All Activity

Prince Mohammed creates unit to combat prostitution and begging after years of loosening hardline social restrictionsView the full article

Brussels sought visit to mark 50 years of ties, but move adds to scepticism about warm words from BeijingView the full article

Federal investigation of initiatives is bosses’ ‘number one’ worry as Trump attacks ‘immoral discrimination’View the full article

Factors behind sharp rise in incapacity and disability benefits are complex and at times counterintuitiveView the full article

It’s a lot harder than it should be despite decades of corporate effortView the full article

A new study from American Express reveals that the majority of businesses are looking to improve their payments processes in 2025, with automation emerging as a key focus. The Amex Trendex: B2B Payments Edition survey, which polled 1,000 U.S. business decision-makers, highlights the role of streamlined payments in business growth, supplier relationships, and operational efficiency. Key Findings According to the study, 91% of business decision-makers recognize that “easy, streamlined and secure payments drive business growth.” However, despite this acknowledgment, only 17% of businesses surveyed have fully automated their payments processes, while 15% have not automated any payments at all. Late or slow payments have also had a tangible impact on business relationships, with 26% of respondents citing payment delays as a reason they have stopped working with a buyer or supplier. Additionally, four in five business leaders (82%) indicated that a single fraud incident could significantly impact trust in their business relationships. The Benefits of Payments Automation Automation in payments processing offers businesses multiple advantages, including enhanced cash flow visibility, more secure transactions, and increased operational efficiency. “Payments optimization is not always appreciated for its positive impact on relationships between buyers and suppliers and overall business success,” said Widad Chaoui, Senior Vice President, Corporate and B2B Solutions Product Management, Global Commercial Services, at American Express. “Automated payment methods like virtual cards or digital push payments drive more cash flow visibility, more secure transactions, and better relationships. They also give businesses greater working capital flexibility, enabling them to invest in moving their business forward.” Business leaders recognize these advantages, with 29% of survey respondents stating they would “sleep better at night” if they did not have to worry about payment accuracy and timeliness. However, perceived barriers continue to prevent many companies from fully embracing automation. Challenges to Automation Adoption Despite its benefits, the survey found that concerns around cost (45%), lack of perceived benefit (28%), and security risks (26%) are among the main reasons businesses have yet to implement full payments automation. “Often, it can feel like a daunting task for business leaders to change their payment processes from manual to automated, even if the current manual approach presents challenges, is insufficient, and poses risks,” said R.J. Ancona, Vice President and General Manager, B2B Product, Partnerships and Client Management, Merchant Services at American Express. “But the reality is that the time and cost associated with automation can be easier to implement than expected, and can benefit businesses in both the short and long run.” Automation as a Growth Strategy The study found that 95% of business decision-makers believe “easy, streamlined, and secure payments create happy customers.” In 2025, 43% of those planning to change their payments processes cite business growth as their primary motivation. American Express identifies several key automated solutions that businesses can adopt to improve their payments processes: Automated AP (Accounts Payable) and AR (Accounts Receivable) software solutions – Reduce errors, save time and money, and enhance cash flow efficiency. Straight-through processing for static and virtual cards – Fully electronic processing without manual steps. EIPP (Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment) – Streamlined electronic invoicing and payment acceptance. Digital Push Payments – Transactions initiated by the payer for greater control over payment timing and destination. As businesses look to improve efficiency and strengthen relationships with suppliers and buyers, automation is expected to play a crucial role in shaping payments strategies. The survey suggests that while challenges remain, the shift toward automated payments could drive significant benefits for businesses in the coming year. The Amex Trendex B2B Payments Edition survey was conducted online by Opinium Research on behalf of American Express between December 9, 2024, and January 2, 2025. The survey included 1,000 business decision-makers across various industries, selected based on their responsibility for financial services, accounting, banking, or business credit facilities within their organizations. Image: American Express This article, "American Express Study Finds Businesses Prioritizing Payments Automation in 2025" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A new study from American Express reveals that the majority of businesses are looking to improve their payments processes in 2025, with automation emerging as a key focus. The Amex Trendex: B2B Payments Edition survey, which polled 1,000 U.S. business decision-makers, highlights the role of streamlined payments in business growth, supplier relationships, and operational efficiency. Key Findings According to the study, 91% of business decision-makers recognize that “easy, streamlined and secure payments drive business growth.” However, despite this acknowledgment, only 17% of businesses surveyed have fully automated their payments processes, while 15% have not automated any payments at all. Late or slow payments have also had a tangible impact on business relationships, with 26% of respondents citing payment delays as a reason they have stopped working with a buyer or supplier. Additionally, four in five business leaders (82%) indicated that a single fraud incident could significantly impact trust in their business relationships. The Benefits of Payments Automation Automation in payments processing offers businesses multiple advantages, including enhanced cash flow visibility, more secure transactions, and increased operational efficiency. “Payments optimization is not always appreciated for its positive impact on relationships between buyers and suppliers and overall business success,” said Widad Chaoui, Senior Vice President, Corporate and B2B Solutions Product Management, Global Commercial Services, at American Express. “Automated payment methods like virtual cards or digital push payments drive more cash flow visibility, more secure transactions, and better relationships. They also give businesses greater working capital flexibility, enabling them to invest in moving their business forward.” Business leaders recognize these advantages, with 29% of survey respondents stating they would “sleep better at night” if they did not have to worry about payment accuracy and timeliness. However, perceived barriers continue to prevent many companies from fully embracing automation. Challenges to Automation Adoption Despite its benefits, the survey found that concerns around cost (45%), lack of perceived benefit (28%), and security risks (26%) are among the main reasons businesses have yet to implement full payments automation. “Often, it can feel like a daunting task for business leaders to change their payment processes from manual to automated, even if the current manual approach presents challenges, is insufficient, and poses risks,” said R.J. Ancona, Vice President and General Manager, B2B Product, Partnerships and Client Management, Merchant Services at American Express. “But the reality is that the time and cost associated with automation can be easier to implement than expected, and can benefit businesses in both the short and long run.” Automation as a Growth Strategy The study found that 95% of business decision-makers believe “easy, streamlined, and secure payments create happy customers.” In 2025, 43% of those planning to change their payments processes cite business growth as their primary motivation. American Express identifies several key automated solutions that businesses can adopt to improve their payments processes: Automated AP (Accounts Payable) and AR (Accounts Receivable) software solutions – Reduce errors, save time and money, and enhance cash flow efficiency. Straight-through processing for static and virtual cards – Fully electronic processing without manual steps. EIPP (Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment) – Streamlined electronic invoicing and payment acceptance. Digital Push Payments – Transactions initiated by the payer for greater control over payment timing and destination. As businesses look to improve efficiency and strengthen relationships with suppliers and buyers, automation is expected to play a crucial role in shaping payments strategies. The survey suggests that while challenges remain, the shift toward automated payments could drive significant benefits for businesses in the coming year. The Amex Trendex B2B Payments Edition survey was conducted online by Opinium Research on behalf of American Express between December 9, 2024, and January 2, 2025. The survey included 1,000 business decision-makers across various industries, selected based on their responsibility for financial services, accounting, banking, or business credit facilities within their organizations. Image: American Express This article, "American Express Study Finds Businesses Prioritizing Payments Automation in 2025" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Package aims to cut benefits bill by up to £5bn a year and includes measure to encourage return to workView the full article

