• iAnthus, a publicly-traded firm that operates marijuana dispensaries in a number of US states, acquired Toronto-based MPX Bioceutical in a $640 million stock transaction.
• The acquisition nearly doubles the firm's footprint as cannabis retailers compete for scale in the burgeoning sector.
• Earlier in October, MedMen, another cannabis retailer, scooped up PharmaCann in a $682 million acquisition.
• "We're more like frenemies than enemies," iAnthus CEO Hadley Ford told Business Insider in an interview. 

IAnthus, a publicly-traded firm that operates cannabis retail facilities in the US and Canada, acquired MPX Bioceutical, a Toronto-based cannabis company, in a $640 million stock transaction.

It's the first public-to-public acquisition in US cannabis history, according to a press release. The mega-acquisition comes on the heels of MedMen's $682 million acquisition of PharmaCann. 

iAnthus and MedMen are two of the biggest retail players in the industry — and these back-to-back acquisitions are no coincidence. Cannabis companies have been on a dealmaking tear in recent weeks as retailers in the sector race to carve out their share of the market as more US states weigh legalization following Canada's move to legalize marijuana nationwide.

"There are three key factors to this," iAnthus CEO Hadley Ford said in an interview with Business Insider. "The first is expanding our footprint, the second is national scale, and the third piece is great people."

The acquisition nearly doubles the firm's US footprint and gives iAnthus access to licenses in 10 US states — including valuable East Coast markets like New York, Florida, and Massachusetts — permitting iAnthus to operate 56 retail locations and 14 cultivation facilities.

'We're more like frenemies than enemies'

MedMen, in comparison, has a combined portfolio of 79 cannabis licenses across 12 states, including 66 retail stores and 13 cultivation licenses, following the retailer's PharmaCann acquisition. 

"MedMen's done a good job," Ford said. "We're more like frenemies than enemies. We'll be good competitors — the sector is so nascent."

Ford added that the recent mergers-and-acquisitions spree in the cannabis sector will probably leave only eight to 10 companies standing when things shake out. 

"The nascent U.S. cannabis market is still in a land-grab phase, and we feel that our footprint when combined with iAnthus, provides our investors with the strongest possible exposure to this explosive marketplace," Scott Boyes, Chief Executive Officer of MPX, said in the press release. 

As part of the merger, iAnthus will develop new brand names for its stores and products. 

Cannabis is a 'strange business'

Ford, a Goldman Sachs veteran and former healthcare entrepreneur, said cannabis is a "strange business"  because it's considered an illegal, Schedule I drug by the federal government even though it's legal in some form in 30 states and Canada. 

The US federal government doesn't allow cannabis to be shipped across state lines, so iAnthus is forced to set up individual supply and processing chains in each state.

"You have to make sure you can replicate your product," Ford said. 

"It's not like making Cheerios in Oklahoma and then shipping them across the border," he said. "The product has to look the same, taste the same, and be consistent everywhere we operate. Everything has to be identical."

Ford said he looks for states like New York — which allows medical marijuana under a restrictive regime — that limit the number of dispensary licenses they hand out. That limits competition and helps iAnthus dominate the market. 

He said his experience in building out and operating cancer treatment centers as the former CEO of ProCure Treatment Centers is what sets his management team apart.

Hiring 'great people' is a huge challenge in the cannabis industry 

Ford hopes to scale iAnthus quickly — he wants to add between 600 and 800 people over the next 12 months — and says hiring will be one of his firm's biggest challenges in the months ahead.

"The thing that keeps me up most at night, besides putting this deal together, is finding good, professional, and serious people," he said.

A year ago, Ford said, he couldn't get mid-level or senior execs at big companies to take a serious look the cannabis industry.

"Now you can," Ford said. "I'm not sure it makes it easier to bring them aboard, but once you start having discussions, you have better end results."

Overall, Ford said he's "very excited to get up every day and make our shareholder’s rich."

Read more of Business Insider's cannabis industry coverage:

• The top 12 venture-capital firms making deals in the booming cannabis industry that's set to skyrocket to $75 billion
• The CEO of the biggest cannabis company in the US reveals what's next following a $682 million acquisition
• Hedge fund legend Leon Cooperman is investing in the marijuana industry — and it's another sign the sector is heating up
• Famous short seller Andrew Left is creating a cannabis fund. He explains why the market's not in a bubble, but does need to 'chill out'
• Some of the hottest companies in the booming cannabis sector are going on hiring sprees as Canada's legal marijuana market opens
• The CEO of the largest cannabis company in the US says giant private equity firms could be his biggest competition — here's his playbook for defending against them

SEE ALSO: Top cannabis VCs give their best advice on how to invest in the booming marijuana industry

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The 5 most extreme newborns in the animal kingdom

• Panera's CEO Blaine Hurst is nearing his one-year anniversary on the job. He took over the role from founder Ron Shaich at the beginning of 2018.
• We sat down with Hurst as Panera rolled out its latest nutrition initiative to talk about why the chain has taken a "leadership position to define what that future could look like." 
• Hurst revealed that Panera looks to Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google for inspiration as the rest of the restaurant industry works to catch up on automation. 
• More than a year after Panera was acquired by JAB Holdings, Hurst says that going private has allowed the brand to focus on longer-term investments, such as tackling the "war for talent." 

Almost a year into his role as CEO, Blaine Hurst has helped usher in a new era at Panera Bread. 

Hurst stepped into the role as 2018 began, taking the place of Ron Shaich, who led the company for 26 years. Hurst has overseen Panera's first full year following the chain's acquisition by JAB Holdings in July 2017 for roughly $7.5 billion. Even before taking over as CEO, he was instrumental to Panera's rollout of its tech platform, Panera 2.0.

"Probably the greatest challenge is continuing this drive to be relevant for that most valuable customer," Hurst said. "What's changed over the last five years? Pretty much everything." 

Earlier this week, Hurst and Sara Burnett, Panera's director of health and wellness policy, visited Business Insider's office to discuss a new whole-grains initiative and the brand's streaming series, "Food Interrupted." We also dove into topics including automation and the benefits of going private — plus Hurst's love for Diet Mountain Dew and what it represents for Panera's strategy. 

Here's how Panera's CEO is guiding the chain in a new era. 

Diet Mountain Dew and the 'food police'

Business Insider: Why "Food Interrupted?"

Blaine Hurst: One of the things that became clear is that, Panera is about serving good food that's good for you, in a way that isn't just self-serving.

You know I drink my Diet [Mountain] Dew.

BI: Yes.

Hurst: And I still drink my Diet Dew. There's Diet Dew cans all littered throughout the car. So, we're not gonna be the food police. We're not gonna tell you how to eat. What we are gonna do is give you those options and those choices and then be transparent so you know what's in your food.

I actually think one of the challenges we all have as consumers is separating the wheat from the chaff. The truth from the fiction. So we said, "What if we created this series that was more educational, more informative — not about the Panera story?"

Take someone who is an influencer in food, or a chef like Marcus Samuelson of the Red Rooster here in Harlem, [he] is in this first episode on whole grains. What if we let him talk to someone who is a whole-grain expert and let them just talk in conversation about whole grains and whole grains in our diet?

I've watched these episodes and I'm like, "Wow, this is so cool but don't they need to say more about Panera?" No, no, no Blaine, that's not the intent.

If you watch Sam Talbot, he's an insulin-dependent diabetic, as am I. I'm listening to him talk about his journey, and obviously can relate to it personally. He's exploring the future of diabetes management. He actually gets a tattoo that actually changes color based on what your blood-sugar levels are, which is not Panera's story, but it is talking about sugar in America and its impact on our society.

Capitalism with a cause

BI: Do you think people trust Panera to tell this story?

Hurst: Panera has gone past, I believe, just being another [quick-service restaurant], just another fast-casual restaurant. It is someone who can speak with a little more authority. I think one of the things we have got to do, though, is be careful and not make this — anything that we talk about — all about Panera, because then it's just another marketing campaign and that's not what we're in it for.

