• A 17-year-old New Jersey high school student has developed an Android app that allows users to record their interactions with police and then notify a loved one or share it to social media, like Instagram.
• Aaditya Agrawal told Business Insider that he was compelled to create the app in part after a close friend of his, who is Black, was pulled over without cause.
• "You see it in the news all the time, but when it happens to one of your close friends — and he tells you how it felt for that to happen to him — then you understand the significance," he said.
• Accountability in law enforcement has been thrust into the national discourse surrounding how Black Americans are treated by police even more so since the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd in May.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In 2018, Apple launched a series of Siri Shortcuts, one of which allowed users to record police interactions and then text a designated contact when they are pulled over with the footage.

The app, dubbed Police, has seen an uptick in use as the nation has erupted in widespread protests against police brutality, law enforcement's abuse of power, and systemic racism following the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Holding law enforcement more accountable has become a centerpiece of the national discussion, and technology could play a major role in it.

That mission has driven a 17-year-old New Jersey high school student to create an app that not only more easily records your interaction with police when you are pulled over but is equipped to instantly share the footage on social media platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

Aaditya Agrawal, a student at Livingston High School in New Jersey, told Business Insider he's been working on the app, dubbed PulledOver, for a while. But he has focused more heavily on its development over the past few months in light of the renewed sense of urgency surrounding law enforcement's treatment of Black Americans.

And he also has a personal motivation in seeing the app come to fruition — Agrawal said a friend of his, who is Black, recently was pulled over seemingly without cause.

"You see it in the news all the time, but when it happens to one of your close friends — and he tells you how it felt for that to happen to him — then you understand the significance," Agrawal said.

Here's how it works: You can download PulledOver in the Google Play Store, and you don't have to sign in or create an account to use the app. Simply add an emergency contact, and that's it.

"The last thing you want to be worrying about is how an app works when you get pulled over," he said.

If you get pulled over, you launch the app, which will take you to your phone's native camera app. Press record, then when you're done, you'll be automatically taken back to the PulledOver app and given the option to notify your emergency contact, or share it to social media.

You can also share the footage with others who use the PulledOver app, a feature that Agrawal said he hasn't seen yet.

"It's almost like a community where you can share videos — you can see how other people are being treated," he said.

Agrawal said another intended purpose for the app is to elevate the "many good police officers as well."

"If you share good police officers and you celebrate them, hopefully, it will inspire others to become better as well," Agrawal said.

The app officially launched on June 20, about a month after Floyd was killed.

Agrawal said the app currently has 350 installs, and he has yet to do any paid marketing for it yet, instead opting for word-of-mouth through friends and family. The app is currently only available for Android smartphones in the Google Play Store, but Agrawal said he'll have hopefully successfully translated it into iOS language by the end of the year.

He's also currently working with major organizations involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, like Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) and Campaign Zero, to build an app specifically for their communities.

But Agrawal said he's hesitant for the service to be labeled as merely a piece of software.

"I'm not really going for the app market," he said. "It's more like a tool for people who can use something like this when they need it the most."

SEE ALSO: 26 simple charts to show friends and family who aren't convinced racism is still a problem in America

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it's like inside North Korea's controversial restaurant chain

• NASA last week launched its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to hunt for signs of ancient alien life.
• Once on Mars, Perseverance will be powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. The nuclear "battery" is fueled by a rare human-made material called plutonium-238.
• Perseverance is just the latest in a long line of groundbreaking, plutonium-powered spacecraft that have changed our understanding of the solar system.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

NASA's latest car-size Mars rover, Perseverance, rocketed off Earth last week, kicking off a seven-month voyage through deep space to Mars.

The robot is designed to spend three years exploring the red planet's surface, hunting for signatures of ancient alien microbes, stashing Martian soil samples for future return to Earth, deploying the first-ever interplanetary helicopter, and paving the way for human explorers with a variety of experiments.

However, a device called a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator, or MMRTG, could power Perseverance for more than 14 years thanks to a unique nuclear material called plutonium-238, or Pu-238. The material has powered NASA spacecraft for decades, including some for close to half a century.

Pu-238 is a byproduct of nuclear weapons production. Unlike its sister chemical, plutonium-239 (which makes up the fissile cores of bombs), half of any amount decays within about 87 years. On a spacecraft, Pu-238's decay gives off lasting warmth that helps safeguard fragile electronics. Most importantly, wrapping Pu-238 with thermoelectric materials that convert heat to electricity, forms a bewilderingly long-lasting power source.

The space agency used to have just only 37 lbs of Pu-238 left to put inside a spacecraft — enough for another two or three spacecraft.

But NASA and the US Energy Department have resurrected Pu-238 production capabilities, helping provide enough material for Perseverance and future missions.

To tide you over until the Perseverance reaches Mars and begins its alien hunt, here are the 16 greatest Pu-238-powered US space programs of the past and present — plus more that have yet to launch.

SEE ALSO: NASA added 6 HD video cameras to its next Mars rover so we can all watch the first footage of a spacecraft landing on another planet

DON'T MISS: A forgotten war technology could safely power Earth for millions of years. Here's why we aren't using it

Transit satellite network

Physicist Glenn Seaborg discovered plutonium in 1940. Just 20 years later, engineers used it to build nuclear batteries for spacecraft.

In 1960 the US Navy took over an experimental plutonium-powered satellite program called TRANSIT to guide their submarines and missiles from space.

The first satellite powered by plutonium, called Transit 4A (above), reached orbit on June 29, 1961.  

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/o9h2-TfaITo?rel=0
Width: 800px
Height: 450px

By 1988, dozens of similar spacecraft — four of them using nuclear power sources — made up a rudimentary satellite navigation network.

Each satellite beamed a unique radio signal. With multiple signals coming from different orbits, the Navy could easily track its submarines and other wartime hardware.

But space scientists hit a snag early on: Their data suggested that spacecraft slowed down or sped up over certain parts of Earth.

When researchers mapped the anomalies, they realized that some regions of the planet were far denser than they thought, and that the extra mass — and gravity — subtly affected spacecraft speed.

The map of the anomalies (above) became the first of Earth's geoid, a representation of the planet's true gravitational shape. It's now essential to correcting the orbits of satellites.

Apollo surface experiments

Apollo 11 astronauts in July 1969 dropped off about 1.2 ounces of Pu-238 on the moon.

The material sat inside a device called the Apollo Lunar Radioisotopic Heater. The device kept a seismic monitoring station warm during half-month-long lunar nights, when surface temperatures can dip to to -243 degrees Fahrenheit (-153 degrees Celsius).

All subsequent Apollo missions used plutonium, but kept theirs inside of nuclear batteries to provide 70 watts of power. That's on par with an incandescent light bulb's energy use — and just enough to charge the electronics of surface experiments.

Above, astronaut Alan Bean pulls a plutonium fuel cask from the lunar lander during Apollo 12's first extravehicular excursion.

A similar nuclear battery from NASA's flubbed Apollo 13 mission survived reentry to Earth orbit. NASA suspects it landed somewhere in the bottom of the Tonga Trench in the South Pacific Ocean.

To this day, no one has found it, or detected any release of the material.

Nimbus B-1 satellite

One of the most important space missions powered by Pu-238 began with a disaster.

The Nimbus-B-1 satellite was supposed to use its nuclear battery to measure Earth's surface temperatures from space, through both day and night.

But when it launched on May 18, 1968, a booster failed and mission control blew up the rocket and spread chunks of spacecraft all over the Pacific Ocean.

All was not lost, though.

A crew recovered the battery's fully intact fuel casks (above) between California's Jalama Beach and San Miguel Island, demonstrating their robust safety design.

Nuclear engineers recycled the plutonium fuel into a new battery, which was used in the follow-up Nimbus III mission (one of the very first navigation satellites to aid search-and-rescue operations).

The Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 probes

NASA intended its Pioneer program of more than a dozen spacecraft to explore the moon, visit Venus, and monitor space weather.

But most people remember Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 for their daring flybys of never-before-visited outer planets. 

Pioneer 10 launched on March 2, 1972. NASA maintained contact with it until 2003, when, at a distance of 7.5 billion miles (12 billion kilometers), its radio signal became too weak to detect.

Using a 155-watt nuclear battery, it became the first spacecraft to cross the Asteroid Belt, visit Jupiter, and beam back images of the gas giant.

Pioneer 11, which launched on April 6, 1973, became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn. NASA lost contact with that probe more than 22 years after its launch, when it was billions of miles from Earth.

Pioneer 10 lasted significantly longer, launching on March 2, 1972, and sending its last, feebly detectable signal on April 27, 2002 — more than three decades of continuous operation.

Just in case the probes bump into intelligent aliens, each one carries a plaque to communicate basic information about the spacecraft's origin and creators.

The Viking landers

By the time sunlight reaches Mars, it's about 50% less intense than on Earth. Combined with a dusty and windblown environment, solar panels become a liability for surface spacecraft.

To touch down on the Martian surface for the first time in 1976, NASA built two Viking orbiters and a Pu-238-powered lander for each one.

Both landers carried stereoscopic cameras, a weather station, a shovel, and a soil-sampling chamber to sniff out signs of life 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) from Earth.

Neither lander dug deep enough to find water ice, and the soil experiment failed to detect organic molecules, though they did sniff out carbon dioxide — a gas emitted by most active lifeforms — when it introduced a nutrient-rich liquid to the soil.

Although non-biological soil chemistry likely caused the anomalous result, the Viking landers didn't labor in vain.

In addition to returning stunning views of the red planet (above), the landers made the case for NASA to send a flotilla of spacecraft to visit Mars, including the Phoenix lander, which found both water ice and the chemicals that may have tricked Viking's life-detecting experiments.