Critics say rarely used authority could expand power to detain and expel people without due processView the full article

The skies over London could soon get a lot more exciting. Joby Aviation, the California-based electric air taxi company, announced an exclusive partnership with Virgin Atlantic on Saturday that it says will pave the way to launching its vehicles across the United Kingdom. The partnership will see Joby’s services integrated into Virgin’s app and website, and connect passengers at Heathrow and Manchester airports. Passengers will be able to reserve a seat on a Joby air taxi using Virgin’s app, the companies say. The announcement did not say when service is expected to begin. “We are delighted to be partnering with Joby to bring short-haul, zero-emission flights to airports and cities throughout the United Kingdom,” said Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic’s CEO, in a statement. “Our strategic partnership combines Joby’s expertise in design, engineering, and technology with the power of Virgin Atlantic’s brand and award-winning customer experience. We look forward to working together to bring Joby’s service to the U.K. and to deliver greater connectivity for our customers.” [Photo courtesy of Joby Aviation] Up in the air Joby’s air taxis, which have been shown off during exhibition flights in New York and other cities, are catching a lot of lift recently, with the company having inked deals with Uber, Delta Air Lines, and Toyota, along with raising hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. While waiting for the green light to start operating in full in the United States and the U.K., Joby is expected to start carrying passengers in the UAE as early as this year. Joby’s aircraft, known as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, can carry four passengers plus a pilot, and travel at up to 200 miles per hour. That means rapid transit around the U.K. with absolutely no emissions. While there is plenty of electricity in the air about these types of vehicles, they remain part of a speculative industry with regulatory hurdles and a ways to go before their path to the skies become clear. Joby Aviation stock (NYSE: Joby) has reflected this cycle of hype versus uncertainty over the last few months, rising significantly in the weeks following the 2024 presidential election only to fall again this year. Shares are down 22% since the beginning of January. Still, the company’s string of recent deals suggests it could very well defy gravity soon enough. “Virgin Atlantic’s commitment to delighting its customers is unparalleled and we couldn’t imagine a better partner to work with in the U.K.,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Joby’s founder and CEO. “Together, we are committed to delivering faster options for mobility across the country, including for Virgin Atlantic customers to get to the airport and move between U.K. towns and cities.” View the full article

Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell and award-winning creator Kenya Barris sat down with Fast Company’s KC Ifeanyi at the FC Grill at SXSW. The trio discussed The Unusual Suspects, Gladwell and Barris’s latest podcast series, as well as their business partnership and creative process. Stay tuned for key takeaways from their conversation and why The Unusual Suspects is a must-listen. https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Unusual-Suspects-with-Kenya-Barris-and-Malcolm-Gladwell-Audiobook/B0DNLMFCX7 View the full article

US president warns Tehran against supporting militant group which has disrupted shipping in the Red SeaView the full article

