Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Starbucks’s reign as the world’s leading coffee company is faltering. And the new CEO, Brian Niccol, wants to fix it. Mark Wilson explains. View the full article

Japanese psychology often likens attention to a flashlight. Wherever you shine this flashlight is where your focus and energy go. However, problems can arise when people shine this flashlight inwards for too long. They focus obsessively on their thoughts and emotions, and particularly those related to things outside of their control. Another common tendency that causes problems is shining the flashlight on other people’s behavior, the past, or the future. These are all inherently uncontrollable areas. Worrying about these factors can lead to a mental loop where it seems impossible to find solutions. When you start fixating on past events you can’t change, it can lead…

Fast-casual restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) is seeing its stock price plummet this morning after reporting third-quarter 2025 earnings and a sales forecast that alarmed investors. As of the time of this writing, CMG shares are down a staggering 19% to $32.21 in premarket trading. Here’s what you need to know about the company’s stock price crash. What’s happened? On Wednesday, Chipotle reported its Q3 2025 earnings after the bell. Some of what the company revealed has alarmed investors. But first, here are the company’s most critical quarterly metrics: Total revenue: $3 billion (a 7.5% increase) Comparable restaurant sales: up 0.…

What’s the best way to respond when customers, former fans, or anyone else criticizes your work? Taylor Swift just provided a perfect script for what to say. It’s a great example for any entrepreneur, business leader, or creator to follow. Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, released 10 days ago, is unquestionably a commercial success. It broke streaming records on Spotify with more than five million pre-saves, as just one example. But that doesn’t mean that everyone loves it. The reaction from music critics has been lukewarm and the reaction from fans is decidedly mixed, with some saying they adore the album and others saying they can’t stand it. One brand st…

Across the streaming world, companies have been focused on adding features that make their top-tier subscriptions more valuable to the users who consume their content. Anime streamer Crunchyroll recently added access to a library of digital manga for top-paying customers. Spotify—somewhat belatedly—has begun offering high-quality audio for its Premium subscribers. SoundCloud is taking a different approach. It operates a standard streaming platform, with 100 million licensed tracks. But SoundCloud also has an enviable base of creators—musicians, DJs, podcasters, and more—who have uploaded 300 million tracks on the service to reach fans and make money from their stream…

The cloning industry is contracting—ironically, perhaps. On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences announced that it has acquired ViaGen Pets and Equine, an animal cloning firm, marking Colossal’s first acquisition since it launched in 2021. Texas-based Colossal Biosciences is best known for its controversial “de-extinction” endeavors, which involve efforts to recover species that have died out. Earlier this year, the company claimed to have “brought back” dire wolves, an assertion that was disputed by some experts, as the animals were created by modifying the DNA of existing gray wolves. The company has also sparked debates about the ethics of bringing species back …

TD Bank is getting ready to implement a number of branch closures across more than a dozen states on the East Coast. Those closures come at a time when the bank is increasingly shifting its focus to online banking. Here’s what you need to know about TD Bank’s branch closures, including a list of closing locations. Why is TD Bank closing some of its branches? TD Bank is closing some of its branches as part of a broader plan to reduce or relocate 10% of its retail footprint. “At Investor Day last month, TD shared plans to deliver a stronger, more scalable U.S. retail presence through significant store enhancements, tech-forward digital banking capabilities, and …

On November 3, Vogue announced that it’s folding the sister publication Teen Vogue into Vogue.com. Now, the internet is mourning the loss of a rare publication that “took young people seriously.” The news came in the form of an article posted to Vogue’s business vertical. Per the post, the transition is “part of a broader push to expand the Vogue ecosystem.” The article goes on to explain that Teen Vogue “will remain a distinct editorial property, with its own identity and mission,” and that the publication will “focus its content on career development, cultural leadership and other issues that matter most to young people.” Further, it notes that Teen Vogue e…

For years, email, texting, and messaging apps have ruled how we communicate. But one timeless human skill—often neglected—is quickly becoming a true difference-maker in the digital age. Active listening. It’s both an art and a discipline, and it’s what separates average leaders from exceptional ones (while making them instantly likable in the process). The truth is, active listening is the foundation of effective communication and the heartbeat of strong relationships. Yet as technology consumes more of our attention, we’re losing touch with this skill—and with it, a powerful competitive advantage in business. When you focus on your people—their growth, th…

