Kevin Ford has never called in sick over his 20+ years working at Burger King. Management thanked him with a goody bag including a movie ticket and some candy. Ford earnestly posted his gratitude on TikTok — but the internet got pissed on his behalf, feeling he deserved more. And he got it: A GoFundMe for Ford has received $400k+.
In today’s email:
Anxiety: A mounting health crisis yields a formidable industry.
Firetrucks’ best fiends: Driverless cars are creating chaos in SF.
Who’s your No. 1? Revisiting the idea of a fantasy CEO draft.
Around the Web: Instant ramen history, a PDF modification tool, a unique baby giraffe, and more.
👇 Listen: Howalleviating stress can mean big business for brands.
The big idea
Don’t stress, our anxiety is big business
As anxiety diagnoses spike, businesses offering everything from expensive wearables to cheap fidget toys see an opportunity.
2023-08-25T00:00:00Z
Sara Friedman
Is your desk littered with discarded fidget spinners, coloring books, and maybe even some slime?
If so, you’re probably an American consumer — and you’re not alone.
With anxiety disorders affecting 40m US adults (19% of the population), and young people even more likely to experience mental health symptoms, alleviating stress means big business for brands.
And companies aren’t shying away from the challenge:
Wearables like Apollo Neuro ($349), Muse (~$294), and Sensate ($299) promise to track and reduce stress.
Coloring books, weighted blankets, and fidget toys of all kinds are sold as much-needed distractions.
Supplements made with ingredients like ashwagandha, melatonin, and CBD are peddled on social media as sleep aids and anxiety cures.
While there’s no shortage of products guaranteeing to keep us calm, the anxiety industry has little regulatory oversight and the FDA doesn’t approve supplements.
Then why do these things sell?
Because consumers will try just about anything to relieve their mounting stress. And, importantly, because it’s not easy to get help.
A shortage of mental health workers and inferior insurance coverage means waitlists and costs are piling up, making mental health services out of reach for many.
Though telehealth businesses are trying to fill the void:
The app Headspace has a range of content for managing anxiety, and its corporate offering, Ginger, brings the service to employees at enrolled companies.
Platforms like BetterHelp, Talkspace, and Lyra connect users with mental health services online.
Plus, if talk therapy doesn’t work: There’s lots of VC funding and research flowing into the startups looking to treat mental health disorders with psychedelics.
TRENDING
Subway, America’s largest sandwich chain, has many new stepsiblings after a ~$9.6B acquisition by Roark Capital. Eating through the private equity firm’s portfolio would be the best stomach ache of your life — it includes Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, Dunkin’, Baskin-Robbins, Cinnabon, and The Cheesecake Factory.
SNIPPETS
Today in AI: A Washington Post analysis found 1k+ companies across numerous industries discussed AI in their quarterly reports this summer, compared to 40 between 2015 and 2016.
Is the AI boom all hype? Nvidia’s earnings suggest not: The chipmaker reported $13.5B in Q2 revenue, bringing its market cap to a record $1.25T.
Then again… after Nvidia’s earnings came out, one analyst said Nvidia would be the “most important company to civilization” over the next decade, so we may not be out of the overhyped weeds yet.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s new free 24/7 news service, CNN Max, will debut Sept. 27 on Max. This comes ~16 months after the company shut down CNN+.
Fast-fashion team-up: Shein will acquire ~33% of Forever 21 operator Sparc Group, which will acquire a minority stake in Shein. The move expands Shein’s US presence, while Forever 21 will sell some items via Shein’s website.
Malaysia Airlines flight 370 may have drifted further south than expected, per a report analyzing barnacles found on airplane debris that washed ashore on an island near Africa. The plane disappeared in 2014.
T-Mobile will eliminate ~5k positions, representing ~7% of its workforce. Cost-cutting efforts are also underway at rival wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon.
Chart
Olivia Heller
Where there’s smoke, there’s an autonomous vehicle blocking a fire
GM’s Cruise and Google’s Waymo are all over San Francisco streets, much to first responders’ displeasure.
2023-08-25T00:00:00Z
Ben Berkley
San Francisco is on the cutting edge of driverless vehicle tech. One group isn’t pleased about it, perNPR — the city’s first responders.
Two weeks ago: Regulators greenlit GM’s Cruise and Google’s Waymo robotaxi expansion in SF, allowing them to serve live, paying customers 24/7.
Opposed but overruled: the city’s police and fire departments, which cited dozens of incidents where self-driving cars interrupted rescue operations.
One week ago: Right on cue, a Cruise vehicle collided with a fire truck en route to an emergency. (Regulators halved Cruise’s active fleet, pending an investigation.)
Run through emergency tape, straight into downed electrical wires.
