Headspace Wants You to Get in Touch With Your Body
*By Alyssa Caverley*
You might not think that your smartphone, with all its flashing message alerts and beeping reminders, would be the tool to help you slow down and get in touch with your thoughts.
But that's what the guided meditation app Headspace aims to do by giving its 28 million users a way to improve their health and happiness at any time of day. It was one of the top lifestyle and wellness apps in the first quarter of 2018.
"It is genuinely a coming together of a consumer need and something being offered in a very different way," said the Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe in an interview with Cheddar's CEO Jon Steinberg. "You have meditation that's been around for a few thousand years, so this isn't new."
Puddicombe, who trained for 10 years as a Tibetan Buddhist monk in Northern India, said that Headspace was designed to help make meditation accessible to people's modern daily lives.
"So most people think of meditation ー 'O.K. I've got to sit down on the floor, cross legged, light some incense' ー we've tried to kind of take it away from that to make you feel sort of grounded and down to earth," Puddicombe said. "So I encourage people to sit down on a comfortable chair and just focus their attention in the distance."
He said the point was to show people who download the app that meditation is an individual experience and anyone can do it. And it's Puddicombe's voice ー the voice of Headspace ー that will help guide you through it and maybe even lull you to sleep.
"Meditation gives you what you need and if, at that time, you need sleep and you feel amazing when you wake up, that's a win," he said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/headspace-founder-on-why-meditation-app-clears-up-the-brain-fog-for-users).
Food delivery giant DoorDash is acquiring European food delivery company Wolt. The all-stock deal is valued at $8.1 billion and is expected to close in the first half of 2022. The companies say they share a mission to build a global delivery platform. Gerber Kawasaki investment advisor Eva Agi joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what the deal means for Doordash, as well as its customers and investors.
Identity verification startup Socure recently raised $450 million dollars in a series E round, bringing the company's valuation to $4.5 billion. Socure says it is now the highest-valued private company in the identity verification space, and that the funds will be used to accelerate its mission to verify 100% of good identities and eliminate identity fraud across all industries. Socure Founder and CEO Johnny Ayers joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
With more companies offering employees flexibility in work schedules, Airbnb is looking to accommodate flexible travel plans. Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk joined Cheddar to discuss the growing trend of people staying in Airbnbs for longer periods of time. "In December over the holidays, in North America, we are seeing a 68 percent increase in the demand for month-long stays relative to years past," he said.
Coinbase reported third quarter earnings yesterday and revenue did not at all meet estimates, with the company saying that it also saw a staggering decrease of about 1.4 million customers in comparison to the previous quarter. This comes in the same week where bitcoin and ethereum, two of its most important digital assets hit record highs. Martin Gaspar, research analyst at CrossTower explains how a soft crypto trading quarter contributed to the less-than-ideal revenue outcome.
John Jannarone, Editor-In-Chief at IPOedge.com, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Riivian ahead of its public debut on the Nasdaq, as investors gear up for the biggest IPO for a U.S. company since Facebook.
Iran is continuing to crack down on illicit bitcoin mining in the Islamic Republic after 227 mining rigs were seized. Businesses looking to run legal bitcoin mining operations have had to seek approval since 2019.
DoorDash is set to acquire European-based food delivery company Wolt in an $8.1 billion deal. Ann Berry, chief investment officer at media platform Wheelhouse, joined Cheddar to discuss how this positions DoorDash in the prepared food and potentially the grocery delivery space. "I do think that what DoorDash is trying to be thoughtful about now is how to take that there's been a shift in consumer behavior in terms of mobile ordering and delivery and try and apply it to other categories," she said, also pointing to its partnership with beauty supply company Ulta.
The Biden Administration has issued a new order aimed at all federal agencies which would order them to patch hundreds of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Chief Evangelist at Intrusion Gary Davis and Chief Security Advisor at SentinelOne Morgan Wright, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Tatenda Musapatike, Founder of the Voter Formation Project and former Political Ad Specialist at Facebook, joined Cheddar to discuss the outsized role social media plays in politics.