Software development CEO takes remote approach to business – Business – The Columbus Dispatch

frank lamjus 15 hours ago

Todd Kaufman didn’t have an adjustment period when the work world went remote in March — his employees already had been operating that way for nearly 10 years.

The Columbus software development firm Test Double has grown to 50 people since its start in 2011. The company, co-founded by Kaufman, has been on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for the past four years and, as of early July, was on track to beat 2019 sales by 10%.

Kaufman so much trusts his employees to act in the firm’s best interests, even while unsupervised, that he and co-founder Justin Searls closed on an employee stock ownership plan transaction just as the pandemic was setting in. Kaufman says it was a solid way to set up a financial exit for himself and keep the company culture intact by avoiding outside investors who might “wreck” it. Kaufman remains CEO and recently

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Health Insurance Options Amid Pandemic

frank lamjus 15 hours ago

For the tens of millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, there is another frightening reality to absorb: amid a global health pandemic, they no longer have health insurance. This is one of the big problems with having insurance linked to a workplace plan, but for more than 156 million Americans, or just under half of the country’s total population, that’s the coverage they have.

According to healthcare advocacy group Families USA, layoffs between February and May meant that 5.4 million workers lost their health insurance coverage, “an increase nearly 40 percent higher than the largest previous annual increase in uninsured adults ever recorded.” If you suddenly find yourself uninsured, there are three choices for coverage: COBRA, the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid.

Let’s start with COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act), the federal rule that requires group health plans “to provide a temporary continuation of group health coverage

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PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2020 Results and Increases Quarterly Dividend

frank lamjus 15 hours ago

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: PFSI) today reported net income of $352.7 million for the second quarter of 2020, or $4.39 per share on a diluted basis, on revenue of $821.6 million. Book value per share increased to $34.26 from $29.85 at March 31, 2020.

PFSI’s Board of Directors declared a second quarter cash dividend of $0.15 per share, a 25 percent increase from the prior quarter, payable on August 28, 2020, to common stockholders of record as of August 17, 2020.

Second Quarter 2020 Highlights

  • Pretax income was $480.4 million, up 16 percent from the prior quarter and 382 percent from the second quarter of 2019
    • Record earnings driven by core production and servicing results partially offset by fair value losses on mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) and associated hedging and other losses
    • In June, repurchased approximately 7 million shares of PFSI’s common stock (approximately
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Best Renters Insurance of 2020

frank lamjus 2 days ago

If you’re a renter, protecting your personal belongings should be a top priority, even if you don’t own your home. Renters insurance — also known as an HO-4 policy — is a homeowner’s insurance policy without coverage for the dwelling itself.



a close up of an umbrella: 2020-Best-Renters-Insurance

© Money
2020-Best-Renters-Insurance

We identified the best renters insurance companies of 2020 through conducting more than 150 hours of research, including interviews with experts in the fields of insurance and real estate and vetting 21 insurers. We also analyzed over 400 data points on the companies as a whole — including customer satisfaction scores, complaint ratios, coverage options, and financial strength ratings. For details, read more about our methodology.

Money’s Top Picks

Erie Insurance: Best for Comprehensive Coverage

Erie Insurance is a fine choice for renters insurance for many reasons. Among the most important is that it offers several policy bundles that combine its base renters policy with

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Fintech Greenlight is building ways to let kids invest in stocks

frank lamjus 2 days ago

  • Greenlight, the personal financial management app for kids and parents, has seen its user base double since the start of the year.
  • With this growth, Greenlight is building an investing product, where kids can propose stock and ETF trades to their parents.
  • “To build true wealth, you really need to learn how to invest,” Tim Sheehan, cofounder and CEO of Greenlight, told Business Insider. “So we want the kids to try to learn that as early as they can, and to do it in a supervised environment.”
  • Greenlight is backed by investors including JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A personal finance app for kids that’s managed by their parents has doubled its user base in the first half of this year.

Greenlight, which currently offers debit cards and savings accounts, is eyeing more financial products to launch for its parent and child users

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The personal letters of ‘Doc’ Maynard reveal poignancy and pride

frank lamjus 2 days ago

TALK ABOUT DESTINY. Chris Braaten entered this world Aug. 14, 1950, inside Maynard Hospital, a long-gone First Hill facility named for Chris’ great-great-great grandfather — the storied Seattle physician and promoter David “Doc” Maynard, who befriended and named our city for Seattle, the Duwamish and Suquamish chief.

