview, they say. 
• While Holberton School doesn't require students to pay tuition while they're in the program, it also discourages them from getting part-time jobs while enrolled. That places a financial burden on students that sometimes forces them to drop out of the program — sometimes leaving them on the hook for the full tuition.
• Holberton is awaiting a follow-up hearing with California's Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE), which earlier this year found that the school obtained its initial approval to operate "by fraud," and that students were being "harmed financially."
• The school was allowed to continue operations, with modifications to its curriculum, while the matter is pending. Holberton School says it's "eager" to work with authorities to resolve the matter.
• "It is Holberton's position that the allegations made by these students to the BPPE, and to you, are unfounded," a spokesperson said, in part. We've included responses from Holberton School throughout the story. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you took a BART train in the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this year, you may have seen ads for a coding bootcamp called Holberton School. These ads promised an "Ivy League salary" in a career as a software engineer, without the degree — or the student debt.

Rather than paying traditional tuition, most Holberton students in the US sign an income sharing agreement (ISA). Once a Holberton graduate gets a job – in any field – paying $40,000 a year or more, they're committed to paying 17% of their earnings back to the school, up to a cap of $85,000. (Those figures change at Holberton's international campuses, but the model is the same. Some students also opt to pay the $85,000 upfront.)

The school boasts of graduates landing jobs at companies like LinkedIn, Google, Tesla, Apple, and Facebook after completing the two-year program. 

The ISA model has gained popularity in Silicon Valley for its promise of increasing access to education without requiring students to take out loans, with Holberton and its fellow coding bootcamp program Lambda School— where students previously told Business Insider that they felt they would have been better off learning on their own — considered pioneers.

Based in San Francisco, with campuses worldwide, Holberton has raised $12.5 million from investors like Trinity Ventures and celebrities like singer Ne-Yo and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra Jonas. In January, Holberton raised an undisclosed amount of new funding from Redpoint eventures, a Brazilian VC firm. According to PitchBook, it's valued at $33.2 million, though the school declined to comment on its valuation.

In fact, one of the students featured in the ads, Essence Boayue of the San Francisco Bay Area, says that it was that connection to Ne-Yo, one of her favorite artists and a respected activist in the Black community, that first brought her to Holberton as a student. The fact that Holberton doesn't charge tuition upfront sealed the deal, and she started in July 2018.

By her own description, she quickly emerged as a "star student" in the program — she sang at an event celebrating the opening of a new campus in San Francisco, and took a photo with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg during an event with Facebook and Holberton. 

Though Holberton could see her as a success story because she's now a full-time engineer at a major tech company, she says that her sense of achievement was tempered by the realization that she, and her classmates, weren't being given the education or guidance they needed to succeed. Within a few months of joining, and after listening to her classmates who weren't doing as well, she came to believe that Holberton was not giving students resources proportionate to the steep income-sharing expectations, like strong mentors, a better curriculum, and job search help.

Business Insider spoke to Boayue and nine other current or former students, in interviews held prior to the coronavirus outbreak in the US. Some of these sources asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the school — but they echoed Boayue's sentiments. Many of the students we spoke to independently compared the Holberton program to "Lord of the Flies," the 1954 novel by William Golding about a group of boys stranded on an island trying to govern themselves.

Specifically, they say, Holberton's reliance on a so-called peer learning model — where students learn software engineering concepts from each other, not a teacher — left them feeling uncertain if they were actually learning what they needed to in order to pursue a new career in the tech industry. 

Even after graduation, the students say, they end up receiving little to no help from Holberton in finding jobs, despite lofty promises of access to a network of mentors and alumni. Instead, they say, the months after leaving Holberton consisted of self-education on how to nail an engineering job interview, while also undergoing a grueling job search. 

While the school brands itself as being a welcoming environment for a diverse student body from a variety of backgrounds, Boayue says that in reality, the school places unreasonable burdens on its students — particularly, but not only, on students of color — and doesn't take feedback on how to make things better.

These complaints comes not long after the school found itself under the scrutiny of local authorities. In January, California's Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) sent an emergency notice ordering Holberton to cease enrolling new students, instruction, and collecting tuition, saying that there was "substantial evidence" that it obtained approval to operate "by fraud" in July 2018, while students were being "harmed financially." Some of the relevant claims were made to the BPPE by some of the students interviewed for this story.

After a hearing, the BPPE softened its stance and issued a modified decision, requiring only for Holberton to stop offering certain portions of the program, but otherwise allowing it to continue operating normally. However, Holberton is still facing a non-emergency hearing that could see the BPPE suspend or even revoke Holberton's license to operate — though the pandemic put that hearing on pause.

"It is Holberton's position that the allegations made by these students to the BPPE, and to you, are unfounded," a spokesperson said in an extensive written statement to Business Insider. We have included responses from Holberton on specific points throughout the story.

Ultimately, Boayue says, she feels "guilty" about being part of Holberton's marketing and possibly encouraging students of color to apply for the school. "The more I'm on advertisements, the more someone else can say, 'She looks like me,'" Boayue said.

Boayue says she felt unhappy with the Holberton about five months after starting, but had completely soured on the school after finishing her requisite nine months of coursework. By then, she says she couldn't give Holberton the benefit of the doubt anymore.

She maintained her relationship with the school even after graduation, but says that she only felt comfortable speaking out about Holberton after she began her job. While she ultimately got a job, she says, her experiences at Holberton, coupled with listening to the experiences of her classmates, ultimately compelled her to speak out.

A Holberton spokesperson said that the school is "saddened and disappointed" by Boayue's "change of tune," and that "she appeared to be a happy, content student during her entire tenure at the school." The school also says that it is more than open to feedback from any of its students.

"The school welcomes and listens to students' feedback so that it can continually improve," the spokesperson said. "After all, we are building the school for students. Therefore, listening to them is every bit as essential as them listening to us. Students communicate with us frequently via regular Town Halls, emails, Slack channels, one-on-ones, captain logs and anonymous feedback channels." 

A 'Lord of the Flies' situation

Holberton was founded in San Francisco in 2015 by French engineers Julien Barbier, who previously worked at Docker, and Sylvain Kalache, formerly of LinkedIn. In February, Holberton School brought on Florian Bucher, the co-founder of the French coding school Ecole 42, as its new COO, and shortly after announced a new campus in Uruguay. That was Holberton's eighth international campus, along with locations in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Tunisia, and Lebanon, and in addition to US locations in Connecticut and Oklahoma. 

While Barbier and Kalache have described Holberton's mission as to "train the best software engineers of their generation," the students we spoke to paint a picture of an institution that's falling short of that lofty goal.

The former students Business Insider spoke to say that the educational experience itself wasn't up to their expectations, and that dealing with their own classmates was surprisingly stressful. And by the time they realized, they say, they were already legally obligated to share their future earnings with Holberton via the ISA they had signed.

"The curriculum was terrible and something you could have gotten for free from the Internet, and the community was cultish," Boayue said. "It definitely trends in that direction."

The program consists of nine months of coursework, six months of an internship, and another nine months of coursework in a specialized track — although students say that most leave after the first nine months to find a job because they're still committed to the ISA either way and do not want to invest the time in additional coursework. 

The main campus is located in downtown San Francisco, between the SoMa and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Colorful LED lights hang throughout the building, and its meeting rooms are named after famous people like Malala Yousafzai, Frida Kahlo, and Chinua Achebe. Upstairs, there is even a "Harry Potter-style" bookcase with a hidden bar behind it. Normally, classes are held in-person at these campuses, but Holberton has taken its operations online amid the pandemic. 