Forced a firetruck to back up and reroute to a blaze.
Entered an active fire scene, then parked on top of a fire hose.
Blocked firehouse driveways. Twice.
Neither company has offered a reason why their vehicles have responded this way, per NPR.
Waymo claims its cars are designed to identify, and yield to, emergency vehicles, among other built-in precautions — like a 24-hour hotline to connect first responders and Waymo staff.
But every second counts in an emergency, and SF Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson says firefighters “cannot be paying attention to an autonomous vehicle when [they’ve] got ladders to throw.”
Things may get more unwieldy soon
Cruise and Waymo has asked the California Public Utilities Commission, which dismissed San Francisco’s first responders’ concerns, to weigh in on expanded testing in more cities, including Los Angeles.
SFFD fields ~160k calls per year; LAFD responded to 505k+ calls last year.
Trust the LA residents behind this newsletter: The city’s drivers need no help making the roads absolutelyimpossible for emergency vehicles.
Free Resource
Free brand design generator
We wish aesthetics mattered less, but people just can’t seem to forget excellent color combinations.
Fortunately, free tools like this DIY branding kit exist to help you manifest the mood that best suits your consumers. This logo creator comes with thousands of customizable icons, fonts, and color schemes.
With the first pick in the CEO draft, The Hustle selects…
Earlier this week, we checked in on Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, who is riding the AI boom to higher esteem, including our praise as a solid first pick in any CEO draft.
What’s that? With fantasy football draft season upon us, we started musing about a fantasy boardroom game (and how that might even work).
Fantasy football is about compiling a team that puts up the best stats; any hypothetical fantasy CEO draft would then be about execs who can generate shareholder-pleasing numbers.
Whichever leader you believe could best step into any generic company and take it to a historically great next quarter — that’s your top pick.
So, who are we taking with the No. 1 pick in our draft? (Sorry in advance, Satya.)
Juliet selects Yvon Chouinard
“He recently retired, but I’d take the ex-Patagonia CEO because he seems like a mostly chill guy who just wants to hang out in nature. Would it make shareholders happy? Depends on their goals. Would it make anyone who always plays a Druid in ‘D&D’ happy? Yes.”
Ben selects Craig Jelinek
“The Costco CEO has led a well-oiled, rotisserie chicken-fueled $237B machine for the last decade — one Bloombergcalled the ‘cheapest, happiest company in the world.’ No frills, well-treated employees, a famously homicidal stance on maintaining a $1.50 hot dog combo? Love that energy; it’d get the job done anywhere.”
Sara selects Dr. Lisa Su
“The CEO of Advanced Micro Devices is my pick. She transformed a struggling business into a thriving one, deeply understands her company’s products as an engineer herself, and was a badass the first woman to become the world’s highest-paid CEO (we love to see it).”
Mark… is trading his top pick?
“CEOs are overvalued. I would trade my pick for capital to hire other workers and use AI for my CEO.”
How about your pick? Tell us who you’d take and why, and we’ll report back on any game-changing picks.
AROUND THE WEB
🍜 On this day: In 1958, Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin Food Products, marketed the first package of precooked instant noodles in “Chikin Ramen” flavor.
🦒 That’s interesting: A reticulated giraffe was born without spots at the Brights Zoo in Tennessee. An extremely rare occurrence, the last time this happened was in Tokyo in 1972.
It must suck to be an air conditioner repairman. You spend your day working in buildings that have no AC. When it’s fixed and finally cool, you leave.SOURCE
Look at that! You’re on your way to the top of the food chain.
You seem like the kind of person who knows how to work a network. And now you’ve landed an opportunity to snag some business class aromatherapy.
Get {{5-contact.referral_count}} more referrals and you’ve got yourself a Hustle candle. Let us help you set the mood and bring some positive vibes to your workspace.
You’re just {{5-contact.referral_count}} referrals away. The candle awaits.
Look at that! You’re on your way to the top of the food chain.
You seem like the kind of person who knows how to work a network. And now you’ve landed an opportunity to snag the desk plant you never knew you needed.
Get {{15-contact.referral_count}} more referrals and you’ve got yourself a Hustle branded clover grow kit. If you want something to grow, you must water. Practice your nurturing abilities with this custom Hustle clover grow kit and grow your referrals at the same time.
You’re just {{15-contact.referral_count}} referrals away. Desk plant nirvana awaits.
Look at that! You’re on your way to the top of the food chain.
You seem like the kind of person who knows how to work a network. And now you’ve landed an opportunity to snag the desk organizer of all desk organizers.
Get {{25 – contact.referral_count}} more referrals and you’ve got yourself a Hustle-branded organizer, to hold your gadgets and give your desk space a breath of fresh air.