Zendesk has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Local Measure, a provider of Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and advanced voice solutions. The acquisition, expected to close in May 2025, aims to enhance Zendesk’s AI-powered voice capabilities and deepen its integration with Amazon Connect, Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) cloud contact center solution. Strengthening AI Voice and Enterprise CX According to Zendesk, this acquisition is part of its broader strategy to expand into larger and more complex service environments. “Voice is one of the most personal and powerful ways businesses connect with their customers and employees, and managing it at scale requires a solution that is both intelligent and adaptable,” said Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk. “By acquiring Local Measure, we are fast-tracking our ability to deliver a fully integrated, AI-powered voice solution that combines the strength of Zendesk’s platform with the flexibility, security, and scalability of Amazon Connect. This move positions Zendesk to lead in the next generation of AI-powered service.” Local Measure’s technology is designed for high-volume service environments and includes features such as AI-powered automation, sophisticated call routing, and real-time service insights. The integration of these capabilities is expected to improve customer service efficiency by unifying inbound service and outbound sales and marketing efforts. Expanding Partnership with AWS Zendesk stated that the acquisition will reinforce its partnership with AWS, leveraging Local Measure’s existing integration with Amazon Connect. “At AWS, we are focused on helping customers solve complex challenges at scale, and Amazon Connect is a critical part of that because it brings enterprise-ready capabilities that are global and AI native,” said Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of AWS. “We are excited to work with Zendesk and Local Measure to unlock new opportunities for organizations to benefit from Amazon Connect helping them improve customer experience and operate faster, smarter, and more efficiently.” A New Era in Cloud Contact Centers Jonathan Barouch, CEO of Local Measure, emphasized that the acquisition will streamline operations for Zendesk users. “We’ve worked closely with Zendesk as a strategic partner, and this next step means faster deployment, lower complexity, and cloud-native innovation making Zendesk a fresh alternative to legacy Contact Center providers,” Barouch stated. The proposed acquisition is set to proceed under a scheme of arrangement under Australian law. Closing remains subject to customary conditions, including shareholder approval from Local Measure and regulatory and Australian Court approvals. This article, "Zendesk to Acquire Local Measure, Expanding AI-Powered Voice Capabilities" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Zendesk has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Local Measure, a provider of Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and advanced voice solutions. The acquisition, expected to close in May 2025, aims to enhance Zendesk’s AI-powered voice capabilities and deepen its integration with Amazon Connect, Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) cloud contact center solution. Strengthening AI Voice and Enterprise CX According to Zendesk, this acquisition is part of its broader strategy to expand into larger and more complex service environments. “Voice is one of the most personal and powerful ways businesses connect with their customers and employees, and managing it at scale requires a solution that is both intelligent and adaptable,” said Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk. “By acquiring Local Measure, we are fast-tracking our ability to deliver a fully integrated, AI-powered voice solution that combines the strength of Zendesk’s platform with the flexibility, security, and scalability of Amazon Connect. This move positions Zendesk to lead in the next generation of AI-powered service.” Local Measure’s technology is designed for high-volume service environments and includes features such as AI-powered automation, sophisticated call routing, and real-time service insights. The integration of these capabilities is expected to improve customer service efficiency by unifying inbound service and outbound sales and marketing efforts. Expanding Partnership with AWS Zendesk stated that the acquisition will reinforce its partnership with AWS, leveraging Local Measure’s existing integration with Amazon Connect. “At AWS, we are focused on helping customers solve complex challenges at scale, and Amazon Connect is a critical part of that because it brings enterprise-ready capabilities that are global and AI native,” said Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of AWS. “We are excited to work with Zendesk and Local Measure to unlock new opportunities for organizations to benefit from Amazon Connect helping them improve customer experience and operate faster, smarter, and more efficiently.” A New Era in Cloud Contact Centers Jonathan Barouch, CEO of Local Measure, emphasized that the acquisition will streamline operations for Zendesk users. “We’ve worked closely with Zendesk as a strategic partner, and this next step means faster deployment, lower complexity, and cloud-native innovation making Zendesk a fresh alternative to legacy Contact Center providers,” Barouch stated. The proposed acquisition is set to proceed under a scheme of arrangement under Australian law. Closing remains subject to customary conditions, including shareholder approval from Local Measure and regulatory and Australian Court approvals. This article, "Zendesk to Acquire Local Measure, Expanding AI-Powered Voice Capabilities" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

"It’s a five-year degree for accounting versus four years for finance, and finance graduates often earn more." Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown Go PRO for members-only access to more Rob Brown. View the full article

"It’s a five-year degree for accounting versus four years for finance, and finance graduates often earn more." Accounting Influencers with Rob Brown Go PRO for members-only access to more Rob Brown. View the full article

Around 25 countries attended Saturday’s online meeting which came two weeks after London summitView the full article

Donald Trump’s temporary withdrawal of sharing information with Ukraine has galvanised Brussels’s effortsView the full article

Elite US schools including Harvard, Stanford and Princeton could see levies on investment gains raised as high as 21%View the full article