Despite its status as an architectural celebrity, the Breuer building, commissioned by the Whitney Museum in the 1960s, has never had an easy relationship with New York City. With a hulking, top-heavy build, brooding dark-gray granite cladding, and nearly windowless facade, it’s as introverted as buildings come, standing confrontationally against its traditional Upper East Side neighbors. Either you love it or hate it. Critic Ada Louise Huxtable described the building as an acquired taste akin to “olives or warm beer” (how appetizing) yet celebrated the “maximum artistry and almost hypnotic skill” of its namesake architect, the Bauhaus-trained modernist Marcel Breuer…

Wendy’s announced plans to close a “mid-single-digit percentage” of its underperforming U.S. store locations, during its quarterly earnings call on Friday, or 200 to 350 of some 6,000 locations, according to CNN. The news comes as the fast-food giant reports third-quarter profits of $44.3 million, with $549.5 million in revenue, beating analyst expectations by 2.71%; and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 24 cents, versus 20 cents. International business delivered strong system-wide sales growth, with international net unit growth expected to come in over 9% in 2025. Shares in Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) were up about 2% in midday trading on Friday, after Wendy’s…

Over the past 50 years in the shoe trade, I have had my fair share of failure. The biggest lesson I learned, at the start of my career, is not to devote time and energy to a business or project that has little chance of success. This might sound obvious, however sometimes you are so involved in the detail of the day to day running of the business that you don’t stand back and question the future viability of what you are doing. I was a women’s shoe manufacturer in London in the 1980s. If I had looked at the big picture I would have seen that the future of manufacturing in the U.K. for low technology, high labor content businesses like footwear manufacturing, was u…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Before becoming CEO and president of C.H. Robinson in 2023, Dave Bozeman worked at four of the world’s most iconic companies: Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Caterpillar, Amazon, and Ford Motor Company. During each stop, he gleaned valuable lessons: Harley-Davidson (16 years): The m…

The Senate took the first step to end the government shutdown on Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who say Americans want them to continue the fight. In a test vote that is the first in a series of required procedural maneuvers, the Senate voted 60-40 to move toward passing compromise legislation to fund the government and hold a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Jan. 1. Final passage could be several days away if Democrats object and delay the process. The agreement does not guarantee the health care subsidies will be exten…

Disney has been in the cruise business for 27 years now, but over the past few years, the company has doubled down in an unprecedented manner. On November 20, the entertainment giant will see the inaugural sailing of the Disney Destiny, a 144,000 gross ton ship capable of carrying 4,000 passengers that is the latest in a growing fleet. It’s the fourth addition in the past four years. And five more ships are coming by 2031, which will bring the total to 13. An expansion like that isn’t cheap, but Disney is making a lot of sizable wagers these days. The new ships are part of a $60 billion capital investment between now and 2033, which includes a variety of planned updat…

Sonder Holdings said on Monday it will wind down its operations and file for bankruptcy one day after Marriott International abruptly announced that it had terminated its licensing agreement with the San Francisco operator of thousands of rental properties. The one-two punch of news has caused chaos for employees and guests alike. Shares of Sonder have plummeted more than 64% as of mid-day trading on Monday. In a statement Monday, Sonder said it expects to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquid its U.S. business, in addition to initiating insolvency proceedings in the international countries where it operates. “We are devastated to reach a point where a liqu…

My wife and I visited Singapore last week for the first time in a couple of years, and I was reminded how impressed I am with the country. It illustrates a great strategy point, the subject of this Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights (PTW/PI) piece, which borrows from Billy Preston, whose Billboard No. 1 hit song in October 1974, Nothing From Nothing, contained the immortal line: “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.” This piece is a play on the line entitled Something From Nothing Leaves Something: How Strategy Choice Can Make Something out of Very Little. And as always, you can find all the previous PTW/PI here. Impressive Singapore The minute you land at Changi…

When it comes to inquiring about—ahem—certain products, shoppers prefer the inhuman touch. That is what we found in a study of consumer habits when it comes to products that traditionally have come with a degree of embarrassment—think acne cream, diarrhea medication, adult sex toys, or personal lubricant. While brands may assume consumers hate chatbots, our series of studies involving more than 6,000 participants found a clear pattern: When it comes to purchases that make people feel embarrassed, consumers prefer chatbots over human service reps. In one experiment, we asked participants to imagine shopping for medications for diarrhea and hay fever. They were …