You've got a brand new Nintendo Switch, and free time coming up. It's all happening.

Whether you bought Nintendo's newest console with "Super Mario Odyssey" on your mind, or it's a new device you bought for the family, there's a lot to know about how best to spend your time gaming on the Switch.

Good news: We've put together a list of the best games to enjoy on your new console.

SEE ALSO: 6 reasons you should buy a Nintendo Switch instead of a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One this year

1. "Super Mario Odyssey"

"Super Mario Odyssey" is an open-world, nonlinear "Super Mario" game — along the lines of "Super Mario 64" and "Super Mario Sunshine". But if you're thinking "Grand Theft Auto," that's not entirely accurate.

Instead of one huge world, "Super Mario Odyssey" is segmented into "Kingdoms" that range in size from tiny to massive. There's no timer; your only limitation is survival. The goal in "Odyssey" is to collect Moons — the game's stand-in for Stars — across over a dozen open worlds.

The pure joy of playing "Odyssey" is hard to convey. It's the best Mario game in years, and easily one of the best Mario games ever made. It may also be the best game of this year — it's certainly the best game on the Nintendo Switch, which is really saying something.

Read our review of "Super Mario Odyssey" right here.

Check it out in action right here:

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2. "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild"

Nintendo really set the tone of the tremendous first year of the Nintendo Switch with "Breath of the Wild" in March.

More than a great new entry in a classic franchise, "Breath of the Wild" moves forward the entire video game medium. Through meticulous game design that demanded more from players, Nintendo once again demonstrated its uncanny ability to redefine foundational aspects of gaming.

It's the kind of game that changes player expectations — what they expect of themselves and what they expect from games. It's also an excellent game to dig into while traveling over the holidays.

Read our review of "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" right here.

The quest to customize your iPhone to the point that it's the most unique iPhone on the street is ever ongoing.

For most of us, that means getting a unique case, or perhaps a case that costs as much as an iPhone itself, like the $1,345 Advent Collection case for the iPhone X. 

There are also a "skins," which are essentially full-body stickers that can give your iPhone a cool leather, metal, or wooden look.

In China, glowing iPhone speaker grills that light up to the beat of your music are apparently the "latest trend." 

It's a cool effect, that will turn heads (especially if you're someplace outside of China, where the flashing speaker style is still a novelty).  And, thanks to Filip from the EverythingApplePro YouTube channel, there's a way for you to make your iPhone speaker grills glow. 

With that said, the procedure to get glowing iPhone speaker grills is pretty involved, and certainly voids your warranty, not mentioning that it carries the risk of breaking your iPhone for good.  

Check out the glowing iPhone speaker grills:

SEE ALSO: How to give your iPhone 7 a glowing Apple logo for less than $35

"Check this out, guys. I bet you've never seen anything like this on an iPhone."

Filip from the EverythingApplePro YouTube channel starts off his video by saying "Check this out, guys. I bet you've never seen anything like this on an iPhone." 

I don't want to burst Filip's bubble, but I have seen something similar involving a glowing Apple logo on the back of iPhones. Filip himself has had videos of how to install a glowing iPhone logo on the back of iPhones, but I first saw it on David Cogen's The Unlockr YouTube channel. Still, I haven't specifically seen a modification that lights up an iPhone's speaker grills. 

The effect is undoubtedly pretty cool, and it will definitely make your iPhone more unique.

Filip describes it as a "visual synchronizer/visualizer for music," as the lights react to the music you're playing from the iPhone. The lights get brighter when you increase the volume, too. 

Filip notes that the lights only work when the speakers are powered, which unfortunately means it wouldn't work when you're using headphones or have the iPhone connected to Bluetooth speakers.

There are even kits for older iPhone models, like the iPhone 6 and 6s that have only one speaker grill.

Filip hasn't yet shown how it's done on the iPhone X, however. 

• I got a deal on a first-class one-way ticket because I was breaking up my transcontinental flight.
• American Airlines was the carrier.
• There were pluses and minuses, but I'd do it again,
  

When I travel on my own dime, I often bump myself up to business class. But rarely first class. At Business Insider, we typically fly coach, but I recently had a chance to add a first-class ticket to a return trip from Los Angeles, so I thought I'd flip for the seat and pay the extra $250.

The reason I got a good deal was because I flew back to the New York area on two planes. I don't mind breaking up my flights for a cheaper ticket, but I do have to add in some margin for error if I miss a connection or experience a delay.

I haven't flown domestic first class in a long time, mainly because I don't really think it's worth it. Transatlantic flights are a different story, but even then I think business class is a better deal.

So how was domestic first this time around, on American Airlines? Read on.

SEE ALSO: I flew JetBlue for the first time and finally understand why it's one of the best airlines in the world

FOLLOW US: on Facebook for more car and transportation content!

For comparison's sake, let's start with my coach flight out. It was on an Airbus A321.

I'm not a big guy — 5'7"— so tight seating usually doesn't bother me unless it's ridiculously tight. My window seat on this American flight wasn't too bad.

And the plane wasn't packed, so I had the whole row to myself.

