What's on Your Mind?

Lufthansa announced on Monday it plans to cut thousands of workers as it aims to increase profitability and efficiency, in part by relying more heavily on artificial intelligence. The airline group said it will eliminate a total of 4,000 jobs worldwide by 2030, the majority of which will be in Germany—with a focus on administration roles, not operational ones. “The Lufthansa Group is reviewing which activities will no longer be necessary in the future, for example due to duplication of work,” the company said in a statement. “In particular, the profound changes brought about by digitalization and the increased use of AI will lead to greater efficiency in many are…

The resurgence of high-profile IPOs in 2025 shows no sign of abating—especially in the fintech space. This week, Wealthfront Corporation announced its intention to go public. Here’s what you need to know: What is Wealthfront? Wealthfront Corporation was founded 17 years ago, in 2008. It is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and is led by CEO David Fortunato. The company is one of a number of fintech firms that operate in the robo-advisor space. It offers a financial platform and dedicated smartphone app that allow users to invest in various assets, including stocks and bonds. The company also offers cash accounts and automated index investing. Wealthf…

On the heels of Starbucks’ recent announcement it will be cutting 900 corporate roles and closing 1% of its Northern American stores by the end of 2025 (after accounting for both new openings and closures), Starbucks Workers United said Tuesday that 59 of those locations marked for closure are unionized locations. Starbucks Workers United, the worker-led effort to unionize Starbucks baristas, represents 12,000 baristas in 45 states and Washington D.C., across more than 650 cafes. The closures, announced last week by CEO Brian Niccol, are part of a massive $1 billion restructuring strategy dubbed “Back to Starbucks,” aimed at turning around declining sales and bran…

Last week, two Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) LP decks leaked to Newcomer. As far as I (and Google and ChatGPT) can tell, this is only the second time ever that internal Andreessen Horowitz documents have leaked. The firm is notoriously secretive. I am much too humble and my fund is much too insignificant to seriously believe that my Substack from September 3—“Andreessen Horowitz is not a Venture Capital Fund”—and its subsequent republishing on Fast Company could possibly have annoyed the Sand Hill Road behemoth so much that it decided to leak its own LP deck for the first time in history. But you gotta love the timing. 😜 Regardless of why the decks were leaked o…

Heartwood Preserve doesn’t look like typical stormwater infrastructure. Instead of a primarily utilitarian design, this project in Omaha doubles as public art. Meyer Studio Land Architects created a series of 14 sculptural water retention basins across 500 acres of land that sit in a watershed at risk of flooding. The project is meant to be enjoyed by the public and even has features that educate about climate change. Heartwood Preserve is a winner of Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation by Design Awards. View the full article

Truly unlocking the value of AI is about more than new technology; it’s about leadership. Now that artificial intelligence is giving employees back hours of time every day, organizations must help their workers reimagine their roles beyond routine output and start contributing in ways that AI can’t. View the full article

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. It’s reshaping industries, expediting innovation, and shifting how we work at unprecedented speed. For many leaders and employees alike, that reality sparks an uneasy question: if AI can do my work, where does that leave me? The answer lies not in competing with AI, but in doubling down on what makes us distinctly, and irreplaceably, human. In my work on human leadership, I’ve explored how leaders can step into a technology-centric future without sacrificing humanity. The truth is: AI can process, predict, and optimize. But it cannot lead, inspire, or create meaning in the way that humans can. Here are five leadership skill…

Snapchat rankled some of its most loyal (and heavy) users when it announced last week it will begin charging for storage plans for Memories, its version of a digital archive for Snaps and stories. Even though the Santa Monica, California-based social media company promised that “nothing will change” for the vast majority of Snapchatters who have less than 5 gigabytes (GB) of Memories, it has yet to disclose when it will begin rolling out the paid storage plans. The company told TechCrunch that plans will range from $1.99 per month to $15.99 per month for storage plans, depending on the amount of data of Memories. At stake is the size of your Memories, and the comp…

When Scott Belsky talks about creativity, he uses words like “output” and “production.” “Creativity is the source, with the problem of mining,” says the founder, author, and early stage investor. “It requires machinery and practice and discipline and whatever else.” Belsky joined A24 as the head of A24 Labs in early 2025. Before that, he founded Behance, a global portfolio site that he sold to Adobe in late 2012. He had a long run at Adobe, serving as its chief product officer and later chief strategy officer. This month he became the newest member of the Cornell Tech Council, and has written books like The Messy Middle and Making Ideas Happen. Belsky sits at the int…

October ushers in changing foliage, cooler temperatures, and the spooky season made eerier with less daylight. Costumes are donned and even the night sky wants to help set the mood. Much to the dismay of werewolves, October’s Harvest supermoon will peak tonight (Monday, October 6) at 11:47 p.m. ET, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. Let’s break down the science behind this nighttime spectacle and take a look at future events. Why is October’s full moon called the Harvest Moon? The full moon closest to the autumnal equinox gets the moniker Harvest Moon. September’s offering took place on September 7 and the equinox took place on September 22 in the Norther…

The list of retailers that have yanked pasta products from their shelves continues to grow in the wake of a deadly Listeria outbreak. On October 4, grocery retailer Kroger Co voluntarily recalled deli pasta salads sold at Kroger-owned locations including Ralphs, Smith’s, and Fred Meyer, in addition to Kroger stores. The products were recalled due to a risk of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The recall notice was published to the website of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday. To date, no illnesses have been reported in connection with this recall. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the USDA’s Food Safety and …

Shares in AppLovin Corp were up slightly in premarket trading today after falling by double digits on Monday. The volatile movement follows a Monday report about a rumored probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which reversed the fortunes of what had been a high-growth tech stock for much of 2025. Here’s the latest on AppLovin and what to know: What was reported about AppLoving? On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the SEC was looking into the ad tech company’s data collection practices in response to a whistleblower complaint and multiple short-seller reports published earlier this year. Specifically, the regulatory agency is looking into whethe…