• President Donald Trump called on private companies to assist with the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. 
• At a press conference at the White House, Trump was joined by business leaders from Walgreens, Target, Walmart, CVS, and other companies. 
• He said that drive-through testing centers will be set up in the parking lots of those companies' locations around the country. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump was joined by the CEOs of companies like Target and CVS as they attempt to combat the spread of the coronavirus. 

At a press conference at the White House on Friday, Trump spoke alongside presidents or CEOs of Walgreens, Target, Walmart, CVS, and others. 

Trump said that drive-through testing centers will be set up in the parking lots of those companies' locations across the country. 

"When we got the call yesterday from the White House, we were eager to do our part to help serve the country," said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. "And given what we are facing that is certainly important to do. We should all be doing that."

Richard Ashworth, president of Walgreens, said the company is "happy to stand in here and help" communities across the United States. 

Target CEO Brian Cornell said that "normally, you view us as competitors, but today we're focused on a common competitor, and that's defeating the spread of the coronavirus." 

Cornell also said Target is focused on ensuring that stores can stay open for customers seeking to purchase supplies. 

Trump also thanked Google, which he said has 1,700 engineers assisting in setting up a website regarding testing for the virus. 

CEOs of laboratory, research, and medical device companies also joined Trump, who said that he has called on the labs to expedite efforts to increase the availability of tests for COVID-19. 

Companies like Roche Diagnostics, whose CEO Matt Sause attended the press conference, recently gained expedited approval for coronavirus testing. 

Trump said at the press conference that he is declaring a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Here's the full list of executives and companies present during the press conference:

• Richard Ashworth, President, Walgreens
• Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO, Target Corporation
• Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Walmart Inc.
• Tom Polen, CEO and President, Becton, Dickinson and Company
• Stephen Rusckowski, Chairman, President and CEO, Quest Diagnostics
• Matt Sause, President and CEO, North America, Roche Diagnostics
• David Pierre, COO, Signify Health
• Mark Stevenson, Executive Vice President and COO, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
• Thomas Moriarty, Executive Vice President, Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer, and General Counsel, CVS Health
• Bruce Greenstein, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, LHC Group

Join the conversation about this story »

The number of cases and fear around the novel coronavirus are escalating quickly, with the World Health organization declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic and the US setting strict travel restrictions for the next 30 days.

There are over 136,000 confirmed cases worldwide, with more than 5,000 deaths. In the US, there are more than 1,800 confirmed cases and 41 deaths.

With that, many organizations are turning to remote work strategies to reduce chances of the virus spreading in the workplace. Along with concerns over health, well-being, and their careers, employees are bound to have questions about how management is taking action during this crisis.

Employers must be proactive to help contain the disease by remaining up to date on accurate information, communicating regularly with staff, and maintaining a clean office space, among other important precautions. Business Insider queried doctors, managers, and communication experts about the course of action and exact emails business owners should share with their employees to quell fears and keep productivity high.

Subscribe here to read our feature:Here's the exact action plan managers should use to calm coronavirus anxiety at the office, along with the emails you should be sending to staff

SEE ALSO: Here's the exact coronavirus contingency plan every leader should create to keep their teams from panicking and build trust in a time of crisis

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why hydrogen cars will be Tesla's biggest threat

• PepsiCo bought Rockstar Energy Beverages for $3.85 billion, the soft drink giant announced Wednesday.
• The deal brings the net worth of Rockstar's billionaire founder, who reportedly owned 85% of the company, to about $4 billion, Forbes estimated.
• Weiner is the son of far-right talk radio host and President Trump associate Michael Savage, a connection that has kept some grocery stores from selling Rockstar Energy, The New York Times reported in 2006.
• A Miami-area bridge fell on Weiner's 161-foot long yacht,"Rockstar," in 2014.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Russ Weiner, the extravagant billionaire behind Rockstar Energy Beverages, just sold his business to PepsiCo for $3.85 billion.

For Weiner, who reportedly owned 85% of Rockstar, the deal was the culmination of an "American dream" that began in 2001 when he took a job at a vodka maker after losing a bid for California's State Senate. Weiner mortgaged his condo in the suburbs of San Francisco and relied on help from his family to launch the company and has since built a $4 billion fortune.

A representative for Weiner at PepsiCo did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the sale to Pepsi, Michael Savage's connection to the company, Weiner's net worth, disposition, or career at the company.

Keep reading to learn more about Russ Weiner.

SEE ALSO: Mike Bloomberg's failed presidential campaign cost him over $500 million. Here are some of the things the billionaire spent money on, from free booze and NYC apartments for staff to catered events for supporters.

DON'T MISS: A pharmaceutical company just announced a rapid-result coronavirus test — and its billionaire owner made $100 million

Russell Goldencloud Weiner, 49, is the son of controversial talk radio host Michael Savage.

Weiner is one of two children of far-right talk radio host Michael Weiner, who goes by Michael Savage online, according to The New York Times. In 2009, Savage called the Koran as "book of hate," and was subsequently banned from entering Britain. Savage brags about the incident in his biography on his personal website, saying that it "made him the 'poster child' for free speech, not only for Americans concerned about the cultural shift towards totalitarianism and their rights to freedom of expression, but for people around the globe."

Both of Weiner's parents helped him found Rockstar, according to The Times. Weiner's connection to Savage has kept some store owners from carrying Rockstar, The Times reported in 2006. The then-CEO of Oregon based grocery chain New Seasons told The Times that its stores did not carry Rockstar because of Savage's views.

Weiner's mother Janet is Rockstar's CFO and owns 15% of the company, according to Forbes. Janet Weiner plans to use her portion of the windfall from the PepsiCo sale to "devote her life to helping animals through animal rescues," Weiner told Forbes.

Weiner had an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age.

Weiner founded his own yard service company when he was 8 years old, Forbes reported. As a teenager, Weiner also worked at a Wendy's drive-thru window, according to Forbes.

He later attended San Diego State University and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in political science, according to Forbes. After graduation, Weiner planned and sold spring break trips to Cancun and Hawaii geared toward high school students, Forbes reported.

Weiner shares his father's interest in politics.

Weiner ran for a seat in the California State Assembly in 1998, according to Forbes. Then 28 years old, Weiner ran on a conservative platform and only garnered 30.5% of the vote, Forbes reported.

The campaign wasn't a complete waste, however.

Skyy Vodka founder Maurice Kanbar was impressed with Weiner's performance on the campaign trail and gave the future billionaire a job at his company, according to Forbes. Kanbar was also a friend of Weiner's father, Forbes reported. 

"He saw I had the guts to stand up with the American flag — and people cursing my name," Weiner told Forbes in 2014.

Weiner had the idea to create a new energy drink while working at Skyy after seeing the success of Red Bull, but Kanbar did not approve the project, according to Forbes. Weiner quit his job at Skyy to start Rockstar, founding his new company in 2001 by taking out a $50,000 mortgage on the condo he owned in the upscale San Francisco suburb of Sausalito, California, according to Forbes. He also rented a computer at a then-Kinko's location to design his new company's logo and reach out to manufacturers, Forbes reported.

Rockstar was a near-instant success, making Weiner extremely wealthy.

Rockstar found initial success as a cheaper alternative to Red Bull, thanks to its wide variety of flavors, Forbes reported in 2014. The drink was set apart by its unusually large size for an energy drink. Rockstar was first in the category to be sold in 16 oz cans, PepsiCo said in a statement.

Weiner drove around San Francisco in an old limousine with Rockstar's logo painted on the side to promote the drink when it first launched, according to Forbes.

Forbes added Weiner to its Billionaires List in 2015, when he had a net worth of $2.1 billion. The magazine currently estimates that Weiner is worth $4 billion, and placed him as No. 195 on the Forbes 400.

Weiner is known to have a "short temper."

After interviewing the billionaire in 2014, Forbes' Abram Brown wrote that Weiner could also be combative and short-sighted. According to Brown, Weiner's disposition caused numerous Rockstar executives to leave the company and Coca-Cola to renege on a deal to handle Rockstar's distribution.

Rockstar first went into business with Pepsi after its relationship with Coca-Cola ended in 2009.

The two companies signed a distribution deal in 2009, Forbes reported.

Pepsi announced Wednesday that it would acquire Rockstar for $3.85 billion.

"We have had a strong partnership with PepsiCo for the last decade, and I'm happy to take that to the next level and join forces as one company," Weiner said in a statement released by PepsiCo. "PepsiCo shares our competitive spirit and will invest in growing our brand even further. I'm proud of what we built and how we've changed the game in the energy space." 

Weiner told Forbes that the deal "shows the American dream is still alive and well."

"It's perfect timing in my life right now," Weiner told Forbes. "I'll have enough money to pretty much do whatever I want in life and not put my nose to the grindstone. I was running this business 24 hours a day for the past 20 years. I was never not working."

Weiner reportedly owned 85% of Rockstar, according to CNBC.

Weiner has purchased at least six beachfront mansions in California and Florida — and several of them are currently for sale.

Weiner purchased a waterfront mansion on Miami Beach's Biscayne Bay for $20 million in 2016, but put the property back on the market for $35 million in September 2019, according to the Los Angeles Times. The 10,000-square-foot house sits on an acre of land and has a pool, a spa, and a private dock with space for four jet skis.

Also in September 2019, Weiner also purchased a $16.5 million home in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills and put it back on the market for $28 million just two weeks later, the LA Times reported. That house was built in an "ultra-modern" style and has views of the LA skyline, according to the LA Times.

Weiner also owns a 161-foot yacht named "Rockstar" that is as extravagant as his pricey mansions.

The yacht's amenities include a Jacuzzi and gym on the top deck and sleeping accommodations for 12, according to Curbed.

A bridge collapsed on the boat in Miami in 2014, according to Curbed. The boat was able to be repaired and was spotted on the waters again in Miami in 2017, Curbed reported.

• Many of the world's youngest billionaires hail from the tech industry. 
• Snap's Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy are 29 and 31, respectively, as are Stripe's John and Patrick Collison. 
• Not every tech billionaire is young — the world's two richest people, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, are in their 50s or 60s. And Oracle's Larry Ellison was 49 when he reached billionaire status.
• Still, companies like Airbnb, TikTok-parent ByteDance, and social networking behemoth Facebook are run by millennials. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It pays to be young in tech. 

While there are currently plenty of over-50 and over-60 billionaires who hail from the tech world — Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates chief among them — there are also dozens of newly minted millennial billionaires. Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy (29 and 31, respectively) became billionaires in their mid-20s, and Spiegel is one of only a few self-made billionaires under the age of 30. 

And Mark Zuckerberg became the world's youngest billionaire at age 23 (though he's since been unseated by Kylie Jenner). He's still among one of the youngest, richest people in the world. 

That's not to say youth is a requirement in the tech world. Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who's currently worth over $58 billion, was 49 when he reached billionaire status. Elon Musk and Meg Whitman were in their 40s as well. 

But these days, some of tech's biggest or most exciting companies are run by billionaires in their 20s and 30s. Thanks to Forbes' annual billionaires list, we've identified the 28 youngest billionaires in tech. 

SEE ALSO: From Facebook to Tesla, here are the lesser-known cofounders of some of the biggest tech companies in the world

Tobi Lutke

Age: 39

Net worth: $1.6 billion

What he does: Tobi Lutke is the founder and CEO of ecommerce technology company Shopify. 

Peter Szulczewski

Age: 39

Net worth: $1.4 billion

What he does: Peter Szulczewski is the cofounder and CEO of ecommerce platform Wish.

Sachin Bansal

Age: 38

Net worth: $1 billion

What he does: Sachin Bansal is cofounder of Flipkart, India's biggest ecommerce site. 

Joe Gebbia

Age: 38

Net worth: $3.7 billion

What he does: Joe Gebbia is cofounder and chief product officer of short-term home rental company Airbnb.

Brian Chesky

Age: 38

Net worth: $3.7 billion

What he does: Brian Chesky is cofounder and CEO of short-term home rental company Airbnb.

Evan Sharp

Age: 38

Net worth: $1 billion

What he does: Evan Sharp is cofounder and chief creative officer of inspiration and trend discovery site Pinterest.

Ben Silbermann

Age: 38

Net worth: $1.6 billion

What he does: Ben Silbermann is cofounder and CEO of inspiration and trend discovery site Pinterest.

Eduardo Saverin

Age: 38

Net worth: $9.7 billion

What he does: Eduardo Saverin cofounded Facebook along with Mark Zuckerberg.

