Pinterest and Zoom Go Public
Pinterest, the digital scrapbooking site, surged in its debut as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, rallying by more than 25% from its original price as investors momentarily rallied around technology’s latest unicorn. The stock hit as high as $24.99 on Thursday, after pricing its initial public offering at $19 late Wednesday. The company (PINS) is just one of a stampede of unicorns — private companies that have raised at least $1B — set to IPO this year. It began trading the same day as the video conferencing platform Zoom (ZM), which priced its own IPO at $36 a share. Zoom starting trading on Thursday at $65 a share, 80.5% above its IPO price. When will other tech firms go public? Pinterest and Zoom are two of at least eight tech unicorns eyeing 2019 for their IPOs, including Slack, Airbnb, Instacart, Palantir, Postmates, Uber. It’s a big year for tech.
(Source: Yahoo Finance)
Carl’s Jr. Serves Rocky Mountain High
A Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Denver plans to sell a “Rocky Mountain High: Cheese Burger Delight.” The special sandwich features two beef patties, Carl’s Jr. Santa Fe Sauce infused with hemp-based CBD oil, pickled jalapeños, pepper jack cheese and fries (yes, fries), and goes on sale at 6 a.m. on April 20. It will sell for, you guessed it, $4.20. The company tweeted:
What’s the philosophy? “The new Rocky Mountain High: CheeseBurger Delight ties back to our core strategy of being the first to bring bold and unexpected flavors that are at the forefront of hot restaurant trends to a quick service menu,” said Patty Trevino, Carl’s Jr. senior vice president of brand marketing.
Meme -Makers Form Union
Instagram memers have had enough. They generate the engagement that helps keep Instagram growing—but, they argue, the multibillion-dollar platform doesn’t pay them for their work, or give them any control. So they’re fighting back. And before you write off IG Meme Union Local 69-420 as a joke, the organizers of the collective would like you to know that they are very serious. “Solidarity actions with memers. Memers of the world unite,” the Instagram page for the union reads, encouraging followers to “seize the memes of production.”
What happens next? While the IG Meme Union will probably never be recognized by the National Labor Relations Board, organizers say it can still act as a union for all intents and purposes. The union is currently taking applications through an online form and hopes to negotiate better working conditions for memers who say they have been exploited by Instagram and other tech platforms for too long. Memers unite!
(Source: The Atlantic)
