Barnes & Noble was once the avatar for sinister big-box stores on the march against independent businesses. In 1998's You've Got Mail, Tom Hanks plays an executive at Foxbooks, a thinly disguised bookstore chain, who puts out of business (and also, weirdly, seduces) an independent bookseller played by Meg Ryan. Local bookstores were, at the time, folding en masse, and people were mad about the growing predominance of chain retail. Then Barnes & Noble got its comeuppance. In the years after the 2008 financial crisis, it closed more than 150 stores. To some extent, the bookstore was experiencing the same predicament of chain retail generally, which, after robust expansion that put mom-and-pop shops out of business, declined faster than independent stores in the age of e-commerce. Amazon was doing to Barnes & Noble what Barnes & Noble had done to local bookstores. But today, in a world more online than ever, Barnes & Noble is experiencing a revival. It opened 60 new stores last year and plans to do the same this year. It is reportedly soliciting banks to handle an IPO'a sign that a turnaround effort by Elliott Investment Management, the hedge fund that took the company private in 2019, has reached its conclusion. Distinctions between chain and local have been superseded by the split between online and in-person shopping. Book-buying Americans, whose support for indie shops was one of the hallmarks of a progressive anti-chain movement that flourished in the 2000s, seem to be less discerning than they used to be. They'll browse where they can....

In its announcement of the rankings, the publication noted MIT's school of management tops the list 'at a time of sharpening focus from students on the importance of technology, including artificial intelligence, as they prepare for disruptions in the workplace.' Global education editor Andrew Jack said in the Financial Times News Briefing podcast that MIT is 'very much at the center of the tech revolution that we are seeing.' He added, 'there's no question that we're talking more and more about artificial intelligence and expertise around some of the technical skills related and notably how you might apply AI in the workplace. That certainly reflects both its technical and engineering computer science skills historically. And [MIT Sloan] is doing a lot with those other departments in the university. So I think that says something very much about how the wider job market and the aspirations of students are evolving.' 'MIT Sloan operates at the intersection of management and technology,' says Richard Locke, the John C Head III Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management. 'Our students and alumni are employing artificial intelligence to solve complex problems in the world and across industries. At MIT Sloan, we focus on doing that work in a way that centers human capabilities, ensuring artificial intelligence extends what humans can do to improve organizations and the world.'...

Irth currently holds about a 10% stake in Papa John's, with roughly half of that exposure held through derivatives. Sources said the company is reviewing the offer and could also attract competing bids. The renewed interest highlights continued private equity activity around consumer brands. Irth's latest proposal includes backing from Brookfield Asset Management, underscoring strong institutional support behind the bid. Subscribe to our Newsletter to increase your edge. Don't worry about the news anymore, through our newsletter you'll receive weekly access to what is happening. Join 120,000 other PE professionals today....

When Max Brodeur-Urbas co-founded Gumloop in mid-2023, his vision was to help non-technical employees automate repetitive tasks using AI. At that time, the concept of AI agents was still largely experimental and prone to errors. The company claims that it now allows teams at organizations like Shopify, Ramp, Gusto, Samsara, Instacart, and Opendoor to deploy reliable AI agents that autonomously handle complex, multistep tasks, all without ever needing an engineer. Employees can share the agents they build with colleagues, creating a compounding effect that accelerates internal automation. 'They get addicted, they start building more agents, and then all of a sudden, the whole company is AI native,' Brodeur-Urbas told TechCrunch. As companies race to adopt AI, Benchmark general partner Everett Randle believes the key to success lies in empowering every worker with AI superpowers, and Gumloop's intuitive agent builder is an example of the kind of tool that will unlock that potential. That's why Randle, who joined Benchmark last October from Kleiner Perkins, chose to lead a $50 million Series B investment into Gumloop. The deal, which is Randle's first at his new firm, included participation from Nexus VP, First Round Capital, Y Combinator, BoxGroup, The Cannon Project, and Shopify....