The Voyager probes

The Voyager probes, launched in 1977, capitalized on years of improvements in electronics over their predecessors, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, to return stunning views of the solar system — including a view of the Earth from 4 billion miles away that Carl Sagan championed.

At 13.9 billion miles (22.4 billion kilometers) and counting, Voyager 1 is the farthest human-made object from Earth.

It left the planetary solar system and reached the interstellar medium, or space between star systems, in August 2012.

Despite the vast distances and more than 40 years of operation, each of the Voyagers' three Pu-238-filled nuclear batteries allow the spacecraft to continue communicating with ground stations on Earth.

NASA expects each spacecraft to go fully offline by 2025.

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 also launched with a more advanced message for any intelligent life they encountered: a golden record full of images, audio and other information about Earth and its lifeforms. This time capsule of humanity is expected to last about 1 billion years.

Ulysses solar orbiter

To get into a peculiar orbit above and below the sun to study its poles, designers of the Ulysses spacecraft ran into a paradox: a sun-probing machine that couldn't rely on solar power.

Achieving Ulysses' orbit required flying to Jupiter, then using the gas giant's gravity to slingshot the spacecraft into a proper trajectory.

Sunlight is 25 times dimmer at Jupiter than at Earth, and solar panels would have doubled the spacecraft's weight — 2,500 lbs (1,130 kg) of arrays versus a 124-lb (56-kg) nuclear battery.

Ulysses launched in 1990, pulled off the Jupiter gravity assist two years later, and began its mission in 1994.

It lasted until 2009, when the decaying Pu-238's warmth faded enough that it couldn't keep Ulysses' hydrazine propellant from freezing.

Before it perished after nearly 19 years of service, however, Ulysses flew through the tails of several comets, explored the sun's north and south poles, and probed the solar wind.

Galileo Jupiter probe

Launched from the payload bay of space shuttle Atlantis in 1995, the Galileo probe used two nuclear batteries to give it 570 watts of power.

About enough to run a dorm room microwave, that initial output allowed Galileo to study Jupiter and its four large moons Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.

Space scientists operated Galileo for 14 years, eight of them spent around Jupiter.

To safeguard potentially life-supporting Jovian moons from any stray Earthly bacteria stuck to the spacecraft, NASA plunged it into Jupiter's thick atmosphere at about 100,000 mph (161,ooo kph) in 2003.

Cassini Saturn probe

Carrying a whopping 72 lbs (33 kg) of nuclear material — the most Pu-238 of any spacecraft ever launched — Cassini faced heated public opposition before its 1997 launch toward Saturn.

Some people were worried the material might spread during an accident in Earth's atmosphere during launch. They were also worried it might happen about two years after launch, when Cassini would make a speed-boosting gravity assist past Earth.

However, an information campaign — which included details about the many safeguards built into nuclear batteries— plus additional safety tests eventually quelled most of the public's fears.

Cassini's three nuclear batteries allowed it to beam back more data than any deep-space probe in history.

Vimeo Embed:
http://www.vimeo.com/video/24410924
Width: 800px
Height: 450px

Cassini arrived at Saturn on Christmas Day in 2004, dropped a lander named Huygens on the moon Titan, discovered moonlets in the planet's rings, recorded Saturn's polar auroras, zoomed through and "sniffed" the icy jets of the moon Enceladus, found evidence of a global subsurface ocean, and more.

But like Galileo at Jupiter, Cassini was to meet its doom on Saturn.

On September 15, 2017, NASA plunged the robot into the gas giant to prevent it contaminating any nearby moons that might harbor life.

The above "yarn ball" animation depicts all of Cassini's orbits from 2004 through 2017, including its final one.

New Horizons Pluto probe

New Horizons became the first-ever Earth visitor to the dwarf planet Pluto and its ensemble of moons.

It took nine years of travel — a journey it could not have survived without Pu-238.

The spacecraft launched in 2006 toward Pluto at roughly 36,000 mph (58,000 kph).

That was far too fast to dip into orbit around Pluto, but the spacecraft squeezed in a solid 6 months of observations around its flyby date of July 14, 2015.

New Horizons' single nuclear battery enabled observations of the dwarf planet and its five known moons — Charon, Nix, Hydra, P1 and P2.

From revealing the oceanic origins of Pluto's newly discovered heart to its giant tail in space, the spacecraft's photos and discoveries have proven remarkable at every turn.

Since departing the Pluto system, New Horizons has carried on in the Kuiper Belt to visit other trans-Neptunian objects.

On New Year's Day in 2019, the spacecraft flew by an object called 486958 Arrokoth— also known as 2014 MU69 or Ultima Thule. The two-lobed, red-hued, and seemingly pancake-like space rock is one of the most pristine and ancient in the solar system, a sort of "planetary embryo" that shows what rocky worlds were built by.

NASA is still determining which strange new planetary objects in deep-freeze that New Horizons will fly by in the 2020s and 2030s — follow-on missions that would be impossible without Pu-238.

Curiosity Mars rover (Mars Science Laboratory)

NASA's car-sized Curiosity rover landed safely on Mars on August 5, 2012 after surviving a harrowing descent known to engineers as the "7 minutes of terror."

The robot is equipped with everything from a stereoscopic camera and a powerful microscope to a rock-zapping infrared laser and an X-ray spectrometer to perform advanced science on the red planet.

Unlike previous wheeled rovers on Mars, which only used bits of Pu-238 to warm their circuit boards (and relied entirely on solar power), one 125-watt nuclear powers source feeds Curiosity.

The power source should be strong enough to keep the rover rolling around Mars' mountainous Gale Crater for about 14 years.

Curiosity harbors some of the last Pu-238 in NASA's old reserves. The spacecraft uses about 10.6 lbs (4.8 kg), leaving the space agency with roughly 37 lbs of usable plutonium.

The DOE and NASA have worked to make new Pu-238 and refresh about 35 lbs (16 kg) of material that has decayed over the years. Mission managers say a new robot-automated process can help them make nearly one pound (400 grams) of new material a year, working toward 3.3 lbs (1.5 kilograms) per year starting in the mid-2020s.

Though the price of Pu-238 is difficult to estimate due to shared infrastructure costs and varying output of the material, it likely costs thousands of dollars per gram, making it among the most expensive substances known by weight.

Perseverance rover (Mars 2020)

NASA used about one-third of what usable Pu-238 it had left to power the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission.

The rover is almost identical to Curiosity, but it harbors a unique new tool set to explore Mars — and comes with the first interplanetary helicopter.

NASA will attempt to land the nuclear-powered rover on February 18, 2021, at this location in Jezero Crater, where the space agency will collect its first Martian soil samples for a future rocket launch to Earth.

Dragonfly

NASA's next Pu-238-powered mission will be the Dragonfly helicopter, which aims to explore the skies and surface of Saturn's moon Titan.

Dragonfly is supposed to launch in 2026 and land in 2034. Once it lands, the drone will fly about five miles per excursion, racking up perhaps 100 miles total, to visually document the icy moon's features, sample its strange soils, and seek out possible signs of life on Titan's surface.

Pu-238 will be essential not only to powering the vehicle, but also keeping its components functioning in the minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 179 degrees Celsius) cold.

Space scientists have dreamed up many more plutonium-powered missions, including a nuclear-powered boat for Saturn's moon Titan (which may have the ingredients for life) and a long-lived orbiter of Jupiter's moon Europa (which is thought to harbor an ocean bigger than all of Earth's watery territory).

Though many have fallen by the wayside with technical, budgetary, and Pu-238 supply constraints, some may see resurrection as NASA and the DOE work together to reestablish American supplies of the unique nuclear material.

This is an updated an expanded version of a story first published at Wired by Dave Mosher, the author and copyright holder.

• The startup UneeQ has created a website that lets anyone build one of their digital humans for free and start talking to it.
• The new site is a sign of the growing access to conversational artificial intelligence and highly realistic on-screen personas — making a conversation with a chatbot just that much more personal. 
• UneeQ previously built a digital twin of a famous Swiss banker the investment bank UBS let clients engage with. It also counts BMW and Vodaphone as clients. 
• UneeQ's CEO says digital humans can be easier to talk to about delicate subjects, such as mental health. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A startup that makes highly realistic on-screen human personas – including a digital twin of a famous Swiss banker – has created a platform where anyone can create a digital human and talk to it for free.  

The new site is an example of the growing affordability of conversational artificial intelligence and digital humans – a way to make interacting with software a little more personal.

UneeQ has been working on digital humans – the hyper-realistic on-screen robots that look and act like humans – since 2010. The firm has worked with BMW, Vodaphone, and top banks in New Zealand to set up the digital humans as customer service helpers, giving a persona to the chatbots that have previously often been simply a box to type into. 

UneeQ has raised $11 million in venture capital, and boasts an artificial intelligence heavyweight — Salesforce's former head of AI, Richard Soucher — as an investor. A $5 million bridge round is coming soon, Tomsett says, and a Series B round is expected next year. The company has small offices in New Zealand, Austin, and San Francisco. 

"This is a giant leap forward in conversational AI," says Danny Tomsett, founder and CEO of UneeQ. The company's digital human creator website "eliminates a complex, multimillion-dollar barrier-to-entry," he says, and compares it to the way Squarespace has helped companies to easily build websites. 

The conversational AI market brought in $4 billion last year, according to Adroit Market Research, and is expected to grow 30% annually until 2025. 

'Judgment actually comes in hand-in-hand with human conversation'

The point of having a digital human that can answer customer questions is "to create a human connection and better online experience," Tomsett tells Business Insider. 

