What's on Your Mind?

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” This timeless insight from renowned 20th-century Austrian-America management consultant Peter Drucker is especially relevant for startup leaders who aim to build something that stands the test of time. In today’s digital economy, global expansion has never been easier—yet many tech founders are still focused on an initial geographical market. While starting with that thinking may seem practical, failing to embed a global mindset from the get-go can limit long-term potential. The reality is, startups that delay international thinking face tougher roadblocks later—scaling infrastructure, product-market fit, cul…

In summer 2019, Bob McDonough took a full stack web development coding bootcamp at the University of Pennsylvania. An English-turned-telecommunications major in college, McDonough had been working at a bar while sending out job applications for positions he barely wanted. Most paid below $50,000 a year, an undesirable salary for a 27-year-old in Philadelphia. McDonough says his “degree really wasn’t doing it” for him. “So, I figured I’d add a certificate to stack my résumé,” he says. What McDonough was doing was upskilling—the practice of learning new skills or sharpening old ones to attain maximum desirability in the job market. While taking this web dev course,…

Launched in September, Overdrive, has taken an unconventional approach to harm reduction. Founded by Brian Bordainick, who also started emergency contraception company Julie and acne patch company Starface, the company has used its playbook of taking a fun, edgier branding approach to drugstore products—in this case testing kits for fentanyl and for seeing if a drink has been spiked— to appeal to a newer generation of consumers. Unlike sterile, medical-looking drug testing kits, Overdrive’s are designed to stand out with industrial-themed packaging that resembles a cigarette carton. It’s all in the service of turning lifesaving testing into less of a buzzkill on a nig…

A new TikTok trend, set to a snippet of Charli XCX’s “I Think About It All the Time” featuring Bon Iver, sees users, particularly Gen Z women, sharing lists of “propaganda” they’re not falling for in 2025. One list, shared by TikTok creator Lxyzfbxx, includes the “clean girl look,” “the normalization of OF [OnlyFans],” and “preventative Botox,” among other things. Another user listed “organic deodorant,” “Teslas,” and “mouth tape” among the modern-day propaganda. A third user included “push-up bras,” “being anti-sunscreen,” and “branded sweatshirts.” A fourth took aim at “working,” “a 9-5,” and “employment.” From social media trends to beauty standard…

Chances are, you or someone you know has been the target of a scam. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reported scams cost Americans more than $12.5 billion in 2024—a 25% increase from the previous year. But as scams grow more sophisticated, so do their opponents. A growing number of online vigilantes are flipping the script, turning the scam on the scammers—and racking up millions of views in the process. Mashable’s Chris Taylor recently spoke to a few who’ve turned scambaiting into full-time work. Rosie Okumura got into scambaiting after her mother was tricked out of $500 by a pop-up on her computer. Now, she channels her acting skills—mimicking we…

Many of us have heard of “boomerang employees”—someone who leaves a company and later returns—but there’s a newer version showing up in the workplace: the layoff boomerang. Maybe you’ve seen it yourself. A coworker disappears after a round of cuts, only to show up again a few months later. Same desk. Same job. Sometimes even a bigger paycheck. According to research done by Dr. Andrea Derler at workforce analytics firm Visier, 5.3% of laid-off employees now get rehired by the same organization after a layoff. But the most surprising part isn’t the number—it’s that it’s been happening for years. We just didn’t know. “What surprised me the most was that …

Brazilian meat giant JBS came a step closer Friday to its long-held goal of trading its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s minority shareholders voted to approve the company’s plan to list its shares both in Sao Paulo and New York, casting aside opposition from environmental groups, U.S. lawmakers and others who noted JBS’ record of corruption, monopolistic behavior and environmental destruction. JBS Global CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said the outcome showed shareholders were confident in the benefits a dual listing would bring. The company said before the vote that listing shares in the U.S. would boost its global profile and attract new investors. …

Gen Alpha, the youngest generation of active consumers in the market, are teetering on the onset of teen angst. For many of them, an unavoidable trigger of it will be those pesky hormonal-triggered breakouts. It’s a moment for the skincare industry to once again swoop in and offer tweens and teens a smorgasbord of problem-skin creams, gels, patches and facemasks treatments. That part hasn’t changed for generations of consumers. What’s evolved are the strategies brands are using today to reach the youngest of them. Previous generations of teens, for instance, would see ads for acne brands in glossy magazines, newspaper inserts, on TV during Nickelodeon commercial b…

