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As the co-founder and former CEO of Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest restaurant companies with a portfolio including franchises like KFC and Pizza Hut, David Novak drove tangible results.

In the 17 years he was CEO, from 1999 to 2016, Novak helped scale the company to eight times its original size, from a market capitalization of $4 billion to $32 billion. However, Novak credits the numbers to a more qualitative than quantitative aspect of leadership — creating the right work culture.

In a conversation with Masters of Scale host Jeff Berman that aired earlier this month, Novak explained how he steered Yum! Brands from the beginning.

“I made my number one priority to really create a powerful culture where everyone counts,” Novak said. “That became job number one for me as a CEO, because if I can create that right work environment, people will innovate and people will go further.”

Novak explained that early on, he tried to learn from companies that were winning or consistently delivered good results. He went out and visited companies including Walmart, Home Depot, and General Electric.

“We met with them,” Novak said. “Then we came back and we codified what’s really driving the success of these companies that allow them to get to great results year after year.”

Related: The Side Hustle She Started in a High School Locker Room Hit Multimillion-Dollar Revenue — and Taylor Swift Is a Fan: ‘Invest in Yourself’

Novak, who oversaw 1.5 million employees globally, began emphasizing recognition and encoding it into Yum!’s culture. In previous interviews, he talked about how he would use recognition to motivate employees. In one case, at KFC, Novak gave away rubber chickens and $100 as an award for a job well done.

Today, Yum!’s culture remains one of recognition and collaboration, per its public-facing culture page.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy made a case — and a mandate — for in-office work on Monday.

In a publicly available message, Jassy said that Amazon’s 1.5 million-plus employees must return to the office five days per week starting January 2. Amazon is also bringing back desk assignments to the offices that had that structure pre-pandemic.

Jassy positioned the move as a better way to work and a return to life before Covid.

“We’ve observed that it’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another,” Jassy stated.

^{Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images}

Jassy also said that situations that require remote work like sickness, an emergency, or being on the road are still acceptable.

However, these examples of remote work are the exception to the new rule, not the norm.

Related: Here’s How Much Money U.S. Employees Will Sacrifice to Avoid Returning to the Office, According to a New Study

Amazon employees have been back in the office at least three days per week as of February 2023. A July report from Bamboo HR showed that one in four executives secretly hoped employees would quit over stricter return-to-office policies.

“Strengthening our culture remains a top priority for the s-team [senior leadership team] and me. And, I think about it all the time,” he wrote. “We want to operate like the world’s largest startup.”

Under the new policy, working from home two days per week is no more. The office culture is returning to how it was before the pandemic, to strengthen work culture and drive better results, Jassy explained.

Related: Dell Reportedly Told Remote Employees to Come Back to the Office or Forgo the Chance to Be Promoted

Amazon joins companies like Salesforce and Walmart that have implemented stricter return-to-work policies.

Average growth in information technology (IT) is much higher than that of other industries, and the median wage is reported to be more than double the standard, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says. If you’re looking for a new or more lucrative career path, it may be smart to consider becoming an IT professional.

While many roles may require a formal degree, roles like support specialists, administrators, and project managers don’t all necessarily demand a degree. Many professionals can earn CompTIA certifications by passing rigorous testing. You can study and prepare for those tests with this 15-course CompTIA training bundle, which is on sale for only $49.97 (reg. $585) for life.

These courses were developed by IDUNOVA, an official CompTIA partner with mor than 20 years spent providing IT education.While these courses can help you prepare for the CompTIA certification exams, it may be helpful to gain relevant experience or a formal degree to land certain positions.

Study CompTIA for a new, exciting career in IT

There’s plenty of variety in the IT industry, meaning there are nearly endless positions to consider if you’re joining this field. Learn to become a debugging expert like Grace Hopper or a cloud-based engineer to join companies like Google or Salesforce.

There are 15 certification prep courses in this bundle, so it might be challenging to figure out where to begin. If you have minimal or no prior IT experience, you might want to start with CompTIA Fundamentals+ and A+, industry standards that also build a foundation for more advanced training.

Other introductory-level courses and certification preparation that might help you land your dream job in IT are Fundamentals+ and Core 1 and Core 2. These could help you get a new job as a desk technician or entry-level cybersecurity position.

From there, you could delve into ethical hacking, a highly in-demand career for many companies. Check out courses like CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA PenTest+ to develop skills to penetrate systems and check their vulnerability.