Some might say a highly realistic persona is still not a human, but Tomsett says digital humans actually have some advantages over the real McCoys. "Judgment actually comes hand-in-hand with human conversation, and with virtual humans we see a distinct advantage there." 

In one case, Swiss investment bank UBS built a UneeQ digital human double of its chief economist, Daniel Kalt, that meets with clients. "He's a well-known individual in Switzerland and so they wanted to recreate him and make him available for anyone for financial advice so we recreated him," says Tomsett.

UneeQ Creator, the startup's new website, allows anyone to create a persona based on UneeQ's stock of nine diverse young men and women digital humans. The free trial allows anyone to bring one of the personas to life and have a conversation with it. 

Companies that are impressed with the demo can connect the persona to their existing chatbot to integrate their natural language processing software. UneeQ says its platform integrates with major cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services Lex, Microsoft Bot Framework, IBM Watson Assistant, and others. 

The free demo digital humans and $900-a-month versions are "off the rack" pre-made personas UneeQ sells, but more expensive versions are customizable. 

In what the company says is a good example of the potential for the technology, legendary New Zealand rugby player Sir John Kirwan has used a UneeQ persona in a program to help people discuss depression. 

"For many people struggling with their mental health, going to see a specialist comes with fear of the unknown, anxiety or is difficult due to a lack of finances," Kirwan said in a previous interview about the UneeQ platform.  

UneeQ isn't the only one chasing this idea: In May, Japanese tech giant NTT announced new labs in Silicon Valley where it will build hyper-realistic digital twins of people for medical research. Those digital humans will be exact digital replicas of people for research purposes.  

A brief conversation with a UneeQ digital human

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why you don't see brilliantly blue fireworks

• Bill Gates says there's one massive problem with COVID-19 tests in the US: results take too long to come back.
• He said in a recent interview with WIRED that the majority of US COVID-19 tests are "completely garbage" and "wasted."
• To solve the problem of slow testing, Gates said medical providers shouldn't receive payment for COVID-19 tests unless they can produce results within 48 hours.
• He also called on Mark Zuckerberg to do more to combat the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories on Facebook.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Bill Gates believes one of the biggest roadblocks to effective COVID-19 testing in the US is "stupidity," he said in an interview with WIRED published Friday.

Specifically, Gates said most US tests are "completely garbage" because it takes so long to return results. Coronavirus tests across the US regularly take more than a week to return results, frustrating public health authorities who rely on timely testing data.

"Well, that's just stupidity," Gates said when asked about the delays in testing results. "The majority of all US tests are completely garbage, wasted."

The Microsoft founder-turned-philanthropist said he thinks there's a simple solution: Medical providers should only receive payment for tests if they return results within 48 hours.

"If you don't care how late the date is and you reimburse at the same level, of course they're going to take every customer. Because they are making ridiculous money," Gates said. "You have to have the reimbursement system pay a little bit extra for 24 hours, pay the normal fee for 48 hours, and pay nothing [if it isn't done by then]. And they will fix it overnight."

For years, Gates had warned that the US was unprepared for a massive pandemic. Since the onset of COVID-19, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has heavily funded testing and vaccine research.

Gates himself has also become the target of conspiracy theories stemming from his high-profile advocacy for a more robust response to the virus, including a false theory that Gates plans to inject people with microchips under the pretense of administering vaccines.

In Friday's WIRED interview, Gates acknowledged that conspiracy theories spread like wildfire on social media and suggested that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg should do more to combat misinformation on Facebook.

"I like Mark, I think he's got very good values, but he and I do disagree on the trade-offs involved there," Gates said. "We give literally tens of billions for vaccines to save lives, then people turn around saying, 'No, we're trying to make money and we're trying to end lives.' That's kind of a wild inversion of what our values are and what our track record is."

Gates also weighed in on the potential Microsoft acquisition of TikTok's US and international operations, calling President Trump's interference in the deal "pretty bizarre."

Read Bill Gates' full WIRED interview here.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The rise and fall of Donald Trump's $365 million airline

• Satya Kolachina quit his job in enterprise architecture and spent three years throwing himself into six AWS certifications. Now he's a cloud architecture with a 40% higher salary. 
• In a rapidly changing industry, IT certifications have long been a tool for engineers to stay current in their industry, grow their skillsets, and pivot to different career fields. Some of the best-paying certifications today are in cloud computing. 
• "In technology field, we have to adapt to new changes," Kolachina said. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After more than 30 years building out IT systems at Ernst and Young, Compuware, and BP, Satya Kolachina was ready for a change. He had recently been thrust into a job that required travel during the work week, more management than coding, and less growth, so he quit his job in 2012 — "a mid-age crisis," he called it — and spent the next four years bouncing between contract positions while looking for another full-time position in enterprise IT. 

"For years, I struggled very badly doing contract jobs — I didn't get a full-time job," he said. "So then I realized, okay, now time has come that I have to make another change."

Kolachina decided that he would dedicate himself to completing a slew of tech certifications. As the technology industry has crept into sectors like education, insurance, and finance, large companies and small startups alike are increasingly looking for an ever-evolving spate of tech skills. Companies started offering certifications to help developers understand their products inside and out, and prove to a potential employer that they had the right skills for a given position.

Some of the most sought-after certifications today are in cloud technology, according to technology skills company Global Knowledge Training, and that's where Kolachina decided to dive in.

"In technology field, we have to adapt to new changes," he said. 

He had been introduced to cloud technology when he was a solutions architect at BP, but didn't have the in-depth knowledge needed to become a full-time cloud architect. So, in 2017, he decided to focus on building skills for Amazon's cloud platform AWS. Over the course of few years he racked up six AWS certifications in security, DevOps, and solutions architecture, and ultimately landed a cloud architect job at an insurance company.

Kolachina spent $1,800 in certification costs for what amounted to a 40% higher salary than he was making in his old gig, because the AWS skills he learned were in high demand. 

"Previous technology experience is not valued unless it's in new technology," he said. "I'm maintaining my value from my past experience by applying it to this new technology."

Certifications have become crucial for software engineers at all levels: They allow developers to learn new skills and pivot industries without having to go back to school, and they also make IT more accessible to people who don't have a four-year degree. Plus, recruiters who aren't technically competent use them as a benchmark when interviewing developers. 

As valuable as they are now, IT certifications were historically looked down upon by the IT world. It took two decades after Kolachina moved to the US from India until sentiment changed in 2013 when AWS launched its own set, according to Vivek Ravisankar, CEO of technical hiring platform HackerRank. 

Previously, people in the IT field believed that certifications only proved that those that took them could problem-solve in specific niches and didn't necessarily have a larger understanding of software principles or the skills that would make them a successful employee. That all changed with AWS.

"The way that AWS certification happens is through real world problem solving. It's no longer just, 'Hey, here is just a bunch of multiple choice questions,'" Ravisankar said. "And now you actually see Google Cloud doing it, Microsoft Azure doing it."

Google launched the Google Cloud Certified program in 2016 and Microsoft Azure launched its Azure Fundamentals certification 2018. Now, these three platforms that weren't taught in schools nor shared as certification suites ten years ago can offer some of the highest paying jobs in the world.

"Technology keeps changing very, very rapidly," Ravisankar said. "What is more important is, are you able to learn a new technology that actually comes through, which it will inevitably?"

Kolachina is now a senior information security engineer at Wells Fargo, where he develops cloud security controls against data breaches. He still renews his AWS certifications to stay current and plans on adding the AWS Certified Networking Specialty to his list.

He has no regrets about his decision to dive into AWS certifications: 

"I would tell you very confidently, cloud is the future."

Read more: Meet the 54 most valuable enterprise tech startups, worth as much as $216 billion collectively

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why American sunscreens may not be protecting you as much as European sunscreens

• I got a sneak-peak at the dazzling ELS Studio 3D audio system, in a 2021 Acura TLX.
• ELS Studio 3D won Business Insider's Car Audio System of the Year award in 2018.
• An update to the system includes a pair of subwoofers, rather than a single unit.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In the world of car audio, there's a clear first tier, and near its top sits Acura's ELS Studio 3D system. It's so good that we named it Business Insider's Car Audio System of the Year in 2018.

"The ELS Studio 3D sounds incredibly real," I wrote.

"It doesn't sound like you're listening to a raw studio mix. But it creates a rich analog impression for music coming from digital sources. It's the kind of audio system that musicians appreciate because it can max out a mix, showcasing the skills of the players and singers as well as the engineers. More than any other car-audio system, it proves music is a team sport."

Now, in partnership with Panasonic, Acura has updated the system. The carmaker was kind enough to swing by my house with an all-new, 2021 TLX sedan and let me spend about half an hour in the vehicle with a pre-loaded thumb drive and an iPhone, to sample some sounds and CRANK IT UP!

Actually, I'm not KIDDING! I did crank it up — elevated volume without distortion is one of the things that the ELS Studio 3D system does exceptionally well.

First off, what about the new Acura TLX?

The TLX is new for its second-generation, and about to go on sale. I didn't drive the car, but I'm certainly looking forward to it. There will be two available engines, a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder, making 272 horsepower; and an all-new 3.0-liter turbocharged V6, making 355 horsepower. Both motors will be mated to a new 10-speed automatic transmission.

For those who dig driving and dig sport sedans, there will be an A-Spec trim level on offer, as well as a Type S high-performance variant.

OK, back to the music!

Let's start with the subwoofers

Subwoofers are tricky: sometimes, all they do is serve up bass, bass, and more bass. Thump-thump-thump! That isn't what the ELS Studio 3D system is all about, however. This setup is aiming for dynamic balance. 

So a new pair of trunk-mounted subwoofers provide a solution to the problem of too much bottom end.

