Latest news with #Caplan
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Welcome To The Era Of The Multinational Microbusiness
Beau Pilgrim runs his business, ia Blueprint, from Vidalia, Louisiana, a bucolic town of 4,000 people. In addition to running an insurance agency, he connects other small insurance brokers with specially trained back-office personnel. Pilgrim couldn't find all the talent he needed locally— 'People move away from my town to go the big cities,' he says—so he built a remote team in the Philippines. But paying workers in another country can be complicated. He relies on a fin-tech platform called Payoneer, which is designed to facilitate these transactions. 'It's taken away some of the pain points centered around overseas payroll,' he said. Pilgrim was one of 20 entrepreneurs who flew into New York City to attend the Ambition Hackathon NYC on Monday, part of Payoneer's 20th-anniversary celebration, Payo20. Although the U.S. trade war is dominating the headlines, it wasn't in evidence at the event, where some entrepreneurs flew 17 hours or more to help each other brainstorm solutions to their business challenges in small groups of peers. 'Globalization and borderless businesses are more important than ever,' said Payoneer CEO John Caplan. 'Global trade powers the sharing of ideas and opportunities for entrepreneurs all over the world. If we retreat into tribalism, we actually prevent one another from experiencing the joy, learning and creativity that happens when people from all over the world get together.' Payoneer also announced a $2 million donation to Endeavor, an NGO that supports entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Linda Rottenberg, co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, said the network of 2,900 entrepreneurs has found the best way to build thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems is to back ambitious founders in overlooked places around the world. 'When we support a founder in an emerging market, we don't just fuel one company, we unlock their 'multiplier effect,' empowering them to train, mentor and invest in the next generation, ' she said. Many entrepreneurs know there is a lot of opportunity in exporting and importing but struggle with one of the most important parts: paying suppliers and vendors or receiving payments from export clients. Solutions like wiring money can be costly for small transactions, and some countries have strict rules that make it impossible to use credit cards. The growth of exporting by small and midsize businesses (SMBs) is fueling the GDP in many emerging markets. 'When you go global from day one, you're more likely to be successful and that's whether you're live in Ho Chi Minh City, Mexico City or New York City,' Caplan said. In India, Caplan noted, close to 50% of SMBs export—currently the figure is nearly 46%, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation. That is contributing to a GDP the Indian government expects to grow 6.5% in 2024-2025. SMBs are responsible for only 11% of the export value in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said the GDP declined 2.7% in Q1 2025. Microbusinesses find unexpected opportunities in global trade Payoneer, headquartered in New York City, was an early player in facilitating transactions that support exporters, working with microbusiness owners not served by traditional banks. Many of its customers are outside the U.S. It powers payments on large freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fivver. While many entrepreneurs use platforms such as PayPal and Stripe for international transactions, these are not available in every country. With demand high, Payoneer has grown into a publicly traded company over the past two decades with more than $1 billion in revenue and 3,700 employees in 35 countries, handling $80 billion in transaction volume in 2024. Now that more companies hire contractors overseas, Payoneer is expanding into related services; it recently acquired Skuad, a global workforce and payroll management platform. 'People think the whole world economy relies on the US, but there are 340 million Americans and 7.4 billion people on the planet,' Caplan said. 'There's a lot of trade of services and goods that never actually touch the US. People don't quite grasp how global we are, and how borderless ambition is.' Geography is not as much of a determinant of what an entrepreneur can accomplish as it was in the past, according to Caplan. 