👋 Throw your hat in the ring this week. Especially if you live in Kyle, a town in Saskatchewan, Canada, where there are currently no candidates running for mayor and an election coming up on Nov. 13.
🎧 On the pod:Goodbye, corporate ladder? Why fewer Americans want promotions.
NEWS FLASH
🌿 As weed goes mainstream, the thrill is gone for teens: Marijuana use among US adolescents has dropped considerably since 2011, according to a new study. Back then, 23.1% of high school students reported active drug use; in 2021, the number had dropped to 15.8%. Researchers say wider weed availability and lowered perceived risk may be to blame for the behavioral change. Business is still booming — annual US sales are expected to hit ~$40B this year and the industry employs 440k+ people — even if perpetually stoned parents made it uncool.
🍝 A star is born: Sauce brand Rao’s Homemade is getting its own float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Campbell’s Co. is looking to grow Rao’s, which it acquired last year in a $2.7B deal, into a $1B brand with a little help from the iconic holiday event — 28.5m viewers tuned in last year. Will a 30-foot-high “pasta knight” wielding a cheese-grater shield and slaying a dragon help solidify Campbell’s as more than a soup company? It certainly works for us.
🍦 The moment we’ve all been waiting for: Manufacturing company Taylor has long owned the rights to fix McDonald’s McFlurry machines, resulting in often-busted equipment and disappointed customers. But last week, the US Copyright Office granted a copyright exemption that will allow third parties to bypass digital locks and repair commercial restaurant equipment.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
Immersive tech company Cosm is partnering with the NFL to produce and distribute football games at its 360-degree domed venues, which will broadcast games on 12K+ LED screens and can hold ~700 attendees.
Apple can’t sell its iPhone 16 in Indonesia because it fails to meet requirements that 40% of smartphone materials be locally sourced. Business Insiderreports that the ban may not impact sales — despite Indonesia’s 280m+ citizens, the nation only accounted for 0.01% of smartphones Apple sold in 2023.
The AI bubble will apparently never burst: AI startup Sierra, which works with corporations to personalize their AI customer-service agents, is already raising at a $4.5B valuation; it was unveiled this year.
TOOLBOX
Make this week count with a healthy dose of inspiration — and tactical tips — from around our media network.
Riding the news cycle, making memes, and founders who tweet: Polymarket is a politics prediction market and a case study in using current trends to power your marketing strategy.
An epic success:Listen to the story of one man’s rise from janitor to tech billionaire.
Build your satellite brain: It sounds cool because it is — tune in for tips on using AI to boost your productivity and creativity.
THE BIG IDEA
Satellite-gazing does not sound as fun as stargazing
“Space junk” is a big problem that won’t go away, even once it starts falling on us, and all that clutter in our celestial attic is causing problems for astronomers.
As it turns out, it’s hard to observe space when there’s a bunch of stuff in the way.
It’s about to get worse…
A company called AST SpaceMobile recently deployed five satellites named BlueBird, each of which is 693 square feet when fully unfolded.
That wingspan makes them the largest commercial communications arrays in orbit, perGizmodo.
The company’s satellites are brighter than everything but Venus, Jupiter, our moon, and seven actual stars.
Fully deployed, they’re visible to the naked eye.
An ominously named startup called Make Sunsets is cutting right to the chase by blocking out the sky entirely.
The company aims to combat climate change by releasing sulfur dioxide into the air to reflect sunlight away from the planet.
Many detractors have called out problems with this (have you seen Snowpiercer?), including the fact that it would block out the sky.
Then there’s Starlink, a fixture of space drama, which has so many satellites in orbit that they’re blocking radio signals.
Forget seeing, that makes it hard to detect nonvisible things, like black holes.
Interference from the thousands of satellites in orbit, ~6k of which are Starlink’s, could also make it harder to track asteroids and other objects that those of us on Earth would really prefer to avoid.
And that’s just some of what’s blocking our view
As of 2021, there were 10k+ space-centric companies, and while they’re not all launching stuff into the final frontier, the average number of annual launches has nearly doubled over the last decade.
Barring some intervention, there will come a point when it is genuinely hard to see the stars. Our solution? Start putting some nice bay windows on existing satellites.
Start that side hustle: Here are 100 fresh ideas to help you start building ASAP. We’re pretty sure you’ll find a gig that fits.
Did a prospect finally answer the phone? Don’t blow it. Learn these 10 common mistakes to avoid when cold calling to close the deal.
DATA POINT
Halloween’s MVP is a 12-foot-tall skeleton. Home Depot’s $300 Skelly, introduced in 2020, is one of the retailer’s most popular products. The chain has sold 4x as many Skellies in 2024 as it did in 2020.
The massive decoration is thriving as Halloween spending surges. US spending on Halloween decorations, specifically, is projected to increase 42% from $2.6B in 2019 to $3.8B in 2024, perBloomberg.
Skelly’s success has supersized the Halloween decor market: Target introduced an 8-foot Lewis the Pumpkin Ghoul in 2023, as well as an 8-foot skeleton named Bruce and 70-inch pumpkin this year. Lowe’s offers 12-foot scarecrows and 10-foot reapers.
And, if your 12-foot Skelly looks a little lonely, Home Depot added a 12-foot grim reaper and 7-foot Frankenstein to its lineup. Plus, there’s always next month: The retailer also sells an 8-foot Santa and an XL reindeer.
AROUND THE WEB
⬇️ On this day: In 1929 — AKA Black Tuesday — the New York Stock Exchange crashed, kicking off the Great Depression.
⌛ That’s interesting: This website shows notable figures who were alive at the same time.
🗞 Female Startup Club: Subscribe for a closer look at a Black Friday strategy that sold 250k units in 24 hours.