2018 is almost upon us and so it is once again time to predict which startups will take the tech industry by storm next year.

Who better to ask than the startup experts, the VCs that watch the industry, guide the startups, hear their pitches, and invest in them?

We reached out to a number of top VCs and asked them which startups will boom in 2018. We invited participation from investors from a variety of backgrounds and investing philosophies. This includes some of the top VCs in the Valley (Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Bessemer, Greylock Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia).

We included VCs of note who specialize in seed and early rounds (8VC, Bloomberg Beta, BBG Ventures — which backs startups with at least one female founder.) We also asked some top VCs from the startup nation Israel (JVC, OurCrowd) and VCs that have been known for picking hits (like IVP's Somash Dash).

We asked them to name a company they've backed that's on track to have a great 2018. After all, they believed in those companies so much they invested. But we also asked them to name another startup they think is cool that they don't have any financial interest in.

As startup lovers, they gave us this list chock full of amazing up-and-comers creating tech for businesses, gamers, personalized health, robots, high-tech money, new forms of super computers, and even outer space.

SEE ALSO: 51 enterprise startups to bet your career on in 2018

Nauto: An artificially intelligent dashcam for vehicles

Company name: Nauto

VC: Reid Hoffman at Greylock

Relationship: Investor

Funding:$173.9 million

What it does: Nauto makes a cloud-based, artificially intelligent, networked camera for vehicles. It helps to identify dangers to drivers, provides feedback at the end of trips, and also analyzes the cause of accidents to reduce false liability claims.

Why it's hot:"Soon, driving will become a networked and highly collaborative activity — cars on the road will benefit from what other cars have learned. Nauto is rethinking transportation safety by using AI, and founder Stefan [Heck] is seeking to completely redefine the transport grid," says Hoffman. 

Heck is a 20-year transportation veteran who is a research fellow and teacher at Stanford, and a member of the Energy Transformation Collaborative (ETC). 

Rigetti Computing: A startup taking on quantum computing

Company name: Rigetti Computing 

VC: Reid Hoffman at Greylock

Relationship: No relation. VC just thinks it's cool.

Funding:$69.5 million

What it does: Rigetti Computing is developing technology to help usher in a new kind of powerful computer known as quantum computing.

Why it's hot: “Quantum computing is going to be a very large industry and the promise of a large quantum computer is incredibly powerful. Companies like Microsoft, Google and Intel have experimented with quantum computers, but Rigetti Computing is taking a unique approach. The startup is building a business from scratch to build a quantum computing chip," says Hoffman.

Rigetti Computing was also named among the "51 enterprise startups to bet your career on in 2018."

Pindrop: Stopping voice fraudsters

Company name: Pindrop

VCs: Martin Casado at Andreessen Horowitz and Somesh Dash at IVP

Relationship: both VCs are investors

Funding: $122.8 million

What it does: Pindrop is used by call centers to analyzes a person's voice and detect fraud. It can even determine if a voice is real or generated by a computer. 

Why it's hot: "Voice as a way to interact with computer systems is becoming more and more pervasive, whether we’re talking to Alexa at home or interacting with an automated system online," Casado says, adding that voice fraud has been a huge hole in security until now.

"They are detecting unprecedented amounts of phone fraud and saving leading financial institutions tens of millions of dollars annually," says Dash.

Pindrop also recently nabbed legendary former Cisco CEO John Chambers as an investor and board member.

Life is anything but ordinary when your mom and dad are some of the richest people in the world.

Sure, Bill and Melinda Gates children may go to school, play sports, and have Instagram accounts like any other American teenager, but when their dad is worth nearly $90 billion, there's no escaping the privilege of wealth.

Keep scrolling to meet the Gates children and more kids of the richest billionaires in tech.

SEE ALSO: According to one estimate, wealthy couples in NYC need $190 million to keep their heads above water

DON'T MISS: From Beyoncé and Jay Z to Tom and Gisele — meet 7 of the world's richest power couples

Bill and Melinda Gates have three children: Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. The Gates have famously decided to dedicate most of their $89 billion fortune to charity and forgo setting up massive trust funds for their children, a decision Bill says the kids are "proud of."

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Source: Business Insider, Forbes 

The Gates' eldest child, Jennifer, is a senior at Stanford University and rides on the US Equestrian team. Despite her dad's status as one of the most famous tech moguls in the world, Jennifer grew up with limited access to technology around the house.

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Source: Instagram, Business Insider 

The 21-year-old appears to be dating Egyptian equestrian rider Nayel Nassar. He previously studied economics and management at Stanford.

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As the owner and curator of Coachella's on-site record store, Alex Rodriguez has a keen eye for unique and noteworthy vinyl.

In the past four years, leading up to the annual California music festival, Rodriguez has embarked on months-long, cross-country road trips to stock the festival store up to its typical quota of around 30,000 used records.

He travels to well-known stores and obscure stops, seeking out hard-to-find records and other vinyl he sees potential demand for.