Su Hua

Age: 37 or 38

Net worth: $2.9 billion

What he does: Su Hua is the cofounder and CEO of Kuaishou, a Chinese GIF and video-sharing app. 

Binny Bansal

Age: 37 or 38

Net worth: $1 billion

What he does: Binny Bansal is cofounder of Flipkart, India's biggest ecommerce site. He was CEO of Flipkart Group until his resignation in November 2018 after allegations of "serious personal misconduct."

Cheng Wei

Age: 37

Net worth: $1.2 billion

What he does: Cheng Wei is the founder and CEO of Chinese ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing.

Brian Armstrong

Age: 37

Net worth: $1.3 billion

What he does: Brian Armstrong is the cofounder and CEO of cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase.

Daniel Ek

Age: 37

Net worth: $2.2 billion

What he does: Daniel Ek is the cofounder and CEO of music-streaming company Spotify. 

Drew Houston

Age: 37

Net worth: $2.3 billion

What he does: Drew Houston is the cofounder and CEO of file-sharing service Dropbox.

Ryan Graves

Age: 37

Net worth: $1.6 billion

What he does: Ryan Graves was the first full-time employee and first CEO of Uber. He's currently the CEO of investment firm Saltwater Capital. 

Nathan Blecharczyk

Age: 37

Net worth: $3.7 billion

What he does: Nathan Blecharczyk is the cofounder and chief strategy officer at short-term home rental company Airbnb.

Zhang Yiming

Age: 36

Net worth: $16.2 billion

What he does: Zhang Yiming is the chairman of ByteDance, a Chinese content company behind the short-form video app TikTok. 

Bill Liu

Age: 36

Net worth: $1.7 billion

What he does: Bill Liu is the CEO and chairman of Royole, which makes flexible displays and sensors that are used in devices like foldable phones.

Kevin Systrom

Age: 36

Net worth: $1.4 billion

What he does: Kevin Systrom is the cofounder and former CEO of photo-sharing app Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook in 2012.

Mark Zuckerberg

Age: 35

Net worth: $62.3 billion

What he does: Mark Zuckerberg is the cofounder and CEO of social networking company Facebook.

Dustin Moskovitz

Age: 35

Net worth: $11.1 billion

What he does: Dustin Moskovitz cofounded Facebook along with Mark Zuckerberg. He left Facebook to cofound the workplace management company Asana, where he is CEO. 

Pavel Durov

Age: 35

Net worth: $2.7 billion

What he does: Pavel Durov is the founder of messaging app Telegram. He also created VK, the biggest social networking app in Russia. 

Chris Wanstrath

Age: 34

Net worth: $2.2 billion

What he does: Chris Wanstrath is the cofounder and former CEO of GitHub, a social network for software developers that was acquired by Microsoft.

Jihan Wu

Age: 34

Net worth: $1.5 billion

What he does: Jihan Wu is the cofounder and chairman of Bitmain Technologies, the largest cryptocurrency mining company in China. 

Bobby Murphy

Age: 31

Net worth: $2.1 billion

What he does: Bobby Murphy is cofounder and chief technology officer of Snap, the social media and camera company that makes Snapchat. 

Patrick Collison

Age: 31

Net worth: $2.1 billion

What he does: Patrick Collison — along with his brother, John — founded payments company Stripe. He currently serves as the company's CEO.

Evan Spiegel

Age: 29

Net worth: $2.1 billion

What he does: Evan Spiegel is cofounder and CEO of Snap, the social media and camera company that makes Snapchat. 

John Collison

Age: 29

Net worth: $2.1 billion

What he does: John Collison — along with his brother, Patrick — founded payments company Stripe. He currently serves as the company's president. 

Welcome to Wall Street Insider, where we take you behind the scenes of the finance team's biggest scoops and deep dives from the past week. 

If you aren't yet a subscriber, you can sign up here.

Blue team, white team 

Cboe and CME are clearing trading floors. Barclays and Intercontinental Exchange were among the latest firms with confirmed coronavirus cases. And Goldman Sachs' top brass on Thursday laid out their own coronavirus response. 

Read the full memo explaining how Goldman is separating employees into 'blue' and 'white' teams to alternate working from the office and home.

With dealmakers forced to hunker down and limit travel as coronavirus spreads, we're already starting to see how these measures are hurting business. 

As Casey Sullivan reports, major US law firms are experiencing a dropoff in deal work, with practice areas such as M&A seen as particularly vulnerable. "People want to look you in the eyes before they sell a company to you," one insider explained. The malaise could lead financially strong firms to poach from weaker ones, with clear winners and losers emerging from the turmoil. 

Read the full story here: 

With Big Law M&A work evaporating as coronavirus spreads, some firms are about to make bank. Here are the winners and losers.

Vol, macro strategies shine

Artemis Capital's flagship Vega Fund fell more than 13% last year when the markets churned relentlessly higher. But the volatility-linked fund is now in its element, Bradley Saacks reports, as markets have been thrashed by the quickly spreading coronavirus and a glut of oil supply that's sent crude oil prices tumbling. 

It shows how some hedge funds are getting a chance to finally shake off years of uninspiring returns and woo back investors that had been getting fed up with hefty fees. 

Read the full story here: 

Business is booming for certain types of hedge funds as coronavirus rocks markets. These 6 have returned as much as 14% with bets focused on volatility and macro trends.

SigFig's rise and stall 

SigFig has raised some $120 million in funding from the likes of DCM Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures and signed partnerships with industry giants with the promise of powering wealth-tech. But in recent months, a string of execs and other employees have left, 10% of its workforce was cut, and wealth deal growth has slowed.

Rebecca Ungarino spoke with a dozen insiders who described the Silicon Valley startup's rise and more recent struggles to compete in a crowded space.

Read the full story here: 

SigFig raised $120 million on the promise of reinventing investing, but hasn't announced a big partnership in years. Here's how it went from deals with UBS and Wells Fargo to struggling to compete.

JPMorgan embraces fintechs

JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank has implemented a new program to quickly make assessments on fintechs it's looking to work with. Dan DeFrancesco talked with Michael Elanjian, head of digital innovation at JPMorgan's CIB, about how the bank is aiming to cut down the average time and money needed to evaluate startups. 

As Wall Street looks to work with startups now more than ever — either through partnerships, investment, mentorship or as a customer — all are interested in speeding up the selection process. 

Read the full story here:

JPMorgan slashed how long it takes to test out fintechs from 9 months to 3 weeks with a new process that could save it millions as it looks to buy, invest in, or work with more young companies

Snowflake's Wall Street data play

As Bradley and Dan report, a new product from one of the hottest tech startups is geared toward addressing a major need for Wall Street, and its execs believe it will lead to big business for a company that has already proved wildly successful.

Snowflake, the cloud-data platform last valued at $12.4 billion, is in the early stages of signing up customers for a data exchange where providers can connect with the consumers in a marketplace hosted and managed by the startup. 

Read the full story here: 

$12.4 billion startup Snowflake is targeting Wall Street with a new data exchange that's already signed up FactSet and Coatue

How RE/MAX is looking for a tech edge in a fierce battle for agents

RE/Max, like other brokerages, is racing to keep up with Compass, which has grown from roughly 2,000 agents at the beginning of 2018 to 15,000 by the end of last year. Compass, flush with cash from SoftBank, acquired CRM provider Contactually in February 2019. and has used its technology as a tool to recruit agents from other brokerages.

As Alex Nicoll explains, RE/MAX has acquired tech providers and brought its tech fully in-house, while other competitors partner with external tech providers.

Read the full story here: 

Real estate giant RE/MAX is spending tens of millions on tech to keep up with Compass. Here's its M&A playbook.

On the move

Bank of America's CTO, who played a key part in a private-cloud strategy execs praised for saving billions, has left the bank. And a veteran Wells Fargo Advisors exec who helped navigate sweeping regulatory changes to the wealth industry just retired.

More highlights from the finance team: 

• We spoke with the CEO of DoorDash after the food-delivery giant filed for an IPO — here's how he feels about the competition, coronavirus, and going public
• Why Goldman Sachs analysts think Morgan Stanley's stock will be Wall Street's big winner if a full-blown coronavirus recession strikes
• CME and Cboe are clearing trading floors as coronavirus spreads, and one veteran trader thinks the millions they'll save will be too good to ever reopen the iconic pits
• A Morgan Stanley exec gave us an inside look at its new VC partnership program aimed at helping fintechs pitch the Wall Street giant
• People are rethinking daily habits like touching dirty dollar bills as coronavirus spreads. This could be the catalyst that finally triggers the US to tap their phones to pay.
• SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 pumped $100 million into Behavox — and the startup's CEO says that's twice what he was looking for
• Massive hedge fund Bridgewater just made an $11.8 billion bet against giant European companies like Bayer, Santander, and Adidas as the coronavirus spread has Italy on lockdown
• Robinhood is still trying to figure out what caused its latest outage, which crippled the stock-trading app during a historic day for markets
• Managed by Q just slashed most of its remaining staff after WeWork unloaded the business at a massive discount

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it's like to ride the world's longest flight

• The odds of getting hired by the prestigious McKinsey & Company are less than 1%.
• But there are ways to make your application stand out and get your foot in the door, from writing an outstanding cover letter to networking to preparing for the interview.
• Business Insider has talked to countless leaders and executives in charge of hiring at top consulting agencies like McKinsey for their best tips and tricks to landing a job — and thriving once you're in it. You can find more advice by subscribing to BI Prime. 

Deemed one of the "Big Three" consulting firms, a job at McKinsey & Company is more than coveted. In 2018, the firm received 800,000 applications, but only 8,000 people got offers, the company told Business Insider.

And given that McKinsey topped Vault.com's 2020 list of consulting agencies, the firm only takes the cream of the crop. But there are some steps you can take that might land you a six-figure job at McKinsey, and rise in the ranks once you're there.

These are the ultimate guides to bolstering your hireability specifically for McKinsey in a few key areas:

Getting your foot in the door: The hiring policy at McKinsey, one of the world's most elite management consultancies, is defined by one thing: Harvard

Writing a top-notch cover letter:How to write a cover letter for McKinsey that gets your foot in the door, according to 3 recruiters and a former McKinsey manager — plus examples to get you started

Networking with partners:Here's how to network your way into getting a job at McKinsey, including email templates that'll help you connect with the top partners at the firm

Nailing the interview:McKinsey recruiters reveal the exact skills applicants need to showcase in their interview to land a 6-figure job at the consulting firm

Excelling during the case studies:McKinsey recruiters reveal exactly how to nail the interview and case study to land a 6-figure job at the consulting firm

Starting out after an MBA:MBAs earn the highest salaries out of school when they become management consultants at McKinsey or Bain — here's what it's like to start out

Becoming a partner:How to get onto the partner track at McKinsey and make millions, according to 3 management-consulting headhunters and a former McKinsey HR manager

SEE ALSO: The ultimate guide to getting a job at McKinsey, BCG, Bain, or Accenture, according to 3 headhunters for these top management consulting firms

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How groundhogs became the animal that predicted the weather

• Jacob Harper and Andy Cagle opened Inner Circle Vodka Bar — a bar specializing in vodka-infused cocktails — in Tulsa, Oklahoma five years ago.
• Banks and big-time lenders initially rejected their zany concept, so they relied on funds from family and friends, a non-traditional lender, and a Kickstarter campaign.  
• Once the bar opened, revenue flowed in, bringing $561,000 to $1.2 million per year and allowing the pair to pay returns and meet loan obligations — and expand to a new city.
• Advice from the pair for aspiring entrepreneurs includes creating "Instagrammable experiences" and when you get a "no" asking questions to get a "yes."  
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

For Jacob Harper and Andy Cagle, the idea for a bar dedicated to vodka drinks was as clear and crisp as the spirit itself.

When they came up with it eight years ago, vodka was a fixture in all their visits to bars around the country. People drank vodka neat, on ice, in cocktails, or as shots. 

Industry statistics confirm vodka's status as a longstanding top-selling liquor, according to 2018 data from global strategy firm LEK Consulting. The "backbone of the spirits industry," as the Distilled Spirits Council trade group calls it, accounted for 32% of all volumes sold in the US in 2018. It reaped $6.4 billion for US distillers, up from $5.5 billion in 2012.

Back then, Cagle recalled, he saw vodka distilleries opening around him. As he and Harper studied trends and visited bars far and wide, they also noticed more people enjoying flavored vodka or infused cocktails. 

