Apple’s iPadOS 15 Finally Delivers an Exciting New Feature for Instagram and TikTok Users

Apple’s iPadOS 15 has a number of fantastic new features. It has been redesigned and amped up to make it even more useful as a laptop replacement for both business and personal use. 

However, one of the most exciting features is one that is way down the list, you won’t even find it if you don’t look hard for it. That is the new option that allows Instagram app users to be able to view the Instagram window in Landscape mode.

Previously on iPads an Instagram user would see the app image in only in vertical portrait mode, they could not turn it sideways while using a keyboard, and there was a lot of extra unused space. Chatting or commenting was almost impossible. It looked like the app was broken or fake, and not at all as attractive as on a phone or desktop. In sum, it was not a good user experience, very awkward.

Why didn’t Instagram make a version that fixed that? That has been the $100,000,000 question.

Fortunately now iPad owners with iPadOS 15 can view Instagram in landscape mode, aka horizontally, which means that they can see it as if it is on a laptop, or on a desktop. Plus, if they are using a keyboard add-on then they can type and post to Instagram without flipping the iPad between vertical and horizontal views every five seconds. The same is true for other popular social media apps like TikTok.

Exciting, no? Definitely time saving!

www.Apple.com

Vinfolio Creates a Program to Manage Investments in Fine Wine

 

Vinfolio, one of the country’s leading fine wine companies, recently announced the launch of a new cutting-edge fine wine investment program. Now, in addition to securing some of the most sought after wines by the bottle, Vinfolio clients can also gain access to a selection of investment-grade stock in original cases directly on the company’s e-commerce platform, or by working directly with Vinfolio’s executive team to build a bespoke fine wine investment portfolio.

“From the time of my initial investment in Vinfolio back in 2016, it seemed that the U.S. market was lacking a player who could bring the idea of fine wine as an investment opportunity to the mainstream in a clear and accessible way,” says Don St. Pierre, Executive Chairman of Vinfolio. “Now, with the addition of more than 5,000 cases of investment-grade wines to our platform and the launch of our full-service investment program, we are proudly assuming that mantle.”

“Historically speaking, fine wine has outperformed many of the traditional asset classes available and we are seeing more and more people looking to diversify by building a wine portfolio,” Vinfolio President Adam Lapierre says. “We believe we are in a unique position to support clients embarking on this journey thanks to our deep knowledge of the collectible fine wine market, unmatched global network of suppliers and innovative business model. I’m particularly excited by our full-service investment program: the process is extremely simple, fully transparent and, at the same time, low cost to the investor. It’s a game-changer.”

Vinfolio’s strength lies not just in the sourcing of fine wines at the best prices, but also in its use of technology to create a platform that provides both buyers and sellers with all the requisite tools and intelligence to successfully build and liquidate a wine portfolio. In addition to its marketplace platform, Vinfolio has proprietary access to crucial flow-data which lies at the heart of all our decision-making. The company’s algorithm dynamically looks at current U.S. retail listings, auction sale prices, and sales on its own platform to determine what is the current fair market value of a given wine. From there, Vinfolio can trigger buy or sell activities to ensure a sound investment and a healthy return.

Over the last three decades, investment-grade wine has performed very strongly against just about all major asset classes. Analysis of a representative selection of the foremost traded investment-grade wines reveals a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 11 percent since 1988. In context, the returns for U.S. Equities (DJIA), U.K. equities (FTSE), Asia equities (Hang Seng), Gold, and Oil for the same period were materially lower.

ABOUT VINFOLIO

Vinfolio is majority-owned by Executive Chairman Don St. Pierre Jr. and his business partner and good friend Allan Warburg, co-founder and co-CEO of Bestseller Fashion Group China. St. Pierre is the recipient of numerous wine industry accolades, including being named number seven on Decanter magazine’s 2011 Top 50 global wine industry power players and selected by Wine Enthusiast Magazine as the 2011 International Man of the Year. In 2012, the French government awarded St. Pierre Jr. the degree of Knight in the French Ordre du Mérite Agricole, and in 2015, he was appointed as a member of the supervisory board of Vinexpo Overseas. Vinfolio’s ownership also includes Jean-Michel Valette, who chairs the Education and Examination Board (EEB) of the Institute of Masters of Wine and is former chairman of Robert Mondavi Corporation and Peet’s Coffee, Jon Moramarco, former CEO of Constellation Brands, and Steve Case, founder of AOL and co-founder at venture capital firm Revolution

Visit https://www.vinfolio.com/wine-investing for more details on Vinfolio’s new investment initiative.

Madre Mezcal Secures $3 Million Series A Round to Grow Top Mezcal Brand

Madre Mezcal, one of the fastest growing mezcal brands in America, recently raised $3,000,000 to apply to the brand’s growth strategy to new products and new markets. The Series A round was led by Room 9, a NYC-based venture capital studio that specializes in investing in the consumer sector.

Amid an increasingly competitive mezcal category, Madre has found success through a grassroots strategy aimed at introducing new consumers to the mezcal category. With the additional funding, Madre is being poised to expand its word-of-mouth campaign, largely driven by in-person activations and online engagement. The priorities of the funded Madre brand will be to expand its product range to target new consumption occasions, while also expanding its distribution and marketing efforts in new countries, US states, and online.