Clearly we want to sell more food, let's face it. We're capitalists. We wanna sell more food. But if that's our only motivation, then I don't think you can earn the consumer's trust. Because then consumers see right through you.

Sara Burnett: I think that we've earned, in many ways, the right to tell this story or tell these stories because we've had a strong point of view on all these issues. And we've had a long journey and we've been very open about sharing that journey. So we committed to go clean before we were clean.

And we shared our progress on that journey as we went. So I think that helped us gain trust over time with our guests and, of course, we have to do a lot to maintain that trust and live up to it. But I think we've gained that over time from our actions.

Hurst: The big push is always "Can I sell more food?" Brands today, every component of their work is about selling more foods next week. And while we want to sell more food next week, we think that if we're going to live up to our brand purpose and our commitment to each other and our commitment to our customers, the best way to do that is actually be committed, truly, to better eating.

BI: Is this something where you think that chains have a responsibility to not just be capitalists, but to also try and make this change?

Hurst: Well, I think there are gonna be leaders and there's gonna be followers, right? Panera has taken this leadership position to define what that future could look like. I think other chains will say, "Well that's not important for our customer."

There are chains out there, it's not important for their customer today. I'd argue over time that the American consumer will change. We're seeing it in every trade area where I do business at. We see it in every market. It's not just a coastal issue. It's across the United States.

How trends sweep beyond the coasts

BI: I'm always wondering what is going to be the huge trend everywhere and what is just the fad of the day. When do topics like whole grains and clean food stop being just coastal issues or something only a few people care about?

Hurst: I think [there are] two drives, but the biggest drive is probably communications.

Agencies like yours didn't exist two years ago, right? Companies like you didn't exist. And I think just how we all consume news, whether you're in Peoria, Illinois, or Manhattan, we all consume news in a different way than we used to, and we are all reading about these trends, that foodies exist in places other the New York City or Washington, DC, they could even exist in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Burnett: Mind you, Blaine and I are both from rural Indiana.

Hurst: I think we're seeing that clearly media, digital media, is driving that in a way we've never seen in the past.

But I also think places like Panera, we're attempting this at scale, which has not historically been done. Panera is the first, as far as I know, the first at scale, to be this committed to clean food. Food that's good and good for you. That's constantly this relentless pursuit of eating better for all of us.

I don't know of any other restaurant brand, at our scale, that is doing it. I think as we do it, as a few others do it, you will begin to see this become increasingly prevalent and one of the challenges, obviously, for Panera is what's next?

BI: What have reactions been like, especially outside of places where people aren't super in-tune to all the latest food trends?

Burnett: I think consumers in America in general are more engaged and more informed than ever before. I think that the reaction to clean ... and our added sugar labeling that we talked about last year, and hopefully whole grains ... that it has been overwhelmingly positive. And I think that it's because these are things that are really easy for our guests to understand and make decisions around.

It's not super complicated to know that okay, simpler, less processed ingredients tend to both taste better and, in most cases, can be better for you. Whole grains, overall, it's recommended that you make at least half your grains whole grain. And we know that more and more consumers are incorporating those in your diet.

It's a no-brainer. Not many people say to me, "Hey, I don't put whole grains in that. Those things are bad for me." 

The beauty of bread in an anti-carb world

BI: How did you focus on whole grains? 

Hurst: Well if you think about it, our name is Panera Bread, so we've had this ongoing discussion: "Is bread a problem?" So, we concluded several years ago that not only is bread not a problem, but it's incumbent upon us to make the best bread that we could possibly make, the healthiest bread that we could make.

So, we launched in test markets more than 18 months ago some new whole-grain breads, some of which had already made their way onto our menu. We began to understand what makes a healthier piece of bread. I think that the conclusion is pretty easy that whole grain is better for you.

We concluded then that we should find a way to bring more whole grain into our menu. And that was 18 months ago, probably the original work was done two, two-and-a-half years ago. So this is not a new idea for us — it's actually the culmination of a lot of work.

The interesting thing is when we put these breads into our cafés, we literally didn't label it as whole grain, it was just great bread. And we did that somewhat purposely because the idea was: this is gonna be bread that you want to eat, first and foremost, because we call it whole grain, and then [if it wasn't] very good we wouldn't sell a lot of it truthfully. There'd be a few people that would come in, but most people would not.

BI: Was there a time where Panera was like, "Do we need to cut back on bread in general?"

Hurst: I think clearly there's a point in time that anybody that was a sandwich place was asking that question, right?

Without question, Panera went through that point, and good news for Panera because we are not just sandwiches. We sell four-and-a-half million salads a week. We are the largest soup purveyor of the United States restaurants selling soup. So, we sell things other than sandwiches. 

Everybody's saying bread is bad for you, and I think it was at that point that there was a moment where we said, "No, we could do bread that is good and good for you, and if we're Panera Bread that's exactly what we should do."

BI: Was it just the diversity, you think, that allowed Panera to fly while some of the big sandwich players like Subway, obviously, and Quiznos struggle? 

Hurst: I think it was a combination of the menu, diversity, but also I think we, for a long time, have been a different kind of restaurant than the ones you just mentioned. We're fast-casual. We're not QSR. People trust us to do the right thing. I think the menu breadth clearly helped, but it wasn't ultimately what made the difference. I actually think it's more of the engaged relationship that we have with the consumer than just the menu diversity.

The benefits of going private

BI: Does not being a public company allow you to not focus on the short term?

Hurst: Clearly it takes some of the pressure off. If next week we announced flat comps, this whole thing is an interesting story, but the next story's gonna be Panera and flat comps, right? As a private company that does give us a little more flexibility to take a little bit more risk.

On the other hand, we still have investors and they still have high expectations, so it's not we just do whatever we want to do.

We've shifted from "What are we gonna report to the Street this quarter?" to "What are the mid- to long-term implications?" So the idea of making investments, if you will, of time, treasure, and talent — that will matter not tomorrow, but will matter over the next five to 10 years.

That's a different perspective than most public companies can have today. You're always in the back of your head saying, "God, I hope it doesn't blow up this quarter." I'm still saying that, because I still have those same emotions. On the other hand, it is less of the driver of a decision.

BI: What are some things that you have been able to invest in where you're like, "Okay, this is gonna pay off five years down the road, 20 years down the road?"

Hurst: I think one of the ones we're investing in right now is people. I'm sure you're aware of the challenges we're all facing as employers. I'm looking at this year's plan going into next year's plan. We're completely rebuilding our learning and training infrastructure, which as a public company, that would have been one of the things that people would have questioned.

As a private company, we say, "Just look at what's going on in this market, in this industry." We have got to be willing to invest back in our associates in ways we probably have never done in the past. Brands like Panera don't exist without great associates in these cafés.

I think that's a great example where I'm not saying we couldn't have done it, but there would have been more pressure to not do it. Because it's a multi-year payout.

BI: That's one where everyone I've been talking to is very stressed about right now.

Hurst: I'm stressed about it, but my solution isn't knee-jerk and "Let's do something tomorrow." Not to say we won't try to do some things tomorrow, just like everybody else. But my focus is, "Okay, we are where we are."

I don't see this problem getting easier. I don't see, somehow, there's an extra 50 million food-service workers that are gonna drop into the country and disperse around the country the way we need them to be dispersed. That's not gonna go away, so what do we do that in two or three years from now is gonna make this problem a non-problem for Panera?

BI: What is the solution? 

Hurst: It's everything from shifting how we structure our cafés, to different methods to deliver training, to different ways to actually recruit people into our café. A lot of people say, "I got the answer. There it is, just go implement it." I actually believe just like we did with technology, you must take a holistic, systemic view of the challenge and not just go chase the next idea.

The rise of the robot

BI: You guys led the way, in a lot of ways, with Panera 2.0. It does feel like a lot of places are like, "Can we just use automation and solve this problem?"

Hurst: Exactly. "Let's do a new online site! Then we'll be the employer of choice, by creating this site that makes it easier to register." It doesn't work like that.