For this year's trip, the concept of Rodriguez's search for records caught the eye of an independent film crew, who joined him on the trip and is producing a feature-length documentary about it, titled "Record Safari."

Business Insider met Rodriguez and the film crew at a used record store in New York City, around the halfway point in their trip. We discussed how he goes about picking records, his view on the increased demand for vinyl in recent years, and the most interesting spots that he's found records at in the U.S.

SEE ALSO: This photographer captured shots of New Yorkers on their way to work for 10 years — and it shows how repetitive a commute can be

We met Rodriguez at Academy Records, a new-and-used vinyl shop in Manhattan's East Village. He and the documentary crew following him arrived in a van.

Rodriguez, 37, described how he was "thrown into" his job as Coachella's record store owner. He was working at the Glass House Record Store in Pomona, California, when the opportunity presented itself. The festival previously had a group of vendors selling vinyl, but that fell through in 2013, and Coachella's managers asked him to put a store together in 2 months.

"It was not the best store," he said, "because I had two months to get like 20,000 records. But they liked it enough and said, 'You're the in-house guy now.'"

Financial-services professionals are known to have demanding work schedules, but that doesn't mean they aren't setting aside time to crack open a few books.

We recently reached out to our contacts on Wall Street to find out what folks would recommend as must-reads just ahead of the holiday season.

Surprisingly, most books recommended have nothing or little to do with finance and business, spanning topics from history to psychology.

Here are the 24 recommendations we received.

SEE ALSO: These are the watches worn by some of the most powerful men in finance

"Open: An Autobiography" by Andre Agassi

Wall Streeter: Heidi Ridley, CEO of Rosenberg Equities at AXA Investment Managers

"I have always been a huge fan of Andre Agassi. I really enjoy watching tennis and feel he is one of the best players in history. I love that he is true to himself, even if that means going against the norm. Exuding that kind of confidence even when you are facing internal/personal challenges is remarkable.

"Importantly, both are stories of people with immense passion for something, who embrace challenges with determination and commitment and achieve success with authenticity and humility."

Find it on Amazon »

Price: $14

"Off The Planet" by Jerry Linenger

Wall Streeter: Heidi Ridley, CEO of Rosenberg Equities at AXA Investment Managers

"I had the opportunity to meet Jerry Linenger and hear him speak at one of our client conferences many years ago. I was so impressed by how intelligent, worldly, and personable he was. He was also a tremendous speaker — a skill I hold in high regard — and an amazing family man, who incidentally published a book of all the letters he wrote to his then-unborn child called 'Letters from Mir.'"

Find it on Amazon »

Price: $9

"Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" by Yuval Noah Harari

Wall Streeter: Virginie Morgon, deputy CEO of Eurazeo and president and CEO of Eurazeo North America

"It's undeniable that Harari is a visionary. 'Homo Deus' is inspiring because it reminds us that humans are limitless and we should strive to be our best in life, business, and society.

"At the same time, the book and theories in it ask questions we — as leaders — must address as technology continues to advance at an accelerating pace. How are we adapting our companies and human capital to embrace and leverage technology? In what ways are we reengineering ourselves to prepare for the world of the future?

"We have a responsibility to anticipate these changes, think ahead of them, and provide answers to the questions our colleagues, partners, and peers will be asking. It's an unbelievably thought-provoking read for current and future leaders alike."

Find it on Amazon »

Price: $20

Tech stocks have been on fire this year, and institutional investors have taken note.

According to data from Citi’s equity research group, tech stocks made up eight of the top 10 stocks held by the 50 largest hedge funds in the third quarter of 2017, with financials and healthcare close behind.

Despite the astronomic gains of stocks like Alphabet and Facebook, the aggregated Equity Hedge Fund Index has underperformed the the S&P 500 by 8.6 percentage points so far this year, Citi says. Hedge fund managers have also shifted away from less exciting sectors, like industrial stocks.

"Compared with last quarter, hedge fund top-10 holdings shifted away from Industrial and Utility names toward Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary and Materials stocks" writes Citi analyst Tobias Levkovich. "Additionally, hedge funds favored positions in ETFs and Energy in the third quarter while there was a decline in Financials, Telecommunication Services and Consumer Staples holdings."

Here’s the full list: 

SEE ALSO: BANK OF AMERICA: These 12 tax loss harvesting stocks are prime for a rebound

10. DowDuPont

Ticker: DWDP

Hedge fund holdings: 7

Sector: Materials

Market value (as of 3Q 2017): $161.96 billion

Year-to-date price change: +5.95%

9. Bank of America

Ticker: BAC

Hedge fund holdings: 7

Sector: Financials

Market value (as of 3Q 2017): $264.99 billion

Year-to-date price change: +18.42%

8. Apple

Ticker: AAPL

Hedge fund holdings: 7

Sector: Information Technology

Market value (as of 3Q 2017): $790.05 billion

Year-to-date price change: +46.18%

• Marriage is hard work for anyone.

• But some of the biggest names in business are enjoying very long marriages with their partners.

• Business Insider looked into each marriage to get a sense of the strategies each couple uses to make things work.

Marriage takes a lot of work.

