Daily Crunch: SF moves towards e-cig ban

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1. San Francisco takes the final steps toward becoming the first U.S. city to ban vaping product sales

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance that prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes within the city.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who co-sponsored the ban, told Bloomberg that products will be allowed to be sold in the city again if they receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

2. Lifestyle goods resale marketplace StockX raises $110M, pushing valuation past $1B

StockX rode the sneaker culture boom of the past half-decade or so, as the startup first focused exclusively on acting as a resale source for shoes with high levels of hype. Its unique value prop was offering a verification service, so that you knew when you were buying the real deal.

3. FTC, Justice Dept. takes coordinated action against robocallers

In the so-called “Operation Call It Quits,” the Federal Trade Commission brought four cases — two filed on its behalf by the Justice Department — and three settlements against parties said to be responsible for making more than a billion illegal robocalls.

4. 300M-user meme site Imgur raises $20M from Coil to pay creators

Coil is a micropayment tool for creators, and Imgur says it will eventually launch a premium membership with exclusive features and content reserved for Coil subscribers.

5. ‘The Office’ is leaving Netflix in 2021 because NBC wants it back

By far the most popular show on Netflix in 2018, “The Office” was bound to leave the service eventually — or, at the very least, see some huge contract renegotiations. NBCUniversal, meanwhile, sees it as an important asset for its upcoming streaming service.

6. MIT AI tool can predict breast cancer up to 5 years early, works equally well for white and black patients

MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab has developed a new deep learning-based AI prediction model that can anticipate the development of breast cancer up to five years in advance.

7. How to scale a start-up in school

If you’re serious about starting and scaling your business in school, treat your time in school like an extended incubator. (Extra Crunch membership required.)