"We thought, 'Man, for being the No. 1 seller, no one is really treating it well,'" Cagle said. "It's like the red-headed stepchild of the industry."

So, they thought, why not have a bar that specializes in infused vodka drinks? They could call it Inner Circle Vodka Bar, named for the friend group the pair had in college at Oklahoma State University. Harper could lead all operations. Cagle could head finance, marketing, and events. If the concept worked, they could build a regional chain.

"Opening a bar or doing business together was something we talked about off and on," Harper said. "It started off as us kind of joking about it and talking about our strengths."

The talk began in college and continued after graduation. Meanwhile, Harper worked his way up into a manager position at a busy bar in Stillwater, Oklahoma, but found few opportunities to advance further. Cagle earned a law degree and practiced as an attorney in Texas — but over time, he became more drawn to organizing parties, bar crawls, and other fun events.

In 2012, the chatter turned serious when both experienced personal breakthroughs. Harper decided to do more with an inheritance from his father, and Cagle realized his passion was in entertaining and organizing experiences that made people happy.

"Finally, we said let's just do this," Cagle said. "It was tougher than we thought it'd be." 

It paid off: In five years, the Inner Circle Vodka Bar has brought in more than $4.2 million in all, earning between $561,000 and $1.2 million each year. 

Here's how they did it.

SEE ALSO: An actor turned freelance copywriter went from making $50,000 to $250,000 in one year. Here are 3 unique strategies she used to make it happen.

NOW READ: Amazon sellers with manufacturing in China have banded together to exchange information around coronavirus and cope with the evolving situation as they wait for their products to arrive

Raising capital

Harper and Cagle chose Tulsa, Oklahoma as the bar's first location. They pledged to put in at least $60,000 combined for equity participation, according to their business plan. They estimated they needed $250,000 in initial start-up capital, based on the costs of inventory and materials, equipment, furniture and fixtures, fees and permits, deposits and other upfront fees, lease improvements, installation charges, and marketing and opening. They sought $200,000 from investors and to obtain a $50,000 bank loan.

"We went to every bank in Tulsa, and they all laughed at us and told us no," Cagle said, attributing the rejections to the pair not having assets. "It was brutal."

Every rejection was an opportunity to refine the plan, the cofounders said. They asked for feedback about how to make their investment offer more attractive for the next person or group they approached.

In mid-2013, the pair quit their jobs. They needed the time to pitch to potential investors — many of them family and friends — attend small business programs, and talk to successful owners.

In 2014, with the initial funds secured, Harper and Cagle leased a 3,200-square-foot building in the city's arts district that came with 4,500 square feet of outdoor space. They formed a separate limited liability company to minimize culpabilities as they built the property into a full bar, complete with a dance floor and amenities. In so doing, they depleted the initial capital, prompting them to seek an additional $200,000 to open and operate.

"We just weren't going to give up until we had depleted every resource," Cagle said. "The only thing we could do was keep asking."

Later that year, Harper and Cagle met with the Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, a non-traditional lender that funds new and growing small businesses. They pitched their vision, even doing a walk-through of the leased property with the representative. TEDC agreed to lend them 75% of the money — if they could raise the other 25% and find guarantors.

Harper and Cagle went to family and friends once more, offering 1% equity per $4,000. 

Carlie Wischnewsky, Cagle's sister, invested to support her brother. But she also saw the draw of the bar with its fun events and specialty drinks. 

"Their perseverance, their attitude, and their ideas made us really want to invest," Wischnewsky said. "It's great to have a good idea. It takes a lot to actually take the next step forward."

Chris Parker, a college and Inner Circle friend, came in as a guarantor. A business analytics professor, Parker ran several scenarios on spreadsheets. But in the end, it was Harper and Cagle quitting their jobs that mattered most to him.

"They were all-in," Parker said. "I knew they were going to work really hard not to fail."

The pair also took on a third partner and crowdfunded $17,000 through Kickstarter to secure financing. 

Successfully launching and attracting customers

The Inner Circle Vodka Bar finally opened its doors on Saint Patrick's Day in 2015. The 500-capacity bar boasts a full fare of beer, liquor, and wine, as well as more than 100 varieties of vodka. Its nearly 20 house infusions include The Inner Circle, their signature cocktail made with blueberry and lemon-infused vodka and Sprite. 

To draw patrons steadily, Harper and Cagle have formed connections with area businesses, organizations like the city's young professionals, and charitable groups. They tap into downtown's nightlife. They organize or host events such as Harry Potter Day, outdoor games, Vodka 1K fun run/bar crawl, trivia night, infusion classes, live music, and DJs. They consistently post social media ads and updates to keep the bar top of mind for locals.

On busy summer nights, the bar and patio draw 1,200 to 1,500 people. The busiest days coincide with marquee events, such as the three-day Tulsa Tough bicycle race. On the day the race passed through their area last year, the Vodka Bar sold about 2,600 mixed drinks and 1,500 beers to spectators along the route.

A big part of keeping customers happy is serving them quickly, Harper and Cagle said. Bartenders have leeway to set up their stations the way that is fastest for them, Cagle said, to reduce time and movements. The setup also helps maintain consistency in taste. 

"Everything can be made in about 15 seconds," Cagle said. "For a large group, we can get your group in and get drinks within five minutes."

Another draw that fits into their brand is customer service. Their staff, numbering five to 11 depending on the expected crowd, are trained to make sure customers are comfortable and satisfied during each point of interaction. Even door staff get the spiel. 

"We tell them: 'This is the service industry. You're the first person people see and the last, so be friendly, greet people, and do all that until you don't have to be,'" Cagle said.

The strategies worked well enough that the bar turned a profit just two months after opening. 

Overall between 2015 and 2019, the bar has generated between $561,000 and $1.2 million in revenue each year. In 2016 and 2017, when revenues topped $1 million, Harper and Cagle began taking salaries.

Opening a second location

Harper and Cagle began shortlisting mid-sized cities to open their next branch in the middle-southern parts of the country in 2019. Springfield, Missouri, had the Vodka Bar's customer demographic — with its bustling downtown, growing population, college scene led by Missouri State University, and visitor attractions. Yet, it maintains a small-town vibe, Harper said.   

"Getting the brand out there will help promote it in both cities as we continue to move into other markets," Harper said. "If you wait for a 'right time,' you're never going to find it. You just have to jump in and be smart with it."

This time, people approached the pair about funding the Springfield business, which plans to open in late March. But with existing backers like Wischnewsky and Parker readily investing once more, they raised the required $230,000 easily compared to raising funds for Tulsa. The owners used $150,000 as a down payment for an $875,000 bank loan to buy the Springfield property outright. The remaining $80,000 went into renovations and opening costs.

To get the bar ready, Harper and Cagle rented a small apartment in Springfield to be on site for the day-to-day lift of renovating, meetings with suppliers and vendors, hiring and training, and marketing.

Their advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

For entrepreneurs looking to emulate their success, Harper suggested knowing your brand and key customer. Keeping that in mind will guide your decisions around forming an experience, including the look and feel of it, that attracts your customer base.

"We have things that are Instagrammable," Cagle said. "It's not just people coming to get a drink. Make things an event when they come to your location."

Looking back, Cagle said, the original estimates were "way off" from what they ended up needing to open and operate. Talking with a variety of owners, potential investors, and banks helped them estimate budgets more accurately for the second location.

Likewise, when you get a "no," ask people questions to turn that into a yes, Cagle and Harper said. Getting those answers will help you refine your plans for the next time you pitch.

• Emily Washkovick is a senior field marketing manager and small business expert at Yelp.
• She educates business owners on best practices and provides resources to help them grow and succeed.
• Washkovick says the most important rule to follow is to always respond to your reviews. Yelp data also shows that longer responses tend to have better outcomes than shorter responses.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Getting a great review from a customer feels amazing. But there are always detractors out there, and when one of them posts a bad review, it can feel like a dent to your business. 

When that happens, it's important to keep things in perspective: Negative reviews aren't necessarily a bad thing — it's how you respond to the review that matters. That's because your customers' experience with your company doesn't end with in-person interactions — online exchanges are a part of their whole experience, too.

There's always an opportunity to use a bad review to your advantage. The magic happens when you learn how to embrace your customers' feedback, and there are some clear things you should and shouldn't do when responding to a negative review.

For one, it is almost always better to go into detail when responding to a negative customer review. According to Yelp data, the longest 20% of review responses have a whopping 4400% greater chance of seeing an increase in star ratings than the shortest 20% of responses. In other words, the longer a business owner's response, the more often the reviewer went back to write a new review with a higher star rating — and the more the business's overall average star rating increased.

Here are some other key points to keep in mind when responding to a negative review.

1. Thank your reviewer

No matter how angry or negative the review was, always start your response by thanking your reviewer. It's a simple way to show your appreciation for their feedback. 

The customer experience is a two-way street and receiving any review opens up the opportunity for you to connect with your customers, which includes both the person who posted the review and future customers who will look up your business.

2. Perform market research

You can fix a wrong by letting the reviewer know you will seriously consider their feedback, which you absolutely should. Think of customer reviews as market research. They are indicators of what your customers expect and can help you realize what modifications you need to make to improve your business. 

For example, Yelp data shows that around 80% of reviewers who mention speaking to a manager gave one-star reviews. This is a clear opportunity for businesses to retrain their managers on how to cater to the customer and learn the essential art of de-escalating a hairy situation.

3. If you can fix it, let the customer know what you will change — and how

Maybe a customer received an incorrect order, or the package arrived later than expected. If you're able to provide a refund or some sort of credit, let your customer know. Often, companies get a manager involved or provide a direct contact line so the customer can reach out for further assistance.

Keep in mind that you don't always need to address every single complaint. Use your judgment and know that it's okay to ignore some of them and only reply about the things you will fix.  

Anything that is a matter of personal taste, opinions about aesthetics, or comments on your intentional choices that don't impact your product or service can be ignored. For example, there's no point in addressing comments like, 'Your prices are too high,' 'I don't like the decor,' or 'your business name is stupid' if you have no intention of changing the price, decor, or business name.

4. If you agree with the complaint, but can't fix it right away, let the customer know you've heard them

You earn customer loyalty by acknowledging, not ignoring, them. The goal is to let them know that you care about their experience and appreciate any feedback.

Maybe a customer complained about your restaurant being too cramped and not having more tables — and you agree. But these might be larger changes that you can't make the next day. Let the customer know you think they've made a good point and that you'll continuously strive to provide a better customer experience.

5. If you disagree with the customer, a simple acknowledgement is enough

Never underestimate the power of the words "I'm sorry," and "I appreciate it." Even if you don't think the customer's point is valid, it's crucial to show empathy without trying to defend yourself or prove them wrong.

You can't make everyone happy, and just because a customer had a bad experience doesn't mean you need to make drastic changes to your product or service. Your response can be as simple as, "I'm sorry we did not meet your expectations, but we appreciate your sharing feedback." It's a diplomatic way of saying you still stand by your business practices.

An example of a good response:

A good response to a dissatisfied customer is this reply from a business owner. The customer complained about high prices and poor customer service, and Glen I. thanked the customer for the feedback, apologized for the bad experience, and detailed the steps he would take to correct the problem.

Glen also found an opportunity to highlight something positive about his business: he does employ high school students (as the customer pointed out in a negative way) because he believes in providing a high-quality first job experience and, with proper training, students make very good employees. He ended by thanking the reviewer again and promised to talk to his staff.

An example of a bad response:

Of course, not all responses are exemplary.  It's important not to let your emotions get the best of you when responding to customers. Here's an example of how you shouldn't react.

Take a moment to vent to a friend or co-worker, and write up the response you want to post — then delete it. Take a deep breath and take the high road. Remember that other customers, returning and potential, will see this response. You always want you and your business to look positive and professional, not reactive and angry, which could turn off potential customers.

This even applies to when you feel and know that you're right. While it's tempting to simply state the facts and bash on the customer for being wrong, don't. Hold your tongue and stay diplomatic.

Remember, whether good or bad, all reviews are an opportunity for you to engage with your customers and participate in building your brand experience. The biggest rule to follow? Always respond to your reviews.