The "13-cm, high-excursion speakers are corner-mounted at opposing 13.50 [degree] angles," Panasonic said in a statement. "This unique, innovative design dramatically reduces or eliminates extraneous rattles and vibrations, and ensures mechanical rigidity with accurate playback."

That's rather technical. The upshot is that you can crank any kind of music, but especially bass-heavy productions, and retain the 3D soundscape without feeling like there's a gorilla trying to escape from the trunk. Panasonic called the units "Twin Telford" subwoofers, in honor Thomas Telford, a Scottish civil engineer who lived from the middle of the 18 th to the middle of the 19th century and designed many roads and bridges.

A powerful system

I usually test high-end car audio systems using a combination of inputs from my own music library, Tidal's high-fidelity streaming service, Bluetooth, USB inputs, and SiriusXM (if available) and FM radio. If there's a CD player, so much the better. I used to plug into AUX ports, too, but the consensus these days is that USB is just as good.

With the ELS Studio 3D system, I used a thumb drive provided by Acura; it has a range of musical styles pre-loaded, including tunes from Steely Dan's greatest hits, considered by some audiophiles to be some of the best music ever recorded. The system magnificently enhanced "Gaucho," the Dan's 1980 release that was among the most intensively and obsessively recorded of the group's entire career.

I also accessed my own files, including "London Calling" by the Clash, an intense song that demands a lot of an audio system's true dynamic range (it starts out with a fierce midrange guitar riff, but then gives way to some serious bass). The ELS system handled it with aplomb.

Spectacular range

Classical, jazz, and contemporary pop were also effortlessly piped into the system's 710-watt amplifier, before being distributed to 16 channels and 17 speakers (two subwoofers, remember!). That's a full-blown setup; a 13-speaker, 550-watt alternative is also available, called "ELS Studio." The 3D, by the way, comes from four, roof-mounted speakers that Panasonic says can create a sound image that's suspended the middle of the TLX's cabin.

I even cued up the MC5's "Kick out the Jams," from the famous live record of the same name, released in 1969.

The album is a pretty ragged, intense, proto-punk anthem, and in my view, a stern test of whether a great audio system can reproduce the crude, exhilarating energy of a rock show. Let's just say I felt like I was in Detroit's Grande Ballroom, over 50 years ago, rather than in the driver's seat of a luxury sport sedan.

As with the system I evaluated in 2016, the new configuration was tuned by eight-time Grammy-winning producer and engineer Elliot Scheiner, who has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including the Eagles, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan (see above), and the Foo Fighters. Acura, Panasonic, and Scheiner have been working together since 2004.

The ELS Studio 3D system is, astonishingly, still going to be standard on the higher trims of the new TLX (those cars will cost a bit more, of course, than the base model, which should price mid-$30,000 range). It was worth it when it took home our top car-audio prize in 2018 — and it's now better than ever.

FOLLOW US: On Facebook for more car and transportation content!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tried $200 Bose audio sunglasses that can replace your headphones

• Apple refuses to allow major gaming apps from Microsoft, Google, and Facebook onto the iPhone and iPad App Store.
• The reason, Apple said, is because those apps provide access to games that haven't been rated by Apple's review guidelines.
• "Our customers enjoy great apps and games from millions of developers, and gaming services can absolutely launch on the App Store as long as they follow the same set of guidelines applicable to all developers," an Apple spokesperson told Business Insider, "including submitting games individually for review and appearing in charts and search."
• It's a policy that Apple applies to only game services while allowing apps like Netflix and Spotify to provide access to vast libraries that don't need to pass through Apple's App Store review process.
• Both Microsoft and Facebook are publicly pushing back on Apple's policy.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The only way to publish apps onto the iPhone and iPad is through Apple's App Store.

And if Apple decides an app you've submitted for publishing violates its publishing requirements, your app won't be available on the Apple App Store. 

Such is the case with a trio of apps from some of tech's heaviest hitters: Microsoft, Facebook, and Google all have major gaming apps that Apple refuses to publish. Microsoft's Game Pass, Google's Stadia, and Facebook's Gaming app all face roadblocks to publishing on the App Store.

The reason? Those companies won't submit each individual game to Apple for review.

"The App Store was created to be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for all developers," an Apple spokesperson told Business Insider this week. "Before they go on our store, all apps are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers."

Because each company isn't submitting each game, Apple is blocking the apps that enable access to those games.

"Our customers enjoy great apps and games from millions of developers, and gaming services can absolutely launch on the App Store as long as they follow the same set of guidelines applicable to all developers, including submitting games individually for review, and appearing in charts and search," the statement from Apple said. "In addition to the App Store, developers can choose to reach all iPhone and iPad users over the web through Safari and other browsers on the App Store."

Given that Apple allows services like Netflix and Spotify without reviewing every piece of content, why not allow a similar service for gaming?

The difference boils down to the medium, according to Apple: Games are interactive, unlike music and film, and there are consumer expectations baked into the App Store related to gaming.

Those expectations extend to game content, but also to searchability, in-app payment through Apple's built-in services, and App Store charts, according to Apple.

In order to get published on Apple's App Store, Facebook outright removed games from its Facebook Gaming app.

Google removed the core component of its app — the Google Stadia app on iOS doesn't stream video games to your phone, which is what the service exists to do.

And, for the time being, when Microsoft's Game Pass game streaming service launches on September 15, it will only be available on Android smartphones and tablets.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store," a Microsoft spokesperson said on Thursday. "Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content."

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg had similarly harsh words.

"Unfortunately, we had to remove gameplay functionality entirely in order to get Apple's approval on the standalone Facebook Gaming app — meaning iOS users have an inferior experience to those using Android," Sandberg said in a statement shared with Business Insider on Friday. "We're staying focused on building communities for the more than 380 million people who play games on Facebook every month — whether Apple allows it in a standalone app or not."

And in a thread on Twitter, the Facebook Gaming account went further. 

"After months of submissions and repeated rejections by Apple, we've had to remove instant games entirely from the standalone app," a tweet thread from the account said on Friday. "We can afford to spend ~6 months grinding thru Apple reviews, but many others can't. And while we could have tried additional appeals, we didn't want to hold back from launching the version for livestreamers and fans."

Google Stadia representatives didn't respond to a request for comment.

What happens next is anyone's guess, but without support for iPhones and iPads, ambitious services like Xbox Game Pass and Google Stadia will assuredly struggle. iPhone users account for nearly half the US market share of smartphone users, according to Statista, and iPad is even more dominant in the tablet market.

One thing is certain: Given how critical Xbox Game Pass is to Microsoft's future with the Xbox brand, we've assuredly not heard the end of this.

Got a tip? Contact Business Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (bgilbert@businessinsider.com), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

SEE ALSO: When Microsoft's ambitious 'Netflix of gaming' service launches in September, it won't arrive on Apple devices – here's why

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Leslie Odom, Jr.'s $500,000 gamble that led to a starring role in 'Hamilton'

Hello everyone! Welcome to this weekly roundup of Business Insider stories from executive editor Matt Turner. Please subscribe to Business Insider here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday. 

Hi everyone!

Matt is off today, so this is deputy executive editor Olivia Oran filling in.

We rolled out an exciting project this past week where readers can search for pitch decks from over 150 startups. For the past few years, Business Insider has published these decks to give readers an inside look at how successful companies persuaded investors to fund them.

Now, these decks have been combined into a single, searchable library, which you can explore here:

PITCH-DECK LIBRARY: Search through over 150 pitch decks that startups including Uber, Postmates, and Airbnb used to raise millions

In other startup news, Bradley Saacks and Meghan Morris reported on how some of the world's most well-known private companies like Sweetgreen and and Palantir have lost value since the pandemic's start, according to their mutual-fund backers.

And even before the pandemic hit, a survey of venture capitalists found that a majority believed unicorns were "significantly" overvalued.

But in an interesting twist, bankers and valuation experts see a potential quick fix to falling valuations: SPACs, which have taken Wall Street by storm over the last month. 

Read the full story here:

Big investors have been slashing valuations on stakes in private companies like Palantir and Sweetgreen. But bankers say there could be a quick fix.

We've also got some great advice on how to grow a startup from the cofounders of Monday Swimwear, who started with a $30,000 loan, were profitable in their first year, and doubled revenue every year since.

You can read that here.

Reach out to me anytime with feedback on our stories or tips we should be chasing! I can be reached at ooran@businessinsider.com. 

— Olivia 

'Big 4' salaries, revealed

Our most popular story of the week was a deep dive into salaries at the big 4 accounting firms.

Last year, firms PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, Ernst & Young (EY), and Deloitte — employed well over a million people. These firms are known for paying employees six-figure salaries right out of business school. 

To figure out how much accountants and consultants make at these firms, reporters Weng Cheong and Alex Nicoll analyzed the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification's 2019 disclosure data for permanent and temporary foreign workers.

For example, some analysts and auditors made more than $120,000 at Ernst & Young (EY), principals were given up to $950,000 in compensation at KPMG, and managers at PwC made $123,019 or more. 

You can read the full story here:

'Big 4' salaries, revealed: How much Deloitte, KPMG, EY, and PwC accountants and consultants make, from entry level to executive roles

More drama at Bon Appétit 

Reporter Rachel Premack has been covering drama at Condé Nast Bon Appétit title over the last few months, including revelations of a toxic culture at the magazine for its employees and contributors of color.

On Thursday, she reported that after weeks of contract negotiations, three Bon Appétit Test Kitchen video talent members said they wouldn't be in videos with the food brand going forward.

The three stars' exit slashes in half the number of people of color who regularly appear in Test Kitchen videos.