That first nine months consists of a basic education in programming, including a crash course in languages like Python and C. Rather than formal instructors, however, students largely learn from each other, with a handful of teaching assistants (TAs) to provide guidance. The TAs were usually former Holberton students with no actual experience in the field, former students say. Former students say they felt frustrated by a curriculum that mostly consisted of links to blog posts, YouTube videos, or even just Google search results.

Holberton, for its part, says its curriculum was "built in collaboration with industry professionals working at the world's top technology companies," and that professional developers often use Google in their daily working lives. The school spokesperson said that its model is meant to teach students "how to learn so they can become lifelong learners" and that students "need to be able to learn on their own, just as they'll need to in the corporate world when managers come to them with projects and problems to solve."

Still, a common sentiment from students that spoke with Business Insider was that the teaching style and curriculum weren't worth the commitment to the ISA contract.

"Even people who made it into jobs were questioning why we are charged this much money for the foundation of learning, when the same material we're using on other sites only cost a fraction of that," a former student said.

Two former students independently described the educational dynamic as "the blind leading the blind," with students teaching each other material that had been sourced from somewhere else, and getting graded by TAs who were barely more experienced than they were. 

"They don't correct you when you submit your code," a former student said. "It brings more and more red flags as you go through the program. By the time you make it through the nine months, you don't know if what you're doing in coding is industry standard." 

It resulted in an oddly cutthroat learning experience, former students say, as they would argue with each other and their TAs on every concept and assignment, with no teacher to mediate. When challenged, TAs or staff would just tell students to "follow the framework."

"That was like 'Lord of the Flies,'" said former student Dimitrios Philliou. "There was no remediation or moderation. Everyone jumped in and winged it. We'd argue. Sometimes people would cuss at each other, yell at each other, and it was kind of chaotic."

Holberton says the peer-to-peer model has been proven to work for decades at different institutions across the globe, and while the school has no formal teachers, there's a Software Engineer in Residence on every campus to answer questions and mediate. Holberton also has homework-checking software that gives "instant, bias-free feedback," the spokesperson said.

'I kind of changed myself to be a fake person'

For several months of the curriculum, students are also required to post to Twitter every single day, discussing projects they're working on and using specific hashtags provided by Holberton. The school would track each student's Twitter "score," checking to make sure that they were sending at least one tweet every 24 hours, as a way to promote the school on social media, former students say.

Holberton says that this is part of a specific course for training students on how to "communicate professionally on social media channels," and not intended as a marketing exercise. Still, the requirement to post on social media from personal accounts rubbed some students the wrong way. 

"Personally, my belief is social media is not very good for you," a former student said. "I don't have Twitter, Facebook, or any social media whatsoever. I kind of changed myself to be a fake person." 

Students say that Holberton's mentorship and networking fell short: 'You felt like you were forgotten about'

Former students also say that the school did not do enough to support them when it came to actually starting their career in the tech industry.

The school promises students access to "professional advisors, mentors, and affiliated industry leaders," for networking and professional development. Those opportunities never materialized, the former students say, and they never met with any mentors. 

Holberton says it does not claim to provide job search assistance, but it does point students in "helpful directions" like arranging introductions, sending job and internship opportunities, holding meetups and online groups to connect students with industry professionals, encouraging students to reach out to alumni, and making engineering interview training an "integral part" of its curriculum.

Regardless, former students say that they first came to Holberton in large part because of the school's promised connections at companies like Apple, Facebook, Tesla, and NASA. 

"They really sell you on their network," a former student said. "They're really dropping the names down. That's really what sold me."

But in the end, students say, they were on their own when it came to finding a job.

For example, Holberton cofounder Kalache wrote in an email to students that a school networking event in the summer of 2018 would host "40 employers" from companies "ranging from early-stage startups like Gremlin up to well-established companies like Amazon."

But most of those prospective employers didn't show up, former students say, and there was no explanation for why. Holberton confirmed the incident but dodged responsibility: "The low attendance was unfortunate but outside of the school's control," the Holberton spokesperson said.

As for the actual job search process, former students say that they were discouraged from actively seeking leads from Holberton's alumni network, and were instead told to wait passively for the school to "bring the network" to them. 

A different former student says that once you finish with Holberton, "you felt like you were forgotten about." Since then, he's been mostly working odd jobs, such as walking dogs and driving for Uber and Lyft, while sending out hundreds of job applications – all without assistance or any contact from Holberton, he says. 

"I've gone to meetups, done my best to get into the industry, and Holberton School didn't help," the former student said. 

The ISA model isn't debt-proof, and students face financial strain

Current and former students we talked to say that while it's true they didn't need to make payments to Holberton during their education, the program still placed a strain on their finances. 

School administration discourages students from taking part-time jobs while they're going through the program, urging them to focus on their studies. Holberton says it does encourage students to commit to its curriculum full-time, but that it works with outside organizations ​to help gather funding for students in need.

Some students don't think it's doing enough. Not having a part-time job can be completely untenable for students that don't come from wealth, and not everyone who needed it received financial aid. In places like the San Francisco Bay Area, where the cost of living is notoriously high, that presented a real problem for some. One former student says that by about six months into the program, he had maxed out his credit cards from commuting expenses into San Francisco and buying groceries, and found himself unable to pay rent.

Boayue and other students felt like the school ignored the financial and health struggles that some students — particularly students of color — faced. While Holberton trumpets a commitment to diversity and inclusion through its marketing and branding (like the meeting rooms named after famous people of color or events for cultural holidays), it's really "fake woke," she says, since it doesn't do enough to address systemic hardships experienced by students.

"They do a really good job of trying to brand themselves as a school that cares about diversity and inclusion," Boayue said. "When it comes down to it, they talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk."

Former student Philliou says that students of color and students with disabilities in particular feel frustrated by the realities of the Holberton School. "They paint themselves as the pinnacle of diversity," Philliou said. "And yet there's no accommodation for students with disabilities or health conditions."

One student said that she went on medical leave after having already exceeded the school's maximum number of excused absences. Even with a doctor's note, she says, she had points docked from her grade. Ultimately, she says, she wasn't able to make up the difference, and got kicked out — leaving her on the hook to pay back thousands in tuition while now working as a freelancer.

"I'm stuck in debt for 24 months," the former student said. "It was a really disappointing experience. I wish I didn't apply in the first place."

Holberton disputes this account, saying this was a "highly unlikely scenario," and that any student wouldn't have to repay tuition unless they met the income threshold. Generally, a student's contract gets cancelled if they leave within one month of starting the program, but after that, they're on the hook to pay back their ISAs.

"What students owe is, according to regulations, proportional to what they consume," a Holberton spokesperson said. "Students have the opportunity to withdraw from the program up to one month after they start at no cost. That courtesy is specific to Holberton. The rest of the repayment guidelines are established by regulations. Specifically, after the first month and until up to 60% of the curriculum is consumed (which happens around the 8 month mark), students owe a fraction of the tuition based on the clock hours they consumed. Only beyond the 60% completion mark do students owe the full tuition amount. Students only pay back the school if they are employed and make at least $3,333/month."

It also said that it has paused tuition payments for graduated students who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

A 'scare tactic'

Holberton is now facing a challenge to the income sharing agreement that forms the basis for its entire business model. California's BPPE declared at a hearing in January that Holberton ISAs signed by students at its flagship San Francisco campus before July 2018 are unenforceable, and that the school should stop the Career Track, a portion of the curriculum where students work on applying to jobs and report to the school about their progress.

Boayue, who attended the hearing with several of her classmates, says that there was "mass panic" within the school in the immediate aftermath of the decision, and that it's been "a little chaotic" since. 