So how do some of the biggest names in business manage to juggle their relationships while also running huge companies and organizations?

The answer is, it depends. No two relationships are exactly alike, and different pairs may employ different strategies in order to achieve marital bliss.

Still, a number of business moguls have seemingly got things figured out. Top businesspeople like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have both been married for over 20 years.

Here's a look at a few relationship strategies employed by some of the biggest names in business.

SEE ALSO: A look inside the marriage of world's richest couple, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos — who met at work, were engaged in 3 months, and own more land than almost anyone else in America

Equality and a strong sense of partnership are important to any marriage. But when Bill and Melinda Gates first started dating, they weren't on an even playing field. He was the CEO and founder of Microsoft, while she was a product manager at the company. Melinda later said her relationship with her husband of 23 years has changed over time.

"We've had to change to really be coequals," she told Fortune. "It's not something that immediately happens overnight, but we're both committed to it." Today, the couple even runs their namesake powerhouse philanthropic organization together.

Source: Business Insider, Fortune, Business Insider

Some analysts believe Amazon is on track to become the first trillion dollar company in the world. However, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his novelist wife MacKenzie are what family friend Danny Hillis called "such a normal, close-knit family, it's almost abnormal," according to Vogue.

• There are 8 different kinds of friends everyone needs in order to feel truly supported.
• Some of these types are: builders, champions, collaborators, and energizers.
• 'Builders' help motivate us, 'champions' are our personal cheerleaders, and 'collaborators' are the ones you share a lot of interests with. 
• It's also important to have a 'companion' friend, who's always around when you need them, and an 'energizer' — who always has fun things to do. 

Do your friends sometimes disappoint you? Ever feel like there is something missing in your relationships?  You're not alone.

Tom Rath and the Gallup organization discovered something interesting: The vast majority of the time, no one pal offers you everything you need from your relationships.

Some of your friends are great listeners… but they're not always there when you need them. Others are intensely loyal… but just not that great at helping you out of a jam. And so on.

We get different things from different friends. And sometimes even with a sizable group you're still not getting all the things you want in order to feel truly supported in life. Kinda like how to be healthy you need the four different food groups — you can't just eat cookies for every meal.

"Friendship" is a pretty vague word. You generally don't even know everything you want from your relationships to feel whole — you just know something's missing. There's a gap.

So Rath and Gallup got to work. They surveyed over a thousand people to find out what the types of "vital friends" were — someone who if they vanished, your life satisfaction would noticeably decrease.

What did these types of friends offer? How do they round out your life? What are those things we all want from a group of friends to feel truly fulfilled?

Rath breaks down the results of their research in Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without.

It turns out there are 8 types of "vital friends." Many of us don't have all of them in our squad, and that's why we often feel disappointed or like we're not getting everything we need. (You have to collect all the different Pokemon to win at the game called life.)

So let's break down the 8 and get the basics on what they are, learn where you might meet the ones that are missing, and find out how to strengthen your relationships with the ones you already have. We'll also look at what you should do to be better at the role which you play in the lives of others.

Okay, time to get friendly...

SEE ALSO: If all you do is learn from your internship, you've completely missed the point

1. The Builder

Just because you're not in Little League anymore doesn't mean you don't need a coach. Someone who motivates you and encourages you to take it to the next level. That supportive friend who believes in your potential and won't let you rest on your laurels.

From Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without:

Builders are great motivators, always pushing you toward the finish line. They continually invest in your development and genuinely want you to succeed — even if it means they have to go out on a limb for you. Builders are generous with their time as they help you see your strengths and use them productively. When you want to think about how you can do more of what you already do well, talk to a Builder. Much like the best coaches and managers, these are the friends who lead you to achieve more each day.

Lacking a Builder in your life? We all need that person who nudges you to be all that you can be. Start asking more people for advice, then vet based on who gives solid answers and supports you. Who checks in with you a week later to see how things are progressing? That's your new Builder.

Want to make the Builder you have better? Tell them your goals and what you're struggling with. Tell them you appreciate their support… and give them permission to nag you if you slack.

What if you're a Builder? How can you be more helpful to your friends? Pay attention to what they're up to and offer help. Check in with them if goals they said were important do a vanishing act. Some people need a supportive voice in order to follow through.

My friend Jodie is a Builder par excellence. I tend to only do things that interest or excite me. So my life can get a little unbalanced. (That is a tsunami-sized understatement, by the way.) When I neglect things that, oh, "keep me breathing" or "make life worth living," Jodie offers reminders, support… and then nags me relentlessly. So I always do what she says…

Eventually.

Builders motivate you and keep you going. Who sings your praises to others?

2. The Champion

We all need a friend who isn't afraid to break out the pom-poms and play cheerleader. Somebody who roots for you and describes you to others in a way that makes you blush.

From Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without:

Champions stand up for you and what you believe in. They are the friends who sing your praises. Every day, this makes a difference in your life. Not only do they praise you in your presence, a Champion also "has your back" — and will stand up for you when you're not around. They accept you for the person you are, even in the face of resistance. Champions are loyal friends with whom you can share things in confidence. They have a low tolerance for dishonesty. You can count on them to accept what you say, without judging, even when others do not. Champions are your best advocates. When you succeed, they are proud of you, and they share it with others. Champions thrive on your accomplishments and happiness.

Need a Champion in your life? Look for the people who are always praising others. They're usually very humble and kind. So say hi.

Want to help your Champion help you? Regularly keep them abreast of what you've been doing and what your goals are. And don't forget to thank them when their help pays off. Champions live for that.

If you're a Champion, how can you improve? Ask your friends what they've been up to and how you can help. Think about different ways you can promote them. Maybe you've spread the word about their great work at the office — but have you ever complimented them in front of their spouse?

Luckily, I have Andy. Andy says things about me to other people that would make me want to meet me if I didn't already know myself. And he does this for all his friends. I can tell you that they are all very lucky people. But Andy would just tell you how awesome they are.

So maybe you have someone swinging pom-poms for you. But do you have that person to conspire with on that passion project?

3. The Collaborator

Who loves that same strange thing that you love? Who is that friend that the moment you see each other you roll up your sleeves and get to work on the next big caper?

From Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without:

A Collaborator is a friend with similar interests — the basis for many great friendships. You might share a passion for sports, hobbies, religion, work, politics, food, music, movies, or books. In many cases, you belong to the same groups or share affiliations. When you talk with a Collaborator, you're on familiar ground, and this can serve as the foundation for a lasting relationship. Indeed, in those conversations, you often find that you have similar ambitions in work and life.

How do you find yourself a Collaborator? Let the people around you know more about your interests and see who else happens to be into cryptozoology or 19th century pre-existentialism. Attend events where fellow enthusiasts gather.

What's a good way to encourage your current Collaborator? Send them articles about your mutual interest. Meet for coffee to discuss.

And what should you do to be a better Collaborator if you are one? Your mission, should you decide to accept it… Schedule a regular time to meet and work on your shared plan for Global Domination.

My buddy Mike is a grandmaster of all things visual. Mike and I don't do stuff together — we make stuff together. When I said I wanted to send my publisher some ideas for my book's cover, Mike fired up Photoshop. When I needed an author photo for said book, Mike's the one who took it. And per my above recommendation, I really should set a regular time to meet with him…

You have the Bonnie to your Clyde. Do you have the person you can call late at night when the worries get serious and you're having a dark teatime of the soul? 

It is no secret that big-time college sports is a big-money business, and last year no school made more money from its athletics program than the University of Texas.

In all, there are now 27 schools that make at least $100 million in annual revenue from their athletic department, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Education. That is up from 24 a year ago and 13 in 2014.

Here are the schools that make the most revenue off of college sports, with additional data collected by USA Today. In addition, we detail where most of the money comes from, including football, men's basketball, and women's basketball revenue, the three sports that typically generate the most money.

27. University of Virginia — $100.6 million

1-year change: +16%

5-year change: +28%

Donations: $31.6 million

Licensing/Rights fees: $39.6 million

3-year avg. football revenue: $26.9 million

3-year avg. men's basketball revenue: $9.5 million

3-year avg. women's basketball revenue: $1.0 million

26. Michigan State University — $100.9 million

1-year change: +7%

5-year change: +25%

Donations: $30.4 million

Licensing/Rights fees: $53.9 million

3-year avg. football revenue: $58.9 million

3-year avg. men's basketball revenue: $17.9 million

3-year avg. women's basketball revenue: $0.8 million

25. University of Southern California — $106.2 million

1-year change: +0%

5-year change: +40%

Donations: N/A

Licensing/Rights fees: N/A

3-year avg. football revenue: $47.3 million

3-year avg. men's basketball revenue: $5.5 million

3-year avg. women's basketball revenue: $2.7 million

• Tim Ferriss struggled with an online business after college and was unsure of what to do with his life.
• His 2007 book, "The 4-Hour Workweek," was based on his business and travels and became a surprise bestseller.
• Over the past 10 years, Ferriss has built a brand that has attracted millions of fans from around the world.

Just over 10 years ago, Tim Ferriss felt overworked, restless, and unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. Then he took what he learned from his experiences as an entrepreneur and traveler and wrote "The 4-Hour Workweek," a book whose massive success surprised himself most of all.

Ferriss took the momentum of that book and created a brand around being a "human guinea pig," seeking out experts in their fields to learn some of their techniques and incorporate them into his own life before passing them on to his audience. He's now had several bestsellers, including his new book "Tribe of Mentors," and a podcast that's surpassed 200 million downloads.

We recently spoke with Ferriss for Business Insider's podcast, "Success! How I Did It," and he took us through his unlikely journey.

SEE ALSO: The 4-Hour Workweek' author Tim Ferriss reveals what he's learned after a difficult year of introspection, and how he built a passionate fanbase of millions

Ferriss was born in 1977 on Long Island. He said that although his parents didn't have much money, they would always buy books for him, and it's how he developed a love for learning.

