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The Ford Pinto. New Coke. Google Glass. History is littered with products whose fatal flaw— whether failures of safety, privacy, performance, or plain old desirability—repelled consumers and inflicted reputational damage to the companies bringing them to market. It’s easy to imagine the difference if these problems had been detected early on. And too often, businesses neglect the chance to work with nonprofits, social enterprises, and other public interest groups to make product improvements after they enter the marketplace or, more ideally, “upstream,” before their products have entered the crucible of the customer. For companies and consumer groups alike, this is a …

Most email apps have strong opinions about what your inbox should look like. Notion Mail is the opposite. The new offshoot from productivity app Notion is all about flexibility. It lets you slice and dice your emails however you want: group them by date, create dedicated sections for specific contacts, add notes, or even turn your inbox into a list of action items. There’s also an AI labeling feature that can automatically sort things like package updates or health-related messages. It can feel overwhelming at first—but so can Notion itself. That hasn’t stopped the productivity platform from amassing 100 million users, with use cases ranging from simple note-taking to com…

When meeting clients, I make one promise—to see the world as it could be. That’s not a bad message right now. It’s a pretty weird world out there. The volatile political and socio-economic landscape can make us all feel like things are going to hell. And in the slightly less real world of marketing and advertising, that’s even more the case. The challenges of any agency or client team continue to escalate. Instability abounds. Then there’s the issue of client loyalty, reduced scopes, tighter timelines, and the not-so-secret plan of AI to take everyone’s jobs. And then the cynicism comes. As we know, misery loves company, so soon—if you want to find it—it can turn…

Within three months of becoming CEO of the Honest Company in 2023, Carla Vernón slashed 25% of its eco-friendly goods. That seems tame in comparison to what happened when Brad Charron joined Aloha as CEO in 2017: He killed off every product category. Now on the other side of major rebrands and company pivots, these CEOs say there wasn’t necessarily a playbook to follow when they joined their respective companies as outsiders. While assuming the role of turnaround CEO proved difficult—and not one either would like to undertake again—there are many lessons learned, which they shared during a discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. When Charron was initially ap…

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here. Blade Runner wasn’t so far-fetched after all In Blade Runner 2049, Ryan Gosling’s Officer K has a live-in girlfriend named Joi, played by Ana de Armas. The two interact like a real couple—they share familiar banter and seem to have a history together. But Joi is a hologram, projected from ceiling-mounted emitters in K’s apartment. She’s not human; she’s an advanced form of spatial computing—a future-facing concept we’re already seeing the early stages of today. The “AI girlfriend” (or boyfriend) …

Arborists are turning vacant land on Detroit’s eastside into a small urban forest, not of elms, oaks and red maples indigenous to the city but giant sequoias, the world’s largest trees that can live for thousands of years. The project on four lots will not only replace long-standing blight with majestic trees, but could also improve air quality and help preserve the trees that are native to California’s Sierra Nevada, where they are threatened by ever-hotter wildfires. Detroit is the pilot city for the Giant Sequoia Filter Forest. The nonprofit Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is donating dozens of sequoia saplings that will be planted by staff and volunteers from A…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Back in the housing frenzy of 2021, homeowners were bombarded with inquiries from eager investors looking to see if they were open to selling. The outreach came in all forms—text messages, postcards, phone calls—and often felt relentless. Redfin data shows that in Q4 2021, investors scooped up 94,715 U.S. homes, a 51% jump from the 62,581 homes they purchased in Q4 2019. But that investor-driven surge—powered by rock-bottom interest rates, pandemic stimulus, and the remote work boom—began to fade as the Federal Reserve pivoted to fighting inflati…

Visit just about any downtown on a weekend and you will likely happen upon a farmers market. Or, you might grab lunch from a food truck outside a local brewpub or winery. Very likely, there is a community-shared kitchen or food entrepreneur incubator initiative behind the scenes to support this growing foodie ecosystem. As rural America gains younger residents, and grows more diverse and increasingly digitally connected, these dynamics are driving a renaissance in craft foods. One food entrepreneur incubator, Hope & Main Kitchen, operates out of a school that sat vacant for over 10 years in the small Rhode Island town of Warren. Its business incubation pro…