'If you have access to technology, you can participate in the global economy regardless of where you sleep,' he said. Complex business networks take shape As international commerce among microbusinesses has evolved, and some tiny businesses have scaled up, Payoneer's team has had an opportunity to witness trends in their trading patterns. Caplan said trade is increasingly based on global networks and not traditional patterns such as 'East-West' or 'North-South.' Even the smallest businesses are now capable of taking part in complex networks of buyers and sellers and using labor arbitrage, Caplan noted. Labor arbitrage refers to hiring someone in a country or locale where labor costs are lower than in one's own location to increase the profitability of a business. For instance, a digitally-enabled startup in Chicago might hire software coders from Argentina; if it used Payoneer, it could pay the tech team through a credit card that works in their home country. The coders might, in turn, use that credit card to pay a virtual assistant in the Philippines. Setting the stage for the billion-dollar, one-person business Caplan believes the increasing ability of microbusinesses to hire contractors and use AI is likely to result in billion-dollar, one-person businesses. 'The global workforce, plus AI, makes it possible for a person anywhere to do business everywhere profitably,' he says. 'It really is only limited by people's imagination, creativity and product-market fit. Nothing is stopping a million-dollar business from being a billion-dollar business. It's just about the network they build and the product-market fit.' Sudhir Gupta, founder and CEO of EAU Deluxe, a global beauty and fragrance supplier based in Northern N.J., came to the U.S. from India for graduate school, discovered he loved collecting rare perfume bottles became a perfume importer, based in Northern, N.J. around his passion. He grew the business large enough to make the Inc. 5000 five times. He has used Payoneer when sourcing niche beauty products from Europe, finding it makes it possible for him to pay suppliers. Although Gupta never went on to pursue his master's degree, he believes that he's much happier turning his passion into a business. "I'm doing something I would have never done otherwise,' he said. Global trade has fueled it.
Al Jazeera
26-03-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Why are users of 23andMe being urged to delete their data?
Users of 23andMe, a direct-to-consumer genetic testing site, are being urged to delete their personal data from the website following the company's bankruptcy filing in the United States on March 23. Here's why it matters. If 23andMe's bankruptcy goes through, it will soon be up for sale after years of financial troubles. Since its founding in 2006, the company has amassed the genetic information of about 15 million users – a dataset that is now potentially up for sale to the highest bidder. 23andMe offered services related to family ancestry and genetic traits, gradually expanding into tests for genetic predispositions to cancer and other diseases. More recently, the company sought to pivot into drug research. In 2021, the company went public with a $3.5bn valuation, partly to raise funds for this new direction. However, tough economic conditions and declining sales left the company financially unstable. In October, it laid off 40 percent of its workforce and now faces delisting from the NASDAQ after its stock price fell below $1 this week. In an open letter to its customers, 23andMe insisted that the bankruptcy 'does not change how we store, manage, or protect customer data', adding that any potential buyer would be 'required to comply with applicable law with respect to the treatment of customer data'. Despite this promise, the attorneys general of New York and California have urged residents to log onto the site and delete their data. Arthur Caplan, the head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, expressed scepticism about 23andMe's promises. 'If 23andMe really goes bankrupt and someone buys its assets, then what's going to happen is their promises of confidentiality go out the window. The buyer isn't bound to follow what 23andMe said,' Caplan told Al Jazeera. 'They can share data, and given the fact that DNA analysis is even better now than it was 10 years ago when all this collection started, they might be able to identify people.' Unlike the European Union, the US lacks a comprehensive federal data privacy law. Instead, data protection relies on a patchwork of state laws and industry-specific regulations. Like other DNA home-testing companies, 23andMe is not covered by the main piece of legislation governing the privacy of health records, the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – better known as HIPAA – because it is not classified as a medical company. Data from companies like 23andMe can also be obtained by law enforcement under a warrant or subpoena. In one of the most high-profile cases involving a home-testing service and the authorities, California investigators in 2017 used an unnamed genealogy website to identify Joseph James DeAngelo as the 'Golden State Killer,' a prolific serial murderer who was active between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s. Even before its bankruptcy, 23andMe faced criticism for its data security practices. In 2023, hackers broke into the company's systems and accessed the information of nearly 7 million users. The company was later forced to pay $30m in a class action lawsuit over the breach. The company's scientific claims have also been questioned. Caplan said 23andMe's claim that it can reveal meaningful information about ethnic heritage is misleading because DNA can only provide a limited window into someone's ancestry. 