Ferriss was small for his age as a child, and he said kids would pick on him because of his size. When he was around eight years old, his mom signed him up for wrestling classes, a sport that laid the foundation for his love of experimenting with workouts and diets that he would develop as a teenager.

As a high school sophomore, Ferriss transferred to the elite New Hampshire boarding school, St. Paul's School, with help from his grandparents and academic scholarships. At age 15, he spent a year as an exchange student in Japan.

Ferriss' trip to Japan was his first time traveling abroad, and he said it was "a huge formative experience in my life."

He considers this part of his life to be an awakening to the realization that there was a huge world beyond where he grew up, and it fostered his passion for exploring other cultures.

St. Paul's led Ferriss to Princeton, where he majored in East Asian studies.

Just because a product gets the job done doesn't mean it's a one-trick pony.

In a recent AskReddit thread, people shared their favorite products that also pull double-duty as solutions to other problems (One caveat: we haven't actually tried these, so experiment at your own risk).

How many of these products have you found alternative uses for?

SEE ALSO: 21 objects that are perfectly designed and can't be improved any further

Newspapers rival any rag for streak-free cleaning.

Source: XCVIPAPI

Nail polish remover on a cotton ball easily removes hair dye from surfaces.

Source: sansaofhousestark

Binder clips make better chip clips than the actual chip clips.

Source: archibot

It's never a bad time to start getting into shape. Whether you want to work off some extra holiday calories, you're trying to get ready for a summer adventure, or you just want to start feeling better every day, working out has tons of physical and mental benefits.

But whether you want to begin by training for a competitive event like a marathon or triathlon or just kick off a regular gym routine, you may run into a few surprises along the way.

Business Insider spoke with Dan Arnett, a professional triathlon coach, to see what surprises people encounter while getting into shape. Here are his top five.

SEE ALSO: An expert reveals how to train for a triathlon to get in perfect shape for spring

1. You'll gain weight.

With daily (or almost-daily) workouts, those extra pounds should just melt off, right?

Not exactly. Arnett says most people, especially men, put on some weight initially. This happens quickly too, within the first two to four weeks.

Your body adds muscle mass at the start, which makes you weigh more, even if you lose extra flab around the waist. If you've got significant weight to lose, it should come off eventually. But don't look for an immediate decrease on the scale — especially if you haven't altered your diet.

Focus on how your clothes fit instead, says Arnett.

2. If you're training for an event, you don't necessarily need a coach.

If you've signed up for a competitive event, especially something like a triathlon, you may think you need a professional coach to get you going.

But Arnett says you don't need to pay a professional if you're just getting started. Instead just create a good training plan — you can usually find one for free online. 

If you want to get really serious after finishing your first few races, then you can look into a coach.

3. You still can't eat whatever you want.

It's easy to view the fact that you're burning a few hundred more calories a day as a license to indulge in all the cheeseburgers and ice cream you want.

"People expect to be able to change their diet" Arnett says.

But most of us can't eat whatever we want all the time, even if we are working out. Most people are usually are getting enough calories, so there's no need to suddenly start carb-loading. 

Those training for an ultra race like an Ironman may need some additional nourishment, but they still need to eat healthy — and a person training for a first race won't get close to that level of calorie-burning.

So go ahead and enjoy the occasional cheeseburger or ice cream as you ordinarily would — but keep it occasional.

It takes a lot of hard work to become an effective leader.

"You have to be systematic about training yourself," said DropBox founder and CEO Drew Houston on Business Insider's podcast, "Success! How I Did It.""That means figuring out what you don't know and learning it — and no one is going to do that for you."

Current and former business leaders have given great career advice on the podcast, including finding funding to launching startup to hiring the right people. In this episode, we pulled the best tips for how to be a great leader in any industry.

If you're hunting for more career advice, subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen so that you don't miss the next interview. (If you're already a subscriber, thanks! And please leave a review — it helps.)

Here's the master class episode from top executives on leadership:

SEE ALSO: Fortune 500 CEOs and top execs reveal what to do in your 20s to set yourself up for an awesome career

DropBox CEO Drew Houston says leaders need to be prepared to have their job description change every 12-18 months, and they need to train themselves to be ready for those changes.

Drew Houston: "At first you have to be systematic about training yourself, and what you really want to solve for as a founder is making sure that your growth curve stays ahead of the company's growth curve. And so that means figuring out what you don't know and learning it, and no one is going to do that for you. The challenge, especially as a company that is scaling, is that your job as a CEO changes every 12 to 18 months — it's just that no one taps you on the shoulder and tells you that.

"So, for example, in the beginning, you're just spending time building a prototype, and it's all about creating the product. But then once you have a product, you need users. How do you get distribution, how do you grow? That's a whole different challenge. And then the scorecard changes again once you have distribution, then you need revenue, and then you need a working business model. Then you get competitors, and then it's not just revenue, but it's cash flow or profit. So as in real life, the scorecard changes at these different break points and points of adolescence or maturity in the company. That's probably the most bewildering part of the job is that your job changes so much. Just when you think you're getting good at the old job, you have a new one that is totally unfamiliar."

