
In this episode, Peter Lewis discusses Japan’s post‑election economic challenge: reviving growth without reigniting inflation that has already driven staple prices, like rice, to double. He is joined by Richard Harris of Port Shelter Investment Management and Tony Nash of Complete Intelligence, who analyze the risks to Japanese equities and bond markets, while ADB economist John Beirne offers a macro view on regional growth prospects and policy options. The guests highlight the delicate balance between fiscal stimulus, monetary tightening, and structural reforms needed to restore consumer purchasing power. They also explore investment strategies that can hedge against inflation while capturing any upside from a potential policy shift.

Proptech startups face a steep funding gap, with 96% failing to secure Series A capital. The article attributes this to market oversaturation, weak unit economics, and regulatory hurdles that impede scaling. Investors are increasingly demanding clear revenue traction and defensible...

What if your workplace culture actually brought generations together instead of pulling them apart? This week on Generations at Work, Dr. Tim Elmore and William Vanderbloemen share practical wisdom for leading Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers on the same...
Will stock markets find enough to like in US jobs data? It’s all about Fed interest rate cut expectations. #Jobs #NFP #StockMarket #Dollar #Fed #Macro #Trading https://t.co/UBCpyuHxhZ

Europe risks falling behind China in additive manufacturing as Beijing embeds 3D printing in its Made in China 2025 plan, while EU leaders treat the technology as a niche. Chinese firms now ship 94% of desktop printers worldwide, outpacing the...

The UK House of Commons business and trade committee warned that gaps in policing franchise businesses are “unsustainable” after scandals involving Vodafone and McDonald’s. It called for a statutory code of conduct and stronger independent enforcement to protect franchisees and...

On January 17, 2026 Governor Phil Murphy signed Assembly Bill 3451, expanding the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA). The law lowers the employer coverage threshold from 30 to 15 employees and reduces employee eligibility to three months of service...
Adora, an AI‑powered journey‑mapping platform co‑founded by former Canva product head Omar Salem, closed a $7 million seed round led by Blackbird Ventures. The tool automatically captures screens, interactions and user paths, turning them into live visual maps enriched with analytics...

UAE‑based investment firm Shorooq has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Qatar’s first QCB‑licensed, Sharia‑compliant BNPL provider PayLater to explore a scalable, institutional‑grade credit facility. The proposed financing would be non‑dilutive and aligned with Sharia principles, giving PayLater capital to...

CedarBridge Partners has started deploying capital from its third private equity vehicle, CedarBridge High Growth III (CBHG III), a $150 million fund aimed at building platform businesses in education, healthcare, beauty, wellness and pet care across the GCC. Managed by Access...

Anthropic, the AI safety‑focused startup behind the Claude series, is profiled in a New Yorker feature that spotlights executives such as former Google researcher Chris Olah. The piece delves into the company’s internal “Project Vend,” a Claudius‑branded experiment that tasked...
Tactful AI, an Egyptian CX platform specializing in agentic AI, secured $1 million in a pre‑Series A round co‑led by Foras AI and M Empire. The funding will bolster growth in Egypt, validate expansion across EMEA, and accelerate R&D to enhance scalability...

Egypt has unveiled the Egypt Startup Charter, its first government‑backed framework dedicated to nurturing startups and entrepreneurship. The charter, shaped by a year of consultations with 15 ministries and over 250 ecosystem stakeholders, defines startups officially and bundles incentives, a...
Moderna announced that the FDA will not begin a review of its experimental mRNA‑1010 flu vaccine, citing concerns over the trial's comparator design rather than safety or efficacy. The decision triggered a roughly 7% drop in Moderna’s after‑hours share price....

Saudi fintech Simplified Financial Solutions Company (SiFi) secured a $20 million Series A round led by Ra’ed Ventures, with participation from QED Investors, Breyer Capital, MEVP and several local backers. The financing follows a $10 million seed round, bringing total capital raised to...

Kuwait‑based Zain Group staged a Demo Day for its flagship accelerator Zain Great Idea, showcasing eleven tech startups from six Arab markets. The event marked the programme’s final milestone and opened pathways for investment and strategic partnerships. Zain Ventures paired...