'It didn't make sense to me that you could find out your ancestry from a genetic test because much of the information needed, including where your ancestors were living and what groups they were mingling with 200 years ago, we just don't know,' Caplan said. 'Genes do not sort out by cultural categories like Lithuanian or Panamanian. There's no Costa Rican gene.' 'I always thought the company was collecting the DNA because it wanted to sell it for research,' Caplan added. 'The whole idea of ancestry testing and finding out about your past was almost a bait and switch: 'We'll give you this cool information if you give us your DNA.'' As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, 23andMe has announced a 45-day bidding period for its assets. Former CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki has resigned from her position to submit her own bid for the company. 'We've had many successes, but I equally take accountability for the challenges we face today,' Wojcicki said in a post on X on Monday. 'There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an evolving business model have been real, but my belief in the company and its future is unwavering.' Since last year, Wojcicki has submitted several offers to a special committee of independent directors to take the company private, but those were rejected over share-price concerns. If you're concerned about your data, here's how you can delete it:
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
CDC posts 'conflicts of interest' database on vaccine panel members
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday launched a webpage listing information about current and former members of its independent vaccine advisory committee, including what it describes as conflicts of interests. The website was announced by the agency in a post on X late Friday morning. The new database comes after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — whose department oversees the CDC and has postponed or canceled two major vaccine advisory committee meetings in recent weeks — has vowed to increase "radical transparency" at the federal health agencies. It wasn't immediately clear, however, how the webpage would accomplish that. Much of the information on the members of the committee, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is already publicly available, including their previous work on clinical trials. The panel members — pediatricians, epidemiologists, public health experts and geriatricians — are volunteers who are selected by the health secretary, following an application and vetting process, according to the CDC. The committee regularly meets several times a year to recommend who should get vaccines that are already approved, including the schedule for childhood vaccinations, or review data. Neither the CDC nor the committee mandate vaccination. The CDC's new list includes names of members, the dates they served and what the agency describes as conflicts of interests, such as previous work as a principal investigator for clinical trials funded by drug companies or whose institution received a grant from the industry. Arthur Caplan, head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said the database could be used to sow doubt about the advice given by ACIP, giving a false appearance that members have strong ties to the industry — a belief, he said, long held by Kennedy. Caplan said, it's nearly impossible to find anyone with this kind of expertise who doesn't have an apparent conflict of interest. Often, he said, they are the ones overseeing research done by drugmakers, but don't own stocks in companies. The fact that the disclosures are so thorough, he added, should give people confidence. "Many people have conflicts. You'll find huge numbers of them in the Trump administration," Caplan said. "The way you deal with them is not just to say, 'No one can have them.' You have to manage them." Kennedy himself was grilled about his own conflicts of interest during his confirmation hearing in late January, including his work at the Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit group he founded, and his involvement with litigation against HPV vaccine maker Merck. Kennedy told lawmakers he would divest his interest in litigation against the drugmaker. Caplain noted that it's standard practice for ACIP members with industry ties to recuse themselves from participating in certain meetings. The committee chair also calls for conflict of interest disclosures at the start of each meeting. Kennedy has previously criticized ACIP, telling Fox News in February, without citing any data, that 'almost all' members on the vaccine advisory committee have 'severe, severe conflicts of interest.' Andrew Nixon, a senior spokesperson at HHS, said in an emailed statement that the website is "in alignment with HHS Secretary Kennedy's commitment to radical transparency." "CDC released a tool for Americans to easily