Author: josh

Apoha, a deep tech startup that is building AI models for creating new kinds of substances—from proteins to food products to paints—based on a new kind of data about how materials behave, is emerging from stealth today with $36 million in venture capital funding.The funding round, which is the London- and San Francisco-based startup’s Series A, is being led by European venture capital firm Singular, with participation from Draper Associates and continued backing from existing seed investors Redalpine, Seedcamp, Wilbe, and Nucleus. The company also has a grant from Innovate UK, the U.K.’s national innovation agency.The company did not disclose…

Key takeaways The Chicago housing market slightly favored sellers in May, but the balance of power was nearly even. Home prices, sales, and listings all rose as activity returned to the market. The city’s seasonal trends acted more “normal” than they have in years, in line with the national market’s slow reset.  Chicago housing market snapshot Balance of Power Median Sale Price (YoY) Pending Sales (YoY) Active Listings (YoY) Days on Market (YoY) Balanced market $395,400 (+5.2%) 7,778 (+6.3%) 26,679 (+0.7%) 51 (-3 days) Spring housing season was in full swing in May, and Chicago’s market followed suit. Sales increased,…

In This Article Growing old is never much fun—unless it’s a house, in which case, for BRRRR investors and flippers, it has traditionally been both a lot of fun and a great source of revenue.  The good news is that America has an abundance of older homes. The bad news is that permitting red tape in many states is adding weeks to renovation projects and cutting profits. Older Homes Equal Greater Repair Costs Given that the median age of owner-occupied homes was 42 years old in 2024, up from 31 years old in 2005, according to the National Association of…

Luke Nichols, better known as the Outdoor Boys YouTuber who captured the hearts of millions of viewers for his outdoor survival videos from the middle-of-nowhere Alaska, knows what it feels like to graduate in a wrecked economy. After all, he graduated from law school during the 2008 market crash.  Standing before George Mason University’s law school graduates in May, the 47-year-old attorney opened with the line he’s built a career on: “Survival is not something we just do in the woods.” He said survival is something we each have to do “every single day, whether you’re building a fire, or…

Moving from the Chicago suburbs to the city can feel like trading space and quiet streets for walkability, skyline views, and downtown convenience. Instead of driving to dinner, commuting by Metra, or maintaining a yard, Loop residents are often steps from CTA lines, office towers, theaters, restaurants, Millennium Park, and the lakefront. But the move also comes with tradeoffs. Condo fees, smaller floor plans, building rules, and a faster-paced market can all change how buyers think about affordability. Whether you’re moving from Naperville, Evanston, Aurora, or another Chicagoland suburb, here’s what to know before making the move to downtown Chicago. …

In This Article Name Neil Whitney Location Picayune, Mississippi Occupation HVAC business owner & real estate investor Assets 23 doors (2 fourplexes, 6 duplexes, 3 single-family homes) Investment strategy Long-Term Rentals Financing Conventional loans & HELOCs At age 47, Neil Whitney was running an HVAC company in Slidell, Louisiana, and working every hour he had. He and his wife weren’t struggling in any dramatic way. They were just stuck living paycheck to paycheck, with no cushion and no retirement plan.  Then one rainy weekend, his wife dragged him to the back room to watch a Lifetime movie. A man gets…

Before Boeing named Kelly Ortberg as CEO in August of 2024, the airplane-maker was an enterprise in crisis, and faith was fading that arguably the most iconic of American manufacturers would ever regain its lost luster.  Just as Boeing was slowly recovering from the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 passengers and crew, a Max door-plug blowout over Portland, Ore. in January of 2024 trained the spotlight on its manufacturing practices, which had increasingly put profits over quality. Federal regulators cracked down, freezing Max production at a third below its prior…

Minong, Wisconsin, is the kind of place most people pass through without noticing. With a population of fewer than 1,000, there’s a car dealership, a dollar store, and a couple thousand cattle, surrounded by forests and lakes in the state’s northwestern corner. But perhaps improbably, it also has the headquarters of a $4 billion multinational meat-snack empire. For the past 40 years, Minong has been the home base of Jack Link’s, the company behind one of America’s most recognizable beef jerky brands. What began as an effort by namesake founder Jack Link to turn his great-grandfather’s jerky recipe into a…

To stay or to go? That’s the perennial question for workers trying to maximize their pay in a “peanut-butter” raise economy. But in the era of job-hopping and freelancing, freedom can come with a cost.  For higher earners, loyalty is rewarded. The top 5% of earners who stayed with their employers received year-over-year pay hikes approaching double digits, while peers who switched jobs only saw a low-single-digit bump, according to a Bank of America study using internal deposit data. All other workers—including lower-, middle-, and higher-earners excluding the top 5%—all got a higher after-tax wage increase if they switched. Bank of…

Key Takeaways Selling a house in 2026 requires flexibility, patience, and a great first impression. Buyers today have leverage in most markets, making pricing, presentation, and negotiation more important than ever. Homes are taking nearly twice as long to go under contract as they did during the pandemic (49 days vs. 27 days in 2022).  Sellers today have more options than ever, including listing privately, on the MLS, as-is, for-sale-by-owner, or selling to a cash buyer or iBuyer.  Selling your home is a major milestone, whether you’re relocating, downsizing, or just ready for something new. The process can feel overwhelming,…