Liberia Central Bank Seeks Senate OK to Print LD$79 B (≈$395 M)
The Central Bank of Liberia has asked the Senate to approve a LD$79 billion (about $395 million) banknote print programme through 2030, plus an emergency LD$14.7 billion (≈$73.5 million) issue for 2026. Lawmakers warned the fast‑track schedule could limit scrutiny and fuel inflationary pressure.
Australian CFOs Embrace AI and Enterprise‑Wide Transformation, FTI Survey Shows
FTI Consulting released its 2026 Global CFO Survey for Australia, finding that chief financial officers now view artificial intelligence as the top investment priority. The survey shows CFOs are shifting from traditional finance stewardship to enterprise‑wide transformation roles, focusing on...
BALLAS Raises $15.5M Series B to Expand Japan's Construction‑material Platform
BALLAS announced a ¥2.4 billion ($15.5 million) Series B round led by SMSM Edge and Z Venture Capital. The funding will accelerate its BALLAS SCM marketplace, AI‑driven LINKS product, and partnerships with major construction and finance firms.
ARIAS 2026 Nominees Announced for Roundhouse Event
The Audio Academy unveiled the full slate of ARIAS 2026 nominees ahead of the Roundhouse ceremony on 21 May. The awards, now in their tenth year, feature 21 categories spanning breakfast shows, comedy, factual, technical innovation and commercial partnerships. Nominees include...
Etsy Posts Q2 2025 Revenue Rise Amid GMS Decline and Unveils Breakup Registry Concept
Etsy announced Q2 2025 results with consolidated revenue up 4% to $673 million and adjusted EBITDA of $169 million, but gross merchandise sales slipped 4.8% YoY to $2.8 billion. The company also hinted at a new "breakup registry" service aimed at Gen Z buyers,...
Google, iHeartMedia and PBS Win Top Honors at 2026 Webby Awards
Google, iHeartMedia and PBS dominated the 30th Annual Webby Awards, each taking the top honor in their category. The wins underscore the growing importance of brand storytelling, podcasting and public‑media outreach in digital marketing.
Pegasus Expands Japanet Fund to $200 M, Aisin Doubles Venture Allocation to $100 M
Pegasus Tech Ventures announced a $200 million expansion of the Japanet corporate venture fund and auto supplier Aisin doubled its own Pegasus‑managed fund to $100 million. The moves signal a strategic pivot by Japanese conglomerates toward faster AI‑driven innovation in the U.S....
FICO’s Stock Falls as Fannie and Freddie Deal the Credit-Score Company a New Blow
FICO’s shares tumbled 6.4% on Wednesday after government‑backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they will begin accepting an alternative credit‑score model. The move signals a departure from the company’s long‑standing dominance in mortgage underwriting. Analysts see the shift...
US Stocks Today: US Market Rises on Iran Ceasefire Extension and Solid Earnings
U.S. equities rallied on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the Iran cease‑fire, lifting a key geopolitical risk. The S&P 500 jumped 1.03% to 7,137.12, the Nasdaq rose 1.62% to 24,653.52, and the Dow gained 0.68% to...
ISSB Plans Practice Statement on Nature-Related Disclosures
On Earth Day, the International Sustainability Standards Board announced it will propose an IFRS Practice Statement to guide nature‑related disclosures. The practice statement will complement existing IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 standards without altering their requirements, helping companies meet material nature‑risk reporting...
TuneCore Lets Artists “Give Nature a Split” Of Their Streaming Revenue
TuneCore has launched “Give Nature A Split,” letting independent artists allocate a portion of streaming royalties to environmental projects. By adding “NATURE” as a collaborator, artists can automatically route chosen percentages to the EarthPercent‑run Sounds Right Fund, which backs Indigenous...