access conflicts of interest for ACIP committee members," Nixon said. "Rather than conflicts of interest being buried within meeting minutes, this tool quickly provides the public with ACIP members' conflicts of interest." Still, the move is unlikely to alleviate worries from health experts and lawmakers that Kennedy could disrupt vaccine regulations in the U.S. It came as no surprise to Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, that the CDC, under Kennedy, took aim at ACIP. Offit, a former member of the ACIP who has criticized Kennedy in the past, said the website represents Kennedy's "basic belief that Big Pharma has had undue influence on vaccine policy decisions." "There is not a single shred of evidence showing that is true," Offit added. This article was originally published on
NBC News
07-03-2025
- Health
- NBC News
CDC posts 'conflicts of interest' database on vaccine panel members
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday launched a webpage listing information about current and former members of its independent vaccine advisory committee, including what it describes as conflicts of interests. The website was announced by the agency in a post on X late Friday morning. The new database comes after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — whose department oversees the CDC and has postponed or canceled two major vaccine advisory committee meetings in recent weeks — has vowed to increase "radical transparency" at the federal health agencies. It wasn't immediately clear, however, how the webpage would accomplish that. Much of the information on the members of the committee, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is already publicly available, including their previous work on clinical trials. The panel members — pediatricians, epidemiologists, public health experts and geriatricians — are volunteers who are selected by the health secretary, following an application and vetting process, according to the CDC. The committee regularly meets several times a year to recommend who should get vaccines that are already approved, including the schedule for childhood vaccinations, or review data. Neither the CDC nor the committee mandate vaccination. The CDC's new list includes names of members, the dates they served and what the agency describes as conflicts of interests, such as previous work as a principal investigator for clinical trials funded by drug companies or whose institution received a grant from the industry. Arthur Caplan, head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said the database could be used to sow doubt about the advice given by ACIP, giving a false appearance that members have strong ties to the industry — a belief, he said, long held by Kennedy. Caplan said, it's nearly impossible to find anyone with this kind of expertise who doesn't have an apparent conflict of interest. Often, he said, they are the ones overseeing research done by drugmakers, but don't own stocks in companies. The fact that the disclosures are so thorough, he added, should give people confidence. "Many people have conflicts. You'll find huge numbers of them in the Trump administration," Caplan said. "The way you deal with them is not just to say, 'No one can have them.' You have to manage them." Kennedy himself was grilled about his own conflicts of interest during his confirmation hearing in late January, including his work at the Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit group he founded, and his involvement with litigation against HPV vaccine maker Merck. Kennedy told lawmakers he would divest his interest in litigation against the drugmaker. Caplain noted that it's standard practice for ACIP members with industry ties to recuse themselves from participating in certain meetings. The committee chair also calls for conflict of interest disclosures at the start of each meeting. Taking aim at ACIP Kennedy has previously criticized ACIP, telling Fox News in February, without citing any data, that 'almost all' members on the vaccine advisory committee have 'severe, severe conflicts of interest.' Andrew Nixon, a senior spokesperson at HHS, said in an emailed statement that the website is "in alignment with HHS Secretary Kennedy's commitment to radical transparency." "CDC released a tool for Americans to easily access conflicts of interest for ACIP committee members," Nixon said. "Rather than conflicts of interest being buried within meeting minutes, this tool quickly provides the public with ACIP members' conflicts of interest." Still, the move is unlikely to alleviate worries from health experts and lawmakers that Kennedy could disrupt vaccine regulations in the U.S. It came as no surprise to Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, that the CDC, under Kennedy, took aim at ACIP. Offit, a former member of the ACIP who has criticized Kennedy in the past, said the website represents Kennedy's "basic belief that Big Pharma has had undue influence on vaccine policy decisions." "There is not a single shred of evidence showing that is true," Offit added.
