Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Many entrepreneurs launch beauty startups because they see a glaring gap in the market. It’s only after they’ve formulated their products and launched them that they learn how incredibly difficult it is to turn a profit as a beauty business. That wasn’t the case for Tisha Thompson, founder of LYS (short for Love Yourself), a clean cosmetics brand that is inclusive to all skin tones. Since launching the line in 2021, Thompson has grown LYS’s sales to upward of $10 million. And she did so in a counterintuitive way: by building a bootstrapped brand that launched immediately into Sephora with just $500,000 in startup capital. Thompson’s success is remarkable, particul…

Many organizations are racing to build AI strategies, but too often they focus on adopting the latest tech, rather than creating the environment to support it. The reality is that lasting transformation is fueled by people, which requires companies to take a good look at their culture. At Architech, that’s exactly what we did. By prioritizing and rewarding innovation, we aligned our culture with our AI strategy—and it worked. This year, we are proud to be recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Workplaces. We are one of 10 companies globally recognized by Fast Company for excellence in AI, automation, and machine learning. Here’s how we built an award-…

For decades now, we have been told that artificial intelligence systems will soon replace human workers. Sixty years ago, for example, Herbert Simon, who received a Nobel Prize in economics and a Turing Award in computing, predicted that “machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.” More recently, we have Daniel Susskind’s 2020 award-winning book with the title that says it all: A World Without Work. Are these bleak predictions finally coming true? ChatGPT turns 3 years old this month, and many think large language models will finally deliver on the promise of AI replacing human workers. LLMs can be used to write emails and reports, summ…

“You really have to stand up for yourself.” That’s the message Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran sent loud and clear in a recent interview she gave LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. The interview is full of powerful lessons from Corcoran’s life, but one story stood head and shoulders above the rest: The time Shark Tank fired her, before she taped a single episode. Corcoran said she received a call from a woman asking her to be on a new show called Shark Tank. Ecstatic, Corcoran agreed. She immediately went on a shopping spree, buying new outfits and autograph-signing materials. “I’m going to Hollywood!” she excitedly told her friends. Then, Corcoran got a dreadf…

Wall Street pointed toward strong gains before markets opened Monday as a bipartisan deal to end the federal government shutdown gained traction in the Senate, though it lacked any clear resolution to expiring health care subsidies that Democrats have been fighting for. Rising hopes for an end to the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history pushed futures for the S&P 500 0.9% higher, while Dow Jones futures gained 0.4%. Nasdaq futures climbed 1.5% on the strength of the technology sector. Health insurers were among the losers early Monday as lack of clarity on health care subsidies clouded their futures. Sunday’s test vote began a series of procedural ma…

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…

The early darkness in most of the U.S. means that fall has set in. That also means it’s officially holiday shopping season. With the economic impact of President The President’s ever-fluctuating tariffs an open question, there’s an opportunity for shoppers to make their spending meaningful, which opens up a lane for companies that are offering something other than the e-commerce onslaught of nearly identical products that populate sites like Amazon and Walmart. What the Amazons and even Etsys of the world are currently missing is the sense of curation that defines Uncommon Goods, an online shop stocked with exclusive, offbeat items sourced from independent artisans. …

Space weather forecasters issued an alert on Tuesday for incoming severe solar storms that could produce colorful northern lights and temporarily disrupt communications. In the past few days, the sun has burped out several bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections that could reach Earth Tuesday night and early Wednesday. The potential severe geomagnetic storms could disrupt radio and GPS communications, according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. How bright the auroras are and how far south they are visible will depend on when the solar bursts get here and how they interact with Earth’s atmosphere. The vibrant displays could b…

World Labs, the AI model developer cofounded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, has released its 3D-space generating model, “Marble.” At the Marble Labs website, creators can now input text prompts, images, or videos of pieces of a real-world environment. Marble uses them to create full 3D environments, which can include interior spaces or expansive exterior ones. Marble can reconstruct, generate, and simulate 3D worlds—think of it as a type of “world model.” In an interview with Fast Company, Li describes world models as a “significant” evolution of the generative AI era. “The large world model is really a significant step towards unlocking AI’s capability,” a category she ca…