Earlier this week, Donald Trump staged what historians believe to be a presidential first: a stilted, fumbling White House press conference convened to boost the fortunes of a valuable donor’s floundering car company. “Wow, that’s beautiful!” Trump said to Tesla CEO Elon Musk as they climbed into a red Model S parked on the South Lawn. “Everything’s computer!” Holding a scripted sales pitch touting the brand’s safety features, self-driving technology, and low monthly payments, Trump assured reporters that Tesla is “a great product, as good as it gets,” and complimented Musk as a “great patriot.” He promised to buy a car himself, and pay with a personal check. In what I am sure is an unrelated story, Musk, who has spent most of his time of late laying waste to the federal government at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, is reportedly preparing to donate $100 million to Trump’s political operation. Trump did not stage this glorified infomercial because of his passion for hawking overpriced consumer products. Across the country, people have taken to registering their displeasure with Musk’s presidential cosplay by using the one tool available to them: protest. Demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms have become weekly events. Many Tesla owners, embarrassed to be associated with Musk, are trading in their cars, often at a loss. Tesla cars, dealerships, and charging stations have been targeted by vandals wielding everything from Molotov cocktails to dog poop. As it turns out, when the act of driving to the grocery store incurs a real risk that angry strangers will flip you off, cars manufactured by companies that aren’t helmed by too-online reactionaries become much more appealing. The backlash has made a bad year worse for Tesla shareholders, who have watched the stock plummet from an all-time high of around $480 in December to $220 as of Monday. Tuesday’s little dog-and-pony show helped the price to recover a bit, but by Friday afternoon, shares were trading at about $250—roughly half of their value just four months earlier.​ Musk, Tesla’s largest shareholder, has paid dearly for this collapse: His net worth, which Bloomberg estimated at nearly $500 billion in mid-December, now sits at around $315 billion. The company’s sales numbers, which are down by double digits in key international markets, do not suggest that a robust performance-based surge is on the horizon anytime soon. Pledging to buy a Tesla is not the only way Trump has used his bully pulpit for Musk’s benefit. Also on Tuesday, the president vowed to treat Tesla vandalism as “domestic terrorism” and to put perpetrators “through hell,” dispensing with typical politician rhetoric about bringing people to justice. In a March 10 post on Truth Social, Trump excoriated “Radical Left Lunatics” for “trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla,” which raises the possibility that the president believes people have a legal duty to buy cars to ensure that the world’s richest person stays that way. Tesla’s struggles, which yielded the enduring image of Trump grimly answering press questions in front of a hulking Cybertruck, expose the toll of Musk’s unpopularity in ways that the fates of his other companies cannot. X, the social media platform he bought in 2022, is a right-wing echo chamber where Musk can speak directly to an audience of acolytes willing to lap up any excuses for his failures like dogs on a warm afternoon. Earlier this week, Musk shrugged off a temporary X outage by blaming a “massive cyberattack” originating from Ukraine—an explanation that experts dismissed as “wholly unconvincing” and “pretty much garbage.” SpaceX, which has also sustained setbacks of the explosive variety of late, is a privately held company that relies heavily on government contracts worth billions of dollars. Even if this particular administration weren’t in Musk’s pocket, much of SpaceX’s business would be relatively safe, as there are only so many companies that manufacture rockets that deliver cargo to the International Space Station. Tesla is different. As a publicly traded company that manufactures consumer products, its performance is a pretty good barometer of the approval rating of the man who leads it; the numbers, as they say, do not lie. Trump is trying to bail out the company because it would be embarrassing for him, the Business Genius President, to preside over the spectacular implosion of the source of a valuable political ally’s wealth. Musk is glad to accept the help, of course, because the reality he’d otherwise have to confront is that normal people do not like it when an unelected, unaccountable tech executive attempts to take their jobs, splinter their communities, and ruin their lives. Protestors might not be able to stop Musk from hollowing out another agency, but if they can persuade fewer people to buy his ugly cars, they can at least make sure he pays for it. Shareholders have watched Musk’s extracurricular activities create and destroy value before: In late 2022, for example, Tesla’s stock price plunged to a two-year low after Musk took over at Twitter, as investors wondered if a man suddenly preoccupied with doing cringe memes was simply out of EV-related ideas. If you’d bought the dip and sold today, you’d still be doubling your money. But the furious national response to DOGE’s lawlessness is manifesting in the real world in ways that fleeting concerns aboutTwitter’s disintegration did not. Tesla’s brand is becoming more poisonous with each passing week. Tesla owners who aren’t yet ready to sell their cars are searching desperately for interim half-measures, slapping “I GOT THIS BEFORE ELON WENT CRAZY” stickers on bumpers. A few owners have even tried adorning their cars with other logos in an effort to go incognito—a gambit I cannot help but admire, given that putting Rivian iconography on a Cybertruck, one of the most distinctive-looking vehicles on the road today, is roughly the equivalent of affixing novelty cat ears to a Tyrannosaurus rex. Maybe the most ominous sign for Tesla’s future is that this time around, the investment community appears skeptical that Musk’s packed schedule of playing video games at the office will give him time to course-correct. A recent Morgan Stanley survey found that 85% of respondents believe Musk’s venture into politics has had a “negative” or “extremely negative” impact on the fundamentals of the business, and a bit more than half expect Tesla shares to continue to sink in 2025, or, at best, to remain flat. Because Musk has often obtained capital by borrowing against the value of his Tesla holdings, the company’s continued struggles could force him to sell off his shares, which would only cause the price to fall further. To a certain extent, Tesla’s value has always been inflated by Musk’s carefully curated image as a once-in-a-generation business talent, which he managed to parlay into the sort of household-name celebrity status that most CEOs only dream of achieving. Part of the reason Trump brought Musk into his inner circle in 2024—besides that sweet, sweet Silicon Valley cash—is that Trump built his political career on the idea that strong, respected businessmen possess the wisdom to govern in ways that career politicians cannot. Musk’s failures reveal just how wrong this premise has always been, which is why Trump was out on the South Lawn, demanding that people buy Teslas and pretending to marvel at a touchscreen panel: plutocracy is harder to maintain when the plutocrats look this feckless. View the full article