SEE ALSO: How to respond to a Yelp review using a business account

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Clifford Scott Courvoisier is a senior at Harvard University from Cloudcroft, New Mexico, a small mountain town with a population of less than one thousand. 
• After Harvard shut down over coronavirus fears, students were given five days to evacuate, cutting Courvoisier and his classmates' senior spring off.
• Courvoisier and his friends made the most of their final five days as seniors on campus, hitting their favorite hangout spots and hitting bucket-list items.
• They also had a makeshift graduation ceremony on Harvard Yard.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

This is the way a world ends: not with a bang, but a zipper.

When I went to sleep in my dorm room on March 9, 2020, I was a senior at Harvard University. I had two months left of my undergraduate career — two months to continue to "grow in wisdom" as the words above Harvard's Dexter Gate urged me to do; two months to spend with my lifelong friends before senior week and the devastating goodbyes.

But I awoke on the morning of Tuesday, March 10, to the sound of a zipper from my common room. Normally, this would not be cause for alarm — except I know my roommate very well. He carries a zipper-less briefcase and wears zipper-less coats. If I was hearing a zipper, it had to be coming from a suitcase — and, if it was coming from a suitcase, then something was very wrong.

That morning I learned that I, along with 1,600 of my fellow seniors, would not be finishing our final year on Harvard's campus. In the wake of the rapid spread of COVID-19, a strain of coronavirus, all university classes were to be moved online, and everyone was required to vacate their dorms by Sunday, March 15.

SEE ALSO: Columbia, Harvard, Ohio State, and other major US colleges and universities that have switched to remote classes to prevent the spread of the coronavirus

We were supposed to have two months. We now found ourselves with five days.

Overnight, a fog descended over the campus. The instant reaction was shocking. Classrooms all over campus were filled with the sobs of students who wanted to continue studying, but had become too overwhelmed by the brutal reality of their situations. Harvard professors across disciplines expressed sympathy, disappointment, confusion, and even outrage at the suddenness and extremity of the university's actions. And there is still a tremendous amount of ambiguity surrounding future circumstances.

This sudden, rapid upheaval has had a profound impact on me and those closest to me. My friend group is an interesting one. Many of us met on the first day of our freshman year as roommates and have lived together — or in close proximity — ever since. We are an incredibly diverse group of students, some international and faced with a terrifying reality: the inability to return home.

At this uncertain time, there is a tendency to focus on the negative — to despair, deny, pity, and get angry. In the early hours of March 10, we all certainly felt compelled to indulge in those emotions.

But we didn't have time to wallow

With the five-day deadline hanging over our heads, we decided to focus on the positive, and to do what we could to make the most of our time left together. Indeed, the unfortunate circumstances have only bolstered our sense of compassion and togetherness.

The first day we spent visiting our favorite places and doing all the little things that we had neglected to do in our time here. Whether it was getting ice cream at a small corner store, or playing foosball in a common room, we retraced the familiar and experimented with the new to make the most of what little time we had left.

Yet, after it all, something still felt missing. In order to walk away and properly say goodbye, my friends and I needed closure.

We needed to graduate

It had become clear to us that, considering the circumstances, we would likely not have a graduation ceremony on campus.

We decided to create our own. 

There are two significant gates leading into Harvard Yard: the historic area where freshmen live, and the famous statue of John Harvard resides. The first is known as Johnston Gate, and it is the one almost all freshmen pass through when they enter Harvard University for the first time.

So let the ceremony begin

At 3:30 PM on Wednesday, March 11, nine of my fellow seniors and I lined up outside of this gate. Led by our friend Alyssa, a junior at the college, we made our way through the gate, our sights set on the steps of Memorial Church, the traditional location of Harvard's annual commencement ceremony. Smiling and laughing, with our own a capella rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance" ringing through the Yard, we wound our way through the concrete pathways, past the John Harvard statue, and ascended the stairs. On that platform, we cheered and applauded as Alyssa called out each of our names and we proceeded across the stage to receive our own handmade, personalized diploma.

And when we had all traversed the stage, with a cry of triumph, we hurled our baseball caps skyward. We were unofficial graduates of Harvard. But there was still one more thing that we had to do.

"Depart to serve thy country and thy kind"

There is another gate that leads into Harvard Yard, known as Dexter Gate. As you pass through the Gate, entering the Yard, there is an inscription above your head that reads, "Enter to grow in wisdom." As you exit, there is an inscription that reads, "Depart to serve thy country and thy kind." Gathered before that gate, each of us took a deep breath and, one by one, passed underneath those words.

We had been deprived of a few more months together, but the powerful bonds we had made, our resolve to continue on, and our unyielding dedication could not be broken. Surrounded by our closest friends, we commemorated our Harvard experience, and departed with honor to serve our country and our kind. After all, that is what we all came here to do in the first place.

Time to commence.

• Some occupations could be at a higher risk of catching the coronavirus than others.
• In particular, those who are helping patients infected by the coronavirus or who work in a job where they cannot work from home and have a lot of direct contact with the public could face a greater risk of exposure. 
• We looked at Bureau of Labor Statistics data to find the annual salaries of Americans working in jobs at risk of exposure during the coronavirus outbreak.
• 20 of the 29 occupations on our list earned less than $51,960, the annual average salary of US workers in May 2018.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

There are over 1,800 confirmed cases and 41 deaths related to the novel coronavirus outbreak in the US. Although some companies have told their employees to work from home, not all jobs are as flexible or allow workers to complete their job responsibilities remotely. 

Business Insider recently took an in-depth look at the kind of jobs that have a high probability of being at risk to the coronavirus based on different measures, such as jobs with high exposure to disease. Not only are people working in medical fields potentially at risk, but also people in service occupations like food service, barbers, and sales workers.

We created a list of the salaries of 29 occupations that could face a higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

We used the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment Statistics program to get data about the occupations' average annual salaries and estimated number of workers as of May 2018, the most recent period available. Our list included nurses, food workers, retail salespersons, and bus drivers among other jobs where people work in close contact with the public, cannot work remotely, or are medical professionals. 

The average salaries ranged from $20,130 a year for barbers to $196,490 a year for general internists. Many of the occupations have relatively low average pay. 12 of the occupations on the list make less than $30,000 a year on average, such as taxi drivers and retail workers. 20 of the 29 occupations on average earn less than the annual average salary in May 2018 of $51,960.

The following are 29 occupations that are likely to be at risk from coronavirus, ranked from highest to lowest average salary. 

SEE ALSO: The average salaries for Americans working in 19 life-saving jobs key to fighting the coronavirus outbreak

29. General internists earn an average of $196,490 a year.

There are 37,820 general internists employed in the US.

28. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers an average of $169,560 a year.

There are 82,890 airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers employed in the US.

27. Nurse practitioners earn an average of $110,030 a year.

There are 179,650 nurse practitioners employed in the US.

26. Epidemiologists earn an average of $75,690 a year.

There are 7,060 epidemiologists employed in the US.

25. Registered nurses earn an average of $75,510 a year.

There are 2,951,960 registered nurses employed in the US.

24. Subway and streetcar operators earn an average of $62,970 a year.

There are 8,850 subway and streetcar operators employed in the US. 

23. Respiratory therapists earn an average of $62,500 a year.

There are 129,600 respiratory therapists employed in the US.

22. Flight attendants earn an average of $56,630 a year.

There are 118,770 flight attendants employed in the YS. 

21. Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians earn an average of $53,880 a year.

There are 321,220 clinical laboratory technologists and technicians employed in the US.

20. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers earn an average of $45,080 a year.

There are 1,181,530 first-line supervisors of retail sales workers employed in the US.

19. Transit and intercity bus drivers earn an average of $44,650 a year.

There are 174,110 transit and intercity bus drivers employed in the US.

18. Medical equipment preparers earn an average of $37,990 a year.

There are 55,610 medical equipment preparers in the US. 

17. EMTs and paramedics earn an average of $37,760 a year.

There are 257,210 EMTs and paramedics employed in the US.

16. Light truck or delivery services drivers earn an average of $36,920 a year.

There are 915,310 light truck or delivery services drivers employed in the US.

15. School or special client bus drivers earn an average of $33,390 a year.

There are 504,150 school or special client bus drivers employed in the US.

14. Couriers and messengers earn an average of $30,620 a year.

There are 75,720 couriers and messengers employed in the US.

13. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists earn an average of $30,190 a year.

There are 377,210 hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists employed in the US.

12. Orderlies earn an average of $29,840 a year.

There are 50,100 orderlies employed in the US.

11. Driver/sales workers earn an average of $29,610 a year.

There are 414,860 driver/sales workers employed in the US.

10. Nursing assistants earn an average of $29,580 a year.

There are 1,450,960 nursing assistants employed in the US.

9. Taxi drivers and chauffeurs earn an average of $28,450 a year.

There are 207,920 taxi drivers and chauffeurs employed in the US.

8. Retail salespersons earn an average of $28,310 a year.

There are 4,448,120 retail salespersons employed in the US.

7. Bartenders earn an average of $26,780 a year.

There are 631,480 bartenders employed in the US.

6. Waiters and waitresses earn an average of $25,830 a year.

There are 2,582,410 waiters and waitresses employed in the US.

5. Home health aides earn an average of $25,330 a year.

There are 797,670 home health aides employed in the US.

4. Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop workers earn an average of $23,240 a year.

There are 473,860 counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop workers employed in the US. 

3. Cashiers earn an average of $23,240 a year.

There are 3,635,550 cashiers employed in the US.

2. Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food workers, earn an average of $22,140 a year.

There are 3,676,180 food preparation and server workers employed in the US.

1. Barbers earn an average of $20,130 a year.

There are 33,220 barbers employed in the US.

• Lilly Singh emerged in 2013 as a YouTube personality known online as "Superwoman."
• Since then, she has accrued nearly 15 million YouTube subscribers, who watch her comedy sketches featuring outlandish persons and comedic skits that often star other YouTubers and famous celebrities.
• Singh, 31, is now the host of her own late-night television show, and is making history as late night TV's first host who's openly queer and a person of color.
• Singh, who grew up in Canada as a child of Indian immigrants, is now a YouTube and TV star worth more than $10 million. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SEE ALSO: An old flash computer game is getting a 2nd life because of its eerie similarities to the coronavirus outbreak, and its website's CEO says it has too much of an 'educational value' to shut it down

Lilly Singh was born and raised in Scarborough, a town right outside of Toronto, Canada. Her parents were both born in India, and immigrated to Canada before she was born: first, her dad in 1972, then her mom nine years later.

Source: Toronto Life

Singh has been a self-declared "tomboy" since she was little. She also developed an obsession early on with actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson when he was a pro wrestler. She dressed up as him for a school show, kept a life-sized cardboard cutout of him in her bedroom, and woke up at 5 a.m. to watch fights she had recorded.

Source: Toronto Life

As a kid, Singh was constantly acting out skits and performing hip-hop routines for friends and her sister. "Every other kid in school wanted to be a doctor, an engineer, a scientist, and my parents were like, 'Oh, of course, our daughter wants to be a rapper,'" Singh's sister, Tina, said in a 2017 interview.

Source: Toronto Life

In high school, Singh got into bhangra, a traditional Indian style of dance. She attended New York University in 2006 to study psychology but found herself putting more time into the bhangra club — which she was president of — than studying.

Her parents didn't approve of her dancing in public, but they eventually let her do it "because I was going to do it anyway," Singh told Toronto Life.

Source: Toronto Life

Singh graduated from NYU in 2010 and moved back into her parents' home in Markham, outside of Toronto. She got a job at a collections agency that she hated.

Source: Toronto Life

"I didn't have goals. I didn't feel like eating," Singh said in an interview with People. "I told myself, 'You have a choice: Either continue feeling this way or do something to change your life.'"

Source: People

Singh soon discovered YouTube and content creators like Jenna Marbles who were gaining a following by just being themselves. She made her first video at age 22 under the moniker, "Superwoman."

Source: Toronto Life

Singh has gone by the self-appointed nickname "Superwoman" since she was eight years old. The name comes from a song of the same name by rapper Lil' Mo.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Singh's first video to go viral was "Official Guide to Brown Girls," a series of funny satirical comedy skits about Indian culture. It rocketed to more than 10,000 views in a day. From then on, she invested more time and money into taking YouTube seriously.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Singh became known on YouTube for her comedy skits featuring over-the-top characters and alter-egos, parodying men, her parents, and family members.

Source: Toronto Life

"As a brown girl, I don't think people expect me to say the things I say," Singh told the Globe and Mail. "And when I do, they're like 'Oh my god, I feel that way, too, I've just never said it.'"