BI: How are you feeling about automation now, with how tech has been integrated? Are there more opportunities there?

Hurst: Well, I think the core capability of ordering online, we are pretty advanced over most people. We'll do about $2 billion of digital this year, which is huge. We're 34% digital transactions today. It's continuing to grow.

We're rolling out new designs that are phenomenal, just easier to use, cleaner, etc. It depends on what market you're in — they may already be there.

I think, though, within three, five years, somewhere in that time frame, everybody's gonna have online ordering, right? We can be differentiated, but it's not gonna be that much differentiated. We're not gonna be that much differentiated. So, the question, then, is what's next?

I think that what's next is really about how I use the fact that we have 33 million members in our loyalty program. 55%, 54%, 53%, somewhere in that range, of our customers provide their loyalty ID when they place an order with us. How do I tailor that experience? Whether it's at the point of sale, if you decide not to even order digitally, can I deliver a differentiated experience? Can you order your favorite that you saved online and just walk up and say, "Here's my phone number, I want to order one of those, the favorite that I saved last week"?

All that's possible in the technology we have out there today.

It's further improving your experience by using the information we have about you at Panera. This is not about marketing to you. In fact, we used to call it one-to-one marketing. I won't allow those words to be said. It's one-to-one engagement, because if it doesn't engage you deeper and enrich your experience, we shouldn't be doing it.

BI: I feel like a lot of places are going to end up there, but it's almost like they're currently like, "Okay, let's get some kiosks out here."

Hurst: I think our competitive advantage around online ordering or kiosk ordering — over the next few years everybody's gonna do it because it makes sense, it works, we've proven that it works. The challenge for Panera is: when that's all done, where are we? 

BI: How do you prevent resting on your laurels, both with food and with technology?

Hurst: We keep getting better. There is no way that we can simply go, "Hey, good stuff."

Burnett:"We got it now."

Hurst: "Yeah, we got it now. Sarah, let's take some time off, don't worry about the menu. I'm gonna go to the beach." It doesn't work like that.

We did not invent digital, online ordering. Frankly, we didn't invent healthier food, right? What we did is we found these trends and then we said, "But at our scale, we can be the first to market with this at our scale and do it well along the journey."

Finding inspiration in FAANGs 

BI: What have been the changes that you've seen with that where maybe five years ago, people weren't asking for these things?

Hurst: Well, I think five years ago people wouldn't have thought about clean as even a word in their diet.

My favorite is the old story that in 2012, if you were my daughter and you were leaving, I would say, "Don't talk to any strangers and don't get into the car with any people you don't know." And of course yesterday, you probably called Uber. You actually talked to a stranger and you got in a car, right?

The world is constantly changing, and those norms are changing. I think in the food industry, we are becoming much more informed about what we eat. I do think we are becoming, frankly, a little more exploratory, the flavors that we want to eat.

Today you can get sushi pretty much anywhere, right? Ten years ago, you could hardly find sushi. It was a dine-out treat. So I think food trends are moving faster and they're moving more aggressively. As we talk about the next trends, it's literally I think going to be more about less processed, simpler, great-tasting, assembled with care, because those are the things you're not going to be able to get in most places.

BI: Who do you look to for inspiration on these things? 

Hurst: Panera's a little bit unique. So about once every two months, myself and others come into town like in New York. We just go to all the local places, the hot places. I love when I see stories like Marcus. We've had dinner at his place two nights now. Marcus was able to join us for both occasions and to understand the impact he had not just as a restaurateur, not just selling great food, but the impact he's had on the community of Harlem. You go, "Wow, that's really pretty cool." So we get inspiration, I would argue, from local entrepreneurs and restaurateurs more so than the big brands.

BI: For tech — where do you look for that?

Hurst: Primarily we look at the FANGs, if you will. It's not so much in the restaurant space. It's really what are Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google doing? First of all, we have working partnerships with all of them. What are they doing, and how does that actually impact our industry over time?

BI: I feel like I was writing, "Oh, millennials want clean food. Millennials want this. Millennials want that." Now we have Gen Z. Do they want the same things with clean food?

Burnett: I would say Gen Z, I think, is following in the footsteps of those macro trends of clean, less processed. I think that what we're increasingly seeing in those younger generations is the desire for personalization and for making it their own way. I think that more than ever, people are being individualistic about their diet choices.

Hurst: It's, "I want what I want, where I want it, when I want it." What do you mean you can't serve eggs at 2:30 in the afternoon? I deserve to have your eggs at 2:30 in the afternoon.

BI: So we're going to get all-day breakfast at Panera?

Hurst: Not in the short term. But I would never say never about anything.

The Amazon effect

BI: Delivery has been such a huge story. How is that going for Panera?

Hurst: Well, it's continuing to do well. Between 95% and 98% of delivery sales are delivered by our own drivers. That has gone extraordinarily well for us. We're continuing to see that business grow at a pace that is significantly more than the rest of our business.

We are, in some markets, testing with some of the third-party aggregators as you would expect us to. We're never saying that what we've done is absolutely the right answer. It's certainly got us to here, and there are reasons we continue to believe in it. But if somebody comes on and cracks the code in a different way, we'll look at that as well. 

BI: For cracking the code for delivery, what would that look like? Do you think that would be different than what you can do in-house?

Hurst: I think the ultimate question is probably less about who delivers than where your ordering site shows up. You probably have Grubhub or UberEats on your phone, right? Does Panera ultimately need to be there?

I mean, there were times where I speculated that somebody like a Google or Amazon buys one of the aggregators. We're always watching and learning and saying, "Well what happens if this? What would you do with that?" So we don't have anything specific.

BI: How closely do you guys have to watch what Amazon is doing for the restaurant business?

Hurst: We're certainly aware. We're certainly aware. Amazon, I think, is frenemies with so many people — because they do disrupt whole industries.

I think at the end of the day, though, Panera's uniquely positioned in the market. We're not easily knocked off. The total Panera experience is significant and much better than most of the brands out there, and our relationship with the consumers are much better. I would never say we know that Amazon can do things that most people don't expect them to do, so I'm not quite so naïve to say it could never happen.

We have better consumer data and research than I think anybody in this industry. We are constantly looking to say, "What jobs are you hiring us to do?" as we begin to expand or look at other day-parts or other categories — really trying to understand what makes a difference for you the consumer and for your cohorts. 

BI: What opportunities are there?

Hurst: I think if you just look at Panera's business today, we're a leader in the catering channel. We are a leader in the non-pizza delivery channel for sure. We continue to see those businesses grow. We continue to see drive-thru grow for us. Again this is a convenience opportunity for the consumer. Lunch is our biggest day-part but without question there's opportunity at breakfast and more opportunity in the evening at dinner.

We have a non-traditional strategy in that we're seeing growth in hospitals and universities. We're seeing tremendous growth in these places that Panera hasn't historically vetted. The Au Bon Pain acquisition was in part justified by this focus on these non-traditional channels for Panera, and that's proven out to be absolutely correct. We're continuing to see growth there. Panera has an opportunity to extend what we do well in our competitive differentiation into other parts of this business where we just haven't focused on.

BI: Is Panera in the position where they have to keep prices super low?

Hurst: The good news for us is that consumers still look at the Panera food as a value. I think the reason for that is just the quality and serving size. I mean all of the above, the overall quality of the experience.

Our most valuable customer, the characteristics of that customer enable us to be fairly comfortable where we are. It is, however, one of those things where what we don't want to do is wake up one day and go, "Whoa, we took those prices too high." And we see that fallout.

So we are always trying to find the right balance between the food we make, the ingredients that go into it, the delivered cost to the consumer. Do we get to a point where consumers still view us as a value, but it affects the frequency of visits because they simply can't eat there as often? It is something that we pay attention to, but it is not our core driver of what we do.

BI: What is Panera's biggest challenge that they're taking on?

Hurst: I think probably the greatest challenge is continuing this drive to be relevant for that most valuable customer. What's changed over the last five years? Pretty much everything, right? So as I think about the next five years it's going to be: How can we keep up? And then the real question is: Can we continue to lead? The biggest question is: Can we maintain that relevancy to our most valuable customer?