Leaning on Bon Appétit's videos for revenue seemed to be a winner for Condé Nast earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. However, as Rachel reports, "outgoing video talent said the publisher's video arm was more interested in maintaining the status quo — and the ultra-profitable videos centered on white food and cooks — than expanding the pay and video presence of their cooks of color."

You can read the story in full here:

3 Bon Appétit Test Kitchen stars are walking, in a sign that Condé Nast's burgeoning YouTube empire will never be the same

You can also check out an exclusive audio interview with Rachel about her reporting on Bon Appétit's toxic culture here.

 As a reminder, you can:

• Sign up here to get the top stories in healthcare delivered to your inbox every day
• Sign up here to get the top stories in advertising delivered to your inbox every day
• Sign up here to get Insider Today, a daily newsletter that offers exclusive insights on the big stories.
• Sign up here for our new daily finance email.

Below are headlines on some of the stories you might have missed from the past week. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it takes to be a PGA Tour caddie

• Amazon is in talks with the biggest mall owner in the US to take over retail space and turn them into giant Amazon fulfillment centers, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
• The deal could involve Amazon taking over spaces formerly occupied by Sears and JCPenney, both of which have filed for bankruptcy and closed dozens of stores.
• Amazon would benefit by gaining well-located warehouse space in cities and could decrease delivery time on orders, but fulfillment centers wouldn't attract much clientele to ailing malls.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Malls across the US — struggling to stay in business as shoppers increasingly turn to e-commerce— could soon be transformed into Amazon fulfillment centers.

Amazon is reportedly in talks with Simon Property Group, America's biggest mall owner, to turn empty retail space into Amazon warehouses that process and ship online orders, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

As part of the deal, Amazon could take over former anchor department-store spaces previously occupied by Sears and JCPenney, both of which have filed for bankruptcy and closed dozens of stores in recent months. Simon is pursuing an acquisition of JCPenney, which would grant the landlord more control over how current and former store spaces are used.

The deal could benefit Amazon by providing well-located warehouse space in cities across the US, potentially allowing the online retailer to decrease its delivery times on shipments. Some of Amazon's existing fulfillment centers already occupy old strip malls that have gone out of business.

Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty told Business Insider that the company would not comment on "rumors or speculation."

Mall landlords typically prioritize finding tenants that will bring in new customers, like stores and gyms. Amazon fulfillment centers wouldn't draw people other than their own employees. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional retail stores have seen revenues waver, while Amazon's sales have surged.

• Read more:

• Bankrupt JCPenney said it would have to close about 30% of its stores. Here are all the closures it announced so far.

• In their recent showdown with Congress, the tech titans argued they hadn't grown too powerful. The days that followed told a very different story.

• Shopify's CEO says Amazon isn't a competitor, but Amazon's CEO says it is. Here's what experts say the real relationship is.

• Real-estate developers are betting on a risky strategy to reimagine retail space as apartments or last-mile logistics in hopes of rescuing struggling shopping centers

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why you don't see brilliantly blue fireworks

With speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G, and latency up to 120 times lower, 5G is poised to revolutionize the tech industry.

Telecoms in 18 countries will roll out 5G networks by the end of 2019, which means the race to secure global 5G leadership is officially underway. Winning would allow the opportunity to shape the future of the telecommunications industry, and could come with more than a decade of competitive advantages.

As the biggest mobile market in the world, China is at the front of the pack of global 5G development. China is projected to have 460 million 5G connections by 2025, which would make it the largest 5G market worldwide. After largely missing the opportunity of the 3G and 4G eras, 5G leadership is a top priority for China.

In the 5G Snapshot: China report, Business Insider Intelligence breaks down the key components and advantages of China's 5G mission, and provides summaries of the country's 3 largest wireless operators.

This exclusive report can be yours for FREE today.

Join the conversation about this story »

Hi! Welcome to the Insider Advertising daily for August 10. I'm Lauren Johnson, a senior advertising reporter at Business Insider. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. Send me feedback or tips at ljohnson@businessinsider.com

A quick reminder that nominations for our upcoming list of marketing-tech executives are due by Friday. 

Today's news: WarnerMedia's shakeup, how TikTok influencers make money, AT&T's marketing cuts, and Amazon slashes marketing spend.

• New WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar made chnges on Friday to shakeup the media company's leadership, reported Ashley Rodriguez.
• Bob Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer; Kevin Reilly, HBO Max's content chief and president of TNT, TBS, and TruTV; and Keith Cocozza, executive vice president, corporate marketing and communications, are exiting the company.
• Ann Sarnoff will oversee WarnerMedia's expanded Studios and Networks group, and HBO's programming president Casey Bloys will take on responsibility of content for HBO Max, TNT, TBS, and TruTV.

Read the full story here.

Read the full story here.

Read the full story here.

Amazon's record profits last quarter would've been impossible without an accounting change and a huge spending cut. That raises questions about future earnings growth.

• Eugene Kim reported that Amazon saved nearly $2.6 billion in net profits last quarter by cutting its marketing spend and through a previously announced estimate change for its server costs.
• In a call with analysts, Amazon's CFO Brian Olsavsky said that the company cut its marketing spend by "about a third" in the quarter to focus on its supply chain that has taken a hit during COVID-19. The cuts are equivalent to a $2.1 billion dip in marketing spend that Amazon would have normally spent during the quarter.
• Amazon's growth in higher-margin businesses like advertising and cloud helped offset a dip in retail profitability during the second-quarter.

Read the full story here.

More stories we're reading:

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at ljohnson@businessinsider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.

— Lauren

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why American sunscreens may not be protecting you as much as European sunscreens

• This is a preview of The Internet of Things 2020 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.

IoT systems and solutions are iterating rapidly, and providers are coming to meet more and more of companies' and consumers' needs.

Emerging tools and technologies like smart speakers, machine learning, and 5G are enabling huge gains to efficiency and more control at home and in the workplace.

The continued growth of the IoT industry is going to be a transformative force across all organizations. By integrating all of our modern day devices with internet connectivity, the IoT market is on pace to grow to over $2.4 trillion annually by 2027.

To give companies insight into who's using IoT solutions, who isn't, and key trends in the development and deployment of IoT projects, Business Insider Intelligence conducted its fourth annual Global IoT Executive Survey.

The annual survey, combined with past iterations of the study, offers a longitudinal look at adoption of the IoT generally, anticipated trends and their realization, and the evolution of decision-making processes alongside other points of interest in the wider space. Our survey includes over 400 responses from key executives around the world, including C-suite and director-level respondents.

Through this exclusive study and broad-based research into the field, Business Insider Intelligence details the components that make up the IoT ecosystem. We size the IoT market and use exclusive data to identify key trends in the connected devices sector. And we profile the enterprise, governmental, and consumer IoT segments individually, drilling down into the drivers and characteristics that are shaping each market.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• We project that there will be more than 41 billion IoT devices by 2027, up from about 8 billion in 2019.
• 5G networks will figure into many companies' IoT projects before the year is out, with 39% of respondents to our survey saying they plan to support 5G in IoT products and services before 2021.
• AI and machine learning are critical systems that are continually evolving to provide IoT users with the tools they need to parse mountains of data and quickly discern usable insights, while edge computing solutions are growing more central to IoT discussions and increasingly sophisticated as companies seek to reduce data transmission costs and lower latency.
• The report highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers of adoption, major challenges and barriers, investment plans, and the types of solutions they're employing thus far.

In full, the report:

• Provides a primer on the basics of the IoT ecosystem.
• Offers forecasts for the IoT moving forward, and highlights areas of interest in the coming years.
• Looks at who is and is not adopting the IoT, and why.
• Highlights drivers and challenges facing companies that are implementing IoT solutions.

Companies mentioned in this report include: Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Attest, Audi, AWS, Baidu, Blink, Carbon Black, China, Mobile, China UnionPay, Cisco, Cimcon, Deutsche Telekom, eero, enSilo, Ericsson, Etisalat, Foninet, Goldman Sachs, Google, Google Cloud, Honeywell, Honeywell Connected Enterprise, Huawei, Internet of Things Consortium, Intersection, Jacuzzi, Michelin, Microsoft, NEC, Nest, NXP Semiconductors, Oracle, Orange, Particle, Qualcomm, Ring, Salesforce, Sidewalk Labs, Sigfox, Singtel, SoftBank, Software AG, Sprint, STMicroelectronics, T-Systems, Telefonica, Telstra, Tenable, Tencent, Tolaga Research, Verizon, VMWare, Z-Wave, ZigBee.

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

1. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now
2. Sign up for Connectivity & Tech Pro , Business Insider Intelligence's expert product suite keeping you up-to-date on the people, technologies, trends, and companies shaping the future of connectivity, delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >>Get Started
3. Check to see if you already have access to Business Insider Intelligence through your company, or inquire about access if you don't. >> Check If You Have Enterprise Access
4. Current subscribers can read the report here.

Join the conversation about this story »

• A shift to remote working could shake up America's tech ecosystem.
• Within five years, 43% of jobs could be based outside of the US state they are currently in, according to a survey from Remote and Sapio Research.
• The survey also found that 71% of employees at US tech startups would move to a different country if they could do their job remotely.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

New data reveals how a shift to remote working could change the landscape of America's tech ecosystem. 

A survey of 764 employees from HR company Remote and Sapio Research found that 71% of employees at tech startups in the US would move to a different country if they could do their job remotely.

The most popular destination to relocate to is another country in North America (14%), followed by Northern Europe (13%).

A further 12% would relocate to a different US state given the choice. 

"A lot is changing in this moment and we're not necessarily going to go back to the way things once were," says Russell Murphy, communications director for San Francisco-headquartered scooter startup Lime. 