Starbird announced former BJ's Restaurants chief Greg Levin as its new CEO and board member. Levin, who grew BJ's from 45 to over 200 locations and boosted revenue from $140 million to $1.4 billion, will lead the “super‑premium” chicken brand’s national rollout....

Smart Bricks, a Dubai‑based proptech startup, closed a $5 million pre‑seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Speedrun, with participation from global funds and angels. The company is building an AI‑native infrastructure that automates the end‑to‑end real‑estate investment workflow, compressing a...

UAE‑based Shorooq announced that Hamad Al‑Hajri, founder of delivery platform Snoonu, will invest in both its newly launched late‑stage growth fund and its global AI fund. The growth vehicle is backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, while the AI strategy...

The episode examines how Chinese traders, long recognized for aggressive speculation, sparked a dramatic swing in gold prices—from a surge to $5,600 in late January to a plunge to $4,423 within days. The host recounts a December report predicting this...

UAE‑based ThrowMeNot closed a $550,000 pre‑seed round led by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mana Al Maktoum. The startup, founded in 2025 by Archie Rudyuk, operates a marketplace for near‑expiry and surplus food, offering discounts up to 90% and currently lists over 2,700...

Saudi‑based logistics tech startup Routech Express closed a SAR 3.75 million ($1 million) pre‑seed round led by Q Fund, with angel participation. The platform aggregates multiple carriers, delivering instant price comparison, booking, payment and tracking through a single digital interface. Funds will accelerate...
Ford is expected to post its worst quarterly earnings miss in four years, with adjusted EPS forecast at 19 cents and automotive revenue projected at $41.8 billion, a 6.8% decline YoY. The earnings drop represents more than a 50% fall in...
Startmate has added a dedicated Social Enterprise stream to its Launch Club pre‑accelerator, offering four to six fully‑funded scholarship spots for founders tackling social or environmental challenges. Applications close on March 1, with the cohort launching in late March. The program...

The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts held that Chapter 93A does not cover routine employment disputes but can apply when an employee secretly competes using the employer’s resources and brand. In CMTA, Inc. v. Dussault, the court allowed the unfair‑practice claim...

California Assembly Bill 692 curtails the use of “stay or pay” provisions that require employees to remain employed or reimburse training costs. The law mandates that any repayment terms be narrowly limited to actual training expenses and be disclosed in...
The FCA has signed a contract with Etrading Software (ETS) to build a UK bond consolidated tape, aiming to deliver a high‑quality data stream for investors. The tape will improve price discovery, liquidity, and market transparency, supporting the UK’s competitive...
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released interim findings from its competition review of pure protection insurance, highlighting that while the market functions well for existing policyholders, 58% of adults remain uninsured. The review notes stable premiums, a wide...
![[AI Prompt] CEOs Pay Millions For This](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ne_2!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74253464-637d-41e9-a58d-a35a9c7b9d73_500x500.png)
In this episode the host shares a powerful AI prompt that transforms ChatGPT or Claude into a virtual advisory board of senior‑level experts—brand strategists, growth marketers, sales leaders, product mavens, and more—who debate the listener’s strategic questions. The prompt is...
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has opened a second application window for its AI Live Testing programme, inviting firms to trial AI‑driven services in real‑world market conditions with regulatory oversight and technical support from Advai. The initiative targets companies...
Sheldon Mills announced that the FCA is undertaking a long‑term review of artificial intelligence in retail financial services, with findings to be presented to the board this summer. The review will explore how generative AI, multimodal models and autonomous agents...

Steve Baxter announced that his fund will only back Australian defence startups that demonstrate a concrete plan to establish a U.S. presence. He argues that the U.S. defence budget—about $1.5 trillion—offers the scale required for venture‑backed growth, far beyond Australia’s $35 billion....
The Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority have unveiled the first cohort of their joint Scale‑up Unit, targeting fast‑growing financial firms. Six institutions – Allica Bank, ClearBank, Monument Bank, Nottingham Building Society, OakNorth Bank and Zopa Bank – will...
The Upper Tribunal upheld the FCA’s ruling that Rangecourt S.A., formerly Banque Havilland, and former executives Edmund Rowland and Vladimir Bolelyy acted without integrity by devising a scheme to devalue the Qatari riyal. The Tribunal confirmed fines of £4 million for...