Ready to work in IT? Grab lifetime access to this 15-course CompTIA training bundle for $49.99 (reg. $585). No coupon is needed to secure this deal.

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Project management is a tough gig. A notable study from the Project Management Institute (PMI) consistently highlights that over 70% of projects globally either fail to meet their original goals or deadlines or go over budget. If you want to stay out of that group, Microsoft Project 2021 can help.

Managing a project requires clear visibility, accurate resource allocation, and efficient scheduling. With Microsoft Project 2021 Professional, you’ll have a complete set of tools to help you tackle projects of all sizes, ensuring that you stay on track from start to finish. And for just $19.97, this lifetime license is a cost-effective solution for businesses and entrepreneurs looking to streamline their project management.

It’s designed to help project managers and business owners work more efficiently. With features like automated scheduling, resource allocation, and built-in reports, you can reduce the time spent on manual tasks and focus on making informed decisions and driving your projects forward.

One of the key benefits of Microsoft Project 2021 is its ability to improve project visibility. By offering clear task tracking, resource management, and collaboration tools, you can easily monitor progress and keep your team aligned. This not only enhances communication but also ensures that everyone is on the same page, allowing you to deliver projects on time and within budget.

As your business grows, so do your projects. Microsoft Project 2021 supports that growth with its ability to handle increasingly complex projects, whether you’re managing a small team or overseeing multiple departments. The software’s flexibility and scalability make it an ideal solution for businesses that are expanding and need to keep up with higher project demands.

For just $19.97, you get lifetime access to one of the most powerful project management tools available—no recurring fees, just one upfront investment. By automating key tasks like scheduling and reporting, Microsoft Project 2021 helps you save valuable time.

Pick up a lifetime license to Microsoft Project 2021 Pro for just $19.97 (reg. $249) through September 29.

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United Airlines has announced its plans to offer travelers free in-flight WiFi. The service will be powered by Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet technology and is expected to commence next year.

United is aiming to install Starlink WiFi across more than 1,000 aircraft.

Related: Carnival Cruises Officially Installs Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet on 100% of its Ships

“Everything you can do on the ground, you’ll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world,” United CEO Scott Kirby announced Friday.

For United MileagePlus members, WiFi is currently $8, and $10 for non-members, per the Washington Post.

“We’re excited to team up with United Airlines to transform the inflight experience,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer at SpaceX, in a press release. “With Starlink onboard your United flight, you’ll have access to the world’s most advanced high-speed internet from gate to gate, and all the miles in between.”

Delta Air Lines offers complimentary in-flight WiFi on domestic legs for SkyMiles members and smaller carriers, such as Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue, also offer free WiFi.

Around one in five people on planes in the U.S. are connecting to in-flight WiFi, according to the Airline Passenger Experience Association.

A new study shows that AI jobs are concentrated in companies you’d least expect.

Computing solutions specialist Getac analyzed LinkedIn and Glassdoor job listings for companies with the most AI-related postings and looked for jobs like Senior Director of Analytics & AI, AI Technical Writer, AI Application Engineer, and AI Solution Sales Specialist.

Related: These Are the Top Tech Skills Employers Want the Most, According to a New Examination of 24,000 Job Listings

Microsoft topped the list, beating out Meta, which came in second.

The report found that, while the usual Big Tech AI players dominated the list, other companies made surprise appearances, too, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Mount Sinai Health System, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Here are the companies that currently have the most AI-related job postings listed.

1. Microsoft

Number of postings: 1,335

2. Meta

Number of postings: 1,232

3. Deloitte

Number of postings: 461

Related: Worried About AI Stealing Your Job? A New Report Calls These 10 Careers ‘AI-Proof’

4. U.S. Department of the Treasury

Number of postings: 417

5. Huntington Ingalls Industries

Number of postings: 363

6. Mount Sinai Health System

Number of postings: 355

7. Georgia Institute of Technology

Number of postings: 338

8. Accenture

Number of postings: 293

9. PwC

Number of postings: 279

10. InterSources

Number of postings: 249

Alli Webb spent her twenties working in hair salons. When she moved to Los Angeles and became a stay-at-home mom, she started a mobile blowout side hustle — so she would go to a client’s home, blow-dry their hair, and style it for $40. No haircuts or hair color.

“I got tons of clients,” Webb told entrepreneur Jeff Berman on the Masters of Scale podcast earlier this month. Her first pitch was to other moms on a Yahoo group. It read: “I’m a stay-at-home mom and a longtime hairstylist. I’ll come over and blow out your hair for only $40 while your babies are sleeping.”