Six hundred employees just packed up their desks and quit their jobs at Paramount Skydance. The mass exodus happened after the company, formed by Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global, told employees that they were instating a five-day back-to-office mandate, set to begin on January 5. The company, led by new CEO David Ellison, let staffers know that if they didn’t plan to come back to the office, they could take a buyout deal starting on September 15. However, the media giant likely didn’t expect to be handing out quite so many severance packages. According to company disclosures filed on Monday, around 600 employees in the Los Angeles and New York …

It’s not often that headlines about customer “brawls” end up morphing into good news for a brand. But that’s arguably what’s happened to Starbucks thanks to the bungled rollout of its limited-run “Bearista” cups becoming the first new craze of this holiday season—even including good-natured copycat tributes from the likes of Aldi and Walmart. At first, the Bearista debut on November 6 seemed like a black eye. The 20-ounce glass tumbler, shaped like a cute bear sporting a Starbucks beanie, sparked immediate viral demand, with customers at some locations lining up at 3 a.m. to score one. This apparently caught the company off guard, and supplies of the $30 object ran ou…

Being the children of Francis Ford Coppola had a profound impact on the filmmaking sensibilities of Sofia and Roman Coppola, but their mother, Eleanor Coppola, may have played a larger role in nurturing their creative pursuits. “She taught me how to be in charge without being loud, and the importance of being real,” Sofia writes in her introduction to Two of Me: Notes on Living and Leaving, Eleanor Coppola’s posthumous memoir, published by A24 on November 11. Sofia and Roman convened in New York City last week for a conversation about the book and their mother, who died in April 2024 at the age of 87. One of Eleanor’s last wishes was to have Two of Me, which…

Across the country, data center demand and construction have been skyrocketing throughout 2025. And so has local opposition to those projects. From Indiana (where a developer withdrew its application to build a data center on more than 700 acres of farmland after local opposition) to Georgia (where now at least eight municipalities have passed moratoriums on data center development), residents and politicians are pushing back against the water- and energy-hungry sites. Between late March through June of this year alone, 20 data center projects, representing about $98 billion in investments, were blocked or delayed in the United States, according to a new rep…

Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 200,000 Bronco and Bronco Sport vehicles because an instrument panel can fail, increasing the risk of a crash. Federal auto safety regulators said that the instrument panel may not display at startup, leaving the driver without critical safety information. The recall includes 128,607 Ford Bronco Sports, model years 2025-2026 and 101,002 Ford Broncos, also model years 2025-2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. Ford is not aware of any injuries caused by the instrument panel failure. Owners will be notified by mail beginning Dec. 8 and instructed to take their vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln dealer…

Verizon is laying off more than 13,000 employees in mass job reductions that arrive as the telecommunications giant says it must “reorient” its entire company. The job cuts began on Thursday, per to a staff memo from Verizon CEO Dan Schulman. In the letter, which was seen by The Associated Press, Schulman said Verizon’s current cost structure “limits” the company’s ability to invest—pointing particularly to customer experiences. “We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers,” Schulman wrote. He added that the company needed to simplify its operations “to address the complexity and friction that slow us down and frustrate o…

“POV: You have a type B coworker,” TikTok creator Eric Sedeño posted last week. In the viral skit, the “coworker” rolls into the office past 10 a.m., pulling out a laptop with only 5% charge. “I went to bed at like 4 a.m. last night,” he confesses. “Seriously work is so hard today,” he complains before taking a nap on the couch. When he is working, music is blaring and he is simultaneously on Instagram Live. “When’s that big presentation?” he asks. (It’s today.) If you don’t have a type B coworker like this, it’s probably you. “Type b people EXPECT everything to work out fine for them and it always does,” one commented. “This is literally the person that ac…

Another home furnishings retail chain has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it deals with higher costs, reduced sales, a downturn in the housing market, and President The President’s tariffs. American Signature Inc (ASI), parent company of American Signature Furniture and Value City Furniture, said Sunday that it has secured $50 million in debt financing as it seeks a buyer in an auction process. Here’s what to know. What is ASI and why is it bankrupt? Founded it 1948 and based in Columbus, Ohio, American Signature Inc is the parent company of two home furnishings retail chains: American Signature Furniture and Value City Furniture. Combined, the…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. A modest rise in negative equity is emerging across parts of the U.S. housing market, but the overall picture remains far more stable than anything resembling the Global Financial Crisis. Having negative equity—commonly known as being “underwater”—means a homeowner owes more on their mortgage than the home’s current market value. According to ICE Mortgage Technology, just 1.0% of U.S. mortgages were underwater in April 2025. By October 2025, that share rose to 1.6%. That’s an uptick, but still extremely low by historical standards. For comparison, du…

