The indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the Presidential election has intensified the pressure put on Facebook, which uncovered about three-thousand Russian-linked ads on its platforms before and after November 2016. Cheddar Senior Reporter, Alex Heath, breaks down the the latest developments.
Facebook's Vice President for ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted about Russia's disinformation effort. President Trump then cited him. Facebook did not intend for Goldman’s tweets to be quoted by Trump. They thought the tweets would only be seen by a contextually-aware audience of techies and media types who follow Goldman.
Heath believes that the tweeting from Goldman and other execs is part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign by Facebook to make itself appear more transparent and relate-able through engaged spokespeople on Twitter.
In an exclusive interview with Cheddar as part of the debut of Cheddar Rides, MTA Managing Director Ronnie Hakim outlined the plan to keep the 225,000 people who commute between North Brooklyn and Manhattan via the L train moving.
Shares of SVMK, otherwise known as SurveyMonkey, opened at $18.75, well above the original IPO price of $12.
SVMK, the parent of the online polling company SurveyMonkey ($SVMK), will begin trading as a public company Wednesday, looking to ride the wave of strong tech IPOs from the likes of Eventbrite, Farfetch, and Sonos.
Fintech firms' grand promise had been to unbundle services like checking, savings, lending, and wealth management. But as the big banks adapted to the ever-changing market, start-ups like Simple are now rebundling again. CEO Dickson Chu confirmed to Cheddar that the company, which was acquired by BBVA Compass in 2014, began offering personal loans up to $40,000 through a partnership with online lending company Prosper.
Adolphus Busch V is coming off the launch of ABV Cannabis, a marijuana start-up that operates in Colorado and sells disposable vape pens filled with cannabis oil. Next, Busch says he is looking to bring pre-rolled joints to market. He plans to brand the company as a healthy alternative to the product that made his family unimaginably wealthy.
Nearly all of cyclists who die in accidents weren't wearing helmets. Park & Diamond wants to change that. The start-up, which won the Red Bull Launchpad, is building a bike helmet that looks and feels like a regular baseball cap. Co-founders David Hall and Jordan Klein said the helmet is collapsible and light and made of a composite material that makes it as safe as a normal helmet.
Kimbal Musk, Tesla board member and brother of CEO Elon, told Cheddar, "If you have a Model 3 and you'd like it delivered, we can probably get done for you by the end of the week. If we haven't reached out to you, reach out to us."
Mark Cummins, CEO of Pointy, shares his advice for young entrepreneurs in our 'What Keeps You Going' segment.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who launched the photo-sharing app in 2010, have resigned and will leave the company in the coming weeks, according to the New York Times. The news is the latest blow for Facebook, which bought Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. The app has been a bright point for the company, with a billion monthly active users as of June.
Tune in to Cheddar Tuesday morning for the latest.