Schematic Receives $6.5M Financing Round
Schematic, a Boulder‑based runtime monetization platform for SaaS and AI firms, announced a $6.5 million financing round, pushing its total capital raised above $12 million. The round was led by S3 Ventures, MHS Capital, Active Capital, NextView Ventures and Ritual Capital, with...
How to Influence LLM Responses?
Brandwatch released a quartet of spring blog posts that map out actionable tactics for marketers. The pieces cover a curated list of 20 May social‑media holidays, the analytical upside of merging social and search data, step‑by‑step guidance for boosting brand...
Fannie, Freddie, FHA to Accept VantageScore Immediately
Federal regulators announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will immediately accept VantageScore 4.0 for mortgage loan purchases, joining HUD's move to allow modern credit measures on FHA‑insured loans. Freddie Mac has already tested $10 million in VantageScore‑based sales, and a consortium...
From Guangdong to New Mexico, Craft-Focused Brands Are Shaping Fashion’s Future
Heritage craftsmanship is becoming a strategic differentiator for emerging fashion labels worldwide. Brands such as Bode, Diotima, Josh Tafoya, Kinyan Lam, and Suket Dhir are reviving traditional techniques—from up‑cycled antique textiles to Jamaican crochet, Rio Grande weaving, natural Chinese dyes, and Indian Jamdani...
BoQ Looks to Legacy Decommissioning as Core Consolidation Gains Pace
Bank of Queensland (BoQ) is 80‑85% through moving Me Bank customers to a new Temenos‑based core, with over 300,000 accounts and 70% of its retail base now live on the platform. The bank will begin decommissioning the Me Bank system...
Autonomous Media Advertising Firm Selects a Leader
Basis, the AI‑driven autonomous advertising platform, has appointed Christian Hendricks as its new President. Hendricks, a board member since 2021, brings more than two decades of digital media leadership from McClatchy and the Local Media Consortium, as well as consulting...
'We’re Going Grassroots': How a Principal of the Year Is Boosting AP Enrollment
Jason Johnson, principal of Orange High School in Hillsborough, N.C., was named the 2026 National Association of Secondary School Principals High School Principal of the Year. After returning from a district‑level coaching role post‑COVID, he emphasizes personal connections, asking each...
Advertisers Are Optimistic About Netflix’s Dynamic Ad Options
Netflix is expanding its ad-supported tier by offering dynamic ad insertion (DAI) for the 2027 Women’s World Cup broadcast. The streamer’s ad revenue is projected to reach $3 billion in 2026, reflecting steady growth since the ad tier launched in 2022....
New Book Announcement: Psychological Safety for Lean Leaders — Vote on the Title
A new practical guide for Lean leaders, titled *Psychological Safety for Lean Leaders*, is being written to address why problem‑solving initiatives often stall. The author argues that silence, not methodology, is the primary barrier and that specific leadership behaviors can...
Potomac Tech Wire - April 22
Lockheed Martin announced its venture fund will grow from $400 million to $1 billion, marking the largest increase since the program’s 2007 launch. At the same time, Herndon‑based HawkEye 360 filed for a NYSE IPO under the ticker HAWK after a $150 million...
Remote Work Didn't Break Your Leadership. It Just Stopped Hiding It.
The post argues that remote work didn’t create leadership problems—it simply removed the office’s invisible feedback loops, forcing managers to confront the gaps in how they monitor and connect with their teams. Without physical cues, leaders rely on thin digital...
Your Next Client Is Already in Your Network
🔥hot take: your next client is probably already in your network. you just don't have a system for staying in front of them. if i only had 5 minutes a day to move the needle on my business relationships, i'd follow...
NBC Sports President Jon Miller Reveals How NBC Convinced MLB to Sacrifice Revenue in New Deal
NBC Sports clinched a new Major League Baseball contract worth roughly $200 million per year, less than half of ESPN's previous $550 million deal. NBC argued that nationwide broadcast reach and promotional power outweighed the higher fees streaming services could offer. The...