How brands reach consumers is always evolving. And at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW this past weekend, executives from Duolingo, NBCUniversal, and Creators Corp. discussed how they’re not only holding their consumers’s attention, but finding ways to embed their brands into their daily lives, primarily through branded entertainment. NBCUniversal: Find Ways to Engage Fans within an Experience When John Jelley, SVP of product and user experience at Peacock and global streaming for NBCUniversal, thinks about branded entertainment, he thinks about fandoms. From Love Island to The Traitors to Saturday Night Live, NBCUniversal has a wide array of IP with deep fandoms Jelley is looking to engage in broader ways through the company’s streaming service Peacock. In January, the company slowly began rolling out mini-games and short video clips within the Peacock app. And to Jelley, it’s been about providing casual entertainment but also leaning into the fandom these shows have attained. “I think it’s really important as well, not just to think about people coming in the game, but how are you’re going to get them to stay and feel progression. And so I think one of the things we’re thinking about is since we have these fandoms and people are kind of a little competitive, seeing where you rank against others in that fandom, Jelley said. “If the user can feel like you’re testing their knowledge and they’re themselves part of the game in a way and associated with the brand, they’re going to be much more open to playing it versus it feeling sort of somehow forced or non-organic.” Duolingo: Build your Brand with your audience Entertainment is core to language learning app Duolingo’s brand, said senior creative director James Kuczynski. Because the app is a gamified way to learn, everything revolves around “making it fun,” he said. Duolingo’s entertainment marketing plan focuses on creating brand partnerships that stand out and don’t feel boring, he noted. For example, when Squid Game’s first season launched on Netflix, Duolingo saw an increase in Korean language learning by 40%. So, with the release of season two this past December, Duolingo partnered with Netflix to launch the “Learn Korean or Else” campaign that played off of the rather aggressive tactics Duolingo’s viral mascot Duo employs to get users to stick with their lessons. “For us, it was really about tapping into that fandom—how can we help fans of a specific topic get the most out of what they love?” said Kuczynski. “And that really is the core question that we ask for every single partnership that we have. Because if we’re not adding value, then it just feels like another brand attaching themselves onto another IP.” Last year, Duolingo also made a deal with Sony Music last year to bring recordings from popular artists to the app’s music course, as well as teaming up with comic platform Webtoon for a series of digital comics featuring the app’s various characters—some of whom have become almost as popular as Duo. Case in point: the app’s angsty, emo teen Lily got her own sitcom Living with Lily in 2023. “We’ve really built our brand listening to all of our fans and followers. And I think that’s something that over the course of the last several years, we just keep leaning into,” Kuczynski said. “We’re looking for ideas that allow our fans and people on the internet to just create our brand for us. We listen to them, we lean in, and then we create content that they want to share.” Creators Corp.: Know where you Belong Over the past decade, brands have learned to “meet audiences where they are,” said Anne-Margot Rodde, founder and CEO of game studio Creators Corp., which partners with notable figures including four-time NBA champion Steph Curry, sports and comedy creators Dude Perfect, and others to create branded video games. In the gaming space, Rodde said that young audiences gravitate towards highly social games like Roblox and Fortnite—where creators can build whatever branded entertainment they want within the game. However, in creating this content, Rodde said that authenticity and recognizing what audiences want is key. “I think the place where there still needs to be improvement is really understanding the audience and understanding what works,” she said. “A lot of the time you see branded experiences where the brand is everywhere. It’s not something that the player necessarily wants to see in the game that they love and want to play.” View the full article

