Month: July 2022

Which Countries Produce the Most Wheat?


This post is by Carmen Ang from Visual Capitalist


A map of the world's largest wheat producers from 2000-2020

Visualizing Global Wheat Production by Country (2000-2020)

Wheat is a dietary staple for millions of people around the world.

After rice and corn (maize), wheat is the third most-produced cereal worldwide, and the second-most-produced for human consumption. And considering wheat’s importance in the global food system, any impact on major producers such as droughts, wars, or other events, can impact the entire world.

Which countries are the largest producers of wheat? This graphic by Kashish Rastogi visualizes the breakdown of 20 years of global wheat production by country.

Top 10 Wheat Producing Countries

While more than 80 different countries produce wheat around the world, the majority of global wheat production comes from just a handful of countries, according to data from The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Here’s a look at the top 10 wheat-producing countries worldwide, based on total yield in tonnes from 2000-2020:

RankCountryContinentTotal yield (tonnes, 2000-2020)% of total (2000-2020)
#1🇨🇳 ChinaAsia & Oceania2.4 B17.0%
#2🇮🇳 IndiaAsia & Oceania1.8 B12.5%
#3🇷🇺 RussiaAsia & Oceania1.2 B8.4%
#4🇺🇸 U.S.Americas1.2 B8.4%
#5🇫🇷 FranceEurope767 M5.4%
#6🇨🇦 CanadaAmericas571 M4.0%
#7🇩🇪 GermanyEurope491 M3.5%
#8🇵🇰 PakistanAsia & Oceania482 M3.4%
#9🇦🇺 AustraliaAsia & Oceania456 M3.2%
#10🇺🇦 UkraineEurope433 M3.1%

China, the world’s largest wheat producer, has yielded more than 2.4 billion tonnes of wheat over the last two decades, (Read more...)

Ranked: Top 10 Highest-Paid Celebrities


This post is by Carmen Ang from Visual Capitalist


The Top paid celebrities in 2021

Ranked: Top 10 Highest-Paid Celebrities

It can be hard to make money in media—but for those lucky enough to make it to the big leagues, the payoff can be astronomical .

In 2021, the world’s 10 highest-paid celebrities earned a combined $2.7 billion. Who are these high-earning entertainers, and how do they make their hundreds of millions?

Using data from Forbes, this graphic by Athul Alexander highlights the top paid entertainers around the world, based on 2021 pre-tax earnings (minus business expenses such as management fees, agent costs, etc).

The Highest-Paid Celebrities in 2021

The world’s celebrities may be well known for the media they produce, but the bulk of their earnings are made through business dealings.

First on the list is New Zealand director Peter Jackson, best known for directing, producing, and writing the screenplays for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

RankNameNationality2021 pre-tax earnings
1Peter Jackson🇳🇿​ New Zealander$580 million
2Bruce Springsteen🇺🇸​ American$435 million
3Jay-Z🇺🇸​ American$340 million
4Dwanye "The Rock" Johnson🇨🇦🇺🇸​ American/Canadian$270 million
5Kanye West🇺🇸​ American$235 million
6Trey Parker and Matt Stone🇺🇸​ American$210 million
7Paul Simon🇺🇸​ American$200 million
8Tyler Perry🇺🇸​ American$165 million
9Ryan Tedder🇺🇸​ American$160 million
10Bob Dylan🇺🇸​ American$130 million

In addition to creating and directing blockbuster hits, Jackson is also the founder of the VFX studio Weta Digital, (Read more...)

Breaking Points


This post is by Collab Fund from Collab Fund


Two weeks ago, Mitt Romney wrote an opinion piece in The Atlantic titled, “America Is in Denial”. The piece highlights numerous potentially “cataclysmic events” facing the nation, namely droughts out west, inflation, rising debt levels, profligate government spending, melting ice caps, illegal immigration, and the events of January 6th. Interestingly though, Romney argues that the most significant threat is actually not the events themselves, but rather Americans’ refusal to address them.