Elevate announced the 14 winners of its 2026 CIX Startup Awards, chosen from more than 370 applications by a 94‑member investor committee. The awardees span three maturity tiers—Emerging, Early and Growth—and include fintech platform Hiive, geothermal pioneer Eavor, climate‑tech firm...
The FCA and SRA have jointly warned claims‑management firms and law firms handling motor‑finance redress that clients must not be represented by multiple agents on the same claim and should not face excessive termination fees. They cite cases where up...
The Financial Conduct Authority has placed Advantage Wealth Management Ltd (AWM) under strict restrictions, requiring written FCA consent before any asset disposal or regulated activity. The regulator cited concerns over how customers' investments were shifted into cash, inadequate financial resources,...
The tools don't matter. The framework doesn't matter. The stack doesn't matter. What matters: Did you solve someone's problem today? That's the only metric that counts.
The FCA fined Dipesh Kerai (£52,731) and Bhavesh Hirani (£56,000) for insider dealing in Bidstack Group Plc shares, totalling £108,731 in penalties. Hirani, then interim CFO, leaked confidential details of a major advertising deal to Kerai, who bought 1.3 million shares before the...
The FCA staged a pop‑up ATM at London Waterloo featuring its mascot Emil the Seal to promote its new Firm Checker tool. The stunt highlighted that around 700,000 adults lost money to investment scams in the past year. The interactive...
Is there a higher leverage activity than building an audience of people who know and trust you? I can't think of one.
UK insurers have reduced the cost of premium finance, saving consumers about £157 million a year. Interest rates on financed insurance dropped an average 4.1 percentage points since 2022, cutting typical motor policy costs by £8 and home policies by £3...
The Financial Conduct Authority and the Solicitors Regulation Authority have issued a joint warning to claims‑management companies and law firms handling motor‑finance commission claims, demanding verification that consumers are not already represented and prohibiting excessive termination fees. Any exit charge...

Life‑sciences M&A rebounded in 2025 after a brief slowdown, highlighted by J&J’s $14.6 billion Intra‑Cellular acquisition and a surge in platform‑focused deals addressing $150 billion of patent‑cliff risk. Regulatory dynamics shifted as the FTC adopted a more predictable, traditional antitrust approach, while...
Lyft reported fourth‑quarter revenue of $1.59 billion, missing the $1.76 billion consensus, and saw active riders and total rides fall short of estimates. The miss triggered a 15% plunge in the stock during extended trading. The board approved an additional $1 billion share‑repurchase...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released a letter to trade associations announcing KPMG’s appointment to conduct an independent assessment of proposals for a Future Entity that would set standards for UK open‑banking APIs. The assessment will evaluate governance, technical...

Pavel (@pavelprata) mapped predictions from 132 investors. Common themes: 1. Autonomous AI as the Next Platform Layer 2. AI Infrastructure 3. AI Meets the Real World 4. Rebuilding Payments for an AI-Native Economy 5. AI Economics & Pricing https://t.co/0jsLI8PbFk
SCOOP: Detroit Billionaire Owner of Ambassador Bridge Lobbied Administration, Met With Howard Lutnick Monday, Hours Before Trump Lambasted New Detroit-Michigan Gordie Howe Bridge w/ @tylerpager #cdnpoli https://t.co/A1JpN7GgU0

FINQ has introduced two U.S. large‑cap equity ETFs—AIUP and AINT—where an artificial‑intelligence model exclusively selects, weights and rebalances holdings. The AI engine ranks every S&P 500 component daily using market, financial and textual data, guiding long‑only and long‑short exposures respectively. The...

Montréal‑based luxury e‑commerce platform Ssense will be reclaimed by its founders after a Quebec Superior Court dismissed lenders' request for a forced asset sale. The court approved a founder‑led buyback valued at $78 million, including a $58.5 million cash payment and assumption...