Branding is design. It’s the logos, typefaces, and design systems that bring a company to life. But it’s also strategy. A rebrand can reveal the priorities, motivations, and aspirations of a company if you look beyond the logo. In a recent conversation for FC Live, Fast Company‘s design editors Liz Stinson and Mark Wilson explored the true impact of branding through the lens of some of the biggest branding moments from the past year. If you missed the subscriber-only event, you’re in luck. You can catch the whole conversation in the video above. View the full article

If the tariff-triggered drop in your 401(k) balance has got you sobbing into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, you’re not alone. U.S. and global markets have yo-yoed in reaction to the current administration’s inexplicable tariff wars. And since this market downturn is a direct result of American foreign economic policy, we may not be able to just wait for a recovery in the next few months (or years). While there’s no promise of fiscal unicorns and rainbows at the other end of this, economic history may offer some guidance. The Smoot-Hawley Tariffs None of us has ever lived through a tariff-triggered market crash, which is part of the reason why we’re all chewing ou…

Customer retention is more than a buzzword—it is a proven driver of sustainable growth and profitability. Sounds like common sense? Think again. Customer churn is on the rise. Yet, while many organizations recognize the value of keeping customers, far fewer appreciate the full spectrum of losses that arise when performance is merely “good enough.” The hidden costs of unremarkable customer experience—lost profit margins, missed cross-sell opportunities, shorter customer lifespans, fewer referrals, and reduced purchase volumes—can quietly erode the bottom line. These losses are often multiplied by the ripple effects of customer complaints or service failures, which ex…

Influencers, how many late payments are you waiting on? Odds are, more than one. Influencer marketing is a booming $10 billion industry, but for creators, inconsistent cash flow remains a major pain point. Brand budgets shift, campaign timelines change, and payments can take months to land. For many influencers who rely on brand deals as their main source of income, financial instability is the norm. According to the Wall Street Journal, fewer than 13% of online influencers earned more than $100,000 last year—while nearly half made $15,000 or less. A fintech startup called Alchemy wants to change that. Founded by Isaac Wagschal, the company has launched a $100 mil…

Fans of Joann have one last chance to grab fistfuls of fabric, yarn, and other critical sewing supplies before the ill-fated retailer closes for good—but time is running out. The beloved brand, which has been winding down operations after seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a second time, will close its last remaining stores at the end of May, meaning this is the last full weekend that they will be open for business. A spokesperson for GA Group, the asset firm that took control of Joann in February, shared the list of locations with Fast Company. It includes 444 stores in 45 states. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, Joann had roughly 800 locations, bu…

As one of the world’s leading charity auctioneers and a seasoned keynote speaker for companies like Goldman Sachs and Google, I have spent 80 to 100 nights on stage every year for over two decades. Since I am typically one of the last people to take the stage at a fundraising event, I have watched countless people in various stages of panic just moments before they go on stage. After they find out my role, I usually receive a predictable set of rapid-fire questions from upcoming speakers in the hopes that some last-minute tips from a pro can help them do more than keep from passing out when they hit the stage. Here are five things I tell people in the final moments bef…

In 2034, Salt Lake City will join a short list of cities that have hosted a Winter Olympic Games twice, joining the likes of Turin and Innsbruck. But unlike in any Olympics of the past, skiers and bobsledders may glimpse a surreal sight overhead as they compete—flying air taxis. Though still nine years away from the Opening Ceremony, aviation company Beta Technologies sees the state of Utah as a proving ground for its electric planes. As competitors focus on major cities like New York and Los Angeles, Beta has inked a deal with Utah to start exploring transportation solutions across the very rural state. The Beehive State had a confluence of benefits for Beta, including…

