Month: October 2021

In the two decades since Amazon opened its platform to third-party sellers, this marketplace unit, as the division is called, has surpassed Amazon’s own physical product sales. Last year, it generated an estimated $300 billion in sales, according to research firm Marketplace Pulse. During the pandemic, Amazon’s own retail sales grew, but its third-party merchants grew even faster. Competitors such as Walmart and Target, not surprisingly, have recently opened their own platforms to outside sellers.

Aggregators would be wise to study up on the lessons learned by the direct-to-consumer darlings of the early 2010s. Warby Parker, Away, and others eventually realized the importance of diversifying their distribution channels; many now operate brick-and-mortar stores and partner with big-box retailers.

If one thing is certain, it is that not all of these aggregators will survive. “We’re already beginning to see some acquirers of Amazon businesses starting to struggle,” says Ryan Gnesin, CEO of Elevate Brands, which owns some two dozen Amazon sellers. “We’ve had several companies offer us their portfolio.”

Read the full article: Thrasio, Perch and others are betting $9 billion that the consumer-goods conglomerate of the future will be built on Amazon. 

A Pottstown mom is famous on TikTok with videos of her near-death delivery and the remarkable medical intervention that saved her and the baby.

Mom being reunited with her baby for the first time after a death-defying birth, images that have gone viral on TikTok.

“I went into cardiopulmonary arrest so my heart stopped and I stopped breathing,” she said.

The baby was delivered via cesarean section in minutes and then Summers was put on life support and transported to Lankenau.

“She had a very rare thing called an amniotic fluid embolism, which is something that you really can’t predict and usually don’t end well,” Dr. Mara Caroline said. “It usually ends with mom and baby dying.”

Caroline had to tell Summers’ family that the healthy first-time mom might not survive.

Dad had to meet the baby alone.

“Not knowing if he would have to raise our son on his own,” Summers said.

The life-saving interventions included ECMO, a machine that keeps blood circulating, and a tiny heart pump called Impella that allows the heart to rest and recover.

Watch the segment: Pottstown Mom’s Viral TikTok Of Near-Death Delivery Spreading Awareness About Rare Birth Complication

If you have a health emergency, you want to see a doctor. But at Alomere Health in Alexandria, it was a custodian who helped save a doctor’s life.

“For about a week prior to that I had been having some issues, flu-like symptoms,” said Dr. Amos Szajner.

It was the night of April 29, and because he’s a medical professional, Szajner decided to go back to the hospital and check himself out on a monitor. That’s the last thing he remembers. He was in cardiogenic shock.

“He was initially showing very serious signs of brain injury and heart injury,” Dr. Daniel James Tiede said.

After putting in a stent, Tiede used a fairly new piece of technology called an Impella Pump to stabilize Szajner. It’s thinner than a pencil and takes over the job of pumping blood so the heart can rest. Within a few days, Szajner took a turn for the better.

Watch the full segment: ‘It’s Almost Miraculous’: Heads-Up Janitor Helps Save Doctor’s Life

The Chinese government is ramping up its crackdown on crypto with a ban on virtually all trading activity in the country, including trades between different cryptocurrencies and any trades taking place on exchanges.

Even as trading volume is likely to fall precipitously — several large exchanges have already effectively shut down in the country — crypto-holders could continue to hold and even exchange their holdings in the over-the-counter or off-exchange market.

“I do think you’ll see people continuing to hold, and I do think you’ll see people creatively liquidating, or just transferring the entire value of their wallets to someone else,” said Adam Lowe, chief innovation officer at Arculus, which develops crypto wallet technology.

One way they could continue to exchange crypto, theoretically at least, is by selling passwords or keys to private wallets for a set value. While this is much less efficient than trading over highly centralized exchanges, investors in China who already have large investments in crypto have a clear stake in finding a way around new regulations.

“I think you’re going to see people be incredibly creative,” Lowe added. “You can look at any time a nation state has made something illegal that has very high demand, like the Prohibition era in the United States.”

Kayleigh Summers is a 31-year-old happy, healthy mom to her and her husband’s 2-year-old son, Callahan…but her initial journey into motherhood started out very scary.

Thankfully, Callahan was born healthy, but, unfortunately, Kayleigh’s health continued to decline. “I started bleeding out and a massive transfusion protocol had to be initiated, resulting in a total of 143 units of blood product transfused by the end of this ordeal. I also had to get a hysterectomy to combat the blood loss. Because of the AFE and blood loss, my heart and lungs weren’t performing at their full capacity, so doctors put me on ECMO, a machine to keep me oxygenated. My heart became weaker, so they implanted the Impella, a temporary heart pump that would allow my heart to rest and recover,” she concluded.

Read the full article: This Story Of How A Woman Almost Died While Giving Birth Is Sparking A Lot Of Conversation Online, So We Spoke To An Expert To See How Common It Is