ABA's Ecosystem Strategy to Tackle Fraud
In this episode of the ABA Fraudcast, Rob Nichols and Paul Benda discuss the ABA’s ecosystem‑wide strategy to combat fraud, highlighting insights from recent UN and Financial Stability Board summits. They stress that banks alone cannot protect consumers; social‑media platforms,...
One CV for Every Job? That Is the Problem
The post argues that a one‑size‑fits‑all CV often fails because recruiters evaluate candidates against the specific requirements of each role, not against a generic résumé. Even strong experience can look irrelevant if the wrong achievements, keywords, or messaging are highlighted....
Ships Use Territorial Waters to Bypass US Blockade
How can dozens of ships defeat the US Blockade, as the FT repost below says is happening? The map shows how a tanker can travel from Kharg Island to Mumbai while remaining within the territorial waters of Pakistan and India. The US...
The US Government’s $500 Million Airbus Problem
The Trump administration is close to a $500 million rescue for Spirit Airlines, structured as a loan that could convert into warrants for up to 90 % of the post‑bankruptcy carrier. The deal was prompted by a sharp rise in jet fuel...
The Shadow Fleet Is Undermining the Maritime Order More Brazenly than Ever
In 2026 Baltic Sea nations, France, India and others intensified inspections, detaining more shadow‑fleet vessels than ever before. Russia responded by deploying naval escorts for shadow ships through the English Channel and Baltic Sea, while Iranian vessels continued to evade...
Fire High-Noise, Low-Revenue Customers Now
The customer you can't fire is the one running your company. Every founder I coach has at least one. Eats 30% of your week. Pays 5% of your revenue. The name that makes the whole team sigh in Slack. You...
CFOs Feel Healthcare Pain Rising as GLP-1s Stretch Budgets: Mercer
A Mercer survey of 161 CFOs reveals that nearly three‑quarters now rank healthcare among their top five operating‑expense concerns, driven largely by soaring GLP‑1 weight‑loss drug costs. Employer‑sponsored health insurance expenses are projected to climb 6.7% in 2026, pushing average...
Truvista Snaps up City of Commerce, Ga.’s Telecom Network
Truvista Fiber has agreed to purchase the City of Commerce, Georgia’s municipal fiber network, which currently serves only business customers. The company will assume ownership, upgrade the infrastructure and keep service uninterrupted while evaluating a residential rollout. The acquisition follows...
Toronto Tempo Secures Only 19
The Toronto Tempo will appear on national television in the United States 19 times this season. (Not surprising this is a low number in the States.) Highlights: ESPN will air Fever @ Tempo on Aug. 18 CBS will air Mercury @ Tempo on...
Your Documentary Is Not Enough. The Nonfiction Hot List Has a Plan.
Adam Neuhaus launched the Nonfiction Hot List, a curated marketplace for documentary projects in progress, receiving 640 submissions and spotlighting 23 works that have already landed deals at SXSW, Slate and a Peabody nomination. The initiative also provided free strategy...
Texas Roadhouse's 1990s Restaurants Looked So Different From Today's
Texas Roadhouse began as a single mall restaurant in Clarksville, Indiana, in 1993, featuring free rolls, a two‑week Mexican menu, live‑band stage, and peanut‑shell‑covered floors. Over the past three decades the chain rebranded with a Western‑lodge exterior, added a cowboy‑hat...
Canada’s New US Economic Advisory Committee Draws Backlash From Tech Leaders
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new Canada‑U.S. economic advisory committee to replace the 2025 Council on Canada‑U.S. Relations. The 24‑member panel is dominated by politicians and leaders from automotive, manufacturing and natural resources, with no representation from Canada’s tech...
Fever GM: Team Must Think ‘Long Term’ With Clark Payday Incoming
Indiana Fever general manager Amber Cox emphasized a long‑term roster strategy as the WNBA’s new EPIC contract provision reshapes salary‑cap dynamics. The rule let center Aliyah Boston secure a record four‑year, $6.3 million deal, and it positions rookie star Caitlin Clark...