You’re just {{25 – contact.referral_count}} referrals away. The desk organizer awaits.
Look at that! You’re on your way to the top of the food chain.
You seem like the kind of person who knows how to work a network. And now you’ve landed an opportunity to organize all those stray cords floating around your desk.
Get {{50 – contact.referral_count}} more referrals and The Hustle tech organizer is yours. It’s clean, compact, and all you need to make sure your technology life support is closeby.
You’re just {{50 – contact.referral_count}} referrals away. The tech organizer awaits.
Look at that! You’re on your way to the top of the food chain.
You seem like the kind of person who knows how to work a network. And now you’ve landed an opportunity to snag the prestigious Hustle backpack.
Get {{100 – contact.referral_count}} more referrals and it’s yours. Carry your laptop, gym clothes, Coca Cola’s secret recipe, or whatever you feel like. Walk around with the crew on your back!
You’re just {{100 – contact.referral_count}} referrals away. A new bag awaits.
Look at that! You’re on your way to the top of the food chain.
You seem like the kind of person who knows how to work a network. And now you’ve landed an opportunity to snag some new tech.
Get {{250 – contact.referral_count}} more referrals and you’ve got yourself a Zoom Glow-up kit. This kit will include a Blue Yeti mic, Logitech camera, and a Lume Cube light. This is the perfect set-up to make every video recording and Zoom meeting feel like an Oscar-quality production. Keep climbing.
You’re just {{250 – contact.referral_count}} referrals away. The Zoom upgrade awaits.
Well, well. Look who climbed the ladder. We’re so proud.
You seem like the kind of person who knows how to work a network. And now you’ve got an opportunity to bag The Hustle’s grand prize.
Just {{500 – contact.referral_count}} more referrals and you’ll get yourself a ticket to Inbound 2023, the most bodacious business conference in the industry. You could rub shoulders with moguls, or catch a keynote next to your favorite YouTuber. Get your hustle on for a shot at maximizing your network.
You’re just {{500 – contact.referral_count}} referrals away. The final boss awaits.
We use cookies to make the Hustle website a better place. Cookies help to provide a more personalized experience and relevant advertising for you, and web analytics for us. To learn more about the different cookies we're using, check out our Cookie Settings. For further information, check out our Cookie Policy & our Privacy Policy.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__hssc
30 minutes
This cookie keeps track of sessions.
This is used to determine if HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie.
It contains the domain, viewCount (increments each pageView in a session), and session start timestamp.
__hssrc
session
Whenever HubSpot changes the session cookie, this cookie is also set to determine if the visitor has restarted their browser.
If this cookie does not exist when HubSpot manages cookies, it is considered a new session.
It contains the value "1" when present.
__hstc
6 months
The main cookie for tracking visitors.
It contains the domain, utk, initial timestamp (first visit), last timestamp (last visit), current timestamp (this visit), and session number (increments for each subsequent session).
_ga
6 months
The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gat_gtag_UA_58267113_7
1 minute
This cookie is set by Google and is used to distinguish users.
_gat_UA-58267113-7
1 minute
This is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It appears to be a variation of the _gat cookie which is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites.
_gcl_au
3 months
Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
_gid
1 day
Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress
30 minutes
This cookie is set by Hotjar. Used to detect the first pageview session of a user.
_hjFirstSeen
session
This cookie is set by Hotjar. Identifies a new user’s first session.
Used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions.
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample
30 minutes
This cookie is set by Hotjar. Set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by the website limit.
_hjIncludedInSessionSample
30 minutes
This cookie is set by Hotjar. Set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit.
_hjSession_1955701
30 minutes
This cookie is set by Hotjar. Holds current session data.
Ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session.
_hjSessionUser_1955701
1 year
This cookie is set by Hotjar.
Set when a user first lands on a page.
Persists the Hotjar User ID which is unique to that site.
Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID.
_omappvp
6 months
The _omappvp cookie is set to distinguish new and returning users and is used in conjunction with _omappvs cookie.
_omappvs
20 minutes
The _omappvs cookie, used in conjunction with the _omappvp cookies, is used to determine if the visitor has visited the website before, or if it is a new visitor.
_omra
6 months
This cookie is set by OptinMonster. Used to store interaction and conversion data for campaigns in conjunction with Revenue Attribution.
hubspotutk
6 months
This cookie keeps track of a visitor's identity. It is passed to HubSpot on form submission and used when deduplicating contacts.