Webb’s pitch was successful and she soon couldn’t keep up with demand. She started thinking about opening a brick-and-mortar location so her clients could come to her, instead of her going to them.

Related: How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Start a Business, According to Gary Vee, a Serial Entrepreneur Worth Over $200 Million

Her brother, former Yahoo marketing director Michael Landau, was willing to help financially back the business, though he did have some questions at first.

“He was a little perplexed, ‘Like, why can’t women blow out their own hair?'” Webb said. “And I was like, you did grow up with me.” In previous interviews, Webb shared that she had frizzy hair growing up and was “obsessed with her hair.”

Landau was finally convinced by the success that Webb saw in her side hustle. He invested $250,000 while Webb and her then-husband Cameron Webb put in their savings of about $50,000. In 2010, the founding team opened the first Drybar salon in Brentwood, California. It famously offers no cuts and no color.

^{Alli Webb. Photo Credit: Brian Stukes/Getty Images}

Though Drybar’s salons offered a limited range of hair services — just the wash, blowout, and style — Webb says that she wasn’t concerned about the business model. What she wanted was volume: 30 to 40 blowouts per day to break even.

Related: The Side Hustle She Worked on in a Local Starbucks ‘Went From Nothing to $1 Million.’ Now It Will Make Over $30 Million This Year.

Demand ended up doubling expectations — to 60 to 80 blowouts per day.

“We realized very quickly, like within the first few days, [that] we had captured lightning in a bottle,” Webb said. “Women were coming in and quite literally droves. I mean, we were turning people away left and right.”

Drybar grew to over 150 salons across the country within a decade. Webb ended up selling Drybar’s product line to leading consumer products company Helen of Troy for $255 million in cash in 2020. WellBiz Brands acquired the franchise rights to Drybar salons in 2021 for an undisclosed sum.

Webb couldn’t have imagined what Drybar would become. When she opened her first shop, she just wanted it to be a place where she could do what she loved.

“I was really excited about it and not thinking I was going to turn it into this massive multi-million-dollar blowout empire,” she said.

Related: They Started a Home-Based Side Hustle Earning Up to $20,000 a Month — and It’s Still Growing: ‘Will Never Get Old’

The number of college students in the U.S. majoring in computer science hit 600,000 last year — a 40% increase from five years ago. Meanwhile, it’s simultaneously getting harder for these graduates to find work as they compete with career changers and fluctuating demand.

A new study from software company Finoit aimed to understand the job market by finding the most in-demand skills across tens of thousands of job postings in the U.S. The findings can help job seekers discover which technical points to highlight on their resumes and give career switchers an idea of which skills to learn first.

Related: Worried About AI Stealing Your Job? A New Report Calls These 10 Careers ‘AI-Proof’

The researchers started with a list of tech skills, pinpointed exactly how many listings required them, and then matched the skills to average salaries from Indeed. They found that traditional programming languages like Java and C++ came up often, while emerging areas like quantum computing and blockchain didn’t make the list.

Still, that doesn’t mean job seekers should neglect to study emerging fields.

“The tech landscape is constantly evolving,” Finoit co-founder and CTO Mukesh Choudhary said, in a statement. “While developing expertise in high-demand areas like Python and SQL is crucial, it’s equally important to keep an eye on emerging trends and be ready to upskill accordingly.”

Related: The AI Job Market Is Surging and Paying Up to $300K a Year. Here’s How to Snag a Role.

Python and SQL, both used for data science, came up the most — with each named in about 24,000 job listings.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure, with average salaries above $140,000, are also on the top 10 list, indicating that cloud computing skills are in demand. Robotics, a vaguely worded skill, ranked fourth.

“Robotics’ high ranking is particularly intriguing,” Choudhary stated. “While it’s clear that companies are investing heavily in this area, the broad nature of ‘robotics’ as a skill set may lead to some confusion. Hiring managers and job seekers alike need to be more specific about the exact robotics skills required for each role.”

Here are the top ten tech skills that employers list on job postings.