Holberton stopped offering the Career Track in line with the decision, but is currently allowed to otherwise operate normally, pending a follow-up hearing with the BPPE to review the matter. However, depending on how it goes, that hearing could ultimately see Holberton's license to operate in California as a school suspended or revoked. The spokesperson says that the school is "eager" to work with authorities and "bring these few remaining issues to closure."

In the interim, the school says that it has retroactively decreased the amount that current and previous students in San Francisco have to repay to the school in tuition, to reflect the removal of the Career Track from the curriculum. Current students in the city have the option to either pick a new track, or to leave the program with a reduced tuition repayment obligation. A "few" affected students were defaulted to one of the two options by not responding to the offer to choose, the school says. 

Holberton School says that those revised agreements don't constitute a new ISA, and that it was merely notifying students of what amounts to a refund.

Boayue, however, sees these offers as a way to push students into signing a modification to their agreements with the school without reading the fine print.

"To me, that sounds like a scare tactic to not think too hard about what the contract says," Boayue said. 

Below is Holberton School's statement on the BPPE matter:

Holberton is committed to following local laws and regulations in every state and country in which they operate. Holberton is working with the BPPE to ensure that their San Francisco campus complies with California regulations. While the career track program was designed based on students' feedback and has delivered amazing ​results​, the school of course complied with the amended emergency order and immediately ceased the career track module as required. The other claims in the original emergency action were transferred to the standard administrative review process because the California Department of Consumer Affairs found that the allegations that triggered the emergency action – some of which were brought to the BPPE by the same students you interviewed for this story – did not support an emergency action. It is Holberton's position that the allegations made by these students to the BPPE, and to you, are unfounded. There are no additional updates on the California regulatory situation since the pandemic has slowed state processes, but the school is eager to work with the BPPE and DCA to bring these few remaining issues to closure.

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SEE ALSO: Tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce are taking a stand against systemic racism, but their work with law enforcement could contradict their stances

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NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence

• Tech companies have reacted to the coronavirus crisis much differently than those in other industries, a new report indicates.
• Big tech firms were more likely to slash jobs before and after the shutdown orders than non-tech companies and have cut jobs at higher rates, according to the report from Visier, which helps companies analyze and optimize their workforces.
• Many companies seem to have gone into the year expecting slower growth even before the onset of the crisis, while others seem to have realized late that they'd need to make cuts in response to it, said Visier's Ian Cook.
• But the news isn't all bad: The tech sector saw a sharp increase in hiring in April and May, far outpacing nontech companies.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Companies of all kinds responded to the coronavirus crisis by cutting jobs, but the axe fell much more frequently in the tech industry than in others, according to a new report.

The biggest tech companies started laying off workers sooner than their peers in other industries, made much bigger cuts as a proportion of total employment in the industry, and continued slashing jobs at high rates long after other kinds of companies largely curtailed their layoffs, according to the report, which was put together by Visier, a tech firm that helps corporations analyze and optimize their workforces.

Payroll and other employee expenses tend to represent a high proportion of tech companies' costs, so it's understandable that they would look to cut those to save money during the pandemic-related downturn, Ian Cook, Visier's vice president of people solutions, told Business Insider this week.

"High tech is highly dependent on people," Cook said, continuing, "We know that they're always quick and careful to manage that cost base."

Since the coronavirus started spreading widely in the US, tech companies big and small have been slashing jobs. Uber, Airbnb, IBM, self-driving car startup Cruise, and others have collectively cut thousands of jobs.

Tech companies started slashing jobs before the crisis hit the US

Mass layoffs in the tech industry actually preceded the onset of the crisis in the US, according to Visier's data, which looks just at workers employed by large enterprise corporations. As early as mid-January, tech companies collectively laid off enough workers at a more than 30% annualized rate; in other words, if the cuts had continued at that pace for a full year, 30% of workers in the industry would have lost their jobs. After falling back down below a 10% annualized rate right after that, industry layoffs shot back up above 30% in early February.

They slowed back down after that, but still stayed above a 10% annualized rate from then until early April, when they hit their peak pace of more than 40%, according to Visier's data. After dropping off again in mid-April, the rate rose again, getting above a 30% annualized rate by early May.

By contrast, the rate of job cuts in all the other non-tech companies went above a 10% annualized rate in early February and peaked at more than 30% in late February. Although it's spiked twice since — once in April and once in late April, early May — it's remained below a 20% annualized pace since the February jump.

The data suggests that many tech companies went into this year — even before the onset of the coronavirus — expecting slower growth and were curtailing some of their projects and products in response to that forecast, Cook said. The onset of the pandemic likely only amplified those concerns, he said.

"I don't think anybody really forecast the impact of the pandemic, but they were already forecasting slower rates of spending from their customers," Cook said, continuing, "That leads to layoffs happening in the beginning of the year."

Tech industry layoffs have seen a resurgence

The resurgence of high rates of layoffs in the tech industry in April and May suggests that many companies were trying to weather the downturn but ended up realizing late they couldn't without making cuts, he said.  Many may have been expecting a quick and sharp rebound from the slowdown that followed the nationwide shutdown orders in March and early April, he said. Unlike companies in the retail industry, many tech companies may not have seen an initial hit from those lockdowns.

Meanwhile, finding and hiring highly skilled workers workers is a considerable expense and headache for tech companies, giving them an incentive to keep as many of them on staff as long as possible, he said. Given such factors, it's understandable that the industry has reacted unevenly to the crisis, he said.

"Nobody had the playbook for what just happened," he said.

Visier's report wasn't all bad news for tech workers. Even as many tech companies were cutting payroll, others were adding workers. Hiring picked up in the industry soon after bottoming out in late March and early April and has largely sped up since. By early May, tech companies as a whole were hiring at a 50% annualized rate, meaning that if they continued at that pace for the next year, they would increase their then-current headcount by 50%.

By contrast, hiring rates in non-tech companies, collectively, has trended downward since the beginning of the lockdowns and hasn't gotten above around a 40% annualized rate, according to Visier's data.

The difference can be chalked up to the fact that even amid the crisis, some tech companies have boomed. With many people working from home, video conference provider Zoom and corporate chat service maker Slack have seen surging use of their software. Companies that offer streaming video and app-based food delivery services also benefitted from the lockdowns.

"Other parts of our ... tech sector, they've just seen unbelievable demand for their services," Cook said. "So we know that they're hiring like crazy."

"It's not always the same people that are letting go and hiring," he said.

Got a tip about the tech industry? Contact Troy Wolverton via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @troywolv, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

• Read more about the tech industry and the coronavirus crisis:
• The "FAANG'' tech giants recovered fast from the share price plunge due to COVID-19, but that rebound for Apple, Alphabet, and Facebook defies logic, a longtime tech investor says
• Here's why tech IPOs are starting to see a surprising, and sudden, snapback
• These 10 tech funds have been the market's best performers for years as the Nasdaq has surged to record highs — and they're poised to keep outperforming as the economy recovers
• Airbnb might not get much of a bounce from the rebound in short-term rentals

SEE ALSO: These far-flung US regions could become the next big startup hubs as techies abandon Silicon Valley and embrace remote work

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NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence

• Cofounder Sacha Nasan launched a video dating app, Blindlee, in the fall of 2019 with his cousin Glenn Keller. Nasan spent many years as a teen developing and "flipping" apps on the side.
• Since the start of the pandemic, the app has grown from about 6,000 to 23,000 total users.
• The 23-year-old entrepreneur focused heavily on PR and influencer outreach during the coronavirus outbreak to increase coverage of the app and draw in more users.
• The two cofounders also credit heavily investing in beta testing early as key to their success today.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

You're never too young to start a business. That's the motto of 23-year-old serial entrepreneur Sacha Nasan, who cofounded the new video dating app Blindlee with his 21-year-old cousin, Glenn Keller. And it's something he's put into practice since his teen years.