Source: Globe and Mail

Singh put graduate school on hold and started earning small checks from ad revenue on YouTube videos. She hit 1 million subscribers in 2013.

In December 2015, she left Toronto for Los Angeles. "I've accomplished so much here," Singh said in a YouTube video at the time. "But I know that it's going to require me to leave to progress in my career and follow my dreams."

Source: BuzzFeed News

From then on out, Singh skyrocketed into YouTube stardom. She went on a world tour, inked a book deal, and starred in a movie on streaming service YouTube Red. She raked in thousands of dollars in brand deals and bought a Hollywood condo in 2016.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Singh earned $10.5 million in 2017 and was listed in the top 10 on Forbes' list of highest-earning YouTube stars.

Source: Forbes

By 2018, Singh was exhausted and miserable trying to keep up with her furious production rate. She told her followers in a raw YouTube video in November 2018 that she was taking a break. "I've been doing YouTube consistently for eight years," she said. "I am mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted."

Source: Business Insider

Singh's break was short-lived. She came out as bisexual on Twitter in February 2019, just months after coming out to family and friends. "Throughout my life these have proven to be obstacles from time to time," Singh tweeted. "But now I'm fully embracing them as my superpowers."

Source: Hollywood Reporter, Lilly Singh on Twitter

NBC announced in March 2019 that Singh would be taking over the network's late-night time slot previously filled by Carson Daly.

Source: Huffington Post

Singh became the only female late-night host on a major network, and the first queer person of color to be in that spot. "A Little Late with Lilly Singh" debuted in September 2019, and included a rap parody similar to her YouTube content.

Source: Huffington Post, The Verge

• As the coronavirus outbreak grows, more people are working from home.
• Tech giants including Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Twitter announced earlier this week, that most of their staff are mandated to work remotely due to the coronavirus. 
• Business Insider has highlighted some tips that will help your staff remain productive while working from home. You can find more remote work tips by subscribing to BI Prime. 

As the coronavirus spreads, working from home is the new reality for many US workers. 

With more than 136,000 infected with the virus, companies are closing their doors to reduce the spread of infections. Big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Twitter announced that much of their workforce won't be coming into the office — instead, they will be working remotely.

If your employer has unexpectedly shut down, you may feel lost navigating remote work.

Some of the biggest challenges for employers include workers struggling with loneliness, managing their time, and communication among staff members. What's more, as schools and colleges shut down across the US, working parents must juggle company and family priorities.

While this all can be tough, finding a strategy that works can help you make it through.

Here are the best ways to stay productive and lead a team while working from home, based on advice from CEOs, freelancers, and experts who've done it.

How to manage an abrupt shift: 4 tips to make a team's sudden switch to remote work successful if coronavirus panic is shutting your office and forcing everyone to stay home

Best tools for managing remote teams: 6 CEOs and executives who've been managing remote teams for years share the tools they use to keep their employees motivated and happy

Improving communication between remote workers:If you're working from home, here's exactly how to collaborate across teams and improve your remote meetings

Handling life as a remote worker:8 tips for crushing your job while working from home, from 6 leaders who have worked remotely for years

Keeping track of your mental health: How to keep yourself happy and productive if you're working from home because of the coronavirus outbreak

How to rock your remote interview:8 tips to nailing a video job interview in the age of coronavirus

A freelancer's best work from home tips: 5 work-from-home freelancers who earn over $100,000 a year from their sofas share how they stay productive while making bank

Our complete guide to professional Slack habits: A Slack etiquette guide to help you survive a messaging-obsessed office in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Janel Dyan is an executive brand strategist whose work has been seen by millions through public experiences at Fortune 500 companies, the United Nations, and the World Economic Forums; you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
• As coronavirus spreads, more businesses are likely to move to virtual meetings — and sales and marketing leaders still need to generate revenue.
• To excel in virtual meetings, try and have them over video as much as you can; be sure to dress professionally and not have a distracting background.
• You don't need a giant pair of headphones, but you should still establish community using icebreakers.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As companies rush to protect their employees from the spreading coronavirus, there are a wide range of impacts to the business. With the cancelation of conferences, restriction of non-essential travel, reduction of company events, and the establishment of remote work arrangements, there's a real possibility that in-person customer meetings will be canceled or, more ideally, moved to virtual meetings. This is the new "normal"  for the coming days, weeks, or even months.  

The majority of the companies' sales and marketing leaders are still tasked with generating revenue and keeping their pipeline and topline strong. The reality is that our current environment is driving risk in every deal. Good leaders are paranoid and are overly concerned about their pipeline and effectiveness of their sales organizations in this new situation. Customers and prospects are going to be more cautious in their buying decision and sales reps aren't going to be able to be face-to-face to help leverage the relationship to close the deal. 

So, it is now more important than ever that we perfect our video conferences skills to make sure our stories come through and that our selling style isn't lost. Effective communication during this time can even be a differentiator. Every video conference is an opportunity to accentuate your brand and limit the impact of not meeting in person. 

How you run your virtual meetings will be more critical than ever. Video etiquette isn't typically a part of sales training or enablement. Here are 7 tips on how sales can improve the chance of closing business remotely:

SEE ALSO: Working from home is not an impossible feat — and amid the coronavirus pandemic, it might be necessary. Here's how to keep 'work' and 'home' separate.

1. Get into the meeting early and set the stage

Don't be shy — ask explicitly for a video call upfront. Maybe even add the term "video conference" to the calendar invite subject. Phone is better than email, but video helps bridge some gaps. Using video conferencing (such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, Join.me, and LifeSize) helps to create a more personalized conversation and increase the level of participation. Join the meeting early to set up your image how you like it. Being the first one in also tells those joining that it's OK, if not expected, that they turn on their camera too. Always offer a properly formatted click-to-dial phone option should one be needed. 

2. What you wear sets the tone

Just because the office is closed does not mean what you wear and how you appear changes. Therefore, how we appear — including what we wear — needs to be the first step in connecting with your customer. Human nature shows that without the establishment of trust, believing the truth will be an uphill battle. What you wear and how you appear on the video is even more crucial when your audience can't see how you walk, physically engage with others, and get a sense of your energy. It makes a huge difference to come across put together (at least above the waist), ready to take the helm and 100% dedicated to their needs. When the world is chaotic on the outside, they need to see "normal." When you get dressed that morning, think, "What is my story today? What conversation do I want to have? What do I want that first impression to be with my client? What style will compliment my brand and my company's brand?"

3. What they see behind you matters

What they see in the background shouldn't be ignored.  This backdrop is an opportunity to give insights into your personal world with vulnerability and authenticity. All too often we get on a video call and we are instantly hit with negative reactions and distractions. Some may have  backlighting that makes you want to look away or lighting so dim your eyes strain to find their face. Some only have half their face showing and others have so much clutter behind them that all you do is peruse their bookshelves. It's ok to have some personal effects behind you, but also make it clear that this is your work space and you're thinking about how to do business.

4. Always start with an 'ice breaker'

Any great meeting starts with establishing a sense of a community and connection. Don't skip it just because you're not face-to-face. Icebreakers are discussion questions or activities used to help participants relax and ease people into a group meeting. Build in the time as it can create a positive group atmosphere, break down social barriers, motivate, and get people to know and trust one another. And it's OK to talk about coronavirus a bit. Everyone is thinking about it. Better to address it head on from the start. It'll give you insight to what's going on in their personal world and how it may be affecting their business. 

5. Stay front and center … not too close, not too far

Keep your own image on video on top so you can see what you look like and be sure that they can see you from the waist up. Try not to be too close, no one wants to see every detail of your face. Don't be too far, you'll become distant from them and, subconsciously, detached from the meeting.  If you're using two monitors, make sure your active camera is on the same screen as your video conferencing app. This setup prevents you from looking like you're staring at something else while talking to the people on the other side of the line. Finally, be mindful of your headset — "air traffic control" isn't necessary. Big headphones can be distracting and take away from the rest of your presentation. So, if you don't have a quiet environment, use discreet, subtle headphones (like Apple AirPods). Don't forget to charge them, but no matter what, have a wired back up.

6. Limit your screen sharing to keep everyone focused.

We have all experienced this. Once you see a slide pop up, we see this as a chance to multi-task, look away and/or tune out. When you share your screen and the slides take over, the images of everyone's faces shrink. We innately feel an immediate disconnect with the meeting. Therefore, limit your screen sharing and slides so that participants are engaged in all their senses. (What they see, hear and experience.) You can always offer to send your slides after the meeting with next-steps.

7. Everyone participates. Everyone.

As we all know, it's common for the presenter or one or two attendees to dominate the discussion while others sit back and tune out. Just because you can see them on the screen, doesn't mean they feel part of the conversation. Calling out people by name keeps them engaged and "on their toes." It lets them know that their opinion matters and they need to stay involved.  Establish your own method to call on them. This might include starting with the least senior of the group, or by order on the screen. And as the meeting ends, take a poll with each of them to make sure they each know the direct next steps and mutual success plan. 

At the end of the day, sales is about building relationships. By shifting how we run meetings and ways to communicate effectively — it will be the sales teams that can adapt that will come out on top. The coronavirus will eventually be behind us … but not the need to work together in a world where we are connected via our screen — video conferences are the way of the future. Even when we're allowed to shake hands again.

• "Working from home" means a variety of things for freelancers, whether it's working from a coffee shop, library, or beach.
• For the ones who hunker down in the house, five experienced "homeworkers" recommended making spaces to physically and mentally separate your business and family lives.
• They also said to practice blocking out your schedule, prioritize tasks, and create "themed days" for certain to-dos.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

The term "work from home" is often used more loosely than literally, especially among freelancers. 

While some independent workers may say they work from home, what they really mean is that they work from their local cafe, a library, or with WiFi by the public pool. They might also mean that they work while traveling, from the offices of their freelance clients, while commuting on public transportation, or from a coworking space. 

Yet some freelancers really do work from home, literally getting the job done from their own sofa, home office, dining room, or even a converted closet or bathroom in their house — and many make good money doing it. 

Five "homeworkers" shared how they get their gigs done while earning the big bucks.

Physically and mentally separate work and home time

Solopreneur Laura Frnka-Davis, principal at her marketing firm LFD Communications in Missouri City, Texas, offers freelance writing and public relations services to her clients — and she does so 100% from home. It's paid off for her financially: In her first year, from 2018 to 2019, she grossed over $100,000 in revenue. 

"I will go to a client's office for a meeting; otherwise, I'm here," Frnka-Davis said. "I love working here. I have an awesome set-up with a printer and all my files. I don't really like working anywhere else."

She shared that she works from a proper home office, not from the kitchen table, and keeps regular hours just like she would for an employer — starting her workday bright and early, shortly after her husband leaves for his job in the morning. Once she turns off the TV to begin her client projects, she doesn't turn it back on — or do any chores — during her weekday workdays.

And as far as the housework that can be hard not to notice when working from home, Frnka-Davis doesn't let it bother her.

"I really don't find any distractions here — we send our puppy to daycare three days a week to increase my focus," she said. "I have clients counting on me to deliver and I know I need to come through for them." 

Her biggest challenge is that it can be occasionally hard to get started when it's time for the workday to begin. 

"It's tempting to continue to watch CBS This Morning," she admitted.

Marty Fahncke is the president of his own firm FawnKey & Associates, which offers marketing and strategic business consulting services. Fahncke, whose yearly income is over $225,000, told Business Insider that one strategy he has leveraged working from home for the last 20 years is taking pains to minimize the classic interruptions of a house by working in a spare bedroom with a locking door.  

"No kids, pets, or other distractions allowed," Fahncke said.  

Also similar to Frnka-Davis, Fahncke sets clear boundaries between his personal and professional life to help him hone in on client projects, as well as take breaks from them.

"When it's work time, it's work time," he said. "When it's not work time, turn everything off and walk away."  

However, Fahncke doesn't see every work-life conflict that happens while working from home as a problem. If his kids have a school activity or sports event, he attends everything possible.  

"Some distractions are OK, and are among the benefits of working from home," Fahncke said. "I try to be fully present with my 'life' so that I'm not stressed about being fully present with my work."  

Social media consultant and public speakerAustin Iuliano— who speaks on social media marketing and how he went from homeless, sleeping out of his car with 43 cents to his name, to one of the fastest-growing live streaming influencers — made $125,000 last year in revenue. Iuliano has designated a couple of main areas in his house as his freelance workspace. 