SEE ALSO: Panera is reinventing bread as 'healthy' as sandwich chains like Quiznos and Subways struggle to survive

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What marijuana looks like under the microscope

• Gary Vaynerchuk is launching VaynerSpeakers, a speakers bureau that will help line up guests and program events for companies.
• Vaynerchuk has poached Zach Nadler from Creative Artists Agency to head up the company.
• VaynerSpeakers will live under VaynerX, which also includes properties like VaynerMedia and Gallery Media Group.

Gary Vaynerchuk has made a name for himself by speaking at hundreds of keynote talks, conferences, and events that bring in crowds of #Vaynernation fans fascinated with his hustle-and-grind work philosophy.

Now he's making a new business out of it.

Vaynerchuk is launching VaynerSpeakers, which is a standalone company under VaynerX (which also houses companies like ad agency VaynerMedia, Gallery Media Group, and ad-tech firm Tracer). The company will operate as a speakers bureau and help find people to speak at conferences and private events.

The group will be headed up by Zach Nadler, who most recently spent nine years as an agent at Creative Artists Agency and worked with Vaynerchuk on public speaking events. The idea is to create a "modern day model" for speaker bureaus by finding fresh speakers for events — including execs outside of VaynerX.

"We're not necessarily looking to reinvent the wheel — we're just trying to create a better experience for all sides," Nadler said. "We're going to be targeting clients and speakers that appeal to a general audience, folks who have a really solid message and can help individuals grow their brand, whether it's their personal brand or their professional brand."

VaynerSpeakers wants to find the next hit entrepreneur 

According to Nadler, VaynerSpeakers specifically wants to help entrepreneurs and motivational speakers who "have the ability to grow their own businesses and their own careers."

"The days of a motivational speaker giving the same speech at every single event they do is behind us," he said. "One thing I've loved about Gary is that he never gives the same speech twice. We're looking for people who are speakers because they have a message to share, but it's not a singular message or presentation."

VaynerSpeakers already has two events lined up for next month: Vaynerchuk will speak at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and at a private event that the company declined to name.

Nadler acknowledged that events can be a tough business to get into because it requires labor-intensive processes and quick turnarounds.

"Prior to being at CAA, I worked in events [and] I know how difficult it can be," he said. "We want to make sure that we're not one of the many headaches that exist when you build an event."

Also read:

After buying PureWow, Gary Vaynerchuk's company is launching a new men's media brand about the collision of entrepreneurship and pop culture.

How a 'brash Jersey boy' grew 2 businesses to tens of millions in revenue and became a social media super star.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what caffeine does to your body and brain

• Exclusive: Senior EU source tells Business Insider that they will not budge any further in deadlocked Brexit divorce talks.
• Theresa May should "take it or leave it," the source says at the end of a difficult week for the prime minister.
• May is under pressure from Conservative MPs not to make any further concessions to the EU or risk being ousted.
• The prime minister faces a perilous few weeks as support among her parliamentary allies begins to fall away.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — The EU is not willing to offer Theresa May any further concessions in order to secure a Brexit divorce deal, a senior EU source involved in the negotiations has told Business Insider.

"We’ve done all we can on this side. It’s basically take it or leave it as far as we are concerned," the source told BI at the European Council's October summit in Brussels.

The comments follow a difficult week for the prime minister in which she suffered a major backlash from Conservative MPs after telling EU leaders she was willing to extend the Brexit transition period by a "matter of months."

May's offer, and the strength of the backlash, caught EU negotiators by surprise.

"It was really interesting," a senior EU source told BI. "The UK hasn’t formally requested it and the idea has always been there floating around. We don’t really know why the prime minister said what she did."

But while the timing of May's remarks about the transition came as a surprise, the substance did not. 

It is a long-standing, widespread belief in Brussels that Britain's departure from the EU would take longer than the 21 months initially agreed between the two sides.

"Brexit is a process, not an event," a senior source in the European Parliament told BI.

"Switzerland has been negotiating with the EU for years on one thing or another. Imagine what it’s going to be for the UK. It’ll be decades, a permanent negotiation.

Switzerland has been negotiating with the EU for years on one thing or another. Imagine what it’s going to be for the UK. It’ll be decades, a permanent negotiation.

"And this is the easy bit. This is only the beginning."

The current impasse in Brexit talks hinges on the so-called "backstop" proposals designed to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit.

Under May's version of the proposal, the whole of the UK would effectively stay in the customs union temporarily after the 21-month transition period has ended if no alternative arrangements have been secured.

The EU is open to negotiating this sort of arrangement in the future but is adamant that a backstop covering Northern Ireland alone must be included in the Withdrawal Agreement currently being negotiated.

The latter suggestion is toxic for May. Even if unlikely to be used, the mere possibility it could be used is anathema to the Democratic Unionist Party which props up May's government.

However, the feeling in Brussels is that May was always going to have to disappoint at least one major stakeholder — and it's looking increasingly likely to be Arlene Foster's DUP. European Commission officials believe May has already lost the support of the 10 DUP MPs in the Commons, and that any Brexit deal will need to get through Parliament with the support of other parties instead.

"It's clear on this side that the DUP will vote against it whatever happens," an EU Commission source told BI.

It's clear on this side that the DUP will vote against it whatever happens.

The aim of May's UK-wide customs union idea — in addition to suggestions that the transition period could be extended to three years — is to make the Northern Ireland-only backstop less likely to come into use.

However, the prime minister will have a tough time getting the DUP on board with this theory if the EU sticks to its current position. While the EU negotiating team, led by Michel Barnier, is happy to express an aspiration to negotiate a customs arrangement in the Withdrawal Agreement, it does not want to make it a legally binding commitment.

"We can’t bind ourselves to negotiating a customs union. That’s basically illegal under the terms of Article 50," a senior European Commission source told BI. "What can do is say we will try our best and endeavour to negotiate it."

"We are not going to negotiate a customs union in isolation, " they said, adding that "a customs union is part of a much wider economic framework" to be negotiated once Article 50 is out of the way. 

None of this will matter of course if May is unable to persuade a majority of parliamentarians to back whatever she finally agrees with the EU.

Already the prime minister's suggestion that the transition period could be extended caused an almighty stir in Westminster, with Conservative MPs openly calling for her to stand down.

This is the litmus test for taking back control... this is the killer moment.

But an even bigger row looms for pro-Leave Tory MPs on the issue of whether the eventual backstop is time-limited.

This is a big deal for Brexiteers. "This isn't just one more little compromise from the prime minister to get a deal over the line... it is the litmus test for taking back control... this is the killer moment,"a Cabinet source told BI last week.

Pro-Brexit Conservative MPs fear that if May's preferred customs union backstop is signed off without a fixed end date, the UK could be trapped within the EU's customs arrangements indefinitely, unable to sign new free trade deals.

Significantly, and to the dismay of Brexiteers, May has pretty much accepted there will be no time-limit. That's what she has reportedly told Ireland. Tellingly she refused to rule it out when questioned about it at her Brussels press conference on Thursday.

For this reason, the next few weeks look incredibly dangerous for May. Cabinet resignations are a strong possibility, and the threat of Tory MPs sending enough letters to challenge her leadership is high. Meanwhile, the DUP is threatening to vote down the Budget this month in an aggressive attempt to force the prime minister to think again.

This is all deeply worrying for politicians on the other side of the English Channel who fear that May could prove simply too weak to get a deal through.

Fears that May could be replaced by a more hardline prime minister, or that the entire negotiations could be derailed by a snap general election disturb EU negotiators, with just months to go until Britain leaves the EU.

SEE ALSO: Trump tells May to abandon 'unjustified' food standards for Brexit trade deal

DON'T MISS: OPINION: Theresa May has only one real option for survival left — a soft Brexit

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Ray Dalio says the economy looks like 1937 and a downturn is coming in about two years

• Almost all of Europe's royal families are related.
• These families share a common ancestor: King George II, who was the King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 until 1760.
• Here is how the royal families of Spain, Monaco, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, and more are related.