So, Are We All Going to Get Refunded for Those Illegal Trump Tariffs?
On April 22, 2026, the U.S. Treasury announced it will begin issuing refunds for the Trump administration’s illegal tariffs, but only to businesses that paid the duties directly. An estimated $1,745 per American household was spent on those tariffs, yet...
Mortgage Rates Maintaining a Tight Range Amid War-Related Uncertainty
Mortgage rates have settled into a narrow band of 6.29%‑6.33% for a 30‑year fixed loan, a range that’s held for over a week. The market’s stance is shaped by oil price fluctuations and the latest cease‑fire extension in the ongoing...
AI Demand Is Forcing a Rethink of Data Center Power, Cooling
AI’s rapid expansion is straining data‑center power and cooling infrastructure, prompting operators to redesign projects mid‑construction. At the Data Center World conference, Aligned Data Centers reported a 50% power increase request on an ongoing build, while Omdia warned of supply‑chain...
America’s Descent Into State Capitalism Is Exaggerated
The article argues that claims of America sliding into state capitalism under President Donald Trump are overstated. While Trump repeatedly frames mortgage rates, gasoline prices, and stock market movements as battles the government must win, the federal response has been...
‘Faster and More Disruptive’ Tech Underscores Need to Revamp the Fed's Operations, Its Governor Says
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller urged a comprehensive overhaul of the Fed’s back‑office functions, arguing that emerging technologies like AI demand a more centralized, platform‑based model. He warned that the current decentralized oversight across the 12 regional banks hampers speed...
Value Creation Shifts to Small Teams, AI Ends Billable Hour
I’m honored to be the inaugural guest on my friend and longtime collaborator Ron Boire’s new podcast, Lead with Purpose. Our conversation (cut down from almost 3 hours of recording, if you can believe it) covers all manner of things:...
Lululemon Appoints Former Nike Exec as CEO
SCOOP: Lululemon has found its next CEO. Former Nike executive Heidi O'Neill is set to take over in September. $LULU https://t.co/tDZFUF1EOU
GGEPIL Raises ₹90 Crore From JM Financial PE and Investors for Green Waste Solutions
Green Gene Enviro Protection and Infrastructure (GGEPIL) announced a ₹90 crore (~$11 million) capital raise from JM Financial Private Equity, the SRF family office and other investors. The funding will expand GGEPIL's hazardous waste collection, treatment and energy‑recovery operations across sectors such...
US Opens Tough Cuba Talks, Deadline Looms This Week
The U.S. has begun new negotiations with Cuba, presenting sweeping demands with a looming deadline later this week. Full analysis available exclusively for Analyst Tier members on Patreon ➡️ https://t.co/MG6vaQVGos #cuba #geopolitics https://t.co/Y4hhm8sZaK
No Vote Deals Major Setback to Oklahoma Sports Betting
The bill's sponsor said he will push for a re-vote, but today's no vote was a big blow for legal sports betting efforts in Oklahoma
Dell Evolves Into AI Powerhouse, Not Just PCs
Dell just posted $113.5B in revenue. Up 19% YoY. $64B in cumulative AI orders. $43B in unfilled AI backlog. $30B in new buybacks. 20% dividend hike. This isn't a PC company anymore. $DLLL gives you 2x daily leveraged participation: https://t.co/ZjkBdri46R @GraniteShares
Spurs‑Blazers Opener Draws 5.7 Million Viewers
Strong 5.7 million viewers for Game 1 of Spurs-Trail Blazers first round series on NBC on Sunday night (1 million of those on Peacock's stream). Hopefully Wembanyama comes back soon from that concussion.
Past Buyers Respond Differently: Apparel
Apparel brand advertising new drops to past buyers: high incrementality. vs Supplement brand advertising the same bottle to past buyers: low incrementality.