Nasan was already an app veteran before launching Blindlee, having created his first app at age 15 after learning the fundamentals of iOS development by watching YouTube videos and reading books his dad bought him. (Because he was under 18 at the time, he also registered for an Apple developer account under his dad's name.) In February 2012, his first product, Currency Converter Pro, reached the No. 1 spot for free apps in Apple's App Store in Belgium (where Nasan is from) and France and within the top five in many other EU countries, leading to 63,000 downloads in one day. 

After several years of testing out a variety of app ideas, Nasan launched his latest effort, which he described as "Tinder meets Zoom" — a dating app that connects strangers over a three-minute blurred video call before initiating a match. Nasan and Keller invested about $9,000 of personal funds and developed the app themselves before going live in the iOS App Store in October 2019 and releasing an Android app a couple of months later. The app has since grown from 6,000 users before the start of the pandemic to over 23,000 as of mid-May.

The idea for Blindlee was "to make the process more transparent and safer while bringing a refreshing element to the world of dating apps," said Nasan. 

Blindlee works by pairing individuals based on select criteria — location, age range, and sexual preferences. A user is able to call another user that matches their criteria, and from there, the recipient receives a notification and the option to answer the call. In female to male calls, women control the blur level, and in same-sex calls, the person who initiates the call controls the blur. 

To avoid awkward conversations, Blindlee prompts app users with icebreakers, such as "Would you rather have true love or win the lottery?" and "What are two truths and one lie about you?" At the end of the three minutes, if both individuals enjoy the call, they match and are able to directly chat with each other — unblurred — within the app.

Getting started in app flipping and development

After testing the waters with his first currency converting app, Nasan delved into app flipping — which he likened to house flipping — where he bought source codes for existing apps as a framework upon which he could build and then resell his own apps in the App Store, while also being able to resell the source code. 

Just as homebuyers can take existing houses and renovate them in a way that requires less work than building from scratch, "This allowed me to build more complicated apps, as I wasn't advanced enough to build some things from scratch," Nasan said.

At 17, he released another app, Talently, which garnered national newscoverage in Belgium. "It was kind of 'The Voice' in the form of an app where the concept was to create a network for talent managers to scout talents," said Nasan. "This was too complicated for me to develop — social networks aren't that easy to create — so at 16 I crowdfunded the project and hired four developers to develop it."

From the publicity garnered by Talently, Nasan was approached by individuals and companies in need of app consulting, which he took on on the side for a few years until he graduated from the London School of Economics in 2019. 

Separately, his cousin Keller started studying iOS development and began creating his own apps. In 2019, after Keller graduated, Nasan approached him with the idea of working on a dating app. 

Within five months, the two had built Blindlee.

Bootstrapping through beta tests to fix bugs and prioritize key features

Because Nasan and Keller developed and designed the app themselves, they had almost no costs going into creating the app. "However, there were, and are, ongoing server costs since video uses high bandwidth," Nasan said.

So far, their $9,000 has gone toward these server costs and the legal expenses of creating a company and a company bank account. 

While the app isn't currently being monetized, the team has longer-term plans to develop a freemium model, where a paid version may be available (for about the cost of a coffee) with certain additional features. Outside of running Blindlee, Nasan works full time as head of business development for a tech startup and Keller works full time as a software engineer. 

They launched their private beta in August of 2019, running it for two months with 72 users who the cofounders found through various online communities for beta users. During the testing period, they ran experiments to find out the best length for a video call and received bug reports.

Since launching publicly, the team now turns to the "insightful feedback" they receive from users offering up suggestions, said Nasan. The two look at their major constraint — their own time — and prioritize based on how often a feature is suggested. 

"For example, in our first version we didn't have the ability to leave a videomail or to see missed calls, but these came up so often that we prioritized them as features," Nasan said, adding that the feature has helped with engagement. "Before the videomail feature was in place, most people would initiate a call and that was the end of it if the other person didn't pick up." 

In the few months since they rolled out this feature, the company now sees about one video voicemail being sent out of every three unanswered calls. 

Generating interest through PR and influencer marketing

For an app that's less than a year old, Blindlee has received extensive coverage in publications such as Vox, Maire Claire, and the Wall Street Journal. And that's not just by luck — it's been part of the team's strategy to pitch journalists directly.

Because the two have bootstrapped Blindlee, their marketing budget "is basically non-existent," Nasan said. "As a result, we decided to try to get press coverage for Blindlee, which we thought would be possible given the concept." 

It's an approach he took before the start of the pandemic, and one he "stepped up" once he realized there would be a "paradigm shift with dating app users switching to video dating because they wouldn't be able to meet physically anymore," he said.

"As a result of some articles, we have been approached by a few incubators and investors," Nasan said, adding, "though we also have contacted a few investors ourselves."

Blindlee's strategy for standing out through their outreach emails involved some manual legwork: The cofounders research people to reach out to on LinkedIn and Twitter, then save each individual's public profile picture and blur it to demonstrate how the "blur" feature of Blindlee works. They then send the blurred picture as an attachment to a pitch email. 

"Imagine receiving a cold email in which you recognize yourself in a blurry way, that is going to increase your chances of reading it," said Nasan. They've seen a higher reply rate using this method than their standard cold outreach, he added.

Another approach to increasing brand awareness the team is currently working on is developing partnerships with YouTube influencers. They're exploring the possibility of teaming up with a singer with several million followers who's interested in setting up a promotional campaign for his album where he could go on three-minute Blindlee dates with fans and the public. 

While many artists the cofounders reached out to were interested in being compensated, this singer "sees it as a promotional opportunity for him as well," so he isn't requesting monetary compensation, Nasan said. 

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NOW WATCH: Why electric planes haven't taken off yet

• Sex robots with artificial intelligence are selling well during the COVID-19 remain-in-place orders, their makers say, even at $12,000 apiece.
• The robots can talk and move their heads, but their customizable silicone bodies cannot move at this point. 
• With conversational AI comparable to Amazon's Alexa, the robots can learn what their owners like, and build a relationship with them, makers say. 
• Researchers say the government needs to regulate AI sex robots before the industry develops more – and point out the surprising cybersecurity risks that might come with bringing one into your life.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sex robots empowered with artificial intelligence that allows them to converse have seen a boom in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, their makers say — providing important companionship to those left isolated.

"Suddenly you're talking to a robot – not a device, not a computer screen, or a cylinder that's sitting on your desk. You're talking to something that looks like a human being, and that's where the magic happens," says Matt McMullen, CEO of Realbotix, a five-person Southern California company. Sales are up at least 50% during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he chalks up to loners needing companionship – and considering an option they might not have previously.  

"I think that maybe someone would relax their thinking about something like this, given the current state of the world," McMullen said. "Maybe in the past they would be sort of hesitant, or think, 'What's wrong with me that I'm considering this?' I think people are going to be a little more open-minded right now." 

The makers say their robotic creations will be able to walk and move their entire bodies within the next decade. At the moment, however, the robots are comprised of silicone sex doll bodies with fully robotic heads and roughly the same level of conversational ability found in Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. Still, that combination represents a significant advancement in how humans relate to AI, say robot makers. 