The royal families of Europe are vast and diverse, with each family possessing different titles and powers.

But one thing they do have in common is a shared ancestor.

While the family trees are complicated, and there are many ways that Europe's royals are all related to each other, one of the simplest is to look at King George II, who was the King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 until 1760.

George's ancestors now head Europe's royal families, as his children and grandchildren married royals from around the continent.

This means that royals in Britain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, and Monaco are all distantly related to each other.

Here is an interactive family tree of Europe's royal families. Each generation is represented by a small circle, each color represents a different family, a solid line represents a blood relation, and a broken line shows a marriage.

Hover over the royals' names for a better description of them.

The UK's young royals, including Prince William and Kate Middleton to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, all fit into the picture too, as the descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and their spouses.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Ray Dalio says the economy looks like 1937 and a downturn is coming in about two years

• Politicians have uncovered evidence of a dark advertising campaign on Facebook, in which Brits were encouraged to lobby against Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan.
• The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee said £257,000 was spent on the adverts by an anonymous group called the Mainstream Network.
• The committee wants Facebook to reveal who is behind the campaign after it released its new political ad transparency tools in the UK this week.

An influential group of politicians has uncovered evidence of a dark advertising campaign on Facebook, in which users were encouraged to lobby against Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan.

In findings published on Saturday, the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee said an anonymous organisation called Mainstream Network spent £257,000 ($335,148) on ads that reached up to 11 million people over a 10-month period.

The "sophisticated" campaign included a direct call to action for users to email their MP asking them to "chuck Chequers," short-hand for May's controversial Brexit negotiating position agreed at her Chequers retreat in July.

Mainstream Network has no known named organisation, UK address, or individual associated with it, the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee said.

"Here we have an example of a clearly sophisticated organisation spending lots of money on a political campaign, and we have absolutely no idea who is behind it. The only people who know who is paying for these adverts is Facebook," said the committee's chairman Damian Collins.

It's the kind of activity that could be made public with Facebook's new political ad transparency tools, which were launched in the UK this week. But they have come too late to capture the Mainstream Network campaign, and a committee chairman said Facebook should release details of who is behind the adverts independently.

In a statement, Facebook did not address whether it would voluntarily release details about who is behind Mainstream Network.

"On November 7, all advertisers will have new requirements before they can place political ads in the UK, including Mainstream Network. These advertisers will need to confirm their identity and location through an authorisations process and accurately represent the organization or person paying for the ad in a disclaimer," said Rob Leathern, director of product management. 

"These steps must happen or the advertiser will be prevented from running ads related to politics on Facebook. We know we can't prevent election interference alone and offering more ad transparency allows journalists, researchers and other interested parties to raise important questions.” 

The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee uncovered the Mainstream Network with help from communications agency 89up.

Users were targeted with localised ads which clicked through to the Mainstream Network website, 89up said, where they were encouraged to submit a pre-written email to their local MP. The email calls on the MP to "bin the Chequers Deal before it's too late."

Collins and Paul Farrelly, another lawmaker on the committee, were among many MPs whose constituents were targeted. Mainstream Network also carried a number of pro-Brexit news stories on its site, which have had more than 140,000 social media engagements, according to 89up.

The company also said Mainstream Network could be in breach of the EU's new GDPR privacy laws. This is because whenever a user emails their MP from the site, Mainstream's own address is copied, meaning that the user's email address could potentially be being stored by the organisation.

Collins said: "Facebook has recently announced a set of changes to increase transparency around political advertising on its platform. This example offers Facebook an opportunity to show it is committed to making that change happen — if you are targeted with a message or asked to do lobby your MP, you should know exactly who is behind the organisation asking you to do it."

SEE ALSO: Facebook will now show who exactly is paying to swing people's votes through online political advertising

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Apple took another subtle jab at Facebook during its iPhone XS event

This is a preview of a research report bundle from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Intelligence, click here.

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn't a part of the future of technology. AI is the future of technology.

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have even publicly debated whether or not that will turn out to be a good thing.

Voice assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa have become more and more prominent in our lives, and that will only increase as they learn more skills.

These voice assistants are set to explode as more devices powered by AI enter the market. Most of the major technology players have some sort of smart home hub, usually in the form of a smart speaker. These speakers, like the Amazon Echo or Apple HomePod, are capable of communicating with a majority of WiFi-enabled devices throughout the home.

While AI is having an enormous impact on individuals and the smart home, perhaps its largest impact can be felt in the e-commerce space. In the increasingly cluttered e-commerce space, personalization is one of the key differentiators retailers can turn towards to stand out to consumers. In fact, retailers that have implemented personalization strategies see sales gains of 6-10%, at a rate two to three times faster than other retailers, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group.

This can be accomplished by leveraging machine learning technology to sift through customer data to present the relevant information in front of that consumer as soon as they hit the page.

With hundreds of hours of research condensed into three in-depth reports, Business Intelligence is here to help get you caught up on what you need to know on how AI is disrupting your business or your life.

Below you can find more details on the three reports that make up the AI Disruption Bundle, including proprietary insights from the 16,000-member BI Insiders Panel:

AI in Banking and Payments

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most commonly referenced terms by financial institutions (FIs) and payments firms when describing their vision for the future of financial services.

AI can be applied in almost every area of financial services, but the combination of its potential and complexity has made AI a buzzword, and led to its inclusion in many descriptions of new software, solutions, and systems.

This report cuts through the hype to offer an overview of different types of AI, and where they have potential applications within banking and payments. It also emphasizes which applications are most mature, provides recommendations of how FIs should approach using the technology, and offers examples of where FIs and payments firms are already leveraging AI. The report draws on executive interviews Business Intelligence conducted with leading financial services providers, such as Bank of America, Capital One, and Mastercard, as well as top AI vendors like Feedzai, Expert System, and Kasisto.

AI in Supply Chain and Logistics

Major logistics providers have long relied on analytics and research teams to make sense of the data they generate from their operations.

AI’s ability to streamline so many supply chain and logistics functions is already delivering a competitive advantage for early adopters by cutting shipping times and costs. A cross-industry study on AI adoption conducted in early 2017 by McKinsey found that early adopters with a proactive AI strategy in the transportation and logistics sector enjoyed profit margins greater than 5%. Meanwhile, respondents in the sector that had not adopted AI were in the red.

However, these crucial benefits have yet to drive widespread adoption. Only 21% of the transportation and logistics firms in McKinsey’s survey had moved beyond the initial testing phase to deploy AI solutions at scale or in a core part of their business. The challenges to AI adoption in the field of supply chain and logistics are numerous and require major capital investments and organizational changes to overcome.

explores the vast impact that AI techniques like machine learning will have on the supply chain and logistics space. We detail the myriad applications for these computational techniques in the industry, and the adoption of those different applications. We also share some examples of companies that have demonstrated success with AI in their supply chain and logistics operations. Lastly, we break down the many factors that are holding organizations back from implementing AI projects and gaining the full benefits of this disruptive technology.

AI in E-Commerce Report

One of retailers' top priorities is to figure out how to gain an edge over Amazon. To do this, many retailers are attempting to differentiate themselves by creating highly curated experiences that combine the personal feel of in-store shopping with the convenience of online portals.

These personalized online experiences are powered by artificial intelligence (AI). This is the technology that enables e-commerce websites to recommend products uniquely suited to shoppers, and enables people to search for products using conversational language, or just images, as though they were interacting with a person.

Using AI to personalize the customer journey could be a huge value-add to retailers. Retailers that have implemented personalization strategies see sales gains of 6-10%, a rate two to three times faster than other retailers, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). It could also boost profitability rates 59% in the wholesale and retail industries by 2035, according to Accenture.

This report illustrates the various applications of AI in retail and use case studies to show how this technology has benefited retailers. It assesses the challenges that retailers may face as they implement AI, specifically focusing on technical and organizational challenges. Finally, the report weighs the pros and cons of strategies retailers can take to successfully execute AI technologies in their organization.