1. Python

Number of jobs containing the search term: 24,000

Average salary: $126,673

2. SQL

Number of jobs containing the search term: 24,000

Average salary: $92,457

3. AWS

Number of jobs containing the search term: 16,000

Average salary: $140,733

4. Robotics

Number of jobs containing the search term: 15,000

Average salary: $117,234

5. Linux

Number of jobs containing the search term: 13,000

Average salary: $84,939

6. Java

Number of jobs containing the search term: 11,000

Average salary: $92,177

7. JavaScript

Number of jobs containing the search term: 9,000

Average salary: $111,620

8. Azure

Number of jobs containing the search term: 9,000

Average salary: $140,733

9. C#

Number of jobs containing the search term: 8,000

Average salary: $122,372

10. C++

Number of jobs containing the search term: 8,000

Average salary: $126,129

Apple just announced its first AI-centered iPhone.

Apple introduced its new iPhone 16 lineup on Monday, with the usual Plus, Pro, and Pro Max variations, highlighting that the phones are compatible with AI-powered features like AI writing to help draft emails and texts. The phones include a new physical Camera Control button, right below the power button, to make taking pictures easier.

Related: Here’s Why Apple’s Slow and Steady Approach to AI Could Be Beneficial

Visual Intelligence is also a standout feature. iPhone 16 users can take pictures with Camera Control to capture details from a flyer, for example, or to learn more about a local restaurant.

The phones also have “a big boost in battery life” and better performance thanks to a new chip, Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing, said in a press release. Pre-orders start on Friday; the phones start to ship out on September 20.

^{iPhone 16. Photo by Nic Coury / AFP}

Social media had humorous, adoring, and dismissive takes on the new iPhone. Some users praised the iPhone’s new user interface, especially the camera button and visual intelligence, while others took issue with Apple making changes they deemed incremental.

The new Apple iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199.

Related: Apple Adds AI Writing Tools to the iPhone 16. Here’s Why That Could Be a Problem.

Here are some of the immediate reactions:

Here it is! The new iPhone 16 and we’ve got a REALLY NICE PINK COLOR!!

It’s got a new action and camera control button to slide your finger to control features. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/h6U26k7Tzl

— iJustine (@ijustine) September 9, 2024

Apple just keeps making the same products over and over again thinking their customers will keep buying them.

-Sent from my new iPhone 16 Pro Max

— Douglas A. Boneparth (@dougboneparth) September 9, 2024

Apple just announced its new Visual Intelligence for iPhone 16.

It looks insane ? pic.twitter.com/JijqilD84S

— Alvaro Cintas (@dr_cintas) September 9, 2024

I’m holding the iPhone 16 Pro Max. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/fT59VQHFbA

— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) September 9, 2024

This UI interaction ? #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/xeHDQOrGDO

— Ilya Miskov (@ilyamiskov) September 9, 2024

this apple event is doubling as an ad for san francisco pic.twitter.com/XVCFYIklO3

— “paula” (@paularambles) September 9, 2024

How to turn your iPhone 15 Pro Max into an iPhone 16 Pro Max:

✅ Change the Wallpaper
✅ Change the phone name to “iPhone 16 Pro Max”
✅ Be Confident

And that’s it, your new iPhone 16 Pro Max is ready to use. pic.twitter.com/9rUNT6Qr1G

— Alvin (@sondesix) September 9, 2024

For entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small-business owners, managing software costs can be quite the balancing act. While subscriptions such as Microsoft 365 offer things like cloud storage, they also come with an ongoing cost that can be hard to justify.

That’s why Microsoft Office Professional 2021 can be a terrific option. It offers a comprehensive suite of productivity tools with a lifetime license—and for a limited time, it’s available for just $39.97 (reg. $219) through September 29.

Unlike subscription models, Microsoft Office Professional 2021 is a one-time purchase that lets you access all the essential Office apps you need—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher, and OneNote—without worrying about recurring fees or future price hikes. This means you can use these tools indefinitely on your Windows PC without needing to renew your license each year.

One of the biggest advantages of this lifetime license is that it allows you to avoid unpredictable subscription renewals. It’s perfect for professionals and entrepreneurs who want to keep their budgeting simple and predictable, with no surprises down the line.

Additionally, owning your software outright gives you a greater sense of control and security. There’s no need to worry about losing access to your Office suite if you decide not to renew a subscription or if prices change in the future. Once you’ve purchased Microsoft Office Professional 2021, it’s yours forever, offering peace of mind and stability in an ever-evolving software landscape.

Keep in mind that this offer is only available for Windows users, and you’ll need to have Windows 10 or 11 to activate the license. If that sounds like your setup, this is your chance to invest in a software suite that has been trusted by millions for decades—all for a fraction of the regular price.

Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for just $39.97 (reg. $219) through September 29.

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