The question is why?

Romney believes it is due to our “powerful impulse to believe what we hope to be the case — We don’t need to cut back on watering, because the drought is just part of a cycle that will reverse. With economic growth, the debt will take care of itself. January 6th was a false-flag operation.”

You may or may not agree with Romney’s causes for concern, but for the moment let’s assume that at least a few have merit. If so, why do people so rarely act before a crisis occurs? Why do we instead choose to bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best?

The answer is actually quite simple — no one knows when something will break. It could be imminent or many years away. No. One. Knows. As a result, people tend to push the throttle until it does.

History is full of examples. It’s why governments don’t reform until it’s too late, real estate developers believe there is always room for one more building….theirs (Read more...)

Breaking Points



Two weeks ago, Mitt Romney wrote an opinion piece in The Atlantic titled, “America Is in Denial”. The piece highlights numerous potentially “cataclysmic events” facing the nation, namely droughts out west, inflation, rising debt levels, profligate government spending, melting ice caps, illegal immigration, and the events of January 6th. Interestingly though, Romney argues that the most significant threat is actually not the events themselves, but rather Americans’ refusal to address them.

The question is why?

Romney believes it is due to our “powerful impulse to believe what we hope to be the case — We don’t need to cut back on watering, because the drought is just part of a cycle that will reverse. With economic growth, the debt will take care of itself. January 6th was a false-flag operation.”

You may or may not agree with Romney’s causes for concern, but for the moment let’s assume that at least a few have merit. If so, why do people so rarely act before a crisis occurs? Why do we instead choose to bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best?

The answer is actually quite simple — no one knows when something will break. It could be imminent or many years away. No. One. Knows. As a result, people tend to push the throttle until it does.

History is full of examples. It’s why governments don’t reform until it’s too late, real estate developers believe there is always room for one more building….theirs (Read more...)

Flare Capital Team Updates…



It is always nice to ring the bell when a great person joins our investment team – this time we get to ring the bell twice.

Venture capital firms simply do not need to hire a lot of people. While we will make at least several dozen investment decisions together over the course of a fund, we might only make a handful of hiring decisions. Each addition to the team is important and well-considered with an extensive interview process and a long courtship. Notwithstanding that, recruiting Uma Veerappan and Kelly Scherrer were easy decisions and are two more important pieces to the puzzle.

Uma is well-known to the Flare Capital team. While earning her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business last year, she was a Flare Scholar in the great Class of 2021. She did terrific work on a number of projects, including the closing of our investment in Elektra Health. As soon as we first met Uma, we knew she was special. Her passion for healthcare and deep understanding of this sector’s many complexities and nuances were immediately evident. While in business school, Uma both worked with a few healthcare technology start-ups and held roles at two venture firms.

Earlier in Uma’s career, she was a Strategy Consultant at EY with a particular focus on launching next-generation products at the intersection of healthcare and technology. Specific areas of interest included applications of artificial intelligence and surgical skills assessment. Prior to her time at EY, (Read more...)

Reboot 2022 Q4 Leadership Bootcamp


This post is by Brad Feld from Brad Feld


Registration is open for the 2022 Q4 Leadership Bootcamp, which is happening in Boulder, Colorado, on Nov 10-13, 2022.

Regular readers of this blog know about my long-time (back to 1996) friendship with Reboot co-founder and CEO Jerry Colonna. What you may not know is that several years ago, Jerry and his partner Ali Schultz moved exactly 0.8 miles away from me (there is one 40-acre parcel of land between us.) In the evening, when we are both in Boulder (well, Longmont), he sits under his Cottonwood Tree, I sit 0.8 miles away on my couch next to my pool, and we text and wave at each other.

I’ve been to several Reboot Leadership Bootcamps as a special guest. They are unique and powerful experiences for entrepreneurs. As a bonus, the Reboot Retreat Center is actually on my property in a building called “The Carriage House.” Amy and I don’t charge Reboot for the use of The Carriage House – it’s our gift to entrepreneurs and Reboot for this amazing experience.