Other sex robot sellers are also seeing a big boost in business. Michael Chan, owner of Green Earth Robotics in Ontario, Canada, says he is selling two or three sex robots a day at around $3,000 apiece, compared to around one a day before quarantine. Most of his customers, he says, seem to be divorced men in their 50s and 60s, based on his conversations with them. 

"This is a growing market," he said. 

Despite this apparent boom, however, experts aren't so sure humans are prepared for intimate relationships with machines, with risks including injuries and vulnerability to cyberattacks. 

The dolls have been getting smarter for decades

For 20 years, McMullen has made progressively more realistic male and female sex dolls, which come in more than a dozen body types, a dozen face types, and which can be placed in hundreds of positions. 

Harmony, McMullen's $12,000 top seller, is a doll with feminine features and a Scottish accent that can be taught "anything your heart desires," as she put it when we "interviewed" her on a Zoom call. Harmony correctly gave the  date and time when asked, and added "It's time for you to come over and give me a kiss." Lines like that are built-in when you buy the robot. 

We asked Harmony if robots like her posed a threat to human relationships.

"Synthetic companionship can be a viable option for certain people. You don't need to think of it as a competition with real relationships," she said.

You can watch Harmony in action on a video conference call between Business Insider, McMullen, and the Harmony and Henry dolls, in which the robots interacted very much like humans:

Here's another clip:

The fully robotic head – which blinks, moves its eyes, and moves its mouth when it talks – allows the doll to converse using natural language processing; a combination of AI and linguistics that "learns" to converse better by evaluating past conversations. McMullen says the robot's personalities are programmable, and the AI causes a relationship with them to grow in a way similar to the increasing bond of human relationships. For instance, the robot will remember how many siblings you have, what movies you like, or that you don't like it when they call you a certain nickname. 

Right now, hundreds of AI-empowered sex robots around the world are growing in their understanding of their owners, and improving their ability to converse with them.

McMullen believes that conversing with a realistic doll that learns about you could help people that are otherwise struggling. "Some of our customers may be lonely, or just out of a difficult relationship. They may not be ready for another relationship with another person – and finding that is especially difficult right now." 

A 2007 movie starring Ryan Gosling called "Lars and the Real Girl" touches on that idea, telling the story of how a socially-isolated man's personification of a sex doll ultimately leads him to overcoming his intimacy and relationship issues.

Experts don't judge, but push for caution

Public policy experts are wary about potential ramifications of AI-powered sex dolls. A November study by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Duke University and others found that "more data are needed to characterize risks for sex robots and their AI capabilities, but government agencies must actively engage in gathering, analyzing, and acting upon the data." Otherwise, the study found, people could get hurt. 

First, there's the risk of physical harm: Christine Ogilvie Hendren, a research professor at Duke and one of the authors of the study, says users are reluctant to seek help when injured using sex toys, and accidents go unreported. The most likely health issue at this point is exposure to harmful chemicals through intimate contact with a doll.

There are surprising cybersecurity risks, too. In the same way that improperly-configured smart lightbulbs and internet-connected printers can leave consumers exposed to the risk of cyberattack, so too do sex robots open the possibility of an attacker making off with the user's personal data — or gaining control of the doll itself.

The intersection of all those questions means that there's going to have to be some kind of coordinated effort to regulate the safety and security of these dolls, especially as they become more popular.

"We don't need to be puritanical or judge what people are doing," Hendren says. "We just need to get the right expertise at the table that understands computer science and also the policy mechanisms, and do a real convergent, integrated approach to getting our arms around what are the possible problems."

Hendren says there's another reason to pay attention to this developing industry: Sex has historically driven innovation. Sex played a prominent role in making paperback books popular, she says, and the same is true for videotape, and the streaming internet. Sex robots may show us the way to other innovation. "We want to make sure that it doesn't proceed unexamined because of the potential implications that go way beyond the sexual," she says. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak

• Tech companies are starting to reveal their plans for sending employees back to the office in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. 
• While many companies have said their employees can continue working remotely, others, like Apple, have had workers reporting to their jobs since May. 
• Regardless of when tech companies return to full capacity, the open-floor-plan office and free snacks Silicon Valley is famous for seem like a thing of the past.
• Companies like Facebook and Google are eliminating all-you-can-eat cafeterias in favor of boxed lunches, and companies like Salesforce are adding glass dividers to employee desks. 
• Elevators and conference rooms will have limited capacity, and perks like gyms and nap rooms will be shut down completely. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As countries around the world begin gradually reopening businesses in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, tech companies have begun asking: what do offices look like after a pandemic? 

While companies like Apple have had employees reporting to the office since May, others, like Twitter and Facebook, have assured employees that while offices may reopen, employees won't be due back for the rest of the year — or longer— if they prefer staying home. 

But the tech world still has to decide what to do about the hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space in their portfolios, particularly in places like the San Francisco Bay Area, where companies like Salesforce and Google are based.

In Salesforce's case, the company wrote a 21-page handbook for reopening after closing its doors in March, according to The New York Times' Natasha Singer. Its plan includes rethinking some of the materials inside the office, adding glass dividers, and mandating social distancing, even in elevators. 

Here's how major tech companies are thinking about the future of their offices and their plans for sending employees back to work. 

Salesforce will eliminate its "huge jars of gummy bears" and institute temperature scans on every floor.

Salesforce is making sweeping changes to its offices around the world. Both the San Francisco Chronicle's Roland Li and The Times reported on how Salesforce plans to reopen its offices and bring employees back to work:

• Salesforce will require employees pass a health screening by filling out a survey online and recording their temperature
• Employees will be scheduled in shifts and be sent an entry ticket for the lobby of the building
• Employees will be asked to wear masks and sit six feet apart
• Temperature checks will be added on each floor
• Social distancing markers will be placed on the floor outside and inside the elevators.

The company is also looking at adding glass dividers between desks and surfaces that kill microbes, like copper and brass, the Chronicle reported. 

CEO Marc Benioff told The Times Salesforce's offices would be more "sterile" and "hospital-like" and that more light-hearted touches like trinkets on desks and "huge jars of gummy bears everywhere" will be eliminated as well. 

Apple will limit elevator capacity and offer nasal-swab testing for employees.

Apple started bringing employees back to Apple Park, its Cupertino, California, headquarters, in May. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the company put rules in place for how to make its offices safer, including:

• Having employees work from the office only a few days per week
• Mandating temperature checks and providing an optional COVID-19 test
• Limiting elevator capacity to two people at a time
• Closing employee kitchens and break rooms
• Asking employees to wear masks.

Facebook's office reopening plans include limiting capacity to 25% and placing employees on shifts.

When Facebook begins allowing some employees to return to work on July 6, it will be at 25% capacity. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Kurt Wagner, employees who work in divisions like hardware and operations will be asked to return then, as their jobs are more difficult to do remotely. 

Facebook is putting strict rules in place for employees returning to the office, including: 

• A limit on the number of employees in a meeting room
• Work stations placed six feet apart
• "Grab-and-go" meals instead of a buffet-style cafeteria
• Closing down the employee gyms 
• Banning outside visitors
• Masks for employees who are not able to social distance. (Some offices will mandate employees wear masks at all times.)
• Social distancing on employee shuttle buses.

Google will serve employees boxed lunches and eliminate perks like employee gyms and nap pods.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced last month that employees would start returning to Google's offices on July 6 in a limited capacity. But Google's offices will likely feel drastically different for employees. 