The current AI boom reminds me of the dot-com era, which I watched unfold from venture capital in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Lots of hype. Eye-watering investments. Genuine transformative potential. Most conversations about AI today focus on the obvious value, productivity, and efficiency gains. That’s real, but it’s the shallow end. The deeper potential is something else entirely: ending the linear take-make-waste economy and with it, our reliance on fossil fuels. For half a century, the global economy has run on a simple, destructive model. Extract finite resources from the Earth. Manufacture mostly disposable products. Throw away. Repeat. Petroleum into pa…

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s workplace advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How can I improve my team’s morale? A: Team morale isn’t an extra or a “nice to have.” It’s critical to a functioning company. And it’s not looking good out there. According to the latest Gallup report, only 36% of employees say they feel engaged at work. That means 64% of employees are feeling some degree of unhappy at work. Low morale can take a lot of different forms—from feeling less enthusiastic, less motivated, or less satisfied with work, all the w…

One of the things that I love about working for myself is that I don’t need to ask anyone’s permission before making a decision. If I want to make a change, I go for it, on whatever timeline makes sense for me. But the freedom of solopreneurship can be a double-edged sword. Since you don’t need approval from other people, nothing is stopping you from chasing every shiny tool, course, or strategy that promises to solve your problems. The ability to say no to distractions is an underrated skill for solopreneurs. There’s a difference between making strategic decisions and letting yourself be pulled in a million directions. You need to master the former and resist t…

A recent Society for Human Resources Management study found that 47% of employees with invisible chronic conditions—illnesses or disabilities that limit activities and functions but lack visible symptoms—have not disclosed their conditions to their employers. When I first read this statistic, I wasn’t surprised. In a world where the majority of people with invisible disabilities fear discrimination and stigma should they disclose, where is the incentive to do so? I am part of the 53% who has disclosed her invisible illness to her employer, and fortunately received support, empathy, and understanding as a result. Without a doubt, privilege is at play here. I’m a white,…

This week, genomics and biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences unveiled genetically engineered canines—named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—that it calls dire wolves, a species of wolf that went extinct 13,000 years ago. The company, which has raised $437 million from investors and is valued at $10.2 billion, created the animals by editing the DNA of existing gray wolf cells to include traits from long-extinct dire wolves (like fluffy white fur and big size). It then developed embryos using cloning technology and implanted them into a female dog. Critics immediately disagreed with Colossal’s de-extinction claim, saying that the creatures, which were incubated and birth…

Have you seen the new Volvo ad made with generative artificial intelligence? Go ahead. Watch it. . . . I’ll wait. If you think it looks awful, you’re not alone. The physics are all wrong, with hair, sand, and objects going in the wrong direction at the wrong time. The humans look like they’re made of plastic. Their emotions are forced, their expressions deformed, their smiles anything but warm. Instead, they likely fill you with an uncanny Grand Canyon of dread. The lighting is artificial, too—no film, digital camera, or grading would produce that unnatural palette. Some people are saying that Volvo made a mistake by not putting a car in the ad, obviously not rea…

Coral reefs are vital to the health of the oceans, but in recent years they’ve been decimated by climate change, pollution, and overfishing. While this has been widely covered, a new documentary sheds light on the groundbreaking efforts to restore these fragile ecosystems, and the scientists and communities working to bring them back to life. Reef Builders showcases the work of the Sheba Hope Grows initiative, part of one of the largest coral reef restoration efforts globally, led by Mars Sustainable Solutions. Sheba, a cat food brand owned by global conglomerate Mars Inc., has been supporting reef restoration through its Hope Grows program since 2019. Th…

The Lamborghini of baby strollers is literally a Lamborghini. Luxury carmaker Automobili Lamborghini is getting into baby gear by partnering with the British nursery brand Silver Cross for a limited-edition stroller called the Reef AL Arancio. Just 500 of the strollers will be made and each comes with a numbered edition plaque. Silver Cross calls it a “super stroller,” and it retails for about $5,000. [Image: Silver Cross] The stroller’s design borrows from the Lamborghini’s foundations, Silver Cross says, with an automotive-inspired brake pedal, hand-finished handlebar, and high-performance suede with Italian leather details. It comes with a high-gloss polycar…