Lime is one tech startup pioneering a flexible approach to work.

It operates in 120 cities across 30 countries and so most of its employees work in cities without an office, which has fostered a work-from-home-friendly culture, says Murphy.

Soon many other tech startups may also have a dispersed workforce.

Within five years, 43% of jobs could be based outside of the state they are currently in, according to the survey.

"I don't know that there will all of a sudden be a mass exodus from San Francisco," says Murphy. "[But] certainly you might see people move out of the city centre and move closer to Mountain View or Palo Alto."

One of the advantages could be access to overlooked talent from outside Silicon Valley — 61% of survey respondents think that entrepreneurs need to look beyond Silicon Valley to find the best talent. 

Lime has already reaped the benefits of global tech talent. 

"Because we can be so remote and because we're such a hyper locally-focused company, we want to make sure we're finding talent wherever we can find it," says Murphy. "Our culture and our policy on flexibility are both things that have had an ability to recruit that talent."

Remote working could also cut costs for startups. The survey found that tech employees were willing to accept on average a 17% pay cut if they could work from wherever they wanted.   

Silicon Valley is not the only tech hub that could be disrupted. 

A parallel survey by Remote and Sapio found that a third of tech roles could be remotely located outside of the UK in five years' time.

71% of employees at UK-based tech startups would move abroad if they could work remotely, with the most popular destination also being North America (16%), closely followed by Southern Europe (14%). 

The UK's tech employees also believe startups need to hire more diverse employees, with 63% saying that entrepreneurs need to look beyond London to find the best tech talent.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why American sunscreens may not be protecting you as much as European sunscreens

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday. Sign up here to get this email in your inbox every morning.

1. TikTok and Twitter are starting to talk about a possible combination, the WSJ reported. Amid President Donald Trump's threats to ban TikTok, or force it to sell its US operations, Twitter was reported to be in talks with the video-sharing app Saturday night.
2. TikTok is planning to sue the Trump administration over its ban as early as Tuesday, according to NPR. President Donald Trump's recent executive order banned US individuals and companies from engaging in "any transaction" with Chinese firm ByteDance, the app's parent company. 
3. Amazon reportedly wants to take over JCPenney and Sears stores to turn malls into giant fulfilment centers. Amazon is in talks with the biggest mall owner in the US to take over retail space and turn them into giant Amazon fulfillment centers, The Wall Street Journal reported.
4. Venture capital fund Sequoia Capital and the fund's global managing partner Doug Leone have been lobbying the Trump administration to find a solution that would keep TikTok alive in the US. Sequoia funds hold just over 10% in the company, a stake worth more than $10 billion, with the investor pushing White House contacts to solve the issue, the WSJ reported. 
5. Bill Gates called Microsoft's potential TikTok deal a 'poison chalice' and said 'who knows what's going to happen.' In an interview with WIRED, the billionaire Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates talked about the state of US coronavirus testing, vaccines, and Microsoft's potential TikTok deal.
6. Chinese tech giant Huawei is running out of processor chips to make smartphones due to US sanctions and will be forced to stop production of its own most advanced chips. Production of Kirin chips designed by Huawei's own engineers will stop September 15 because they are made by contractors that need US manufacturing technology, the AP reported.
7. Europe's tech unicorns are following Silicon Valley's lead on flexible working post-pandemic: in with long-term remote working, out with high-density open plan offices. Revolut, the $5.5 billion London banking challenger, says 70% of its employees don't want to return to working how they were pre-pandemic.
8. A 17-year-old high school student developed an app that records your interaction with police when you're pulled over and immediately shares it to Instagram and Facebook. Aaditya Agrawal told Business Insider that he was compelled to create the app in part after a close friend of his, who is Black, was pulled over without cause.
9. iPhone shipments could decline up to 30% if Apple is forced to remove WeChat from its worldwide app store. In a worst-case scenario, Apple's annual iPhone shipments could decline by 25–30% if it is forced to remove WeChat from its App Stores around the world, according to a new research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo viewed by MacRumors.
10. More than 70% of US startup workers would move abroad if they could do their job remotely, according to new research. Within five years, 43% of jobs could be based outside of the US state they are currently in, according to a survey from Remote and Sapio Research.

Have an Amazon Alexa device? Now you can hear 10 Things in Tech each morning. Just search for "Business Insider" in your Alexa's flash briefing settings.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Leslie Odom, Jr.'s $500,000 gamble that led to a starring role in 'Hamilton'

• The video-sharing platform TikTok has been the target of President Donald Trump, most recently through an executive order threatening to soon ban the app in the US due to its ties to China.
• ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, has talked in recent weeks with US tech companies, like Microsoft, about a potential TikTok US acquisition to appease Trump's concerns. However, the South China Morning Post reports these discussions are unlikely to end in a deal.
• Although talks may fall through, ByteDance has no plans to accept a ban. The company is reportedly planning to sue the Trump administration over the executive order as early as Tuesday.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the Trump administration has stepped up its attack in recent weeks against TikTok, citing national-security risks, the acquisition of TikTok's US operations by an American company — most likely Microsoft — has been painted as the lone option to avoid a ban. 

However, the South China Morning Post reports that acquisition talks for TikTok's US operations, are "unlikely" to end in a deal, lending support to the idea that ByteDance isn't ready to give up its monstrous American audience without a fight.

Microsoft's expected acquisition of TikTok's operations in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and China has an estimated valuation between $10 billion and $30 billion. But SCMP reports that the probability of the Microsoft-ByteDance deal's success was "not higher than 20 per cent," according to a source who said that Microsoft's initial acquisition offer was like "robbing the owner when his house is on fire."

NPR reported over the weekend TikTok is planning to sue the Trump administration regarding its executive order to ban "any transactions" between Americans and ByteDance — which faces vital questions regarding its legality and violations of First Amendment rights— alleging the company wasn't given "a chance to respond." The lawsuit, which could be filed as early as Tuesday, is the most concrete step ByteDance has taken thus far to show it has no plans to give into the Trump administration's directives.

In China, ByteDance and CEO Zhang Yiming have faced criticism for too easily giving into Trump by agreeing to hold talks with US companies about acquiring TikTok's US operations. To employees, Zhang defended the move as a "legal process" ByteDance had to follow.

Under Trump's executive order, ByteDance has less than 45 days to find a buyer. Since it was first reported in late July that Trump planned to take action against TikTok, Microsoft has emerged as the front runner. Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported Twitter was in "preliminary" talks about acquiring TikTok in the US.

SEE ALSO: Trump's push to ban TikTok in the US, explained in 30 seconds

Join the conversation about this story »

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

• Fitbit's chief marketing officer, Tim Rosa, quietly left the company back in May.
• A spokesperson told Business Insider that Mark Silverio, SVP, America Sales, has been given a broader role that includes global marketing.
• Rosa was a key player at the company. His departure comes as Google is trying to close a deal to acquire Fitbit.
• Are you a Fitbit or Google insider with more to share? Contact this reporter using encrypted email (hslangley@protonmail.com) or encrypted messaging apps Signal/Telegram (628-228-1836).
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Fitbit's chief marketing officer, Tim Rosa, has left the company, Business Insider has learned.

Rosa, who departed back in May, according to his LinkedIn profile, oversaw brand and product marketing, advertising, events, as well as many of Fitbit's strategic partnerships.

A Fitbit spokesperson confirmed the departure to Business Insider and said that Mark Silverio, SVP, America Sales, now taken a broader role that includes global marketing.

The company did not comment on whether it would eventually appoint a new CMO. In an email to Business Insider, Tim Rosa said his departure was "amicable."

Rosa, who had been with the company since 2013, was instrumental in Fitbit's attempt to reposition itself more as aa services and data company – a way to fight back against Apple's growing dominance in the wearables space.

"We want to move away from being looked at as a device company," he told AdAge last year. "We want people to be on Fitbit, as opposed to having a Fitbit."

The departure comes as Fitbit is in the process of being acquired by Google. "I also worked closely with Google and felt they were the best company to take over Fitbit — and get it to the next level to fulfill the future vision," Rosa told Business Insider.

The $2.1 billion acquisition deal was announced last November, but won't close until antitrust regulators give it the green light.

Last week, the European Commission announced it would launch a deeper probe into the deal due to concerns over how Google may use the data collected from Fitbit devices for advertising purposes.

The prolonged investigation will extend the EU's deadline to pass or veto the deal until Dec. 9.

The deal is also being looked into by the Justice Department in the US, while Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission has also raised concerns over the data Google will acquire.

SEE ALSO: In their recent showdown with Congress, the tech titans argued they hadn't grown too powerful. The days that followed told a very different story.

Join the conversation about this story »

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

• Bain Capital Ventures partners Ajay Agarwal and Aeref Hilaly said that the firm is looking to invest in early-stage founders who can "create markets" and "change the world."
• Part of the firm's strategy is leveraging the larger Bain Capital network to assist with things like early customer acquisition and preparations for the IPO roadshow.
• Here's a look at what the 2 VCs look for in early-stage founders. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Bain Capital Ventures has built a reputation by backing later-stage growth investments in high-profile startups like SendGrid, which sold to Twilio for $3 billion, and DocuSign, which raised $629 million in an IPO in 2018.

But Ajay Agarwal, a partner with Bain Capital Ventures, told Business Insider that a number of their early-stage investments are currently on the unicorn track, including Moveworks, Redis Labs, Attentive, and JustWorks.

"We love meeting founders at the earliest stages," said Agarwal, who added that, while the firm is doubling down on Seed and Series A investments, it supports startups throughout their entire life cycle.