Former CIA director John Brennan says leaders should spend their first few months on the job learning as much about the organization as possible.

John Brennan: "The most important thing for anybody who's going to be taking on that responsibility, is use your first period of time, whether it be six, nine, 12 months, to learn as much as you can about the organization that you're running. Understand how it interacts within itself, how it inter-operates with the rest of the intelligence community and the US government. You really need to have that in-depth understanding and knowledge in order for you to have the wisdom to be able to leverage it for the best of the country's security. And there is a distinction between knowledge and wisdom in my mind. I felt that when I joined the agency, I had a fair amount of knowledge about the Middle East and Arabic and terrorism and other things. But wisdom is using that knowledge and having the ability then to see opportunities, risks, challenges, things that you need to do."

Oath CEO Tim Armstrong believes leaders should not be afraid to take risks and fail.

Tim Armstrong:"In a CEO job, you have to be OK with risk and you have to be OK with failure. I have a saying: "You have to fail toward a goal." As long as you're failing, if you know what the goal is, it's OK to fail in that direction. And that's the advice I got from people."

Silicon Valley is known for a lot of things, but high-fashion isn't one of them. 

Its elite show up to meetings in pajamas, fleece vests have become the go-to uniform of venture capital investors, and many high-powered executives are so obsessed with efficiency, they've adopted a boring, unfashionable uniform they wear each day without fail. 

But don't let the Valley's nerdy reputation fool you — there are plenty of executives who dress to impress. 

Instagram's Kevin Systrom has proclaimed that he's "probably the only guy in Silicon Valley who enjoys wearing a jacket or a tie," while Snap CEO Evan Spiegel (who is actually based in LA) has appeared in the pages of Italian Vogue. Uber's Bozoma Saint John doesn't shy away from bright colors or daring designs, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella is often spotted in $500 designer sneakers. 

Business Insider pored through photos of the top executives in the world of tech to determine who has a great fashion sense and who needs some help. We eliminated anyone who simply doesn't care — Alphabet's Sergey Brin— or those who always look presentable if a bit bland, like HPE's Meg Whitman. Others, like Apple's Jony Ive, made the list because of their role within the company they work for — Ive is design chief at Apple, so his fashion choices must face some scrutiny. 

The ranking was based, whenever possible, on three clothing categories — casual, business, and formal wear — and were further evaluated for attention to trends, fit, and color choices. 

For each exec, we also found some of their exact clothes — or similar items — so you can replicate their look.  

What follows is a non-scientific style ranking, from worst to best, of some of the top executives in Silicon Valley:

SEE ALSO: Silicon Valley's ultimate status symbol is the sneaker — here are the rare, expensive, and goofy sneakers worn by the top tech CEOs

19. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook

Sorry, Mark. 

While the Facebook CEO cleans up nicely at awards ceremonies (pictured above), he's at the bottom of the list due to his insistence on wearing one thing and one thing only: A gray crewneck t-shirt, jeans, and Nike running shoes. 

While he's at least had the decency to ditch the hoodie in recent years, it's bordering on the absurd that Zuckerberg can't take five minutes out of his morning to dress himself. 

If there's one positive about Zuck's wardrobe choices, it's that his jeans and rare suits or tuxedos are always well-fitted. 

Get Zuckerberg's look:

- Brunello Cucinelli cotton crew neck t-shirt, gray: $295 (Zuckerberg wears the brand, but his tees are special made and reportedly cost between $300 and $400).

- Nike Flyknit Lunar 3, wolf grey: $150

18. Jony Ive, chief design officer at Apple

Apple's design boss, Jony Ive, is regarded as one of the most respected minds in design. He's responsible for the look and feel of every Apple product, including the packaging. 

But for someone who designs sleek, stylish, luxurious products, Ive's personal style leaves a lot to be desired. 

With the exception of formal wear — he has a quirky penchant for white tie ensembles and throwback looks, like coats with tails — Ive frequently looks rumpled and disheveled. His pants are often too long and his shirts too oversized, or he opts for garish colors like orange jackets and red socks. While Ive gets points for creativity, Apple's design guru could use a stylist. 

From a 'castle' full of bitcoin millionaires to the initial coin offering (ICO) craze, it's hard to escape the chatter about how some people are building their fortunes off the new world of cryptocurrencies. But behind those cryptocurrencies sits a technology called blockchains, which some people believe could fundamentally rewrite how transactions are handled online.

With analysts at UBS estimating that blockchains could be a $300 billion to $400 billion global industry by 2027, it's clear that regardless of what happens in the bitcoin bubble, blockchain technology is here to stay.

Here's what you need to know about blockchains, the technology that's set to disrupt the world of contracts, finance, shipping and countless other industries.

SEE ALSO: Someone deleted some code in a popular cryptocurrency wallet — and as much as $280 million in ether is locked up

Blockchains are digital ledgers

Simply put, a blockchain is a digital ledger. Each unit of the ledger is a "block," and these blocks are linked in order of when they are created. The blocks are linked together using cryptography, which binds them together in a way that is virtually un-editable. 

