Harvard Business School Falls to #2 MBA Ranking
HBS prides itself in being one of the best business schools in the world. It often takes first place in international rankings. However, this year, the university is going to have to come to terms with being second best. The Financial Times recently ranked Insead - a business program with campuses in France and Singapore - above HBS. The Boston Business Journal reports.
GE Signs 1st Lease in Boston
General Electric will be getting some temporary space at 33-41 Farnsworth St. in Fort Point, a GE spokesperson said Monday. The news was first reported by Scott Kirsner. The square footage and purpose for the space isn't being disclosed at this point, the spokesperson said. And while it’s GE’s first lease in Boston, it won’t be the final location for the company’s headquarters, which is moving to South Boston from Connecticut. The space on Farnsworth Street is becoming available with the departure of tenants including CRM software maker Bullhorn, Kirsner reported.
EnerNOC's Stock Price up 50% after Supreme Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal rule aimed at encouraging industrial consumers to cut electricity use. According to Bloomberg, "EnerNOC Inc., the top U.S. provider of energy conservation services, jumped as much as 59 percent in New York trading. Shares of independent power producers fell, led by Dynegy Inc., which declined as much as 10 percent."
Amazon Snaps up 'Manchester by the Sea' at Sundance
Starring Casey Affleck and produced by Matt Damon, the made-in-Mass. film, "Manchester by the Sea," made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend and quickly found a buyer. Amazon bought the movie, about a Boston janitor who cares for his teenage nephew after his brother's death, for $10 million, and plans a theatrical release. With the addition of foreign rights, the deal could be worth $20 million, making it among the highest price tags fetched at the film fest in Park City, Utah, in recent years. The Herald reports.
Patriots' Microsoft Surface Tablets Went Dark During the AFC Championship
It seems doubtful any device could have saved the Patriots from defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game, Sunday. But add a small technological difficulty to the Patriots' frustrations in the game: The Microsoft Surface tablets used on the sideline by NFL players and coaches stopped working for about 20 minutes during the game. Broncos' tablets continued working just fine and Microsoft later blamed the glitch on a "connectivity" issue. It's been a tough run for Microsoft's tablet-focused NFL sponsorship, reportedly valued at $400 million. At first, announcers couldn't stop calling them iPads. The most attention they've gotten other than that has been players tossing them down in disgust or otherwise destroying them after reviewing a botched play. Verge reports.
There Are 106 Breweries in Massachusetts – We Mapped All of Them
Here's a dizzying stat: Right now, there are two craft breweries opening somewhere across the U.S. ... every single day. Sure, America is massive. But this rate of growth is unprecedented. In fact, for the first time since 1873, we've eclipsed more than 4,000 breweries nationwide. And without a doubt, the New England craft brewery scene is a major contributor to that – thanks in large part to what's cooking right here in Massachusetts. Read more.
Assemble.VC Is Raising a $75M Fund for Its New Take on Venture Capital
More details came out Friday on a new venture capital firm from some big names in the Boston tech community. Assemble.VC is looking to raise a $75 million initial fund, according to an SEC filing. While the filing doesn't indicate that any part of the fund has been committed already, a report in Fortune's Term Sheet indicates the fund is more than halfway closed so far. Meanwhile, two of Assemble.VC's founders, Michael Skok and C.A. Webb, told us they’re looking to be distinct from other VC firms in a number of ways—including with a focus on preparing a new generation of VCs and building the local tech community through their work. Read more.
Did the Mass. AG Just Set up 'Virtual Goods' for DraftKings?
With the comment period for proposed regulations on daily fantasy sports in Massachusetts coming to an end on Friday (January 22) at 5 p.m., the industry is one step closer to being reined in. The state regulations, many of which are the first of their kind in the U.S., include a particular distinction that previously did not exist. Attempting to protect inexperienced players from veterans, new thresholds are being established, though they could inadvertently create a new class of "virtual goods" that DraftKings users may covet.
Runkeeper Gets Into Apparel Sales
Popular run-tracking app Runkeeper has just added an e-commerce side. The Boston-based company is now selling apparel on its site—a variety of running tops for women and men, for between $24 and $40. "Commerce is a big push for us," CEO Jason Jacobs told us this week. With 50 million users for the Runkeeper app, Jacobs said the company has realized that users are also interested in buying limited-edition apparel and trying third-party products. And some items can only be bought if users achieve certain fitness challenges, he said. "You gotta earn it. The thing you need to do to earn it is as important as the product itself," Jacobs said.
Here's MIT's Design for Elon Musk's Hyperloop
A couple of years ago, Elon Musk threw out the idea of Hyperloop, the super high-speed train that could solve all of our transportation woes. Although neither the entrepreneur nor his company SpaceX are personally pursuing the construction of such an infrastructure, they are encouraging others to go for it with their official Hyperloop Pod Competition. The team from MIT - along with the hundreds of other groups participating in the competition - has submitted its final design proposal for Hyperloop and are set to present it at Design Weekend on January 29 and 30 down in Texas. Read more.
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