Until recently, David Friedman and his friends braved New York City parks and playgrounds to get their pickleball fix. They brought their own nets and line tape, avoided the broken glass, and adjusted to the weird bounces the ball took on cracked concrete. “We were competing with kids on scooters,” he says. Pickleheads in other cities think nothing of setting up on tennis courts, but Friedman knew better than to try that in Brooklyn. “Tennis players here will murder you,” he says. For a time, his group got their dinks in at some newly constructed handball courts, until those got too crowded. This October, Friedman did what a handful of New York City entrepreneurs have been doing lately: He opened a private pickleball facility of his own, called PKLYN, which added five bookable courts to the city’s rapidly growing total. Pickleball is America’s fastest-growing sport, as you’ve no doubt heard by now. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, a trade group, participation has increased by more than 220% since 2020. As the game has swept the country in roughly counterclockwise fashion, beginning in the Pacific Northwest and arriving in the Northeast by way of the Sun Belt and Southeast, the shortage of courts has been acutely felt in densely populated New York, where indoor and outdoor space are both at a premium. That’s beginning to change, because some of those new players have become entrepreneurs focused on building new facilities. “Everyone sees that as the primary [business] opportunity,” says Eric Ho, cofounder of NYC Pickleball, an online guide to the city’s pickleball courts and player communities. [Photo: courtesy CityPickle] And it’s an opportunity that businesses large and small are seizing on. CityPickle opened New York’s first pickleball club in 2022, a four-court indoor facility in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City. This past summer, it operated 32 courts around the city and sold a minority stake to ex-Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund. In another sign that serious investors consider the game more than a passing fad, CityPickle has expanded its partnership with the Related Companies, the real-estate developer that also owns SoulCycle and Equinox, in glamorous locations like New York’s Central Park and West Palm Beach. Life Time, the national fitness chain, has also bet big on the sport and recently built courts alongside swimming pools, fitness studios, and other amenities in its New York City locations. Meanwhile, smaller operators (especially in Long Island City, site of two recent openings) are also pinning their hopes on New York’s ongoing love of pickleball. PKLYN, which occupies a converted warehouse in the postindustrial Brooklyn neighborhood of Gowanus and charges up to $110 an hour, is aiming for more of a cool factor than most, with canned beers from nearby Threes Brewing and sandwiches by Alidoro. (Friedman, the facility’s operator and majority owner, says that two-thirds of his funding came from individuals, including local pickleball players, and that one-third was debt-financed.) [Photo: courtesy PKLYN] The courts are sleek gray and black, the exposed-bricks walls eggplant purple, and painted that shade not just for style points, either. Friedman notes that the dark colors—and the pointed absence of banners and other loud branding—make it easier to track the neon-green ball. And whereas other converted spaces around the city can feel cramped and awkward, he points out that PKLYN has abundant room between courts and 23-foot-tall ceilings that allow for real lobs. [Photo: courtesy PKLYN] Pickleball entrepreneurs in other cities have faced fewer architectural constraints. In Los Angeles, the organizers of an open-air weekend flea market have added three courts to their space on the roof of a parking garage. In Arizona, a company called Picklemall has set up in a 280-acre sports and entertainment complex. In hypercompetitive New York City, though, that kind of innovation can be harder. [Photo: courtesy PKLYN] “New York’s a pain in the ass,” says Friedman, a former real-estate lawyer. “Securing the real estate is one of the hardest parts, and being a great operator doesn’t mean you’re going to get a lease.” Though he eventually scored one, for 10 years and with a pair of five-year options—in a Brooklyn neighborhood, Gowanus, that is poised to become the next Williamsburg, no less—it wasn’t easy. Many of the landlords he approached were skeptical of leasing to a business built around a potential “fad,” he says, especially to a tenant with no track record. Those obstacles have been less of a problem for CityPickle, which has made a name for itself with seasonal courts in highly visible and heavily trafficked spots like Central Park’s Wollman Rink. The Manhattan-based company calls its 14-court complex there–which operates from April to October–the largest pickleball installation in the Northeast. (The new season begins on April 4.) It operates a total of six venues around the city, including the indoor club in Long Island City. Private courts there start at $40 an hour, whereas during peak times at Wollman Rink they go for $120. [Photo: Justin Steele/courtesy CityPickle] CityPickle has found the spotlight and some powerful partners in just two years—including Related Companies, the developer of New York City’s Hudson Yards (where CityPickle also has a showcase court) and part of the joint venture managing Wollman Rink. In November, CityPickle “activated” 13 new seasonal courts in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida, in a development built by Related ex-chairman Stephen Ross. In June, Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund acquired a “significant minority stake” in CityPickle. Cofounder Mary Cannon says that the company’s balance sheet and operational track record have positioned it to win contracts. It’s in the licensing process with the New York City Parks Department to convert a 60,000-square-foot former construction site under the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge into a recreational space that will include 14 pickleball courts, food trucks, and a dog run. Cannon describes it as the sort of “regenerative, place-making” project that city-dwellers crave. “Coming out of COVID, people want to connect, be social, put their phones down, move their bodies,” she says. “In five to seven years, we could see supply meeting demand in the suburban market”—but in urban areas, she sees it taking longer to fill that gap. She and Desai say they’d like to expand internationally, starting with Toronto and London. [Photo: Jane Kratochvil/courtesy CityPickle] The challenges of operating in New York City may be offset by the market for corporate events, especially as pickleball’s relaxed reputation and accessibility have made it a popular alternative to networking at bars or golf courses. “We’ve gotten good at offering top-tier events to top-tier firms,” says CityPickle cofounder Erica Desai. She adds that CityPickle’s dozens of New York City venues give it unmatched flexibility: When a Meta launch event for Threads at Wollman Rink was rained out earlier this year, CityPickle simply moved the event to its indoor facility in Industry City, Brooklyn. At around midday on a fall Monday—not exactly prime time—most of CityPickle’s Central Park courts were in use for lessons or casual play. A group of girls in uniforms from a neighborhood private school dashed on, but others were almost certainly out-of-towners. The spectacular location, with the Plaza hotel’s mansard roof just visible over the treetops, makes playing here something a visiting Texan or Arizonan would do between shopping at FAO Schwartz and catching a Broadway musical. “Pickleball tourism is a thing,” Desai says. [Photo: courtesy CityPickle] Meanwhile, on weekends, younger crowds would spread out on the courtside cabanas to drink mango “tipsy pickles,” a house variation on a margarita. When it is suggested that this sounds like a moderately more active version of the West Village brunch scene, Desai and Cannon nod in agreement. “We think of ourselves as a hospitality company. It’s about the experience, leaving people with a certain feeling,” says Desai. The feeling they’re chasing at the Life Time at PENN 1 is a bit more intense. Open since April, the 54,000-square-foot gym and health club in midtown Manhattan offers seven pickleball courts, 11 coaches, and many of the performance-enhancing perks and accoutrements enjoyed by tour-level pros. There are treadmills and Stairmasters for a pregame warm-up. There’s an app that will have a whey-protein smoothie waiting for you the minute you’re done playing. There are also stretch specialists, cryo-beds, hydromassage beds, and Normatec compression boots available for worn-out muscles. As Ryan Brister, a regional vice president of operations for Life Time, puts it: “Recovery, stretch, nutrition, all under one roof.” Life Time founder and CEO Bahram Akradi, an avid player, has vowed to make the company the national leader in pickleball courts and programming. The upscale fitness chain has more than 700 courts nationwide and aims to achieve 1,000 by the end of 2025. Akradi has also helped to engineer a faster, more durable pickleball—which was inaugurated at PENN 1 this past summer by retired tennis star (and Life Time advisor) Andre Agassi. “We want to attract, and have attracted, the best pickleball players in the area,” Brister says, adding that Life Time’s Manhattan two pickleball locations draw a younger crowd than its suburban one in nearby Westchester. This is a competitive crowd that has the will and the wealth to get better fast, he explains. Only the top-tier membership—which starts at $359 a month—includes pickleball, but it comes with unlimited pick-up or “open” group play, as well as private courts for $60 an hour. [Photo: courtesy CityPickle] The free city parks are at the other end of the cost spectrum, but according to Ho, the founder of NYC Pickleball, they have become less beginner-friendly. “On the public courts it used to be easy to hop in and learn the game. Now the lines are long and people don’t want to wait for someone who doesn’t know how to hit the ball. It’s more harrowing,” he says. His company—which he left his finance job two years ago to manage full-time—caters to new players by booking indoor basketball courts at schools and elsewhere and charging between $12 and $25 an hour for court time. Ho considers pickleball a “new third place” between work and home, and has been struck by the amount of community organizing it has elicited, in the form of WhatsApp groups, communal gear bins, and more. But he’s also watched the attitudes of New Yorkers change as more private courts have opened. “At first, everyone was like, ‘So expensive!’ But more and more people have come in, the free infrastructure is so limited, and it has become such an integral part of people’s lives—health-wise, mentally, socially,” Ho says. “Even people who are unemployed have to keep their membership! Because what else are they going to do? Pickleball keeps them sane and active. It’s worth it.” View the full article