"I have a desk that I do all my editing at, and I have a second bathroom that I've turned into a recording studio," Iuliano said. He uses this unique freelance space to record video content for his new YouTube channel.

Practice time blocking and task prioritization

Six-figure freelancer and digital marketing expert Cassady Dill, who is the CEO of Marketing For The Rich, made $173,000 last year after taxes and expenses. Dill has been a digital marketing freelance manager for four years, helping executives of large corporations direct their marketing teams and small business owners execute all of their marketing functions.

Dill faces many of the common challenges of working from home, which include explaining to her family how even though she is physically present "at home," she is still actually "at work" during her freelance work times. 

"It's easy for my spouse or visiting friends and family to assume I'm avoiding them when I'm in the pit of a big project," Dill said. "Also, sales calls must always be protected by being conducted in adequate space, which can prove difficult based on others in your environment."

To navigate these types of conundrums, Dill relies on two popular and proven productivity techniques. The first is known as the E/N/D Formula.

Dill keeps a notebook lined in five columns, with the middle two columns for her to-do list and the clients those tasks are delivered to. The first column is a list of numbers from one to three to indicate the priority level of her projects. The fourth column, however, is labeled E/N/D, to help Dill determine how different activities affect her energy levels.

"E stands for energizing or those tasks I feel excited/invigorated by completing, and N mean[s] neutral, and D is for the tasks I find draining," Dill explained. "The last column lists each task's actual deadline." 

From this filled notebook, Dill then populates her physical and digital calendars first with tasks that are of high priority and invigorate her, then with tasks that are of low priority and drain her. 

The second productivity method that Dill uses to help her stay focused is called the Pomodoro Technique. She sets a timer on her cell phone for 25 minutes and focuses on a single task. Each time she gets distracted, she writes down what the distraction was and flags it to revisit later and examine the cause. After each 25 minutes (or one "Pomodoro"), she takes a five-minute break before beginning another Pomodoro, followed by another five-minute break. 

"After four Pomodoros, I take a 15-minute break, and by the time I've done a day of this, I am usually 75% more productive than without the method," Dill said. She also circles back to evaluate her list of distractions each day, then brainstorms ways to eliminate everything on that list to improve her future productivity.

Fahncke uses a slight variation of this time-block method, where he works with focus and intensity for 50 minutes, then takes a 10-minute break (for example, to take a walk outside, meditate, or eat a snack). Then it's back to 50 more minutes of no distractions.

Iuliano was inspired toward a creative way of time blocking to overcome the biggest household distraction that he faces: his year-old puppy who loves to play. 

What Iuliano did to work around this was to use the dog's distractions as a "focus timer."

"I know after I take her for a morning walk, I'll have roughly 90 minutes to do deep-focus work," he shared. "I'll do my most creative, most urgent work first. She will want to play again, I will take her for another walk and use that time to respond to social media comments, do phone calls, and the like." 

Create 'theme days'

Freelance copywriter and ecommerce email marketing strategist Chris Orzechowski earned just north of $274,000 in 2019 working exclusively from home at his standing desk, tucked away in the corner of his living room. (Sometimes he works on his couch as well, he shared.) 

Thirty-year-old Orzechowski — whose previous jobs before starting his freelance copywriting business included being a teacher and a bouncer — shared that he can "count on one hand" how many clients he has met in person over the past seven years since he started freelancing under this model.

He admitted that it can be challenging to stay at the top of your game from a home environment — if you don't take initiative to maximize your performance. 

"Some days, you just don't want to get out of bed," he shared. "It's hard seeing my couch and a collection of pillows and throw blankets 10 feet away — especially when I'm not feeling motivated that day."

To help stay focused in a home environment that many freelancers find simultaneously distracting and monotonous, he first became "militant" with his working hours, keeping a consistent routine. A big part of this involved developing what he refers to as "theme days." 

"Some days are business development days, where I work on building out pipelines and assets that attract clients," Orzechowski explained. "I'll write articles, record videos, tweak ads — all things that are designed to bring me more clients." If he needs to just focus and write without any distractions, he will block off the entire day. 

Tuesday is usually his "call day," reserved for booking calls with his mastermind group and any potential clients. He then has Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays as dedicated days for client work. If he finishes early on Friday, then he's done for the week.

The freelancer believes that "themeing" his days has helped him accomplish twice as much client work in half the time, because he isn't losing focus with task switching.

SEE ALSO: An actor turned freelance copywriter went from making $50,000 to $250,000 in one year. Here are 3 unique strategies she used to make it happen.

NOW READ: 6 CEOs and executives who've been managing remote teams for years share the tools they use to keep their employees motivated and happy

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• Ben Cohen is a sports reporter for the Wall Street Journal; he writes about the NBA, the Olympics, and other topics that don't involve extraordinarily athletic people.
• The following is an excerpt from his new book, "THE HOT HAND: The Mystery and Science of Streaks."
• In it, he describes the puzzling complaint that Spotify used to receive — people said its shuffle feature wasn't shuffling their music.
• In fact, it turns out that we're terrible at understanding when things are truly random, like when an iPod would play the same song twice in a row.
• To fix the problem, Lukáš Poláček rewrote the algorithm slightly so that different songs by the same artist would be evenly distributed throughout playlists.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Spotify had a problem. One of the world's most popular streaming music services kept hearing one puzzling complaint from its users. They believed the shuffle button was broken. It wasn't actually shuffling their music. 

But the problem wasn't unique to Spotify. In fact, a few years earlier, a competing business had found itself struggling with exactly the same issue. The original iPod was another glorious device that gave people the ability to carry portable jukeboxes in their pockets. But not everyone who owned this magical Apple machine was pleased. Many of them suspected they had received defective iPods. When they heard the same artist twice in a row, they came to a judgment that revealed more about themselves than the product they were holding. They concluded that their randomly generated music simply couldn't be random. 

"It really is random," Steve Jobs said during a 2005 keynote. "But sometimes random means you've got two songs from the same artist next to each other."

The real problem was one that no amount of money or engineering talent could solve. Why did we believe that something was wrong with Spotify and Apple? It's because we are terrible at understanding randomness. 

There is something about the way that randomness paralyzes the human mind that was beyond the control of Spotify, Apple or any other company worth billions of dollars. Which makes it precisely the sort of thing that psychologists study. One of the most beautiful examples of this phenomenon is a classic psychological bias that has been studied for several decades by some of the smartest people on earth. 

It's known as "the hot hand." 

The hot hand has been a topic of fierce academic debate since the 1985 publication of a deeply counterintuitive paper with a delicious conclusion: that there is no such thing as the hot hand. Their study examined streaks in basketball, and when a team of authors that included the great Amos Tversky looked at the hot hand, they couldn't believe the data that was staring them back in the face. As much as basketball players and basketball fans believed they were more likely to make their next shot after making a few consecutive shots — that they couldn't miss because they were in the zone — the evidence actually suggested the opposite. This made for a bombshell of a scholarly paper.  

There were three major findings in their study. The first was that the hot hand in basketball was a fallacy. The second was that humans fundamentally overestimate streakiness. And the third was the one that Apple and Spotify understood. It was that we have a nasty habit of systematically misperceiving randomness — and such biases can lead us in all kinds of funky directions. 

"People see patterns where there are none," Tversky once said, "and they invent causes to explain them."

That brings us back to Spotify, Apple, and their peculiar dilemma. 

All the way back in 2014, which is basically a century ago in tech startup time, Lukáš Poláček wasn't technically a full-time Spotify employee. He was still a student in Stockholm studying theoretical computer science. But he happened to be working on randomness algorithms when he noticed an internal discussion of the shuffle issue. Here was a way to make his expertise in computer science a whole lot less theoretical. Poláček volunteered to help. A strange number of colleagues were confused when he told them he was working on the shuffle button. "What is there to work on?" they would say. "It's just random!" 

In that sense, they were right. There wasn't much to work on. It was just random. Poláček required one day of work and roughly fifteen lines of code to rewrite the algorithm. The man who would be called "Mr. Shuffle" at Spotify parties simply took different songs by the same artist and distributed them more or less evenly across the playlist. If your family had a playlist of Beyoncé, The Beatles, and Billy Joel, for example, you would never have the burden of hearing three consecutive songs by Billy Joel. 

Apple's solution to this funny little problem turned out to be a similar one.

The reason that no less than Steve Jobs was onstage that day talking about randomness was that Apple was introducing a fresh new feature called "Smart Shuffle" that gave people what they wanted. "What we've added is Smart Shuffle to actually make it less random — if you want," he said. "Smart Shuffle allows you to control how likely you are to hear multiple songs by the same artist or from the same album in a row." 

It might not have made sense in theory. But human beings live in reality. As he heard himself explaining how it worked, Steve Jobs couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of what he was saying. 

"Even though people will think it's more random," he said, "it's actually less random."

Adapted from the book THE HOT HAND: The Mystery and Science of Streaks by Ben Cohen. Copyright © 2020 by Ben Cohen. From Custom House, a line of books from William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.

SEE ALSO: 10 harmless mind tricks that make people like you more

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• Thinking you might be smarter than everyone else you know?
• You might be, scientists say, if you match any of the descriptions below.
• For example, smart people tend to be tall, funny, and firstborn children.
• Click here for more BI Prime content.

Everyone wants to be the smartest person in the room. How do you know if you are?

Over the course of decades, scientists have discovered a series of traits and behaviors linked to high intelligence. We've listed many of them below.

Note: These traits and behaviors don't necessarily make you smarter. They're simply associated with superior cognitive ability.

Read on to find out if you're as brainy as you think.

Drake Baer and Chelsea Harvey contributed to earlier versions of this post.

SEE ALSO: Science says IQ may be the best predictor of your potential to excel at work — and no one wants to hear it

DON'T MISS: 7 things you can do in an hour to save more, plan ahead, and get smarter about money in 2020

You don't smoke

A 2010 Israeli study compared the IQ and smoking status of 20,000 young men.

Results showed that:

• The average 18-to-21-year-old smoker had an IQ of 94, and the non-smoker had an IQ of 101.
• Those who smoked more than a pack a day had an average IQ of 90.
• In sibling sets, nonsmoking brothers were smarter than smokers.

You took music lessons

Research suggests that music helps kids' minds develop in a few ways:

• A small 2011 study published in the journal Psychological Science found that the verbal intelligence of 4- to 6-year-olds rose after less than a month of music lessons.
• A 2004 study, also published in the journal Psychological Science, found that 6-year-olds who took nine months of piano lessons had an IQ boost compared with kids who took drama lessons or no classes at all.
• In a 2018 study published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, kids given structured music lessons performed better than their peers on tests of verbal intelligence, planning, and inhibition.

But there's some evidence to the contrary, such as a 2017 review that suggests music training won't boost your cognitive abilities more generally — just your musical ones.

You're the oldest child

Oldest siblings are usually smarter, but it's not necessarily because of genetics.

An article in the December 2017 issue of the National Bureau of Economics Research Reporter argues that firstborn children are likely to become smarter, more successful, and richer than their siblings.

One possible reason, it says, is that parents are in some ways less invested in parenting after the first go-round.

Meanwhile, a 2015 review of studies, which included roughly 272,000 participants, found that differences in IQ and personality were so small as to be meaningless, pushing back on decades of other findings. In other words, it suggests that even if birth order is related to things like your job and your salary, it's not because firstborns are inherently smarter or, say, more outgoing.

You have a moderate weight range

For a 2006 French study, scientists gave 2,200 adults intelligence tests over a five-year period.

It suggested that the bigger the waistline, the lower the cognitive ability.

And a 2008 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who were either underweight or overweight as adults had lower scores on cognitive tests around age 61.

You've used recreational drugs

A 2012 study of more than 6,000 Brits born in 1958 found a link between high IQ in childhood and the use of illegal drugs in adulthood.

"In contrast to most studies on the association between childhood IQ and later health," their findings suggest "a high childhood IQ may prompt the adoption of behaviors that are potentially harmful to health (i.e., excess alcohol consumption and drug use) in adulthood."

You're left-handed

While left-handedness used to be associated with criminality, more recent research associates it with "divergent thinking," a form of creativity in which you come up with novel ideas from a prompt.

A 1995 paper found that left-handed males had higher scores on divergent thinking. As Maria Konnikova writes for The New Yorker, that means they were better at tasks like combining two common objects in creative ways to form a third and grouping lists of words into as many alternate categories as possible.

Maybe that's why lefties are overrepresented in architecture and music.