Chicago Tribune
28-02-2025
- Climate
- Chicago Tribune
Dan Casper remembered as devoted, community focused Manhattan weather forecaster
Manhattan weather forecaster Dan Casper's friends remember him as a beloved weatherman who always put the community's needs first. Casper, the founder of the Manhattan Weather Channel, died Feb. 21, at age 60, according to his obituary. Fox 32 meteorologist and close friend Mike Caplan said Casper was a figure in the Manhattan community and a weather forecaster people heavily relied on. 'He really cared about the community,' Caplan said. 'Just the fact that so many people in Manhattan and the surrounding towns knew who he was. Really relied on him for a lot of weather information. It's a huge testament to the success of what he was doing.' Manhattan Mayor Mike Adrieansen and his wife, Laura Adrieansen, said Casper died a week after he was hospitalized for complications with RSV and lung cancer, with his prognosis only becoming known to supporters days into his hospitalization. 'Dan's wishes were that he did not want any one of the public to know that he had cancer until it was confirmed,' said Laura Adrieansen, who posted updates on Casper's condition on his Manhattan Weather Channel Facebook page. 'So I had to respect his wishes until last Wednesday, when I was told by the oncologist that it was cancer.' Casper was hospitalized Feb. 13. The following day he gave Laura his health care power of attorney. The next day, he was on a ventilator, she said. The Adrieansens started a GoFundMe for Casper shortly into his hospitalization to help cover some of his medical expenses, raising mroe than $28,000. The funds have covered some of Casper's bills while he was hospitalized, and will partially go toward his cremation and funeral arrangements, Mike Adrieansen said. Casper, a passionate dog lover, was also a strong supporter of Cache Creek Rescue, a no-kill shelter located inside Alsip Nursery in Frankfort. A portion of the proceeds raised through the GoFundMe will be donated to the shelter in his honor, Laura said. Caplan also plans to make a donation to the rescue in Casper's name. Casper was a graduate from Lincoln-Way Central High School in New Lenox. He attended the School of Columbia majoring in meteorology and studying under Tom Skilling, WGN-TV's chief meteorologist who retired in 2024, according to Casper's obituary. Casper started the Manhattan Weather Channel in 2011 to keep the area safe and informed on hazardous weather, according to his LinkedIn page. Outside of forecasting, Casper owned and operated Midwest Video Productions, a studio where he filmed a wide range of weddings, dance recitals, commercials and music videos, according to his LinkedIn. Caplan recalls it was not long after Casper established his weather channel that the two met. Caplan was hosting a live weather segment on social media when viewers alerted him to a tornado warning in Will County. Caplan said he was monitoring the National Weather Service and no warning had been issued. 'I had no idea who the heck he was, and he had told his viewers there's a tornado warning in effect because he saw with his own eyes what he thought to be a tornado,' Caplan said. 'I contacted him via Messenger or something. I was like, 'Hey, do you realize that you do not have the authority to issue tornado warnings?'' The next day, the National Weather Service did a damage assessment and determined a weak tornado hit in the Manhattan area, Caplan said. 'I reached out to him that day, and I said, 'Hey, I disagree with your methods, but you provided a very helpful service to your followers, and that's to be commended,'' Caplan said. Soon after, they started a friendly banter on social media, Caplan said. Their exchanges led to a friendship with coffee meetings, forecast discussions and, though they often disagreed on predictions, a shared mutual respect, Caplan said. 'He had the safety and information delivering interest of the public in his mind,' Caplan said. 'There are other people, I call them armchair weather people whose, in my opinion, primary purpose is to get clicks on their social media page so that they can make $4. Dan was not that.' At the Manhattan Irish Fest, Mike Adrieansen said he and Laura asked Caplan to drive Casper's storm chasing van through the parade. While in the hospital, before being put on a ventilator, Laura said Casper continued posting weather updates from his phone. His final posts Feb. 14 included several weather updates about snow moving into the area, along with updates on his condition. His last post reads, 'Who's getting snow?' Mike Adrieansen said Casper also used his platform to promote events in the Manhattan community. The couple said their friendship with Casper started in an unusual way, as Casper was supporting one of Mike Adrieansen's opponents in the 2013 mayoral election. Laura's sister-in-law, who was tight with Casper, urged the two to start speaking. They soon became fast friends, Laura said. The couple is working on ways to continue to honor Casper. Laura said they hope to place a bench with engraved with Casper's name at a dog park the village plans to build. Another idea, suggested by Kevin Schuster, co-owner of Midtown Bar & Grill in Manhattan, is to launch a portion of Casper's cremated remains into space through Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, Laura said. His remains would orbit space for years before re-entering Earth's atmosphere as a shooting star, according to the organization's website. Visitation will be from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, at Forsythe Gould Funeral Home, 507 S. State St., Manhattan, according to Casper's obituary.