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Here’s the annual U.S. household income needed to finance the purchase of the typical valued U.S. home: January 2020: $51,646 January 2021: $51,740 January 2022: $62,669 January 2023: $86,184 January 2024: $92,006 January 2025: $92,538 That’s a +79% shift in just 5 years. Methodology: This Zillow calculation is conservative and assumes a 20% down payment and the homebuyer spends less than 30.0% of their monthly income on the total monthly payment. This is a financed purchase, of course. For typical home value, Zillow economists used the latest Zillow Home Value Index reading. How did we get here? During the Pandemic Housing Boom, housing demand surged rapidly amid ultra-low interest rates, stimulus, and the remote work boom. Federal Reserve researchers estimate “new construction would have had to increase by roughly 300% to absorb the pandemic-era surge in demand.” Unlike housing demand, housing supply isn’t as elastic and can’t quickly ramp up like that. As a result, the heightened pandemic-era demand drained the market of active inventory and sent national home prices soaring. The typical U.S. home value measured by the Zillow Home Value Index in January 2025 ($356,776) is still a staggering +44% greater than in January 2019 ($247,106). That overheated home price growth, coupled with the ensuing mortgage rate shock, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumping up from under 3.0% to over 7.0%, has created the fastest-ever deterioration in housing affordability. This affordability squeeze has been broad-based. Below is what this analysis looked like in January 2020. Below is what this analysis looked like for January 2025. The problem, of course, is that incomes haven’t kept up. While the annual U.S. household income needed to purchase a typical U.S. home has increased by +79% between January 2020 and January 2025, average weekly earnings of U.S. workers have risen by +25%, and overall U.S. consumer inflation has grown by +23% during the same period. What’s the impact of this housing affordability deterioration? The biggest immediate impact of this affordability deterioration is that across the country, existing home sales have been constrained since mortgage rates spiked in 2022. Some of that’s the result of suppressed housing demand, but a lot of it is due to the fact that many homeowners who’d like to sell their home and buy something else simply can’t afford to do so or don’t want to part with their lower monthly payment/mortgage rate. All signs point to 2025 being another year of constrained existing home sales. View the full article