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
	Access to all future reports and daily newsletters
	Forecasts of new and emerging technologies in your industry
	And more!

Learn More

Purchase & download the full report from our research store

Join the conversation about this story »

Saul "Canelo"Álvarez is kind of a big deal.

Now Floyd Mayweather has retired, Álvarez, with his stocky pressure-fighting style, is boxing's biggest box office attraction.

The Mexican has already competed in four of the 54 best-selling pay-per-view (PPV) events in combat sports history, according to this Business Insider list. And, at 28, age is clearly on his side to compete in even more of the biggest fights in the modern era.

But Álvarez has just signed an agreement that moves him away from PPV and into the subscription model, having struck a $365 million deal with the over-the-top platform DAZN to contest 11 fights exclusively on the startup's channel, over the next five years.

The first of those bouts has already been booked, as Álvarez takes on British fighter Rocky Fielding in America on December 15, but DAZN will be banking on "Canelo" taking on boxing's best — and that means fights against the biggest combat athletes on the planet in and around the middleweight divisions.

Keep scrolling to find out who Álvarez could be fighting on DAZN based on legitimate rumour and industry chatter.

SEE ALSO: Mayweather attacks Canelo Álvarez on Instagram over failed drug tests, and says their fight was the 'easiest night' in his whole career

DON'T MISS: Canelo Alvarez signs monster 5-year, $365 million contract, the biggest in sports history

UP NEXT: Gennady Golovkin rode out this insane punch during his epic fight with Canelo Alvarez

This is Saul Álvarez. Nicknamed "Canelo" because of his cinnamon-coloured hair, Álvarez is one of the most popular boxers on the planet right now. The 28-year-old has been competing professionally since he was 15 years old, and has victories over Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and Gennady Golovkin. It is perhaps this pedigree that made world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua rank "Canelo" as the best fighter in the business when he spoke about Álvarez last year.

Saul "Canelo"Álvarez record: 50 wins from 53 fights (34 by way of knockout), with two draws and one loss.

Álvarez has been involved in four of the 54 best-selling pay-per-view events in the history of combat sports, according to this Business Insider list.

Source: Business Insider.

Canelo Álvarez, a middleweight, will jump a division to challenge British super middleweight Rocky Fielding next, an opponent he is expected to bowl through with ease in a WBA championship fight at Madison Square Garden in New York on December 15. The Fielding fight will be Álvarez's first of 11 contests under the DAZN broadcasting banner.

Rocky Fielding record: 27 wins from 28 fights (15 by way of knockout) with no draws and one loss.

Fielding is not expected to give Álvarez much of a contest, so DAZN will want to see a return on the investment it made in luring "Canelo" to its channel. The way to achieve this would be by securing big-name opponents for its star fighter. A trilogy bout against Gennady "GGG" Golovkin would certainly be on the agenda considering the two back-and-forth battles they have already engaged in. The first was a draw, while the second was awarded to Álvarez, but the Mexican would welcome a third. He said: "If the people want a third fight with pleasure I would give him a third fight."

Gennady Golovkin record: 38 wins from 40 fights (34 by way of knockout) with one draw and one loss.

Golovkin has been involved in the 21st and 34th best-selling pay-per-view events in combat sports history, and both fights have been against Álvarez. A trilogy bout between the two rivals would surely generate big business once again, albeit for DAZN's subscription numbers rather than PPV figures alone.

Source: Sky Sports and Business Insider.

• There is a group of small subtropical islands off the southern tip of Britain that have their own unique weather and climate.
• The Isles of Scilly are sunny most of the year round. They feel like the Caribbean. The flowers and trees are spectacular, and the beaches have white-powder sand.
• They also have a crazy history of pirates and shipwrecks.

THE ISLES OF SCILLY, Great Britain — Britain is famous for its rain and grey skies. But off the far southern tip of the mainland, a short flight into the Atlantic Ocean from Land's End, are the Isles of Scilly, a subtropical archipelago of 140 tiny white-sand islands. Only five are inhabited.

The islands have year-round sunny weather, and that gives them a weird, otherworldly vibe: You're in Britain. But it feels like the Caribbean.

The islands also have a dark history of profiting from shipwrecks and suffering attacks by pirates. In the year 1209, the locals captured 112 pirates and beheaded them all a single day.

We visited in October to see what the fuss was about.

The Isles of Scilly lie right in the middle of the Gulf Stream, the river of warm water that flows from the Gulf of Mexico into Northern Europe, keeping the temperatures here higher than they would otherwise be. Because the islands are low-lying, they don't block the air mass above them, and thus get little rain.

This gives the islands a weird micro-climate all of their own. They get abundant sunshine and elevated year-round temperatures, compared to mainland Britain.

It's not as warm as the Caribbean, but it's sunny enough to grow tropical plants all year. You need to wear sunblock on most days. It never freezes.

• There is mounting evidence suggesting Saudi Arabia was complicit in the death of a Washington Post journalist.
• It isn't clear whether the US would impose sanctions if an investigation reaches that conclusion.
• But the affair may have already damaged the reputation of the kingdom, according to experts.

As evidence suggesting Saudi Arabia was involved in the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi mounts, investors are pulling out of a major investment conference in Riyadh left and right. And experts say that may be just the start of economic troubles for the kingdom.

Jason Tuvey, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said the Khashoggi case and the manner in which Saudi Arabia has handled it "will damage the country’s long-term economic prospects, and another political shock will remain a key risk to the outlook."

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia’s stock market, which had just recently been recognized as an emerging market on the MSCI, suffered its steepest drop since December 2014. Meanwhile, the riyal temporarily breached its 3.75 peg to the dollar and fell to a two-year low.

"We’ve seen a lot of volatility," Karen E. Young, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said Thursday. "We can see now that markets are trying to figure out how to price-in this risk in Saudi Arabia."

While it isn’t clear how the US would respond if it is determined that the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is guilty of involvement in Khashoggi's death, sanctions are an option. In a bipartisan letter sent to President Donald Trump last week, top senators demanded an investigation into whether "the highest ranking officials in the Government of Saudi Arabia" were complicit in the case.

The Trump administration, which did not respond to an email requesting comment, has 120 days to decide if it will impose sanctions under a human-rights statute invoked in the letter. Gregory J. Wawro, a political science professor at Columbia University, said he isn’t betting on any formal penalties at the moment.

"If some sort of diplomatic reaction is going to happen — whether it’s sanctions or some sort of formal statement condemning Saudi Arabia or top leaders there — I think the story is going to have to last through the election," he said. "And that is a tall order."

But sanctions or not, analysts say the economy could suffer as companies continue to delay or even cancel investment plans in the country. Foreign direct investment inflows fell to just 0.2% of gross domestic product last year, according to Capital Economics, down from about 9% in 2009.

That could be especially bad news for Vision 2030, a social and economic reform program championed by the crown prince. A major focus of the initiative is bringing in foreign investment to boost productivity growth and reduce dependence on oil.

Helima Croft, head of commodities research at RBC and a former CIA analyst, said the allegations could be especially troubling for technology companies that tend to place high value on corporate social responsibility.

"It raises a lot of questions about whether they want to carry through with [investment plans]," she added. "Like somebody said to me, ‘Does the young HBI Brad now want to go work in Neom?’"

Losing investments outside of the oil sector means risking employment opportunities at the heart of Vision 2030. With about 70% of the population under 30 years old, teens and young adults in the kingdom have struggled to find jobs. The state-run oil giant Aramco is booming, but its positions are limited in number and type.

"This is where the allegations are just terribly damaging," Croft said. "If you’ve awakened aspirations in young people and that opportunity doesn’t materialize on the employment front, you’re going to potentially have a lot of restless youth."

SEE ALSO: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pulls out of investor conference in Saudi Arabia amid outrage over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 3 surprising ways humans are still evolving

• Homebuilder stocks are on pace for their worst year since 2008.
• Amid the bloodbath, industry analysts are warning that tech giants are growing their ambitions and investments in the housing market. 
• Amazon, Google, and Tesla have already made some inroads, and could innovate in ways that traditional homebuilders have been unable to. 