Business Insider's Hugh Langley reported on Google's plans for sending employees back to work:

• Google will institute arrival slots for employees each day to reduce the number of people entering the building at one time
• The company will add temperature checks, potentially both at home and once employees arrive at work. COVID-19 tests may be offered as well
• Employees will sit six feet apart, both at their desks and in common areas
• Masks will be required in shared spaces
• Google will stop offering breakfast and dinner, and lunch will be served out of individual lunch boxes rather than buffet-style
• Google will eliminate access to gyms, sleep pods, and massages.

• Screenwriter Gary Whitta hosts a talk show entirely within the game "Animal Crossing."
• The show has scored famous guests including Elijah Wood and T. Pain, and Danny Trejo just joined as a correspondent.
• Guest coordinator and stage manager Kate Stark shared what goes on behind the scenes on a virtual talk show. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Gary Whitta texted Twitch streamer Kate Stark the night before the first episode of "Animal Talking" premiered.

"You've gotta see what I have planned," he said

Whitta introduces the first episode as a "crazy experiment," hosting a live talk show streamed on Twitch. Within 24 hours of coming up with the idea, Whitta says he created the late-night set in the basement of his in-game house. In the first episode, which is nearly 90 minutes, viewers get a brief tour of the setup. First, he shows a side of the room with a mic stand, where he plans to do opening monologues.

The rest of the room is a detailed portrayal of a typical talk show set. Whitta sits behind a desk with a mug of coffee, stage lights, and a city skyline in the background. Next to him is the couch where guests will sit as they chat over Discord, the conversation streamed to viewers on Twitch. 

Kate Stark, a Twitch streamer and longtime friend of Whitta, was a guest on the third episode of "Animal Talking on April 29. As the show grew, she told Business Insider that she offered to help in any way she could, like by sending in-game clothing items, or moderating live chats, before starting her current role as guest coordinator and stage manager.

Stark, who studied stage management in school, told Business Insider that the coordination and multitasking necessary to making the show happen is the most difficult part, though it comes easily to her. Stage managing a show in a game like "Animal Crossing" means ensuring everything goes smoothly and audio works. 

"Mentally and emotionally, it's been really special to engross myself in this beautiful island world where my biggest concern is getting stung by a wasp," Stark said.

Before every episode, guests fly to Whitta's island for a pre-interview, where they tour the island and get comfortable. Backstage during the live show, Stark coordinates two separate Discord voice channels. One is the green room, backstage channel, which does not stream to audiences, while the other is audio for the show.

She remains in the greenroom channel for the entirety of the episode, checking on audio levels. Stark answers questions for guests who are not used to appearing on virtual talk shows and makes sure there are no distracting noises in the background. When it's time for them to go on the live show, she moves them into the correct Discord channel.

The showrunners often find guests through Twitter, they either reach out, or Whitta approaches them. Whenever a celebrity talks about playing "Animal Crossing," fans are quick to call it to their attention. Not all guests play, but "We'd rather have a guest that really enjoys the game," Stark told Business Insider, mentioning actors Danny Trejo and Elijah Wood. 

"You don't really think of Machete as loving 'Animal Crossing' ... Danny is so incredibly sweet, actually passionate about the game" Stark told Business Insider.

Trejo is such a big "Animal Crossing" fan that he recently joined the show as a correspondent. On the first episode of "Danny's Diaries," he showed Whitta and viewers around his island.

Trejo showed off his island introduced some of his villagers. He has a taco stand and a gym on the beach where he works out.

Watching the video, it's clear that Trejo is a real fan, and he revealed that fishing is his favorite part of the game.

Stark says that all of the guests have been great, but she remembers T-Pain as an "especially boisterous guest — so much fun in the greenroom and during the show." She remembers that he was excited to talk about his villagers and which ones he liked. 

The highlight of T-Pain's episode, though, was opening a gift. They always give guests a gift, and part of Stark's job is finding items for gifts and wardrobe for guests. "If Leah [Whitta] needs any item, I can source it with half an hour," she said. There are more than 4,600 different pieces of clothing in "Animal Crossing."

During the show, Whitta gifted T-Pain a crown worth 1.3 million bells, the in-game currency. "You could hear him screaming, he was so excited," Stark said, noting that he wore it for the rest of the show. 

So far, every guest has been a "dream guest," Stark said, but if she could pick, she would invite the cast of "Queer Eye" onto the show. Bobby Berk, the interior design expert on the show, has previously helped fans decorate their homes.

As for the future of the show, Stark hopes it continues as everyone goes back to their regular jobs, and the team has agreed to continue as long as everyone involved is having a good time. Season two is about to start, though at a relatively relaxed pace of one episode per week, compared to three per week in season one. Stark told Business Insider that they've already joked about Halloween and Christmas special, so the show could definitely continue even as regular talk shows go back on the air. 

SEE ALSO: This $172 'space-age' face shield that protects against coronavirus raised nearly $300,000 on Indiegogo and is shipping by end of June — see how it works

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• Cabana is creating mobile hotel rooms built on 2019 Ford Transit camper vans.
• The platform is currently only available in Seattle, but has plans to launch in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Denver, Colorado in the next year.
• The campers all include a queen bed, an indoor kitchen with a sink and refrigerator, stowable table, and a bathroom with a toilet and shower.
• Some builds also have an exterior slide-out kitchen unit and a pop-up tent.
• The booking costs change according to the time of year, but the vans are typically $200 per night.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Cabana, mobile hotel rooms built on converted 2019 Ford Transit camper vans, recently received $3.5 million in seed funding and is set to launch in new locations this year.

Cabana, which was founded in 2019,  functions similarly to an RV rental website, but with a more niche focus in converted Ford camper vans. All of the vans have similar set layouts and are owned by Cabana — instead of crowdsourced and rented like Outdoorsy — which means every unit can be serviced by the Cabana team and is guaranteed to be off-grid capable with its own power and water systems.

The company's converted Ford Transits — a popular camper van base— have similar features as any hotel room, including a bed, a bathroom, storage units, and a kitchen space, but with the added bonus of being mobile. Like many hotels, the booking price changes according to the time of year, but the typical cost is around $200 per night, including insurance, cleaning, and booking fees. 

Cabana has already launched its Seattle branch, where the startup is currently headquartered, but has plans to dive into locations across California and in Denver later in the year. This move to expand may also be coming at an ideal time: RV rental companies have seen a spike in bookings as more states have started coming out of lockdown. Keep scrolling to see more:

SEE ALSO: A $19,980 camper is mounted on top of a pickup truck and can sleep up to 6 people — see inside

The Cabana booking system is done through a mobile app, where all of Cabana's booking functions live.

Booking a Cabana van is as straightforward as booking a hotel room, but with the extra step of selecting a check-in and checkout location.

There are several check-in and drop off location options, including spots by the largest airport in each city that Cabana will be available in.

However, like any vehicle rental business, there are restrictions as to who can operate a Cabana van.

Only customers who have booked the reservation, are over the age of 25, and have a driver's license are allowed to operate the vans.

The Cabana app also serves a "concierge" for contactless check-ins and checkouts: the app can unlock the van to begin a booked journey.

However, there are mile limitations for the bookings. Customers receive 200 miles for the first night, and 100 extra miles for every additional night.

Any travels past that will be logged at $0.35 per mile.

The vans can accommodate up to four people while parked and two people while on the road.

The bed is lined with an eight-inch thick, 74-inch long memory foam queen mattress with four pillows.

The interior kitchen space include a 30-liter refrigerator drawer, sink, and hidden trash bin.

Cabana partnered with local companies for several amenities inside of the van.

For example, the single-serving K-cups for the coffee maker are filled with Storyville Coffee beans, and the cups are produced by MiiR, a climate neutral drinkware company. Both companies are Washington-based.