Design flaws caused a Tesla Model 3 to suddenly accelerate out of control before it crashed into a utility pole and burst into flames, killing a woman and severely injuring her husband, a lawsuit filed in federal court alleges. Another defect with the door handle design thwarted bystanders who were trying to rescue the driver, Jeff Dennis, and his wife, Wendy, from the car, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Wendy Dennis died in the Jan. 7, 2023, crash in Tacoma, Washington. Jeff Dennis suffered severe leg burns and other injuries, according to the lawsuit. Messages left Monday with plaintiffs’ attorneys…

Hooboy, here we go again. Chevrolet has once more rolled out a tearjerker ad for the holidays. Created by ad agency Anomaly, “Memory Lane” follows an older couple on their annual holiday drive to the family cottage in their well-loved 1987 Suburban. The trip takes them back to holiday memories and moments of years past that helped build their family. We see the kids go from babies and toddlers to bickering back-seat siblings to near-silent teens, all on the way to meeting them again as adults. For just about any parent, this is an absolute field-goal kick to the cryballs. It’s a story that is specific to this fictional group, but a sentiment that will touch …

As the U.S. and China battle over technology, tariffs, and global influence, one question still looms for Europeans: what is Europe’s edge? That was the question recently posed by 21st Century, a Copenhagen-based think tank that collaborates with policymakers and thought leaders to explore the future of Europe. According to Johanna Fabrin, managing director and partner at 21st Century, the answer lies in the EU’s regulatory backbone—think GDPR-level data protection, rigorous environmental standards, and food‑safety rules. “From a consumer perspective, knowing that if something is made in Europe, there will not be arsenic in it, there’s that trust that is important,” s…

A shooting last weekend at a children’s birthday party in California that left four dead was the 17th mass killing this year—the lowest number recorded since 2006, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Experts warn that the drop doesn’t necessarily mean safer days are here to stay and that it could simply represent a return to average levels. “Sir Isaac Newton never studied crime, but he says ‘What goes up must come down,'” said James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University. The current drop in numbers is more likely what statisticians call a “regression to the mean,” he said, r…

Rare earths’ monopoly. Unrivaled manufacturing supply chains. Free AI models that rival, or surpass, its American counterparts. More research papers and more STEM doctorates than anyone else. If you are reading a lot about these topics lately, you know how China’s decades-long strategy to become the top global superpower—and the greatest threat to U.S. world domination—is coming to fruition. What you may not be aware of is the other crucial part of Beijing’s plans; its industrial ramp up to dominate the most crucial resource on the planet: the oceans. China’s pursuit of maritime dominance has shifted from a regional ambition to a global reality, driven by a “breakneck…

Most people say they want to live to a ripe old age. But that isn’t really true. What people really want is to live to a ripe, old age in good mental and physical health. Some of us actually get to live this dream. These folks are known as super-agers and they make it well into their 80s not just in decent physical shape, but also with minds at least as sharp as people 30 years younger. How do they manage it? That’s the question Northwestern University researchers have been aiming to answer with a 25-year-long study. It examined the brains and lifestyles of almost 300 super-agers. As you’d expect, a quarter century of data shows it really helps to be born with lu…

The numbers are in for Spotify Wrapped: After the streaming music app dropped its popular year-in-review recap for 2025, the company said it has already seen a huge increase in user engagement, hitting 200 million users just 24 hours after the recap’s release, a 19% increase year-over-year (YOY). Compare that with last year, when it took 62 hours to hit that same number. Why the uptick in user engagement? One reason could be because the platform is growing. A look at the numbers shows Spotify’s monthly active users grew 11% YOY to 713 million in Q3 of 2025, according to the company’s third quarter earnings report. Spotify Wrapped is for sharing Sharing …