It contains an opaque GUID to represent the current visitor.
om-wip10afyetrnlu70kibe
1 month
Used to determine if a visitor has been shown a campaign by the slug
sailthru_content
1 year
This cookie is set by Sailthru. Tracks recent pageviews for all visitors, and can be used to populate a new user profile.
sailthru_pageviews
30 minutes
This cookie is set by Sailthru to tracks the number of page views for each user.
sailthru_visitor
1 year
This cookie is set by Sailthru. The cookie contains an id that is used to identify a user’s pageviews within a session.
test_cookie
15 minutes
The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_clck
1 year
This cookie is set by Microsoft Clarity. Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site, on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
_clsk
1 year
This cookie is set by Microsoft Clarity. Connects multiple page views by a user into a single Clarity session recording.
_cq_check
Session
This cookie is set by CHEQ AI Technologies. Used to monitor the technical information and use of devices that connect to our website to protect it from malicious traffic.
_cq_duid
3 month
This cookie is set by CHEQ AI Technologies. Used to monitor the technical information and use of devices that connect to our website to protect it from malicious traffic.
_cq_suid
Session
This cookie is set by CHEQ AI Technologies. Used to monitor the technical information and use of devices that connect to our website to protect it from malicious traffic.
_fbp
3 months
This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
_lc2_fpi
2 years
This cookie is set by LiveIntent. A random, unique, device identifier, stored as a 1st party cookie, to enable targeted advertising
_li_dcdm_c
session
This cookie is set by LiveIntent. The domain name where the _lc2_fpi cookie was stored
_tt_enable_cookie
13 months
To measure and improve the performance of your advertising campaigns and to personalize the user's experience (including ads) on TikTok.
_tt_sessionId
13 months
To measure and improve the performance of your advertising campaigns and to personalize the user's experience (including ads) on TikTok.
_ttp
13 months
To measure and improve the performance of your advertising campaigns and to personalize the user's experience (including ads) on TikTok.
_twclid
30 days
This cookie is set by Twitter. It is used for tracking and personalization purposes, such as remembering a user's preferences and activity on the site.
_uetsid
1 day
This cookie is set by Microsoft Advertising. It contains the session ID for a unique session on the site.
_uetvid
13 months
This cookie is set by Microsoft Advertising. UET assigns this unique, anonymized visitor ID, representing a unique visitor. UET stores this data in a first-party cookie.
AnalyticsSyncHistory
1 month
Linkedin sets this cookie. Used to store information about the time a sync took place with the lms_analytics cookie
ANONCHK
10 minutes
This cookie is set by Microsoft Clarity. Indicates whether MUID is transferred to ANID, a cookie used for advertising. Clarity doesn't use ANID and so this is always set to 0.
auth_token
5 years
This cookie is set by Twitter. It is used for authentication purposes, to keep the user logged in to their Twitter account.
bcookie
1 year
This cookie is set by LinkedIn. Browser Identifier cookie to uniquely identify devices accessing LinkedIn to detect abuse on the platform.
bscookie
1 year
This cookie is set by Linkedin. Used for remembering that a logged in user is verified by two factor authentication.
cg_uuid
1 year
Sets a unique ID for the visitor that allows third-party advertisers to target the visitor with relevant advertisements. This pairing service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitates real-time bidding for advertisers.
CLID
1 year
Identifies the first-time Clarity saw this user on any site using Clarity.
fr
3 months
Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
guest_id
1 year
This cookie is set by Twitter to identify and track the website visitor.
guest_id_ads
1 year
This cookie is set due to Twitter integration and sharing capabilities for the social media.
guest_id_marketing
1 year
Used to detect whether a user is logged into Twitter.
lang
Session
This cookie is set by Linkedin. Used to remember a user's language setting to ensure LinkedIn.com displays in the language selected by the user in their settings.
li_gc
6 months
This cookie is set by Linkedin. Used to store consent of guests regarding the use of cookies for non-essential purposes.
lidc
24 hours
Linkedin sets this cookie. Used To facilitate data center selection.
lidid
2 years
This cookie is set by LiveIntent. A random, unique, device identifier, stored as a 3rd party cookie, used to enable targeted advertising
muc_ads
2 years
Collects data on user behaviour and interaction in order to optimize the website and make advertisement on the website more relevant
MUID
9 months
This cookie is set by Microsoft Advertising. Identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. These cookies are used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes.
personalization_id
2 years
This cookie is set due to Twitter integration and sharing capabilities for the social media.
SM
session
This cookie is set by Microsoft Clarity. Used in synchronizing the MUID across Microsoft domains.
SRM_B
1 year 24 days
This cookie is set by Microsoft Clarity. Identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites.
UserMatchHistory
1 month
Linkedin sets this cookie. Used for id sync process. It stores the last sync time to avoid continually repeating the syncing process.
X-AB
1 day
This cookie is set by Snapchat. This is a tool used to combine or change content on the website. This allows the website to find the best variation/edition of the site.