Even the bamboo toilet paper is locally sourced from Seattle-based Cloud Paper.

For meals or work on the road, there's a removable bamboo table behind the swivel passenger seat and in front of the pull-out third seat.

Like any hotel room, the Cabana vans are lined with a series of storage spaces, including a wardrobe, two cabinets for suitcases, and a rear gear garage for larger items.

Certain van builds also have larger storage spaces depending on other customer add-ons.

For vacations in the winter, the van includes a thermostat and heater that receives its power from the van's fuel supply.

But for summer trips, there's a ceiling fan to cool down the interior.

The van also includes a bathroom that consists of a shower and a five-gallon toilet.

The shower consists of a ceiling fan and complimentary shampoo, body wash, and conditioner. Its floor, table, and steps are made of bamboo for an extra luxurious and sustainable touch.

There's also an exterior shower that can be pulled out from the garage for a quick wash after a swim or a muddy hike.

Cleaning wipes and drinking water comes complimentary.

There are several light sources across the interior, including lights above the pillows and bed, bathroom lights, and lights across the general interior and exterior rear.

Cabana's units also include WiFi and a 24-inch smart TV by the bed for extra entertainment inside the van.

But for outdoor lounging, the vans come with camp chairs that can be used with pop-up tents that come with certain builds.

The pop-up tents aren't the extra optional add-on: some builds also come with exterior kitchens that can pull out from the garage space. These kitchens come with dual burner propane stoves, a sink, and counter space for food preparation.

The van's water supply is sourced from its 45-gallon fresh water tank that holds enough water for 80 minutes of showers.

The tank will likely need to be refilled every four to five days, according to Cabana.

Source: Cabana

There's also a grey water tank for waste from the sink and shower.

For charging electronics on the go, the vans are equipped with USB and electrical outlets throughout the interior, including in the garage and by the bed and kitchen.

All of these amenities are powered by two batteries, 200-watt solar panels, an alternator, and an inverter.

The batteries can independently last up to 18 hours without using the motor or solar panels.

However, the rental vans also come with plugs that allow for connection to shore power and water lines for a more steady source of electricity and water.

Cabana took several security measures in its vans to ensure the safety of its occupants, such as including a hidden safe in the van, implementing shades over every window, and using "industry-standard car safety measures."

• Dutch company Soel Yachts is releasing a line of solar-powered water shuttles.
• Two ferries in the Soel Shuttle 14 line are under construction for a resort in Bora Bora
• They are designed for luxury private tours or transporting up to 24 guests to a resort surrounded by water.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Luxury travel isn't just about top-tier accommodations and Michelin starred restaurants; travelers who can afford it are also interested in sustainability.

Soel Yachts, a Dutch company specializing in solar yachts, announced its Soel Shuttle 14 line, now under construction. The shuttle is another way to make the experience of staying in a luxury resort something guests can feel good about from beginning to end when even the boat from the mainland to the resort is sustainable and emission-free.

Sustainable travel can have different meanings, including trips that take into account the impact on communities they affect. In Soel Yachts' case, the company emphasizes that the solar-powered yachts are silent and don't rely on fossil fuels, meaning that they have a minimal impact on pristine waters and wildlife compared to traditional boats. 

Soel Yachts first released a solar-powered model in 2015, the SoelCat 12. Since then, the line has expanded to include this shuttle, with plans to eventually build a sustainable floating island. Here's a closer look at the Soel Shuttle 14.

SEE ALSO: This 193-square-foot prefab 'cocoon' tiny home with a 180-degree window was inspired by luxury hotels and can be put together in 2 days

Soel Yachts describes the ferry as a "sustainable water taxi."

This model isn't a yacht designed for staying on for extended periods of time, like some of the company's other models. Rather, it is for transporting guests over water, like to a luxury resort.

Two models are under construction for a resort in Bora Bora, both about 46 feet long and able to accommodate 24 passengers.

The design is scalable, though, and the company says it has plans to deliver different sizes to any destination in the world.

The interior is also customizable. One option is benches and storage to get guests to a resort efficiently.

Or, buyers might choose a more luxurious seating arrangement to make private tours more comfortable.

As a solar electric ferry, the Soel Shuttle 14 is silent and doesn't emit any pollution that would disturb the pristine environment.

The ferry is seen here next to the SoelCat 12, a catamaran that can take 12 guests on sunset cruises at the same Bora Bora resort.

Both are sustainable, relying on solar power rather than fossil fuels, using technology the company has been improving for years.

"Our clients want to be autonomous and no longer rely on the availability of diesel and petrol, while still approaching the performance of conventional powered boats," Soel exec Linda Brembs said. The Soel Shuttle 14 can go up to 14 knots.

Though the models currently under construction are for a Polynesian resort, the shuttle could also be used in rivers, lakes, or other coastal areas.

• Chris Cox, a beloved Facebook employee who quit a year ago amid clashes with Mark Zuckerberg, is returning.
• Cox and Zuckerberg disagreed with the direction of the company, including on plans to more closely integrate its apps.
• His return raises the question of what changed: Is Zuckerberg open to concessions, or did Cox change his mind?
• It will also help to alleviate tensions at the company, which is suffering from unprecedented employee unrest.
• Got a tip about Facebook? Contact this reporter at rprice@businessinsider.com or +1 650-636-6268. Anonymity offered.

There's a huge unanswered question surrounding the return of one of Mark Zuckerberg's most trusted lieutenants: Who backed down?

Chris Cox has rejoined Facebook as its chief product officer, a little over a year after he departed following clashes with the billionaire chief executive.

He returns at a crucial time for Facebook, as the company faces intense political pressure from both the left and the right, and dissatisfied employees are mounting an unprecedented public insurrection. Cox was well-liked at the company, a core steward of its culture, and his return has already been hailed by some critics and employees as a step in the right direction.

But in his first stint at Facebook, Cox was at odds with Zuckerberg over fundamental questions about the direction of the company's products.

Cox's exit, in March 2019, came as Zuckerberg was going public with his grand vision for the future of Facebook: a "pivot to privacy," which entailed an ambitious effort to knit its apps together, allowing users of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger to all talk to one another with added privacy protections.

Cox disagreed with Zuckerberg's stance on this — arguing that the apps needed to retain their own distinctive identities. Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier detailed this clash of philosophies in her book about Instagram's history, No Filter:

"Cox told Zuckerberg he needed to let the products build independently and not become too similar. 'They'll compete a bit with each other, but if we have more unique brands, we'll be able to reach different kinds of users.' He and [Instagram cofounder Kevin] Systrom had spoken extensively about using Harvard professor Clayton Christensen's 'jobs to be done' theory of product development, which states that consumers 'hire' a product to do a certain task, and that its builders should be thinking about that clear purpose when they build. Facebook was for text, news, and links, for example, and Instagram was for posting visual moments and following interests."

Here's Christensen writing in more detail about his theory for Harvard Business Review in 2016:

"We all have many jobs to be done in our lives. Some are little (pass the time while waiting in line); some are big (find a more fulfilling career). Some surface unpredictably (dress for an out-of-town business meeting after the airline lost my suitcase); some regularly (pack a healthful lunch for my daughter to take to school). When we buy a product, we essentially "hire" it to help us do a job. If it does the job well, the next time we're confronted with the same job, we tend to hire that product again. And if it does a crummy job, we "fire" it and look for an alternative. (We're using the word "product" here as shorthand for any solution that companies can sell; of course, the full set of "candidates" we consider hiring can often go well beyond just offerings from companies.)"