Inside every block is a complete history of everything that has ever happened on that chain, as well as the rules that all of the blocks follow. 

Think of a blockchain as an ever evolving music playlist

Imagine that you start a new playlist on Spotify. Every time you add a song, you create a new version of the playlist, or a new "block" in the chain.  The new block contains your newly added songs and the previous songs. 

If your cousin decides to add some country music songs onto the playlist, she creates the next block in the chain. If that block is approved by all participants, a new block gets added to the chain and becomes the new version of your playlist. If your cousin also decides to delete one of your songs from the playlist, the next version of the playlist would contain a note that the song was previously on the list, but has been deleted.

They are most useful in situations where you need a trustworthy system of record

Blockchains are good for two things: recording events, and making sure that record is never erased. 

This makes them particularly useful in situations where two people want to make a deal but don't trust one another.

Some think blockchains could put an end to fraudulent deals, such as the Ponzi scheme that led to famed investor Bernie Madoff's demise around 2009.

• Baby boomers were born in the prosperous years following World War II. 
• As they age, they are now facing financial, health, and economic challenges.
• Some of their most pressing problems are saving enough for retirement and caring for elderly parents.

Baby Boomers are facing a slew of challenges.

Boomers, or those born from the 1940s to the 1960s, grew up during the prosperous post-WWII years. But as they inch closer to retirement, a slew of financial, health, and economic challenges are starting to plague many in the generation.

Business Insider outlined some of the bigger problems baby boomers are dealing with today.

SEE ALSO: America's next retirement crisis could be that baby boomers are living too long

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Baby boomers are expected to live longer than previous generations, and it's giving them anxiety about retirement.

Though people say they're happiest when they get older, many baby boomers feel pressured to work longer to support themselves or, if unable to work, are worried about outliving their savings.

Many boomers have to care for their aging parents.

Not only do boomers have to think about their own retirement plans, they also have to care for their elderly parents — which can have an emotional cost in addition to the financial cost.

Boomers might be thinking about or currently paying their parents' medical bills, nursing homes, or live-in nurses, or even considering having their parents live with them as they get older.

Boomers also need to plan for their own care when they get older.

Just like boomers need to make plans for their parents, they will also need to figure out who will be taking care of them as they get older. 

This might involve figuring out plans with their children, or saving enough money for medical bills or even a nurse.

In the age of peak television, broadcast network shows often get ignored by critics.

But they shouldn't be. In fact, they include some of the best shows on TV right now.

Without having to worry about appealing to a mass audience and advertisers, entertainment companies like HBO, Netflix, and Hulu have turned out ambitious projects over the past few years and raked in awards.

And some broadcast networks have taken note of what audiences love so much about shows like "Game of Thrones,""Stranger Things," and "The Handmaid's Tale," and have tried to make it work for them. And some have definitely succeeded.

So it's time to give them some recognition.

For this list, we considered broadcast network shows on NBC, Fox, ABC, The CW, and CBS, and excluded cable networks like FX, AMC, and USA. 

From the innovative comedy "The Good Place" on NBC, to the completely reinvented teen drama "Riverdale" on The CW, these are the best network shows that should be on your radar. 

Here are the 12 best network shows on TV right now, ranked:

SEE ALSO: 7 new shows and movies you should binge-watch over Thanksgiving weekend on Netflix, Hulu, or HBO

12. "Great News"— NBC

From executive producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, "Great News" has a tone and sensibility very similar to "30 Rock" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." The show, which centers on a news producer whose mother gets hired as an intern, fires jokes as quickly as "30 Rock" and has very memorable characters and performances, particularly from Nicole Richie as glamorous news anchor Portia Scott-Griffith and Andrea Martin as Carol Wendelson, the intern/mom.

11. "Designated Survivor"— ABC

"Designated Survivor" isn't groundbreaking, but it's trying to be, and that's what makes it worth watching. Kiefer Sutherland plays a man who becomes the president of the United States after a terrorist attack during the State of the Union address. The country is divided and in turmoil after the attack, and not a lot of people are fan of the president they didn't vote for. "Designated Survivor" follows a typical formula for a network political drama, but isn't afraid to kill off characters or take risks with twists that will surprise you.

10. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"— Fox

Now in season five, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has maintained the quirky, positive spirit that it established in season one. The show is about an NYPD precinct in Brooklyn, and has a very similar tone to workplace comedy "Parks and Recreation." Further into its run, the writers started taking more risks with its characters' positions as detectives, with major undercover jobs. In season four, two of its main characters got framed and spent the beginning of season five in prison, trying to prove their innocence. 

Business Insider's visual features team has covered a lot of ground this year. 

From coast to coast, they documented CEOs hard at work, Wall Streeters sweating during intense 6 a.m. workouts, and bartenders serving up delicious cocktails, just to name a few.

Ahead, see 30 of the best photos our team took this year. All photos are by Melia Robinson, Hollis Johnson, Daniel Brown, and Sarah Jacobs.   

SEE ALSO: 50 amazing photos taken in 2017

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