Agarwal said that his firm's geographic reach is much broader than many Bay area venture firms' territories, which he says don't extend too far beyond the highways that surround Silicon Valley.

When some investors go "east of the 101 or west of the 280 their networks get incredibly thin," Agarwal said.

Bain Capital Ventures, which has over $5 billion in assets under management, is the venture investing division within Bain Capital, a global private investment firm with over $100 billion in assets under management across venture capital, private equity, public equity, credit, life sciences, real estate, and impact investing. Bain Capital has offices scattered across 4 continents.

Bain touches "thousands of companies around the world," Agarwal added.

So if IPOs are on the horizon, Agarwal said, the firm connects its portfolio companies with Bain colleagues who run the company's private equity fund, which is separate from the venture arm, so that the startup can prepare for the roadshow with Bain affiliates who are familiar with the process of taking a startup public. The VC also said that their founders can draw on expertise from Bain Capital colleagues from other sectors, especially life sciences and real estate.

With all the expertise available inside Bain Capital's robust network, the venture capital wing can take risks on early-stage startups that may have great ideas, but need help shaping up to gain business credibility, the two VCs explained.

"It's the great entrepreneur that leads you to the market or creates the market," Aaref Hilaly, Bain's newest partner and a former Sequoia partner, told Business Insider in an interview. 

"We're looking for the outliers," Hilaly added. "We're looking for the incredibly bright misfits who have the imagination to dream about how the world could be as opposed to being constrained by how it is today."

Hilaly said that the team looks to partner with startups when they have an idea, but an imperfect plan: "It's rough around the edges and pieces are missing."

Some of the early-stage startups they invest in don't even have a website, Agarwal added. 

"Forget 'build a company' and forget 'get to profitability,'" Hilaly said.

Hilaly said that he places a great emphasis on the founding team and asks himself, "Is this a person that can create movement around the core of their company, that can really change the world?"

This search for unicorn-track, early-stage diamonds in the rough is well-illustrated by Bain's investment in open-source database company Redis, which based its core, free product on a programming language — especially hot among  data scientists  — called SQL, or Structured Query Language.

When Bain first participated in the Series A round for Redis, which now is the most downloaded SQL database in the world, Agarwal said that there was "tremendous download activity" and high "ratings and stars on GitHub."

But there was a catch: No robust money-making business model had been developed by Redis, Agarwal said.

Agarwal said that, back in 2013, he and his team were seeing a major shift from traditional SQL to NoSQL databases, so they invested in Redis and helped "to commercialize the success of the open-source product." They jumped in to assist the team with its product and market strategy, such as adding features to the commercial version of the database that users had to pay for. 

In 2018, Redis masterminded a plan to take on Amazon Web Services, as Business Insider's Rosalie Chan previously reported. 

"We helped them identify features that Amazon Web Services and other cloud vendors don't provide," Agarwal added, referring to the databases' ability to serve clients on premise in the client's offices, not only in distant third-party cloud servers.

In addition to helping the Redis team create a "capital efficient, tighter velocity, go-to-market model," the Bain team offered assistance with finding early customers as well as making key early and executive hires, Agarwal said.

Redis has received $146.6 million in total funding, and is on track to become a unicorn, Agarwal added, though he didn't reveal specifics.

SEE ALSO: These two VCs were hobby Bitcoin miners a decade ago, and now they've raised $110 million for a second fund focused on cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups

SEE ALSO: PITCH-DECK LIBRARY: Search through over 150 pitch decks that startups including Uber, Postmates, and Airbnb used to raise millions

Join the conversation about this story »

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

• Not all billionaires join the three comma club at the same age.
• Bill Gates may be richer than Mark Zuckerberg, but the Facebook CEO became a billionaire when he was nearly a decade younger.
• Oprah Winfrey became a billionaire at age 49.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When Bill Gates became a billionaire in 1987 at 31, he was the youngest person to ever join the three comma club. In 2008, Mark Zuckerberg took that title when he reached billionaire status at 23. 

But not all of today's wealthiest entrepreneurs saw such success at a young age: Larry Ellison was 42 when he made his first million and 49 when his net worth reached the billions.

Using an analysis of the Forbes' 2020 Billionaires List by British sports betting firm OLBG, we've broken out the ages at which Gates, Zuckerberg, Ellison, and 11 more of the world's richest people became billionaires. Here they are, listed in order from oldest to youngest at the time they reached billionaire status.

SEE ALSO: How old 17 self-made billionaires were when they made their first million

DON'T MISS: Meet the billionaire Trump megadonors who have founded some of America's biggest chains, from Home Depot to Ashley Furniture

Warren Buffett: 56

Today's estimated net worth: $79.7 billion

The investing legend and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway became a self-made billionaire in 1986 at age 56, Business Insider previously reported. His net worth passed $1 billion after Berkshire Hathaway sold class-A shares for the first time. 

George Lucas: 52

Today's estimated net worth: $5.7 billion

Lucas may be the brains behind two of the most well-known film franchises of our time, but he made most of his money by selling his production studio Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.05 billion in cash and stock in 2012, according to Bloomberg. He first became a self-made billionaire in 1996 at 52.

Carlos Slim: 51

Today's estimated net worth: $51.2 billion

The Telecom magnate became a self-made billionaire in 1991 at 51. Real-estate investments contributed to Slim's fortune. In 2015, he was the second-richest person in the world.

Larry Ellison: 49

Today's estimated net worth: $71.4 billion

The founder of Oracle became a self-made billionaire in 1993 at 49, Business Insider previously reported. Since stepping down as Oracle's CEO in 2014, Ellison has earned a reputation as a jet-setting, yacht-racing playboy. 

Oprah Winfrey: 49

Today's estimated net worth: $2.5 billion

The media mogul and queen of daytime television became a self-made billionaire in 2003 at 49, per Forbes. Winfrey's media empire led her to become the first Black female billionaire in history, Business Insider previously reported.

Meg Whitman: 42

Today's estimated net worth: $5.1 billion

The former eBay and Hewlett-Packard CEO and current Quibi CEO became a self-made billionaire in 1998 at 42. Whitman's net worth exceeded $1 billion after she took eBay public, per Forbes.

Sir Richard Branson: 41

Today's estimated net worth: $4.6 billion

Britain's high-profile billionaire earned his first billion in 1991 at 41, per Forbes. The Virgin Group founder became a self-made billionaire thanks to the success of his many companies — he has overseen approximately 500.

Elon Musk: 41

Today's estimated net worth: $68 billion

The cofounder of PayPal and Tesla Motors and founder of SpaceX reached self-made billionaire status in 2012 at 41 as the value of Tesla's stock soared, per Forbes.

Mark Cuban: 40

Today's estimated net worth: $4.2 billion

The "Shark Tank" investor and Dallas Mavericks owner became a self-made billionaire in 1998 at 40, per Forbes. Selling his first company, Micro Solutions, made Cuban a millionaire — selling his second company, Broadcast.com, made him a billionaire.

Jeff Bezos: 35

Today's estimated net worth: $188.1 billion

Amazon's founder and CEO became a self-made billionaire in 1999 at 35, when the value in Bezos' Amazon shares catapulted him from millionaire to billionaire status. Bezos, now 56, later became the world's first centibillionaire, Business Insider previously reported.

Bill Gates: 31

Today's estimated net worth: $113.5 billion

The Microsoft cofounder and noted philanthropist, now 64, became a self-made billionaire in 1987 at 31. When the value in Gates' shares surpassed $1 billion, he became the youngest billionaire ever at the time, Business Insider previously reported. 

Larry Page: 30

Today's estimated net worth: $66.8 billion

Google's cofounder, now 47, joined the three comma club in 2004 at age 30, when the company's IPO sent Page's net worth over $1 billion for the first time.

Evan Spiegel: 25

Today's estimated net worth: $4.5 billion

The Snapchat cofounder and CEO became a billionaire in 2015 at 25, when the value in Spiegel's Snapchat shares reached $1 billion, making him one of the youngest self-made billionaires. Spiegel is now 30, per Forbes.

Mark Zuckerberg: 23

Today's estimated net worth: $99.6 billion

The Facebook cofounder and CEO became a billionaire at age 23 after the social network's IPO in 2008, making Zuckerberg the youngest self-made billionaire in history at the time.

• VC Josh Elman, an early investor in TikTok predecessor Musical.ly, said he thinks Microsoft could be a good fit for TikTok if a reported purchase deal for its US operations goes through.
• President Trump has been pressing for a sale to an American company, and issued an executive order last week that would later ban TikTok from continuing US operations itself.
• But with parent company ByteDance's tech spread across multiple products, splitting up the app's operations could be difficult. 
• In his pre-VC career, Elman is known for serving in product management and other roles at company after company before they went public, including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Veteran VC Josh Elman, an early investor in TikTok predecessor Musical.ly, said he thinks TikTok will be in good hands if a potential sale of the company's US unit to Microsoft goes through. 

Microsoft has reportedly been in talks to acquire TikTok's US operations, which have been valued at $50 billion by some investors. And now the deal is being pushed by President Trump, who wants an American company to buy the US side of TikTok, which is owned by China-based parent company ByteDance.  

Elman called Microsoft "a great steward of important independent properties," like LinkedIn, Minecraft, and Github. 

"I have high hopes they could do the same here if this comes together," Elman wrote in an email exchange with Business Insider.

In recent weeks, President Trump has amped up the pressure on ByteDance to sell TikTok's operations in the United States to a US company, alleging that the app presents a risk that the Chinese government will use it to spy on Americans. TikTok is a popular social network based on shared short-form videos. 