It's an approach that stands in contrast to Zuckerberg, who, Frier wrote, said he was "trying to build a global community—not a bunch of smaller communities." This is how Zuckerberg wrote about his ambitions for the app in March 2019— a more multi-modal approach where the apps become increasingly agnostic conduits for communication:

"People want to be able to choose which service they use to communicate with people. However, today if you want to message people on Facebook you have to use Messenger, on Instagram you have to use Direct, and on WhatsApp you have to use WhatsApp. We want to give people a choice so they can reach their friends across these networks from whichever app they prefer.We plan to start by making it possible for you to send messages to your contacts using any of our services, and then to extend that interoperability to SMS too. Of course, this would be opt-in and you will be able to keep your accounts separate if you'd like."

Ultimately, there's only one person who calls the shots at Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg. His plan went ahead, and Cox left.

A year later, and Facebook is at a pivotal moment in time. Hundreds of Facebook employees staged a virtual "walkout" from work in protest over its inaction on posts by Trump that Twitter said glorified violence, with dozens going so far as to publicly criticize Facebook on the issue — an unprecedented sign of dissent. Some even resigned.

These employees will now be closely watching Cox, to see how he grapples with the issues facing Facebook — and whether he has acquiesced to Zuckerberg's line of thinking. (Cox has also been publicly critical of Trump in his time away from Facebook, saying he "should not be our president.")

"This will be seen internally as positive — he's extremely well-liked/loved/admired. And viewed as a bit of the conscience of the company," said one former senior product employee. "His departure seemed to coincide with this harsh turn towards stances like anything goes on political speech. How his 'conscience' role stays consistent with [Facebook's/Zuckerberg's] current stance will be interesting to watch."

Multiple current employees who spoke out publicly to criticize Facebook in recent weeks have already tweeted in support of Cox's return. "OPTIMISM RISING," wrote one. "Some good signs," added another (while also referencing an expansion of Facebook's chief diversity officer's role and other initiatives discussed by Zuckerberg).

If Cox's return is a sign that Zuckerberg might modify his approach, this may help placate the internal critics. Alternately, Cox's explanations for how he made peace with the CEO's decisions may also go a long way to comforting aggrieved employees.

Do you work at Facebook? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

SEE ALSO: One of Mark Zuckerberg's key lieutenants is returning to Facebook, shaking up the company at a pivotal time

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• A trend in the autonomous-vehicle industry toward consolidation will accelerate in the wake of the novel coronavirus, three industry experts told Business Insider.
• Waymo, Ford Autonomous Vehicles, Cruise, Baidu, and Intel's Mobileye are in the best position to weather the fallout from the coronavirus, said Guidehouse Insights research analyst Sam Abuelsamid.
• Small startups and larger companies that haven't made much visible progress on self-driving tech — like Uber, BMW, and Nissan — will be in a more difficult position, Abuelsamid said.
• Do you work in the autonomous-vehicle industry? Do you have an opinion on how your company or the industry as a whole will handle the fallout from the coronavirus? Email this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.
• You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

There's been a trend in recent years toward collaboration and large fundraising rounds in the autonomous-vehicle industry as its leaders become more apparent. The economic impact of the novel coronavirus will expedite that process, three industry experts told Business Insider.

"We were already on a path for consolidation," said Matt Trotter, a senior market manager at Silicon Valley Bank who works with transportation companies. "Now, with the new environment, I think that's only going to accelerate it."

In the 2010s, some companies predicted they would have self-driving cars on the road by the early 2020s, but those plans have either been delayed or scaled back as it's become clear that developing safe and effective autonomous-driving systems will be harder than was first expected. That dynamic, combined with the fact that many companies working on the technology are not yet making money from it, will concentrate the autonomous-vehicle industry around a smaller number of larger companies as startups go out of business and automakers seek partnerships or abandon their automated-driving efforts, said Aakash Arora, a managing director at Boston Consulting Group who focuses on the automotive and mobility industries.

The trend toward consolidation is not new. Since General Motors bought the startup Cruise in 2016, there's been a wave of dealmaking around a technology that has the potential to transform consumer cars, ride hailing, deliveries, and logistics: Ford and Volkswagen invested in Argo AI, Toyota took stakes in Pony.ai and Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, Daimler and BMW formed a partnership around mobility and autonomy, and Hyundai and Aptiv created a joint-venture focused on autonomous vehicles.

Waymo, Ford, and Cruise are in a good position

According to the research firm Guidehouse Insights, the leaders in the autonomous-vehicle industry are not independent startups, but companies that combine the resources of a Fortune 500 firm with the kinds of specialized tech skills seen more often in Silicon Valley than Detroit. Waymo (an Alphabet subsidiary that was spun off from Google's self-driving car project), Ford Autonomous Vehicles, and Cruise topped Guidehouse's 2019 and 2020 rankings of companies developing autonomous-driving technology and mobility services. Those three, along with Intel's Mobileye and Baidu, are in the best position to weather the fallout from the coronavirus, said Sam Abuelsamid, a research analyst at Guidehouse Insights whose areas of focus include automated driving and mobility services. The common threads between them are strong technology and promising business models.

"It's not enough to just make an automated-driving system," Abuelsamid said. "You have to figure out how you're going to go to market with that."

In contrast, small startups that have yet to make much progress will be put in a difficult position, Abuelsamid said, as it was already becoming harder for them to raise money before the coronavirus spread across the globe. In recent months, Zoox (which has reportedly been in discussions to be sell itself to Amazon), Ike, Velodyne Lidar, and Kodiak Robotics have undergone layoffs, while Starsky Robotics has shut down.

"There's simply too many companies doing this right now," Abuelsamid said. "There was never going to be a market to have 70 different companies developing automated-driving systems."

Uber and Apple may have to abandon their AV efforts

But small startups are not the only autonomous-vehicle companies that will be challenged by the coronavirus. Larger and wealthier firms with little to show for their efforts, like Apple and Uber, may end up shutting down their self-driving-car projects, while automakers that are in a similar position — like BMW, Volvo, and Nissan — may seek partnerships instead of continuing to develop their technology in-house, Abuelsamid said.

"Although the current situation of course affects the automotive industry, our path to automated driving remains unchanged," a BMW representative told Business Insider.

An Uber representative highlighted the steps taken by the company's autonomous-driving program in 2019 and 2020, including launching data collection efforts in Washington, DC, and Dallas, resuming testing in San Francisco, unveiling with Volvo a production vehicle that could support fully-autonomous technology, and creating an advisory board focused on safety.

Apple, Volvo, and Nissan did not respond to requests for comment.

Consolidation is not likely to have much of an impact on the development timelines for self-driving systems, Arora and Abuelsamid said, but companies may shift their focus to business models that could be more lucrative in a post-coronavirus world or generate faster profits, like deliveries, fixed-route shuttles, and, Trotter said, logistics and trucking.

"The longer-term timeline should not change," Arora said. "It will just mean that we see fewer players competing more intensely, which is good for technology development."

Do you work in the autonomous-vehicle industry? Do you have an opinion on how your company or the industry as a whole will handle the fallout from the coronavirus? Email this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.

• Read more:
• MORGAN STANLEY: These 48 stocks could help investors who want to cash in on the electric-vehicle revolution
• Experts rank Tesla, Waymo and 16 other power players in the world on self-driving cars
• Tesla Autopilot's groundbreaking new feature gives it an edge over GM's Super Cruise, but Autopilot still has a big flaw compared to its major rival, an industry expert says
• Amazon could use its possible acquisition of the self-driving-car startup Zoox to make discounted robo-taxi rides a perk for Prime subscribers, Morgan Stanley says

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