A tech exec moved his family from California to Texas and regretted it. He breaks down 10 key points to consider before relocating for work.

Hello everyone! Welcome to this weekly roundup of stories from Insider from Business co-Editor in Chief Matt Turner. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday.

Read on for more on Silicon Valley vs Texas, the MyPillow guy, and President Joe Biden’s White House staff.

Read time: 4 minutes.

Hello!

Attention has turned to President Biden’s stimulus plan following his inauguration this week. Here’s the latest:

Silicon Valley vs Texas

From Brett Alder:

A lot of people, including myself, moved from California to Austin because of the hype and the perception that California and Austin are reasonably comparable in lifestyle. My family and I found that to be far from the case.

The thing that California and Austin definitely have in common is that they’re both very expensive. Austin is not cheap. Let the words sink in. Austin is not cheap; it’s actually quite expensive.

We moved from San Diego in 2015 (owning a 2,000-square-foot house on a one-third acre) looking for a boost in lifestyle. If you’re looking for great schools, the southwest and northwest sectors of Austin are the main options. The only caveat is that NW Austin (Travis County) is some of the most expensive real estate in Texas.

But there’s lots that’s different. Here’s what we learned, or 10 reasons that Austin is not the “California of Texas.”

Read the full story here:

The MyPillow guy

MyPillow; Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images; Stephen Maturen/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Insider

From Kate Taylor:

As President Donald Trump’s corporate allies abandoned him in the final days of his administration, one man was left standing: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

“I’m not backing down on these machines that stole our election,” Lindell told Insider on Wednesday, referring to baseless claims that rigged voting machines helped President Joe Biden steal the 2020 race.

“I’m not changing my mind on anything like that ever. I’m not going to: ‘Oh, please, don’t boycott me. Please don’t,'” Lindell added, transforming his voice into a whining, pitiful tone.

“That’s not me,” Lindell added, returning to his typical forceful cadence that frequently borders on shouting. “If everybody did that, then anyone that wants to control the narrative can do whatever they want and destroy companies.”

Read the full story here:

Biden’s White House team

From Tina Sfondeles, Kayla Epstein, Robin Bravender, and Sawyer Click:

It’s time to meet an entirely new White House.

Out: Mark Meadows, Hope Hicks, Dan Scavino, and myriad bold-faced names that helped President Donald Trump run the country over the last four years.

In: Ron Klain, John Kerry, Jennifer Psaki, and a who’s who of veteran Democratic power brokers joining President-elect Joe Biden in his uphill quest to unite a country on edge.

Biden already has announced more than 200 White House hires, and that was before he even took office. Many more people are expected to soon join a team that’s ultimately expected to rival the more than 400 presidential aides Trump employed as of mid-2020.

To help navigate the transition, Insider has compiled a comprehensive list of the staffers who will keep Biden’s White House running.

Read the full story here:

INVITE: The future of work

Join Insider Events on Wednesday, January 27 at 12 p.m. ET for “Workplace Evolution,” presented by Dell Technologies. Speakers from Netflix, Slack , and P&G will discuss how to empower remote workers, what the shift from “work from home” to “live at work” means, and what the new workplace landscape will look like in the future.

Here are some headlines from the past two weeks that you might have missed.

— Matt

Merrill Lynch’s pipeline for thousands of new advisors is ‘in limbo’ as the firm overhauls its training program and deals with ongoing cold-call violations

BlackRock bond chief Rick Rieder says investors must think ‘dramatically differently’ in 2021. Here’s what he’s bought and sold as he anticipates explosive growth this year.

We asked 12 prominent European tech investors to pick out fintech startups they think will blow up in 2021. Here are the 20 they chose.

Bank of America says to buy these 16 semiconductor stocks as the US industry is poised to quadruple its growth rate of the past 3 years

We got an exclusive look at the pitch deck $3 billion valued healthtech startup Hinge Health used to raise $300 million

Carlyle’s credit crew: Meet 14 people leading the PE giant’s $53 billion lending division that’s been red-hot during the pandemic

Rivian uses one of Elon Musk’s favorite job-interview techniques to determine which candidates stand out from the pack

An ad agency sued Omnicom’s DDB, alleging it was ‘exploited’ so the other firm could win a $4 billion US Army contract

View original article here Source