You're tall

Like left-handedness, being tall has been a heavily debated trait of smarter individuals. There are studies that back up this speculation.

As a Princeton study noted: "As early as age 3 — before schooling has had a chance to play a role — and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests."

You're funny

In a 2011 study published in the journal Intelligence, 400 psychology students took intelligence tests that measured abstract reasoning abilities and verbal intelligence.

They were then asked to come up with captions for several New Yorker cartoons, which were reviewed by independent raters.

As predicted, smarter students were rated as funnier.

You talk to yourself

Self-talk is a popular technique that can propel your success. In 2016, a study published in Frontiers in Psychology discovered that people who engaged in positive self-talk had higher performance levels. 

The research team found the greatest improvements in achievement occurred when participants told themselves: "I can beat my best score next time,"Business Insider previously reported. According to researchers, another top strategy was when participants told themselves that they could "react quicker this time."

You're curious

Those who are more curious make fewer decision-making errors, according to Francesca Gino, a researcher at Harvard Business Review. Gino explains that curious people tend not to fall into the habit of confirmation bias, using information that supports their beliefs rather than the facts that do not. Scientist Albert Einstein was also known for his curiosity. He reportedly said, "I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious."

• CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage and services firm, has many different internships. Its largest is the national sales internship program, which pairs interns with brokerage teams. 
• It received 4,500 applications for 2020, and CBRE expects to make 175 placements in the internship program. 
• We spoke to Elisha Bejsovec, the CBRE program manager for campus recruiting who runs the national program, and Lew Horne, CBRE's president of the Pacific Southwest division, about how to nab a spot. 
• They suggest having prior internships in the field or joining their schools' real estate society or club. Horne said that they're "laser-focused" on attributes, because "you can train the skills."
• Resume keywords like real estate, leadership, networking, and analytics demonstrate that an applicant may have the attributes that the firm is searching for.
• One way to have a better chance is by networking with the local CBRE brokers and teams. Bejsovec said that many brokers would be glad to meet with potential interns.
• For more BI Prime stories, click here.

In an increasingly professionalized real estate world, the right stamp of approval for a job-hunting student or early-career professional can be crucial.

While internships at Wall Street giants may draw more attention on campus, real-estate firms have launched their own, ultra-competitive programs. 

CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage and services firm, has six different internship opportunities for recent college grads, from finance and valuations work to project management and tech, as well as a range of opportunities for MBAs and other graduate students, but its largest is the national sales internship.

Launched five years ago, the paid internship runs for eight weeks in the summer and is open to undergraduate juniors and seniors, as well as graduate students. It operates in 15 markets around the country, with the size of the class of interns proportional to the size of the market. Almost all of CBRE's largest markets are represented, except for New York, which has its own, separate sales internship program.

The national sales internship program has an acceptance rate that's comparable to Harvard's undergrad program: just under 4%. It received 4,500 applications for 2020, and is projecting to make 175 placements in the internship program. Interns are paired with a brokerage team and also work in small groups on a competitive project, pitching their own insight to solve problems on CBRE's actual deals in progress. 

We spoke to Elisha Bejsovec, the CBRE program manager for campus recruiting who runs the national program, and Lew Horne, CBRE's president of the Pacific Southwest division, about the program, and their tips to get a spot in the intern class, and how to get hired at the end of the eight weeks. 

"It's a potential free look for them and a potential free look for us," Horne told Business Insider (free look is a real estate synonym for due diligence period). They did not disclose the interns' salary, but said it was "competitive" with similar programs. 

Use these resume keywords to stand out

The internship recruiting process starts at the end of the summer, when CBRE post the job opening on its website and on-campus job portals. Bejsovec and her team hold info sessions at some universities with strong real estate, sales or entrepreneurship programs, but they open up applications to a wide range of students.

Last year, the class of 135 interns came from 77 different universities. Each localized program recruits mostly from nearby universities — Horne said that in greater LA, that means USC and UCLA send many students.

Bejsovec and Horne said that while academic performance is an important part of the selection, their top priorities for applicants are that they have demonstrated interest in commercial real estate, and that they have the right attributes for a sales job. 

"GPA is great, but a lot of time it doesn't tell the whole story," Bejsovec said. 

Bejsovec and Horne suggest having prior internships in the field or joining their schools' real estate society or club as great ways to show a passion for real estate. Even better, if the intern was in the leadership for their school's real estate society as that indicates they have the right characteristics.

Horne said that they're "laser-focused" on attributes, because "you can train the skills and the knowledge comes with reps." Resume keywords like real estate, leadership, networking, and analytics demonstrate that an applicant may have the attributes that the firm is searching for.

Network with local CBRE brokers to gain an edge

One way to have a better chance of selection is by networking with the local CBRE brokers and teams. Bejsovec said that many brokers would be glad to meet with potential interns, and that it could pay off with your application. CBRE has a referral tracking process for the intern program, which is a source of many of their applicants.

"This is a relationship-oriented business," Bejsovec said. "It's better for you to be known than to just send your application out there and hope it gets accepted." 

The application is kept open for a few months, and applicants should hear back with next steps in January. For those that move forward, the next step is a virtual interview: a pre-recorded interview with the students responding to a set of questions that they read off of their computer screen. This can be awkward, but the awkwardness is a feature, not a bug, as it can "show them in their element" while also overcoming "some adversity," Bejsovec said. 

The last step is an onsite "superday," where finalists come into their local office and interview directly with the teams they would potentially work for. This day is also where the recruiting team matches interns with the teams that make most sense for their interests by asset class. 

Internal networking is the X factor 

The internship can turn into a full-time role; 20% of interns were converted to full time in 2018. These offers are not always in brokerage, which Bejsovec said is a "tough place to start as a young person," and interns have been hired into research, valuations, and client management as well. 

Success at CBRE is, in many ways, typical to success in any setting. Bejsovec and Horne encourage students to make sure they come in on time and leave with the rest of the team, to ask questions and learn, and to do high-quality work. 

The X factor, same with the application, is an intern's ability to network outside of their direct team at CBRE, as many interns are actually hired onto teams other than the sales team. Bejsovec and Horne highlighted CBRE's affinity networks, like its military network, LGBT network, and women's network, as ways that interns have been able to make those valuable connections. 

The final group project is another way for interns to stand out. Ryan Gurman, a 2017 intern, won the Greater Los Angeles County/ Orange County contest with a pitch about a retail shopping center that CBRE was working on. The client actually followed through on Gurman's pitch, and Gurman was hired. He was awarded CBRE West LA's 2019 Rookie of the Year award.

Even for those that don't get converted to full-time roles, Horne said that the program has built an "industry-level reputation," and alums are sprinkled among CBRE's competitors like JLL and Cushman and Wakefield, more boutique firms, private equity and VCs. Bejsovec credits the interns themselves, who have built relationships at the program that have gotten them jobs later on. 

SEE ALSO: Real estate insiders say these 27 books will help you understand the colorful personalities and powerful forces shaping the industry

SEE ALSO: Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Merrill Lynch execs explain how to nab a spot in their next-gen adviser programs and make it through the ultra-competitive, years-long training process

SEE ALSO: Real estate insiders say these are the 15 must-listen podcasts for practical advice, proptech insights, and incisive commentary about the industry

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With coronavirus causing anxiety for many, now's a great time to practice mindfulness and vulnerability. Melinda Gates has a few great book ideas on the topic. Here's Business Insider's summary of her favorites.

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• Major law firms are seeing a dropoff in deal work as a result of coronavirus, with practice areas affected including mergers and acquisitions and other corporate work.
• It's been 11 years since law firms experienced the last major crisis that upended their own businesses, resulting in layoffs, mergers, and bankruptcies of their own.
• The slowdown isn't limited to corporate work, though, with depositions and at least one major trial over the opioid crisis being postponed. 
• The malaise could lead financially strong firms to poach from weaker ones, with clear winners and losers emerging from the turmoil.
• Business Insider spoke to 16 lawyers, recruiters, and consultants to determine which firms are best positioned and who may be hit the worst. 
• Visit BI Prime for more stories.

Major US law firms are already experiencing a dropoff in deal work as a result of the coronavirus, sources inside and close to firms tell Business Insider, with practice areas such as mergers and acquisitions and other corporate work seen as particularly vulnerable. 

The malaise could lead financially strong firms to poach from weaker ones, with clear winners and losers emerging from the turmoil, recruiters and consultants said. 

Firms with practice areas in private equity, bankruptcy, restructuring and litigation, such as Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins, are expected to fare well, while firms that are already grappling with turnover — and comparatively lower profits — may be targeted in a hiring war.

Kent Zimmermann, a law firm consultant with Zeughauser Group, said some law firms may merge with each other to shore up their balance sheets.

"Some will do deals out of necessity," he said. "The unknown is how bad it gets and for how long until rebound."

The legal profession employs more than 1 million people across the country, according to the US Bureau of Labor, but there are only some tens of thousands of lawyers who comprise "Big Law," or the nation's most elite attorneys who often advise blue-chip corporations. 

The past 11 years have been relatively good to this field overall, with many of the top 100 firms increasing salaries of entry-level associates. The very top of the market pays $190,000, plus bonuses of $10,000, to graduates right out of law school. 

But now with the spread of coronavirus and global markets tanking, attorneys at the largest firms expect a financial toll to hit their businesses. 

Business Insider spoke to 16 lawyers, recruiters, and consultants to determine which firms are best positioned and who may be hit the worst. 

Deals are already getting disrupted

Already, some lawyers are scrambling as companies rush to close deals threatened by the coronavirus.

On Wednesday news emerged in the New York Post that Eldorado Resorts -- the chain of gambling houses that agreed to buy Caesars Entertainment last summer in a $17.3 billion deal -- was accelerating talks to close the deal after conferences in Las Vegas were cancelled and hotel revenue declined as a result of coronavirus. 

Other deals that hadn't been inked are falling through entirely, though lawyers declined to cite specific examples that haven't been reported publicly.

"On-site meetings, which are critical to due diligence, are being cancelled, halting the ability of deals where that diligence is necessary from proceeding," said Michael Hong, a corporate partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, in an e-mail. 

On top of that, bankers and lawyers are now grounded from international travel and, with markets in chaos, it makes it hard for companies to negotiate deal terms and IPO exits are unattractive propositions.

Numerous other attorneys also reported deals getting held up, though they were unclear whether it was temporary or long-term. 

"How do you get out there with management teams if you're banning travel?" said Ira Coleman, chair of McDermott Will & Emery."People want to look you in the eyes before they sell a company to you."

Joe Alexander, a senior private-equity partner at DLA Piper, told Business Insider that business is starting to slow. "Corporate is starting to slow down, no question," he wrote in an email. "They are starting to delay deals."

At the same time, Brian Hamilton, a senior partner at Sullivan & Cromwell wrote that he had seen one deal "put on hold" but that other deals are in motion. 

"Hopefully just a speed bump rather than a brick wall," he said. 

Practices with clients in the travel, hospitality and logistics industries are likely being hit the hardest, one lawyer said.

"I have been involved in two potential deals in the logistics industry — both simply died," said this lawyer, who declined to be named publicly to preserve relationships with clients involved. 

Another M&A lawyer who works at a firm where corporate makes up much of its business said attorneys are traveling "rarely" and that even though new matters are coming in, "it is hard to feel optimistic about the economic environment, at least for the next couple of months."

"It is challenging for business executives in many sectors to make bold moves at this time," he said, declining to speak publicly because he was not authorized to do so. 

Some firms, though, with private-equity and restructuring practices, will be better positioned to weather the storm, lawyers and consultants said. 

Private equity is gearing up for business

Private-equity shops with mountains of dry powder are sitting on the sidelines and waiting to see how businesses cope before they swoop in, place their bets, and buy troubled companies, lawyers said. 

"What you will typically see is a very robust period of activity once that clarity steps in," said David Gibbons, the head of Hogan Lovells' private-equity practice in London.

That hasn't happened quite yet, though when it does, some firms stand to benefit, including firms with large private-equity practices such as Ropes & Gray, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher and Kirkland & Ellis, consultants said.

At the same time, lawyers are gearing up for restructuring work stemming from companies that nosedive as a result of limited travel and slowing of business, consultants said. 

Firms specializing in these areas include Weil Gotshal & Manges, Skadden Arps and Latham & Watkins. 

Delays in trials and lawsuits are likely 

As far as litigation goes, some law firms are seeing trial dates postponed and one source said that some on-site depositions were also being rescheduled.