The birth merited a Seattle Times blurb quoting Chris’ mother, Margret. “We have a lot of Dr. Maynard’s letters and papers at home,” she said. “I think Chris will get a thrill out of looking them over a few years from now.”

Today, Chris has delivered on his mom’s hunch, donating to the Southwest Seattle Historical Society 35 handwritten letters unseen by the public, including 25 by Maynard from 1850 to 1873, the year he died at age 64, and five by his second wife, Catherine.

It’s a priceless, scholarly gift to a fitting repository. The historical society’s Log House Museum stands just

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Frontier Works Inc. Will Participate in BILIBILI WORLD Shanghai 2020

frank lamjus 3 days ago

TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BILIBILI, the biggest video-streaming platform in China, will be holding a huge exhibition: BILIBILI WORLD Shanghai 2020.

Frontier Works Inc. will be there with an exhibition booth!

Frontier Works Inc. (Headquarters: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Tsuji Masahide) will participate in Shanghai’s BILIBILI WORLD 2020 Exhibition, that will take place on August 7-9. This is the second year Frontier Works Inc. is exhibiting, following last year’s success.

This time Frontier Works Inc. will be promoting “The Rising of the Shield Hero” and “The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?”

Featuring:

– A promotional photo booth for “The Rising of the Shield Hero” and “The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?”

– Many “The Rising of the Shield Hero” illustrations specially drawn for the audience overseas, and cutout standees. (attendees can take photos with the standees)

– The original novel from which “The Rising of the Shield Hero” was

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The Future of Insurance Industry Will Not Be Decided by Insurtechs Alone: Viewpoint

frank lamjus 3 days ago

Led by ambitious entrepreneurs from outside insurance, backed by Silicon Valley and focused on industry disruption, early insurtech initially promised to displace incumbents and usher in a new era of insurance offerings and tech-driven solutions.

Nearly 10 years since its inception, the reality of insurtech has evolved.

The messaging about supplanting industry giants is gone. In its place is a more collaborative environment led by insurance industry leaders partnering with tech solution providers. The simple reality is technology cannot do everything. The integration of experienced insurance professionals and tech is needed to manage across the insurance value chain.

Insurtech is creating buzz through mergers and acquisitions, further integrating innovative technologies with insurance industry leaders.

There

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Duolink Go Launches World’s First SpeakerBuds

frank lamjus 4 days ago

LOS ANGELES, July 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Duolink Go is debuting a world’s first today with the launch of its SpeakerBuds three-in-one device, combining true wireless earbuds and a two-part charging case with in-built speakers, for pre-order via Kickstarter.

Designed to transfer music in seconds, with Duolink SpeakerBuds, consumers can listen to music all day in comfort via the snug-fit earbuds, or slot the earbuds into the speaker(s) to transfer music for others to enjoy too. Duolink SpeakerBuds’ stereo speakers also offer high-quality sound on both sides of a room, up to 22 feet.

Fully charged after just two hours, Duolink SpeakerBuds run for up to six hours and, thanks to the speaker acting as a power bank, have a two times longer battery life compared to similar products on the market. Users can even charge while still playing music by slotting the earbuds into the speaker.

Stable Bluetooth

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Elrond Mainnet Launches With a New Bitcoin-like Token Model and Maiar App

frank lamjus 4 days ago

Elrond’s mainnet has successfully launched, ushering in an era of high-speed dApps and scalable crypto payment technology. The blockchain’s developers have wasted no time in refining components of Elrond’s architecture, starting with an enhanced token model. Elrond has also announced details of the first app to go live on its mainnet, available on mobile devices. Maiar is an easy-to-use application that facilitates ERD transactions between users, and will offer features such as staking, lending and progressive security. The app launched on July 30 for early sign-ups and will fully open to the public within the next month.

Traditional payment stocks are already feeling the competitive pressure brought by the newcomers like Elrond. Last month Western Union (NYSE:WU) made an offer to buy MoneyGram in order to be able to better compete with the digital payment start-ups. Western Union hopes that joining its network of tens of thousands of agent locations

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