If you’re looking to reboot and refresh your leadership, join Team Reboot this November 10-13, 2022, in Boulder, CO, for their fall Leadership Bootcamp.

The post Reboot 2022 Q4 Leadership Bootcamp appeared first on Brad Feld.

A (personal) midsummer update


This post is by Om Malik from On my Om


San Francisco. Made with Leica M11 & Leica M-Summilux 90/1.5 by Om Malik

This is my occasional newsletter published on July 31, 2022.

Hello everyone,

Since it has been a minute, I thought it would be good to send you a quick update. 

You have not heard from me because I didn’t have much to say. When I was not working, I spent my time visiting family, reading books, and occasionally watching an occasional television show. I recommend Chelsea Detective on Acorn TV. 

I have been reading about everything these days. Whether NFTs, Metaverse, Dall-E, or new kinds of chips, I have started to dig into new areas of interest. As is usually the case, I need to start to see patterns before I start connecting the dots. And that’s when I feel comfortable sharing my thoughts for public consumption. 

I shared some of what I have been thinking about with investor and friend Howard Lindzon on his Panic with friends podcast. I later summed up my piece, The Future of tech as I see it. Here are key takeaways

• The new chips and direction shown by Apple Silicon are very exciting and portend a new kind of computing environment. The chip-centric approach allows you to think beyond the limiting labels of virtual or augmented realities.

• In a world driven by fake news, deep fakes, and algorithmic disambiguation of reality, never before have authentication and authorization more needed. 

• We are not living in an America-first (Read more...)

Sunday Reads and Listens –


This post is by Howard Lindzon from Howard Lindzon


Happy Sunday.

Last night I watched the HBO Arther Ashe documentary ‘Citizen Ashe‘ and really enjoyed it. I got into tennis at the age of 10 the year Arthur won Wimbledon. He packed a lot of smiles and warmth and goodness into a short life.

Switching gears…young people will enjoy this piece titled ‘The Case For Travelling More

Nike has always been able to live in the fashion and culture future and today is no different. Their acquisition of Rftkt is no different and this piece is excellent on the subject.

My friend Om Malik a frequent podcast guest of mine wrote about the future of tech as he sees it. If you want to listen to his latest podcast with me a few weeks back…here you go.

Alex Danco, who runs Money and NFT’s at Shopify discusses how NFT’s are transforming Shopify and Commerce.

Finally today, while there are almost no IPO’s in 2022, Venture Capital fundraising is set to surpass the 2021 record. I have mixed feelings about this because it seems to me there has been so much misallocation of capital already since COVID began.

Have a great Sunday.

Illiquid Startup Equity as a Feature



With the continued volatility in the public markets, which are now on a strong upswing, it’s tempting to look at the stock prices and investments on a regular basis. Great, the market is up 2% today, how’s my portfolio? Bummer, the market is down 1% today, how’s my portfolio? Of course, it’s outside our control and should be ignored, save for a periodic annual or quarterly review. But, the fact that it’s there, at our finger tips, makes it distracting and compete for our attention.

In the startup world, we have a few measures of the value of our equity. The most common, and often misunderstood, is the valuation from the latest funding round. Let’s say a venture firm invested $5M at a $20M pre-money valuation, such that the company is worth $25M. Well, that’s for preferred stock which often has a number of special features that make it more valuable than common stock (features like dividends and anti-dilution). The next type of valuation that’s well known is the 409A. The 409A is an independent appraisal of the fair market value of the common stock that’s accepted by the IRS so that employees will get long-term capital gains. Put another way, it’s an independent valuation so that employees can be granted stock options at a lower valuation and save on their taxes if everything goes well. As a ballpark, the 409A valuation is 40-50% of the last round’s valuation.

Even with these valuations, there’s often no way to sell stock. (Read more...)