In the course of Margaret Whelan's conversations with homebuilders in Europe and Japan, she has noticed a difference between them and their American counterparts.  

"Everyone delivers houses in days, except here," Whelan, CEO of the housing consultant Whelan Advisory, said at a recent conference in New York. The former Morgan Stanley managing director lamented that it often takes months, sometimes years, to build a house in the US.

"The bigger homes, they'll take 14, 15 months to build — who's got time for that?" she asked the crowd.

Building speed is just one area that desperately needs innovation amid the worst year for US housing since the financial crisis. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction exchange-traded fund, for example, has plunged 28% in 2018, and is on pace for its worst year since 2008. Shortages of land and labor, coupled with rising interest rates and affordability constraints, have slowed the housing market. 

And according to investors and industry experts, the players most likely to transform the housing industry are companies well known for disruption elsewhere: tech juggernauts like Amazon, Alphabet, and Tesla. 

Here are some examples of their meddling: 

• Last December, local lawmakers approved a bid by Google to build nearly 10,000 housing units close to its future campus in Mountain View, California, amid a shortage of affordable housing.
• The homebuilder Lennar announced in May that it was working with Amazon to build model homes fitted with Alexa-enabled devices including lights and thermostats.
• Tesla installed 450% more power-storage batteries in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. 

There's a pattern here: these companies have a financial incentive to get into building.

Mark Boud, the chief economist of housing consultancy Metrostudy, is already advising them.

"It used to be that my clients were builders and land developers, period," Boud said at the conference. "Now, it's about 70/30, 30% being these non-traditional players ... that share is going to increase dramatically over time." 

Tech companies are poised to embrace more efficient methods of building — including modular and factory-built houses — faster than the traditional players, Boud said.

Their meddling in homebuilding comes at an opportune time: the US housing market is facing a shortage of inventory — especially affordable houses — and is projected to remain under-built through at least 2022. 

Builders don't innovate well 

"When it comes to change and doing things differently, builders are not great at that," said Paige Shipp, the Dallas-Fort Worth regional director at Metrostudy.  

The example she always tells clients about is the US Postal Service, which operated like a monopoly in its heyday. Then UPS and FedEx came on the scene and shook things up. Now, even Amazon is building out its own logistics service to deliver packages faster.

The fear of change, Shipp said, is greatest for public companies who will see their stocks sink if new methods eat into their profits. But even if they wanted to try, she says they don't have the ideal decision makers.  

"We have an industry that's pale, male, and stale," Shipp said, referring to racial, gender, and generational sameness on company boards. 

The HGTV generation

Shipp agreed that it would be wise for builders to lean into the needs of younger clients, including millennials, who are buying roughly one out of every two new homes — more than any generation before them. 

"Yes, they do remodel, but we’ve kind of learned that they really like to watch Chip and Joanna, but they don’t want to necessarily be Chip and Joanna," Shipp said, referring to the hosts of the HGTV show "Fixer Upper."

"They would like to have these homes that are ready for them to move in," she added.

In addition, tech companies know well what the digital generation would want in their homes — perhaps even better than traditional homebuilders. Shipp named some traditional builders at the forefront of technological innovation including Tri Pointe Group, The New Home Company, and Taylor Morrison.

Beyond the supply issue, builders also need to address the crisis of affordability. According to Carl Reichardt, a homebuilding analyst at BTIG, the traditional builders best positioned to address the crisis include Lennar and D.R. Horton — his only buy-rated picks amid the bloodbath in housing stocks this year.

"These companies have an increased focus on changing their mix to more affordable product," he told Business Insider by phone. 

Still, big tech companies are flush with the cash, the flexibility and most importantly, the financial incentive to upend yet another industry.

"The traditional builders need to be a little bit nervous about this," Boud said. "If we don't do it, someone else will, which is why we're seeing the Amazons and the Googles come into the market."

SEE ALSO: The world's most accurate economic forecaster pinpoints the biggest risks investors will face in 2019 — and explains how they can prepare

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 outdoor adventures that are worth the hike

• In a clip from an upcoming episode of her Facebook Watch show, "Red Table Talk,"Jada Pinkett Smith opened up about why she and her husband Will Smith never got a divorce.
• "It's cheaper to keep me," Pinkett Smith joked.
•  
• Pinkett Smith has been candid about her relationship with Smith before.
• The premiere episode of "Red Table Talk" returns to Facebook Watch on October 22.

Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have been married for 20 years, but they don't call themselves "married." In a clip from an upcoming episode of her Facebook Watch show, "Red Table Talk," the 47-year-old actress opened up about why she and Smith, 50, never got a divorce in their 20 years of marriage.

"You know why I never got divorced?" Smith asked her, to which Pinkett Smith jokingly replied: "It’s cheaper to keep me."

In the premiere episode of the Facebook Watch show, the two also got personal about their own growth in the relationship. 

"I had to gain my strength as Jada. Not mommy. Not wife. Jada," Pinkett Smith said. While Smith revealed that he felt, "deep down inside" like "an insecure little boy that wanted Jada to say [he] was great."

They also touched on a particularly tough time in their relationship.

"There was a period where mommy woke up and cried 45 days straight, I started keeping track," Smith told their 17-year-old daughter Willow, who joined them on the show alongisde Pinkett Smith's mother, Adrienne Banfield-Jones. Pinkett Smith added that he "missed some days," and that it was "the worst [she has] ever felt" during their marriage.

Watch the clip below:

Pinkett Smith has spoken candidly about her marriage before, and recently told People magazine why she and Smith don't refer to themselves as "married."

"I needed a different form to dissolve all the expectations that I had of a marriage," she told People. "I needed to do that to see Will outside of husband and see him as a human being."

"Red Table Talk" returns to Facebook Watch on October 22.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales: There's going to be an 'enormous backlash' against Donald Trump's lies

• President Trump is continuing his calls to shutter the US-Mexico border, in an effort to stop caravans of thousands of migrants, seeking shelter from deadly violence in Central America.
• Trump reportedly told aides this summer to "close the whole thing!" The Washington Post reported, a near unprecedented move that would not only shut down border crossings, but also halt trade, and potentially chill relations between Mexico and the US.
• White House staff talked him out of the costly idea.

President Trump is growing impatient with the flow of people fleeing deadly violence in Central America, and is said to have threatened to close off the southern border completely at one point.

He got so frustrated over the summer, that he asked his staff to "close the whole thing" during a meeting in the Oval Office, as The Washington Post reported Saturday.

That action would have thrown trade relations between Mexico and the US into chaos, and ground to a halt one of the busiest borders in the world. White House aides managed to talk him out of the idea, the Post reported, by pointing out the $600 billion-plus trade relationship the two countries share. 

Mexico and the US signed on to a new, sweeping trade deal in August, and Mexico is the US's third largest trading partner, and second biggest market for US exports. The US exported more than $276 billion worth of goods and services to Mexico in 2017, and imported nearly $340 billion, according to the office of the US trade representative. 

On Twitter Thursday, as thousands of people made their way towards Mexico from Central America seeking safety, Trump repeated his border closing cry, saying "I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!"

That has been done before, but rarely.

President George W. Bush partially closed the borders and put all travel, trade, and immigration under strict inspection after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, as USA Today pointed out. Before that, the US-Mexico border was shut down entirely in 1985 after the killing of a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent in Mexico.

Later on Thursday, Trump thanked Mexico for shuttling riot police to the Guatemala border, saying in a tweet that "we look forward to working with you!" 

Disputes over how to handle the looming crisis have rattled the White House in recent days, reportedly prompting a profane cursing match between White House chief of staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton outside Trump's Oval Office.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government is dealing with a border crisis of its own on the southern edge of that country, as a caravan of more than 3,000 people fleeing deadly violence in the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala rushed over the border into Mexico on Friday, seeking shelter from gang violence and hoping to stay alive.

