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Sweetgreen and and Palantir have lost value since the pandemic's start

Hello everyone! Welcome to this weekly roundup of Business Insider stories from executive editor Matt Turner. Please subscribe to Business Insider here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday.  Hi everyone! Matt is off today, so this is deputy executive editor Olivia Oran filling in. We rolled out an exciting project this past week where readers can search for pitch decks from over 150 startups. For the past few years, Business Insider has published these decks to give readers an inside look at how successful companies persuaded investors to fund them. Now, these decks have been combined into a single, searchable library, which you can explore here: PITCH-DECK LIBRARY: Search through over 150 pitch decks that startups including Uber, Postmates, and Airbnb used to raise millions In other startup news, Bradley Saacks and Meghan Morris reported on how some of the world's most well-known private companies like Sweetgreen and and Palantir have lost value since the pandemic's start, according to their mutual-fund backers. And even before the pandemic hit, a survey of venture capitalists found that a majority believed unicorns were "significantly" overvalued. But in an interesting twist, bankers and valuation experts see a potential quick fix to falling valuations: SPACs, which have taken Wall Street by storm over the last month.  Read the full story here: Big investors have been slashing valuations on stakes in private companies like Palantir and Sweetgreen. But bankers say there could be a quick fix. We've also got some great advice on how to grow a startup from the cofounders of Monday Swimwear, who started with a $30,000 loan, were profitable in their first year, and doubled revenue every year since. You can read that here. Reach out to me anytime with feedback on our stories or tips we should be chasing! I can be reached at ooran@businessinsider.com.  — Olivia  'Big 4' salaries, revealed Our most popular story of the week was a deep dive into salaries at the big 4 accounting firms. Last year, firms PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, Ernst & Young (EY), and Deloitte — employed well over a million people. These firms are known for paying employees six-figure salaries right out of business school.  To figure out how much accountants and consultants make at these firms, reporters Weng Cheong and Alex Nicoll analyzed the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification's 2019 disclosure data for permanent and temporary foreign workers. For example, some analysts and auditors made more than $120,000 at Ernst & Young (EY), principals were given up to $950,000 in compensation at KPMG, and managers at PwC made $123,019 or more.  You can read the full story here: 'Big 4' salaries, revealed: How much Deloitte, KPMG, EY, and PwC accountants and consultants make, from entry level to executive roles More drama at Bon Appétit  Reporter Rachel Premack has been covering drama at Condé Nast Bon Appétit title over the last few months, including revelations of a toxic culture at the magazine for its employees and contributors of color. On Thursday, she reported that after weeks of contract negotiations, three Bon Appétit Test Kitchen video talent members said they wouldn't be in videos with the food brand going forward. The three stars' exit slashes in half the number of people of color who regularly appear in Test Kitchen videos. Leaning on Bon Appétit's videos for revenue seemed to be a winner for Condé Nast earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. However, as Rachel reports, "outgoing video talent said the publisher's video arm was more interested in maintaining the status quo — and the ultra-profitable videos centered on white food and cooks — than expanding the pay and video presence of their cooks of color." You can read the story in full here: 3 Bon Appétit Test Kitchen stars are walking, in a sign that Condé Nast's burgeoning YouTube empire will never be the same You can also check out an exclusive audio interview with Rachel about her reporting on Bon Appétit's toxic culture here.  As a reminder, you can: * Sign up here to get the top stories in healthcare delivered to your inbox every day * Sign up here to get the top stories in advertising delivered to your inbox every day * Sign up here to get Insider Today, a daily newsletter that offers exclusive insights on the big stories. * Sign up here for our new daily finance email. Below are headlines on some of the stories you might have missed from the past week.  Meet the 15 power players at Adobe helping CEO Shantanu Narayen expand beyond the company's core design software to take on rivals like Salesforce and Zendesk A student-housing developer with a crushing debt load pressured Georgia to bring college kids back to campus so it could keep its dorms full and revenues up Ghost kitchens are pitching themselves as the future of restaurants. These are the 14 companies in the space that you need to know. A new document sent to congressional watchdogs shows how Trump is preparing to hand over the US government if he loses to Biden Meet the 27 most influential fixers in public relations at companies like Johnson & Johnson, Lenovo, and Coca-Cola Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why thoroughbred horse semen is the world's most expensive liquid
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