“Beyond a great-tasting, easy-to-drink mezcal, Madre’s success has been a result of working closely with the communities that have driven word-of-mouth for the brand,” says Chris Stephenson, CEO of Madre. “For us to expand while continuing this successful path, we needed a partner that recognizes the cultural authenticity that fuels our approach. With Room 9, we’ve found a partner that understands the growth opportunities through product, geography and digital expansion, and encourages the brand development through cultural engagement.”

Room 9 is an early-stage venture capital studio whose selective portfolio spans across the consumer, food, beverage and technology sectors and includes Jot Coffee, Los Sundays Tequila and Cleancult. Room 9 Founder, Anish Bhatia previously led fundraising efforts for Los Sundays, an award-winning tequila brand based out of Orange County, CA, and currently sits on their Advisory Board.

About Madre
Distilled with both the newcomer and the seasoned consumer in mind, Madre is a ‘gateway mezcal that offers beautifully well-balanced flavor with smooth finish. With less smoke than most mezcals, Madre opens palates to a new market of consumers thanks to its signature blend of espadin and cuishe. Madre is a certified artisanal product from Mexico, hand made by mezcaleros in open air palanques located in the rural hills of Oaxaca. Using local water and natural airborne yeast, Madre’s flavor is directly tied to the earth it comes from. https://www.madremezcal.com/

About Room 9
Room Nine is not your typical early-stage VC. Our Creative Agency + Venture Studio model is for the misfits who create, deviants who innovate and dreamers who dare tell their stories. Our generation craves authenticity more than ever and at Room Nine we celebrate their fearless pursuit of design and culture. Room Nine’s portfolio spans across consumer, food, beverage and technology sectors. Our mission is to discover, partner with and fund authentic brands and founders.

Tastemakers Summit Video: My Big Break, with Chef Jernard Wells and Danielle Chang

WATCH THIS GREAT VIDEO FROM the Media Tastemakers Summit on

MY BIG BREAK

In conversation with Food TV Celebs on How they Got, or Made, their Big Break, and strategies to Keep It. My Road to Celebrity and Success

Featuring Chef Jernard Wells, Host and Celebrity Chef, Food Network and Cleo TV; Danielle Chang, Executive Producer and Host, Lucky Chow television series; Moderated by Amy Sherman, Cooking with Amy

ABOUT DANIELLE CHANG

A cultural entrepreneur who builds brands across creative industries, Danielle is the founder and CEO of LUCKYRICE, a lifestyle brand that has been shining a spotlight on Asian culture through food and drink for the past decade. Under Danielle’s leadership, LUCKYRICE and its signature Festival series has expanded to eight key markets in the United States and has become the definitive voice for Asian culture today.

LUCKYRICE has also birthed two additional projects: Danielle’s first book Lucky Rice: Stories and Recipes from Night Markets, Feasts and Family Tables (Clarkson Potter) and the nationally broadcast TV show Lucky Chow, now in its fourth season, in which Danielle is the program creator and host.

Virtual CHOCOLATE SALON Panel: In Conversation with Bean to Bar Chocolatiers

TasteTV & the International Chocolate Salon in conversation with award-winning Bean to Bar Chocolatiers about their creative inspirations & business challenges, including tips for great chocolate, flavor profiles, travels, and tips for success. Discover and support these great artisans!

Featuring Amano Artisan Chocolate, Indi Chocolate, The Good Chocolate, and moderator Barbie Van Horn of Finding Fine Chocolate.

WATCH THE VIDEO FROM THE PANEL

 

What is a Stock Split and What Does it Mean for Investors in Companies like Apple, Tesla or Netflix?

When companies such as Netflix, Apple, and Tesla announce that they are going to do stock splits, many small investors wonder what does that mean, and how that affects their own portfolios. Often they will hear that a stock split gives them more shares but it does not actually affect the actual value of your holdings. For many stocks this is theoretically true, but for others this is historically false.

A stock split happens when a company decides that its price per share for the stock is too high for small investors to afford. For example, it’s easy for an investor to buy stock that is valued at $10 or $50 a share, but it is much harder for them to purchase a stock that is valued at $1,500 or $3,000 a share. They may not be able to afford even one share, whereas they can afford several if the price is much lower. The split therefore makes the stock market much more fair to small investors, and those who are not backed by giant mutual funds, family trust offices, or investment companies.

When a stock split happens, the company announces that for each share of stock you currently own, after a certain date you will then get more shares for each share that you already have. You may get two for the price of one, or you may get five for one. It all depends on the company. But if the price was at $1,500 a share and it splits to 2 for 1, then each price is now $750 a share. You still have the same amount of money invested, $1500, but now you own twice as many shares.

This is why we say that theoretically it should not matter if the stock splits or not. Your investment amount should not change. Historically however what happens is that for exciting or fast-moving stocks, especially tech stocks, what you see is that when the price drops to a more affordable level for smaller investors, they in turn buy more of it, and therefore increase the demand and subsequent price of that share.

So if the stock drops to $100 a share from $1000 a share, then over a period of time it may end up rising to $150 or $200 a share just from sheer demand. This has already happened in the past with stocks like Apple, Netflix, and others. Many people assume it will also happen with Tesla and Apple in the future. Netflix also is an example of this growth in price per share before and after a stock split.

Does this mean that you should jump on board when a stock announces a stock split? Possibly, but possibly not. If you were already going to purchase the stock then you should go ahead. But if you think just jumping on board before the stock split will get you extra returns, then that is basically a risky investment. The stock’s future value really depends on the performance of the company itself. If the company underperforms in the future, you will lose money.

Bottom line, only buy stocks that you already think are good investments.