When both my picky kids discovered they loved eggs, it was a blessed relief for meal planning. After years of trying to find dinners that everyone was happy to eat, my kids’ affinity for eggs added quiche, frittatas, and omelets to our cooking repertoire. We now go through two dozen eggs a week at chez Guy Birken. Which means I have personally been paying very close attention to spiking egg prices. My local grocery store is selling a dozen eggs for $5.99—more than two times the price of eggs as of March 2024. If you’ve been wondering why you need a second mortgage to afford your breakfast, here’s what you need to know about this price eggsplosion. Supply and demand Even if you slept through your Econ 101 class, you probably remember the law of supply and demand: When supply is low and/or demand is high, prices increase. In the case of the humble chicken egg, supply is down because of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), aka the bird flu, while demand has remained the same, resulting in higher prices. Avian flu Since 2022, over 166 million birds have come down with this harmless-sounding malady, and over three-quarters of the affected birds are egg-laying hens. Millions of chickens have died and millions more have been culled to prevent the spread of this very contagious disease. The loss of so many chickens means there is a smaller supply of eggs, which has pushed up the price. Bird flu may be the primary driver of the eye-watering prices of a dozen eggs, but it’s not the only one. Garden-variety inflation has also affected the price of eggs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the unadjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 2.8% for the year ending February 2025. This may not sound like much—and it is only 0.8% higher than the Fed’s goal of 2% inflation—but it does have an effect on the cost of getting an egg from a hen to a dairy aisle when everything from chicken feed to gasoline is more expensive. Inelastic demand When prices for many goods go up, many consumers will substitute a different product. For example, if beef prices suddenly skyrocketed, a lot of shoppers would buy pork, chicken, or tofu instead. This is known as “elasticity of demand” and it helps keep prices somewhat stable. (Elasticity of demand is also why grocery prices tend to go up much more slowly than healthcare prices, since it’s easy to substitute one protein for another and impossible to substitute one prescription drug for another.) But eggs are an inelastic product. Even when their prices spike, people still buy about the same number of eggs. There are not many appropriate substitutes for eggs in applications like baking, and eggs offer a relatively low-cost source of healthy protein, even when prices rise. Since consumers continue to purchase eggs at about the same rate they always did, prices won’t go down until the supply returns to previous levels. Will egg prices keep rising? Like many consumers, I have simply been paying the higher prices for eggs on the assumption that what goes up must eventually come down. That’s how it’s gone for every previous price spike I’ve lived through. But that is not necessarily what will happen this time around. This version of the avian flu appears to be more virulent and tenacious than other strains of the disease. The 2014–2015 bird flu outbreak disappeared after about a year, since hot weather helped kill off the virus. The current outbreak has been affecting our nation’s birds since 2022 and the change of seasons has not had a noticeable effect on ending the virus—so we may yet see scrambled eggs become a status symbol. Of course, no economist, journalist, or farmer has a crystal ball. There is no way to know for sure where egg prices are headed—and it’s not like we can stockpile eggs to prepare. Finding cheaper eggs (or egg substitutes) There are a number of options available to shoppers to keep eggs from destroying their grocery budget. (Please note: despite the current administration’s recommendation, raising backyard chickens is not feasible for most people—and introducing a heap of inexperienced urban farmers to the joys of backyard poultry could prolong the avian flu outbreak.) To start, check the local egg prices at the Pantry & Larder site Eggspensive. This site tracks the cost of a dozen eggs at every Walmart location nationwide. The Krazy Coupon Lady’s egg price comparison and egg coupons can also help you get the lowest possible price. You can also work around your egg needs for many recipes. While egg substitutes in baking are never quite perfect, using ingredients like applesauce, Greek yogurt, mashed banana, aquafaba, or vinegar + baking soda can re-create some of the specific properties eggs add to your favorite baked goods. And don’t forget that vegans like baked goods, too. (If you haven’t tried vegan baking since you broke your tooth on a carob-chip “cookie” in the 1980s, you’ll be delighted to learn that it’s come a long way.) Vegan bakers have come up with a number of delicious recipes that don’t require any eggs or egg substitutes. Dealing with eggstreme prices The price of eggs often works as a political shorthand to describe the kitchen table economic worries of the average person. But since last fall, there’s nothing metaphorical about the high price of eggs in America. The ongoing avian flu has reduced the supply of eggs, and the demand for eggs has remained inelastic. It’s possible that egg prices will continue to rise if we can’t get the bird flu under control, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck paying through the nose for your eggs. Several websites offer price trackers and coupons for eggs, and there are a number of substitutes that can re-create eggy properties for your baking and other recipes—and dabbling with some vegan recipes can help you avoid the need for eggs altogether. View the full article

AI image editing may be all the rage, but good old-fashioned image editors are still essential. There’s a problem, though: Windows PCs, Chromebooks, and Macs don’t include exceptional image editors that go beyond the most basic editing needs. Sure, you can pay for Photoshop or hunt down another image editor—but what if you just want to do something quick? Well, then you’re left searching the web—and maybe you come across a reasonably decent online image editor, but perhaps it forces you to sign into an account or pay for a subscription. Or maybe it just doesn’t do what it promises to do in any especially impressive way. Let’s skip all that. Today’s tool is an easy, free, and completely browser-based image editor that doesn’t need any accounts or payments. You can access it from any type of device, too, and start editing images almost instantly. Psst: If you love these types of tools as much as I do, check out my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. You’ll be the first to find all sorts of simple tech treasures! Photoshop for the rest of us Allow me to introduce you to Photopea. ➜ ​Photopea​ is a powerful tool that many of our Cool Tools newsletter readers have recommended over time. ⌚ You can get started with it in roughly 10 seconds. It’s simple: Just head to ​the Photopea website​. (The first time you load it, you’ll want to click the “X” in the top-right corner to hide the welcome banner.) Then choose the “Open From Computer” button and select an image from your device’s storage—or, if you’re on a PC, drag and drop an image from your computer’s file manager directly onto the Photopea page. Photopea makes it easy to import files from your phone or computer. You’ll then see an image-editing interface that’ll look immediately familiar if you’ve ever used Adobe Photoshop. Photopea is packed with professional-grade tools that are normally limited to costly, complex, and at-times clunky desktop image editors. You’ll find layers, filters, a ​clone stamp​ for touch-ups, a background removal system, and even batch resizing and image-converting options. Whenever you’re made the modifications you need, click the “File” menu and select “Save” to download your final file. That’s it. Photopea looks and feels a lot like Photoshop, but it’s completely free and runs entirely in your browser. Now you’ve got a Photoshop-caliber image editor at your fingertips whenever you need it—for free, usable without signing in, and without any software installation required. What’s not to love? You can ​use Photopea on its website​ in your browser. (It’s technically compatible with both desktop and mobile browsers, but the desktop experience tends to be best. If you see a Photopea app in the Android or iOS App Store, know that it isn’t official or associated with this same site.) Photopea is free with ads. You can sign up for an account and pay $5 per month to remove the ads and get access to AI photo-editing tools, if you like, but it absolutely isn’t required. Photopea’s ​privacy policy​ says all your photos are stored on your device and never sent to any remote servers or shared in any way. Keep the geeky goodies coming with my free Cool Tools newsletter. You’ll get an instant introduction to an incredible audio app and a new off-the-beaten-path gem in your inbox every Wednesday! View the full article