Thousands of the hungry, desperate migrants intend to press on towards the US, where Department of Homeland Security officials say they're already "catching 1,500 people a day," according to the Post. 

"I want to get to the States to contribute to that country," a migrant named Christian, who said he was fleeing gangsters demanding one-fifth of his monthly income, told the Associated Press, "to do any kind of work, picking up garbage."

Human rights expert and historian Dana Frank told the Associated Press that the determination of the migrants underscores how bad the situation in Central America has become, highlighting "how desperate the Honduran people are — that they'd begin walking toward refuge in the United States with only a day pack full of belongings."

The number of illegal border crossings along the southwest border of the US ticked up this year, with the number of unaccompanied children streaming into the US soaring by 16,000, while the total number of apprehensions along the southwest border from October 1, 2017 to August 31 of this year was up to 355,106, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. 

SEE ALSO: President Trump said his uncle was a 'great professor at MIT for many years' — here’s what to know about John Trump

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I spent a day with Border Patrol agents at the US-Mexico border

Top congressman says the White House fired a 'shot across the bow' of the head of the Air Force after they found out she disapproved of the Space Force

SEE ALSO: 71 years ago, Chuck Yeager smashed the sound barrier — here's what it was like on the famous flight

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: NASA is flying a $1.5 billion spacecraft into the sun — here's why

• Burger King has a new frozen Scary Black Cherry slushie just in time for Halloween.
• People are reporting that it's giving them surprising results in the bathroom.
• After drinking the slushie, Twitter users have reported that the color of their poop has been neon blue, green, or black.
• This isn't Burger King's only festive menu addition. Burger King recently announced it'll be offering a Nightmare King burger with a green sesame bun.

Burger King is getting in the Halloween spirit with its appropriately named Scary Black Cherry slushie. While a pitch-black slushie made with frozen black cherry Fanta seems like a festive menu addition for this time of year, all people can focus on is the surprising result they say they're seeing in the bathroom after drinking it.

One Twitter user warned others that the drink would turn your teeth and mouth black.

But many were not quite prepared for the impact it says the drink has had on their bowel movements.

Though there's not a final consensus on what color the slushie could turn your poop, many have reported colors ranging from neon green to blue and black.

Some Twitter users even bought the frozen slushie eagerly anticipating what color their poop will be after drinking.

The Scary Black Cherry frozen drink is available through November 12.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Ray Dalio says the economy looks like 1937 and a downturn is coming in about two years

The Kardashian-Jenner family is known to go all-out when it comes to their fashion, and this is especially true when it comes to Halloween. 

While the whole family tends to pull out all of the stops, Kim Kardashian West really outdid herself in October 2017 when she wore a whopping five costumes inspired by musical icons like Cher and Selena.

For Halloween the year before that, in 2016, Kylie Jenner made a splash with her Christina Aguilera-inspired outfit, while sisters Kendall, Kourtney Kardashian, and Khloe have also sported elaborate, accurate looks for the holiday over the years.

Here are 16 of their best Halloween looks to date.

In 2008, Khloe dressed up as a cop while Kim wore a flapper-style outfit.

The two went for totally different costumes, yet still managed to coordinate.

In 2010, Kim put her spin on the classic Little Red Riding Hood costume.

She wore the costume to Heidi Klum's Halloween party, where the supermodel is known to wear some intricate costumes.

Also in 2010, Kim took a selfie wearing a semi-sheer, leopard-print bodysuit.

She wore a headband to match.

Jeff Sessions named these 5 groups as the top transnational organized-crime threats to the US

SEE ALSO: The Coast Guard is catching more drug-running subs, but most 'very stealthy' narco subs are probably going undetected

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: These ex-gang members have priceless reactions to seeing themselves without tattoos

This is a preview of the Internet of Things (2018) research report from Business Insider Intelligence. To learn more about the IoT ecosystem, tech trends and industry forecasts, click here.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming how companies and consumers go about their days around the world. The technology that underlies this whole segment is evolving quickly, whether it’s the rapid rise of the Amazon Echo and voice assistants upending the consumer space, or growth of AI-powered analytics platforms for the enterprise market.

And Business Insider Intelligence is keeping its finger on the pulse of this ongoing revolution by conducting our second annual Global IoT Executive Survey, which provides us with critical insights on new developments within the IoT and explains how top-level perspectives are changing year-to-year. Our survey includes more than 400 responses from key executives around the world, including C-suite and director-level respondents.

Through this exclusive study and in-depth 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 device installations and investment. And we profile the enterprise 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 55 billion IoT devices by 2025, up from about 9 billion in 2017.
• We forecast that there will be nearly $15 trillion in aggregate IoT investment between 2017 and 2025, with survey data showing that companies' plans to invest in IoT solutions are accelerating.
• The report highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers for adoption; major challenges and pain points; deployment and maturity of IoT implementations; investment in and utilization of devices; the decision-making process; and forward- looking plans.

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.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Lionel Messi has fractured his arm one week before the biggest match of FC Barcelona's season so far.
• The injury occured after just 17 minutes of Saturday's La Liga game against Sevilla.
• Messi had already provided one assist and scored one goal before he suffered a horrific fall while challenging for the ball alongside Sevilla midfielder Franco Vazquez.
• Messi was treated by the sidelines, had his arm wrapped with a bandage, and used his shirt as a sling before he was ultimately replaced by Ousmane Dembele.
• It has been confirmed Messi will be out of action for the upcoming El Clásico match against Real Madrid on Sunday, October 28.
• Read all of Business Insider's coverage for the 2018-2019 European soccer season here.

Lionel Messi needed just two minutes to create a goal when FC Barcelona played Sevilla at Camp Nou on Saturday, then scored one himself 10 minutes later.

It looked like world soccer was about to get treated to yet another Messi masterclass, but the forward suffered a horrific fall in the 17th minute, badly injured his arm, and was substituted off of the field.

The injury looked so bad, former Barça striker Gary Lineker, who presents the popular British soccer highlights show "Match of the Day", tweeted that his arm"may be broken."

Lineker said that the player's first half cameo was "all we're going to get." He added: "Looks like he's seriously damaged his arm… may be broken."

The global news network beIN Sports also tweeted that the injury could be a "dislocation or fracture."

The clash occured just over a third of the way into the opening half of the Sevilla game. Barcelona was already leading 2-0 and Messi, who was by far the most effective player on the pitch, tussled for the ball alongside Sevilla midfielder Franco Vazquez.

Messi got tangled up, fell over Vazquez's leg, and landed awkwardly on his arm with his right elbow bending in the opposite direction to his body.

Messi received treatment on the sidelines, had a bandage wrapped around his arm by club physios, and left the field using his shirt as a sling, according to beIN Sports. He was eventually replaced by Ousmane Dembele.

After the match, FC Barcelona confirmed the severity of the injury on its Twitter account.

"Tests carried out on the first team player Leo Messi have confirmed that he has a fracture of the radial bone in his right arm,"a statement said. "He will be out for approximately three weeks."

The injury leaves FC Barcelona without its best player one week before its biggest match of the year so far — the highly-anticipated El Clásico against bitter rival Real Madrid on Sunday, October 28.

Prior to the Sevilla game, Messi was Barça's standout performer with an overall La Liga rating of 8.43 from eight outings, according to statistics website Whoscored.com.

As Barcelona's next best player is Philippe Coutinho with a rating of 7.35, Messi's absence will be felt. 

Barcelona beat Sevilla 4-1.

SEE ALSO: Neymar is still being upstaged by Messi despite leaving Barça to escape living in his shadow

DON'T MISS: Lionel Messi has turned on his own teammates as FC Barcelona continues to struggle for victories

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it takes to be an NFL referee

75 years ago, US bombers flew into the 'most violent, savagely fought, and bloodiest' battle of their campaign to halt the Nazi war machine

SEE ALSO: It's been 78 years since the Battle of Britain — here are 14 photos of the Nazi onslaught in the skies of England

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: America's B-2 stealth bomber is unlike any military aircraft in the world