Trump's threats culminated in dual executive orders Thursday night barring US companies and individuals from doing business with TikTok, as well as with Chinese messaging app WeChat. The orders are set to take effect 45 days from their issuance. TikTok characterized the Trump administration as showing "no due process or adherence to the law."

Elman, who was both an investor and board observer for Musical.ly before it was absorbed by TikTok in 2017 and rebranded, said the mechanics of the deal splitting off US operations are unclear.

"I am still confused as to what pieces they can truly separate out to operate for different countries," Elman wrote.  "I have heard a lot of the ByteDance technology is shared across products."

Back in 2016, Elman was celebrating his firm Greylock Partners' investment in music video-sharing app Musical.ly, which he saw as a triumph of cultural cross-fertilization between China and the US. 

"It's the first company to be headquartered in China, designed in China, but popular in the US," Elman said at the time. "Finally we're seeing talented people who live in that ecosystem in that world and actually transcend it and build products in the US."

Elman, now a board partner at Greylock, declined to comment about the current politics of the situation surrounding TikTok's ability to operate in the US, except to say "I don't know enough of the rules of each country to fully comment on the security concerns. It does look like an area where digital regulation gets more and more important."

CIA analysts said they have yet found no reason to conclude that Chinese government agencies are now using TikTok to intercept communications from US smartphones, The New York Times reported Friday, but also said it's possible that they could use the app to do so at some point.

Elman is known in the tech world for jumping into companies before they hit it big. He worked at pre-IPO versions of Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin before becoming an investor and joining Greylock. 

"What I like to look for early is a combination of a new product that serves a human need and early indications of meaningful retention, driven by a thoughtful and ambitious founding team," Elman said. "In the case of Musical.ly, there were building something different and special to harness people's creativity into a new form of entertainment, and the team and especially Alex Zhu were just so thoughtful about the product and what they could build."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How waste is dealt with on the world's largest cruise ship

• Recent alleged financial misstatements at a trio of startups highlights the much lower reporting standards for private companies.
• Unlike public companies, private ones aren't required by law to have their results independently audited,  and they aren't mandated to release quarterly or annual reports.
• What information such companies do disclose to their investors is typically governed by the contracts the two parties sign when investors buy stakes in the companies, but those agreements can allow the companies to limit the information they share with earlier backers or those with fewer shares.
• Although financial shenanigans can take place at both private and public companies, the fact that there's less information available to investors about private companies can make it harder for investors to assess their performance, startup experts told Business Insider.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

One of the benefits private companies enjoy is they don't have to follow all the rules that govern publicly traded ones, particularly when it comes to disclosing their financial information.

Those companies' investors may not have accurate or up-to-date information about them — and their management teams might be able to engage in financial shenanigans or even fraud a bit more easily — sometimes causing the investors to take big losses.

That even goes for the expert investors famous for conducting due diligence before they put up millions to fund tech startups — venture capital firms. 

In recent weeks, at least three startups have been reported to have engaged in alleged financial improprieties. The CEOs of two of those startups — Trustify and Youplus — have been indicted by federal prosecutors on fraud charges for misrepresenting their companies' financial results. The CEO of the third — HeadSpin — was ousted from his company in May, after its board launched an internal investigation into its financial results, according to The Information.

HeadSpin plans to return to investors $95 million of the $117 million in venture funding it has raised to date, according to The Information's report. It also plans to reduce its valuation by nearly 80%.

Oddly enough, although some of the VC firms that invest in a startup may have the right to review its financial condition and performance, other investors in the same fundraising rounds may not have that access. By contrast, a publicly traded company must reveal its financial condition not only to all its shareholders, but also to the general public. 

"Public companies have to put out there to the world lots and lots of information," said Herb Fockler, a partner in the corporation group at Wilson Sonsini, a Silicon Valley law firm well known for working with startups and venture investors. That information has to be audited and corporate leaders face severe civil and criminal penalties if they lie about or misstate it, he said. Compared with private companies, having to abide by such rules "makes it a lot easier to find stuff about public companies," he said.

Although financial malfeasance and misstatements can happen at public and private companies alike, the recent incidents involving HeadSpin, Trustify, and Youplus highlight the different, lower financial reporting standards for startups and other private companies, and the difficulty investors in such companies can face in trying to keep tabs on them. Those differences in reporting requirements have become more important to the public at large as everyday citizens and investors have become increasingly exposed to startups through mutual funds that invest directly in such companies or through pension funds that invest in them by backing venture or private equity funds.

Private companies face less strict financial disclosure laws

Federal laws and regulations require public companies to disclose their results quarterly to the public at large and to have their financial statements audited by independent accountants annually. Such companies have to disclose the results of those audits, including any problems the auditors find, whether in their numbers or in the systems they use to prevent fraud. They also have to disclose to the public in a timely manner whenever they have reason to believe that their financial statements may have significant errors.

The legal obligations for private companies are less strict, less well-defined — and not as well enforced, Fockler said. Federal securities law requires companies — public and private — to disclose "material" information to potential shareholders whenever the companies sell stock, and bars them from making misstatements about it. Certain state corporate and securities laws also require corporations to disclose financial information to their investors. 

But what counts as "material" information is fairly vague, Fockler said. Also, private companies generally aren't required to have their financial information audited or to disclose it to the public at large. And such companies often limit access to their financial results to only certain investors.

"I doubt that companies are sending out monthly financial statements to a lot of their investors," regardless of whatever obligations they may technically have under state laws, he said.

Investors and companies are often in a 'tug of war'

Instead, the extent to which startups disclose their financial results, to whom they disclose them, whether they have them independently verified is generally left up to what they negotiate with each of their individual backers, venture capital experts told Business Insider.

Often — but not always — investors will demand to see startups' financial results and even their contracts with clients before giving them new funding.

"Potential investors can ask for anything they want, and companies may or may not give them everything they want," said Sean Foote, a managing partner at Transform Capital. "There's a bit of a tug of war there."

Post-investment financial reporting requirements are typically included in the investor-rights agreements that startups sign with investors when they get new financing. Generally the companies' board members have pretty wide-ranging access to their financial information and records. The contract terms also could require companies to provide to investors things such as quarterly and annual reports and even monthly financial updates. The terms also often require companies to have their annual reports audited.

But those audit requirements are often left out or waived for early-stage companies, the experts said. When a startup has little to no revenue, spending its often limited funding on independent audit usually doesn't make much sense, they said.

"It's just expensive" to get an audit, said Robert Hendershott, an associate finance professor at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. And at young companies, "there's usually not that much going on."

It's much more common for mature startups to have audited financial statements. Typically when such companies have substantial revenue, investors will demand that they bring in accountants to verify their numbers. Audited reports are particularly important for such startups when they are preparing to go public or to be acquired, the experts said.

Some investors can be left out

But even when startups have audited financial information, it's not unusual for at least some investors to have no access to them, or even to the unverified financial updates. Typically companies limit disclosure of their financial information to shareholders who meet certain thresholds in terms of the amount they've invested or the number of shares they own.

Those thresholds usually go up as the company gets larger, raises more money, and new investors are brought in. So, even longstanding investors in the company can find themselves no longer getting updated information on its results.

"Particularly if you're a smaller investor, asking for copies of audited financials is often going be met with silence," said Stephen Palley, a partner at the law firm Anderson Kill, who works with startups and investors.

The thinking behind such limits is that responding to financial information requests from dozens of smaller investors is not worth startup managers' time, the experts said. Instead, such investors are supposed to trust that the board of the company will oversee its managers and make sure they're acting in their interests, and to understand that those managers need some freedom of movement to use their judgement to run the business, Palley said

But the result of such an approach is that in some cases even shareholders with substantial investments in startups can be excluded from updated financial information about them. In one particular case, a startup initially denied access to its financial records to one of Palley's clients, even though the client was one of the company's larger investors and had a stake that was worth more than $1 million.

"It took a lot of screaming and gnashing of teeth" to get the financial information, Palley said.

The lack of information can be costly

The inability of investors to keep close tabs on startups can be costly. In the case of Youplus, federal prosecutors have accused CEO Shaukat Shamim of bilking investors out of $17 million, which he allegedly used in part on personal expenses such as luxury clothing. Prosecutors charge Shamim gave them a fake bank statement that indicated the company had 35 clients and $600,000 in revenue; in reality, according to the Department of Justice, it had just one client and $65,000 in revenue.

Similarly, federal prosecutors charged that Trustify CEO Daniel Boice raised $18.5 million in funding from investors by falsely overstating the company's revenue and the amount of cash it had on hand and understating his own compensation. Prosecutors also charged Boice with diverting "several million" of the dollars he raised for the company to his own personal bank accounts.

At HeadSpin, its board launched an internal investigation in March, a month after it raised $60 million in Series C financing, according to The Information. The board brought in accounting giant KPMG to audit HeadSpin's books and then a forensic accounting firm to scrutinize certain transactions, according to the report. The investigation found that the company had just $15 million in annual recurring revenue last year, despite giving investors a forecast that it would have $100 million, The Information reported.

Got a tip about startups or venture investing? 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 startups and venture investing:
• Stanford business school graduates knew their classmates would soon found great startups, and they created a unique club to invest in them. The result is a $1.5 million fund bound by loyalty, community, and democracy
• One of the very few Black women VCs says diversity can slow down business decisions — but that's actually a good thing
• This Silicon Valley pharmacy raised $39 million in three separate rounds with the same bare-bones pitch deck
• This startup launched a drink-delivering robot but switched to a service that lets customers place their own food and drink orders. It just raised $3 million using this pitch deck

SEE ALSO: Meet the husband-and-wife team that run AngelPad, the exclusive startup accelerator whose early bet on Postmates just led to a $2.65 billion Uber acquisition

Join the conversation about this story »

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