Bitcoin's Surge, Empowering Minority Entrepreneurs in Japan, and Papa John's Leadership Shift

Bitcoin Bonanza

It has been almost impossible to enter into a dinner conversation without Bitcoin coming up. How high will the price climb? Is it a bubble? With all the hype going on right now, we can’t help but talk about it either. At the beginning of the year, Bitcoin was only valued at slightly lower than $967 while reaching a high of $19,661 earlier this month, a return of more than 1800%.

What the craziest thing is?

Bitcoin has underperformed its peers. Through December 14th, other virtual currencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple have increased by more than 8500%, 12600% and 6300%.

Funding For Black Entrepreneurs In Japan

Minority owned businesses often work in silos within their respective communities which prevents them from engaging in potential opportunities for partnerships that could increase their reach and their bottom line. Olumidé Gbenro is looking to change all that with his company Teamz, a business designed to create funding opportunities for black entrepreneurs in Japan. Read an interview with the founder of Teamz to see what his company is doing to break down barriers.

Papa John’s Becoming Papa Steve’s

John Schnatter, aka Papa John, is stepping down as CEO starting January 1, 2018. Faulting public relations for poor sales, Schnatter was unabashedly vocal about NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem, stirring up controversy between the major sponsor and its customers. Replacing him will be Steve Ritchie, the COO of Papa John’s who started as a customer service representative making $6 an hour in 1996.