A Slovak court said Thursday that it had postponed the March 17 trial of a former soldier in a case over the killing of an investigative journalist and his fiancee, pushing back the court date to late March, while a New York court pushed back the trial date over the drug industry's involvement in the opioid crisis, telling parties to reconvene April 14 to determine next steps.

But lawyers also say that they expect to see additional lawsuits as a result of coronavirus, including disputes over busted mergers and acquisitions. 

These include so-called "material adverse effect" cases, where a buyer has remorse after a merger agreement is struck and unexpected events reveal that the target company is less desirable than initially thought. 

Meanwhile, many firms are busy taking precautionary measures to protect their own workforce. 

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath closed all 22 of its offices earlier this week, and Quinn Emanuel, the giant litigation firm, closed its New York City office after one of its partners tested positive for coronavirus, though the office is expected to re-open next week.

To the extent that law firms are looking to gain from the downturn by poaching attorneys from other firms, several names are being discussed in the market as susceptible to turnover, according to people familiar with the matter. These include Boies Schiller Flexner and Irell & Manella which have both seen multiple partners join competitors in recent months. 

Contacted on Thursday, these firms did not immediately provide comment. 

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• Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos. 
• Nearly all of the company's earliest 21 employees have since left the company for other ventures like philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and retirement. 
• These days, Amazon is one of the most valuable companies in the world and Bezos is the richest person in the world with a net worth of about $105 billion. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, started driving northwest from Texas toward Seattle in 1994, they were setting off on a journey to create one of the biggest ecommerce sites in the world.

Although they took that first long road trip alone, it didn't take Bezos — with his grand vision and boisterous laugh — long to start pulling in talent. 

Brad Stone's book "The Everything Store," plus a 2017 conversation with early employees Tom Schonhoff and Mike Hanlon, helped us figure out the names of some of Amazon's first critical employees. (The first 10 employees are listed in the order they were hired, though the others are not. If you know someone else who was there in the earliest days, let us know). 

Some early Amazon employees have since become entrepreneurs. Others went on to other major companies. A few are happily retired. Here's what they're all doing now, more than two decades after Amazon got its start. 

Jillian D'Onfro contributed to an earlier version of this story. 

SEE ALSO: The 28 youngest billionaires in tech, from Stripe's founders to the owner of TikTok

Eric Benson and his wife, Susan, joined Amazon together.

Employed at Amazon: 1996 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Engineer

One of the many things Benson worked on was the site's "Similarities" system, which recommended books based on what users had already read. He completed the preliminary version in only two weeks.

What he's doing now: Retired. Benson joined the company as an engineer. He and Susan, his wife, would always bring their dog Rufus to work with them because of the long hours. The corgi fast became something of a fixture at the company. In fact, Amazon says it "owes its remarkable dog-friendly culture to Rufus."

Susan Benson was part of Amazon's editorial staff, serving as the company's first managing editor.

Employed at Amazon: 1996 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Editor in chief

She and the rest of the editorial team were responsible for crafting witty messages for site visitors and recommending new products that they might be interested in, a job that became nearly obsolete when Amazon built an algorithm called Amabot that automatically generated recommendations in a standard format.

According to Amazon's first employee, Shel Kaphan, Benson was the one who got Amazon on Netscape's "What's New' and "What's Cool" pages when she worked there.

"... because the name started with an A, it was above the fold so lots of people saw it," Kaphan said in an interview with the Y Combinator blog."That was, in my opinion, a super important connection for us. It might have happened without the personal connection, but who knows, maybe not."

What she's doing now: Susan Benson served as a board member at the Seattle Town Hall, a nonprofit devoted to arts and education, until 2016.

Nick Strauss did a little bit of everything at Amazon.

Employed at Amazon: July 1996 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Catalog specialist

Strauss had a variety of jobs at Amazon, including answering customer service calls, writing code, packing books, giving presentations, and "anything else you can imagine."

What he's doing now: Strauss is a business intelligence training developer at T-Mobile, according to LinkedIn.

Eric Knapp worked in an early Amazon warehouse.

Employed at Amazon: 1996 to at least 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Warehouse employee

What he's doing now: Knapp is now retired.

Doug McDonald worked as an editor in the books division.

Employed at Amazon: 1996 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Editor, books division

What he's doing now: McDonald now works as a high school teacher in Oregon.

Barrie Trinkle was a National Spelling Bee champion before she joined the company in 1996.

Employed at Amazon: 1996 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Site merchandiser/editor 

What she's doing now: Trinkle is a writer, editor, investor, and volunteer.

Trinkle won the National Spelling Bee in 1973 with the word "vouchsafe" and wrote a book called "How to Spell Like a Champ," which is now sold on Amazon. After graduating from MIT, she spent more than a decade at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab before joining Amazon, according to LinkedIn. 

Rebecca Allen was an early Amazon engineer.

Employed at Amazon: 1996 to 1998

Most recent Amazon title: Software engineer

What she's doing now: Allen retired after Amazon, and she's now a writer living on the East Coast.

Software engineer Ellen Ratajak worked on Amazon's early IT.

Employed at Amazon: 1996 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Director of IT

Ratajak and Shel Kaphan, Amazon's first employee, shared an office and would sometimes blast rockabilly music as they hacked away on the site, even late on Friday nights. She's said that Bezos could be a "royal a------" with "irrational stubbornness," but that it all came from his unrelenting desire to delight customers. 

What she's doing now: She's worker for the Department of Veterans Affairs and has spent the last few years focused on sustainable agriculture, according to LinkedIn. 

Scott Northrop was Amazon's "Unix Shaman."

Employed at Amazon: 1995 to 2000

Most recent Amazon title: Unix Shaman 

When Northrop joined Amazon way back in 1995, employees were allowed to put whatever they wanted on their business cards, so he chose Shaman.

"'Wizard' was way too old school, 'Jedi' wasn't yet in vogue," he jokes on LinkedIn. He wrote the code that did the automatic layout of Amazon's packing slips and built the site's payment system, which he notes scaled from "300 sales on a big day" to $1 billion a year while he worked on it.

What he's doing now: Northrop is the CEO of Stark Raving Foods, which makes gluten-free frozen pizza.

Tod Nelson helped launch Amazon's music and video stores.

Employed at Amazon: 1995 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Editor, music and video

In the early days, Nelson used to be in charge of churning out book reviews for Amazon.com. He also worked as operations manager and eventually helped launch Amazon's German site. 

What he's doing now: Nelson now serves as executive director of CalPoly's Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, according to LinkedIn. 

Jonathan Kochmer helped Amazon expand beyond books.

Employed at Amazon: 1995 to 2000

Most recent Amazon title: Information architect

While at Amazon, Kochmer helped develop the browse system for books and worked within the teams that developed the company-wide data infrastructures. He also did "stealth online promotion" and vendor negotiation. 

What he's doing now: Kochmer is chief technology officer at a startup called Synectify in Singapore, according to LinkedIn. 

Knute Sears and Fred Eiden were Amazon's ninth and tenth employees.

According to Mike Hanlon, Amazon's seventh employee, Knute Sears and Fred Eiden were Amazon's ninth and tenth employees, hired in 1995.

Eiden was a software developer until 2000 and now designs custom furniture, a craft he took up after he left Amazon. It's not clear what Sears is currently up to. 

Amazon's eighth employee, Laurel Canan, gave up coffee when he joined Amazon.

Employed at Amazon: 1995 to at least 1998

First job at Amazon: Operations.

Laurel Canan, Amazon's eighth employee, was a 24-year-old carpenter who planned to return to school to become a Chaucer scholar. Instead, he joined Amazon, taking over operations in the company's warehouse. He completely gave up coffee soon after. "You can't do a job like that on caffeine. You have to do it on carbs," he told Brad Stone for Stone's book on Amazon, "The Everything Store."

Laurel Canan eventually married another early employee, Sara Jinks. She was Amazon's receptionist. 

What he's doing now: Unknown.

Mike Hanlon brought his girlfriend to the warehouse and Bezos made her sign an NDA.

Employed at Amazon: 1995 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Operations/Business development/Software development

Hanlon was Amazon's seventh employee. According to his LinkedIn, Hanlon managed real estate operations and administrated UNIX and telecom systems from 1995 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as a software engineer, developing finance and customer service applications at Amazon.

He shared this fun anecdote via email in 2017:

"During Christmas 1995, the site really took off. Everyone was working long hours, and my girlfriend (now wife) Molly would come hang out in the warehouse in the evenings to help us pack up shipments. That was really the only chance that Molly and I had to see each other, and her help enabled us to get home earlier than we would have otherwise. When Jeff Bezos realized that Molly was helping us in the warehouse, he came down and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement." 

What he's doing now: Hanlon cofounded a company called Abett that uses data to help you make stressful decisions. The company's first product identifies outfits from the clothes in users' closets. He and his wife, Molly, run the Hanlon Foundation.

Nicholas Lovejoy joined Amazon as its sixth employee.

Employed at Amazon: 1995 to 1998; September 2016 to present

First Amazon title: Recruiting and Operations

Lovejoy worked with Bezos at D.E. Shaw, and was a high school math teacher in Seattle before joining Amazon. Once he arrived, he made the suggestion to put packing tables in Amazon's warehouse. To most it would seem obvious, but Bezos, who had suggested buying knee-pads to make packing on the ground easier, praised him for years for the completely "brilliant idea."

What he's doing now: "Principal TPM Prime Video" at Amazon. He left the company in 1998 to go backpacking around the world with his girlfriend, but rejoined Amazon in September 2016 to help build Amazon Transportation Services.

Tom Schonhoff was Amazon's fifth employee and built the customer service department from scratch.

Employed at Amazon: 1995 to 2001

Most recent Amazon title: Technical program manager

Schonhoff, Amazon's fifth employee, had just earned a computer science degree at the University of Washington when Bezos brought him on board. He ran the whole customer service department for the first several months, working with Bezos to establish Amazon's famous "it's all about the customers" attitude. 

He told Business Insider in 2017 that he was often the one personally making sure packages made it to the post office by jamming them into his car to drop off at the end of his long workday. 

What he's doing now: Schonhoff was working as a program manager for Microsoft, but it's not clear what he's currently doing. 

Paul Davis led the back-end development of Amazon.com.

Employed at Amazon: Fall 1994 to 1996

First Amazon job title: Developer

Davis was Amazon's fourth employee, joining before the company launched its website and working with Shel Kaphan to make Bezos' dreams a reality. When he left his job at the University of Washington, his coworkers passed around a coffee can to collect a few dollars for him in case the risky venture failed. 

Although he only stayed with Amazon for less than two years, he was absolutely critical to the development of the site, helping to create the entire backend. In his own words:

"I left, despite significant stock and other inducements to remain, because I am a technical person and had little interest in playing a role in the growth of the company. I was intimately involved with many aspects of getting this now-extremely successful company started."

What he's doing now: Davis is the founder of Linux Audio Systems, a company that writes open source software for recording audio. 

Shel Kaphan was Amazon's first employee besides Bezos and his wife.

Employed at Amazon: Fall 1994 to 1999

First Amazon job title: VP of Research and Development

Most recent Amazon title: Chief technology officer

Although he's not officially considered a cofounder, he and Bezos were discussing the company even before it was incorporated, and Bezos once referred to him as "the most important person ever in the history of Amazon.com."

He decided to leave after Bezos hired two new tech managers and named him CTO, essentially taking him off the front lines and curtailing his ability to make any real change within the company. Bezos and Kaphan are no longer in touch.

What he's doing now: Philanthropy at the Kaphan Foundation. 

MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos met at work.

MacKenzie Tuttle, a D.E. Shaw research associate, married Jeff Bezos in 1993 and the duo founded Amazon together. She became the fledgling company's first accountant and, according to Brad Stone, was the one "handling the finances, writing the checks, and helping with hiring." 

MacKenzie Bezos is now a novelist. She and Jeff Bezos divorced in 2019. 

Jeff Bezos has been the CEO of Amazon since the very beginning.

Since founding Amazon, Bezos has donated $42 million and part of his land in Texas to the construction of The Clock Of The Long Now, an underground clock designed to work for 10,000 years. In 2012, he donated $2.5 million to defend gay marriage in Washington. In August 2013, Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million and Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion. He funds a private space company called Blue Origin, which is working on developing technology for private space travel.

Bezos is now one of the most powerful figures in tech and the richest person in the world, with a net worth of roughly $105 billion.