North Dakota is the 11th state in the U.S. with a measles outbreak, logging its first cases since 2011. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s confirmed measles case count is 935, more than triple the amount seen in all of 2024. The three-month outbreak in Texas accounts for the vast majority of cases, with 702 confirmed as of Tuesday. The outbreak has also spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks—which the CDC defines…

Despite a weekslong multinational crackdown, scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border are still operating with up to 100,000 people working there, the top police general leading Thailand’s operations against the fraud compounds told Reuters. Thailand is fronting a regional effort to dismantle scam centers along its borders, which are part of a Southeast Asian network of illegal facilities that generate billions of dollars every year, often using people trafficked there by criminal gangs, according to the United Nations. Based on early assessments of some of the 5,000 people pulled out of sprawling scam hubs in Myanmar’s Myawaddy area, hundreds went there volunta…

Substack and Patreon are vying to become creators’ primary revenue stream. For most influencers, payouts from platforms like Meta or Google aren’t enough to build a sustainable career. Rather than spending their days hawking products, many creators are turning to direct fan support, and two companies dominate that space: Patreon and Substack. Patreon’s latest move targets streamers. Its native livestreaming feature, currently in demo and set for a broad rollout this summer, could attract gamers and broadcasters alike. But Substack beat them to it, launching a similar live video tool just three months earlier. As the two platforms expand their offerings, the rivalr…

Many brands take advantage of Mother’s Day to sell more products, like flowers and cupcakes. But 50 companies, including workwear label M.M. LaFleur, framing startup Framebridge, and stroller brand Bugaboo, are joining forces to draw attention to America’s lack of federal paid leave. Across the country on Saturday, May 10, the nonprofit MomsRising, the Paid Leave for All campaign, and 50 brands are hosting pop-ups in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Nashville; Hoboken, New Jersey; and Cleveland, offering more than $100,000 in donated goods and services. The idea is to help new moms by giving them things like formula, breast pumps, clothing, and strollers…

Anthropic, Menlo Ventures, and other AI industry players are betting $50 million on a company called Goodfire, which aims to understand how AI models think and steer them toward better, safer answers. Even as AI becomes more embedded in business systems and personal lives, researchers still lack a clear understanding of how AI models generate their output. So far, the go-to method for improving AI behavior has focused on shaping training data and refining prompting methods, rather than addressing the models’ internal “thought” processes. Goodfire is tackling the latter—and showing real promise. The company boasts a kind of dream team of mechanistic interpretabilit…

Fashion designers from across North America are bringing together inspiration from their Indigenous heritage, culture and everyday lives to three days of runway modeling that started Friday in a leading creative hub and marketplace for Indigenous art. A fashion show affiliated with the century-old Santa Fe Indian Market is collaborating this year with a counterpart from Vancouver, Canada, in a spirit of Indigenous solidarity and artistic freedom. A second, independent runway show at a rail yard district in the city has nearly doubled the bustle of models, makeup and final fittings. Elements of Friday’s collections from six Native designers ran the gamut from silk paraso…

George Arison is telling me about a hookup. Arison, the 47-year-old CEO of the LGBTQ dating app and social network Grindr, recalls an encounter with a man who ranked low in physical chemistry—“it was in my bottom quartile of hookups,” he says, as if reviewing a spreadsheet of them—but high in intellectual compatibility. That bottom-quartile hookup is now a good friend of his. To Arison, the story illustrates how meaningful relationships can grow from the random connections Grindr facilitates. And if Grindr’s short time as a public company is any indication, solid financials can too. It’s been a rough stretch for dating apps. Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hing…

Want to enjoy your job a little more? Maybe you need a BFF at work. According to Gallup, having a best friend at work increases job satisfaction, innovation, engagement, and productivity, and it decreases your chances of leaving the company. But can that friend ever be your boss? “You may think, If I’m going to have a friend at work, shouldn’t it be the CEO? Why not go for the top and get the most benefits from the friendship?” says Steve McClatchy, author of Leading Relationships: Build Meaningful Connections, Eliminate Conflict, and Radically Improve Engagement. “Gallup is telling us that we should have a best friend at work, but it doesn’t say that best friend shou…

As the old folklore goes, if you are feeling extra tired and cranky this week, the upcoming full moon might be to blame. And while you definitely won’t turn into a werewolf, there is some data to suggest the old folklore is true, even if the scientific research on the topic is limited: A 2013 sleep study found that during a full moon, participants spent 30% less time in deep sleep and lost out on 20 minutes of slumber on average. However, skywatchers are in for a treat this weekend, even if they may be missing a little sleep, as a full moon will rise on Saturday night. Here’s what to know about the full moon, and how best to see it. What is the name of the full mo…