Home › 🚌 A public transit alternative

You're viewing an email archive of The Hustle newsletter. Join free to receive the 5-minute newsletter keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop.

🚌 A public transit alternative

Sign up for the free, 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop with stories on business, tech, and the internet.

The Hustle

August 18, 2023

View Online

Dutch startup BeerMate raised $1.5m for its automatic beer-serving machines to alleviate one of humanity’s greatest troubles — long drink lines at live events — by serving up to four beers within 10 seconds. Fittingly, a music festival founder named Michiel Beers is a lead investor.

In today’s email:

Child influencers: Not paying them is illegal (in Illinois, anyway).
Ride your luck: On-demand public transit is trending up.
Weekend Reads: For your not-entirely-lazy Sunday.
Around the Web: Just a little adventure, 17 leadership principles to transform your team, birds with moves, and more.

👇 Listen: It’s bad parenting to put your kids in your content. Now it’s bad business, too.

The big idea

Illinois law makes parents pay child influencers

The egg crack challenge has “momfluencers” smashing eggs on their kids’ heads. Some children seem perplexed or amused; others break down in tears, sparking heated debate.

Since the advent of the internet, parents have been exploiting their kids for likes. Now, they’re gonna have to pay up in Illinois.

No child works for free

Because children under 13 aren’t permitted to have social media accounts — nor can they open bank accounts or sign sponsorship contracts — parents typically run the show.

Illinois’ changes to its Child Labor Law will allow people 18+ to sue if they weren’t properly compensated for content they appeared in as children, per CNN.

Qualifying content must earn at least 10 cents per view, and the child must appear in at least 30% of the account’s content over a 30-day period.
Parents must put 50% of earnings into a trust fund based on the percentage of time the child appears in the video.
So, if a child appeared in 50% of a video, they’d receive 25% of earnings.

States including California and Washington have proposed similar laws, but Illinois is the first. Some states do have laws to protect child actors, like California’s Coogan Law.

Child influencing can be lucrative

Eleven-year-old YouTuber Ryan Kaji earned his family $25m+ in 2020.
Twin toddlers Taytum and Oakley Fisher earn $10k-$20k per sponsored post, per The New York Times.

But it can also be harmful

A psychiatrist told Newsweek that embarrassing your children online can negatively impact their mental health. (This was in an article about parents throwing cheese on their kids, BTW.)

Teen Vogue interviewed a teen whose entire childhood was posted online. When she expressed wanting to stop, her parents claimed they’d have to sell their house and wouldn’t have money for “nice things.” She is waiting to turn 18 to speak out and may go no-contact with her parents.

Fun fact: Coogan Law is named for Jackie Coogan, who sued his mother for squandering his earnings from his childhood acting career. Later in life, Coogan played Uncle Fester in “The Addams Family.”

TRENDING

Indiana Jones famously hates snakes. Harrison Ford does not, and is honored to have a new Peruvian species named after him: the Tachymenoides harrisonfordi. “The snake’s got eyes you can drown in, and he spends most of the day sunning himself by a pool of dirty water — we probably would’ve been friends in the early ‘60s,” the actor said.

SNIPPETS

The Associated Press, which has a licensing agreement with ChatGPT, published its standards for AI use, including not altering media or using ChatGPT to produce “publishable content.”

Linus Tech Tips, a popular tech review YouTube channel with 15.5m subscribers, will pause amid allegations of shoddy testing and sexual harassment.

Blue Shield of California tapped Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co. and Amazon Pharmacy to save on patient costs. CVS isn’t entirely out, but its stock dropped ~9% Thursday morning.

NYC banned TikTok on government devices effective immediately, in accordance with New York state, Ohio, and Texas, among others.

Burger bucks: In-N-Out owner Lynsi Snyder claims that the average In-N-Out manager makes $180k+/year, including store profit-sharing. The average fast-food manager makes ~$63.8k.

Instacart karma: Gig workers are marking “tip baiters” — people who reduce tips after deliveries are completed — on Google Maps to warn their colleagues.

Streaming now: See how G2 became a unicorn in this short documentary following CEO and co-founder Godard Abel.

Chart

Olivia Heller

Expanding public transit, but making it more like Uber

With apologies to PB&J and Ben & Jerry’s, we can think of no duo more iconic than living in a city and spending half your day sitting in traffic.

Getting around any city is hard — and it only gets harder without a car.

Don’t even get us started on living in the countryside or deep in the suburbs without one. That sounds nearly impossible.

For the many millions of people living this reality, there may be buses that can deliver them where they need to go, but chances are it’s infrequent and indirect.

This is why demand-response transport (DRT) is having a moment.

What’s DRT?

A convenient alternative to traditional public transport systems. Rather than relying on a set route and schedule, DRT users can hail a bus via an app when they need it and share the journey with others going in the same direction, UberPool style.

DRT is on the rise. There are 200 active DRT projects in the US right now — up from zero ~10 years ago. Industry expert Lukas Foljanty told Trends that 700+ new projects have been launched globally since the start of 2020.

Local governments are switching to on-demand because it can:

Improve access in nonurban areas
Reduce emissions and traffic by replacing cars
Connect people with disabilities to the transport network
Help transport systems keep up with erratic post-pandemic commuting habits

Who’s helping them make the switch?

Software companies like Via and Liftango are moving DRT forward:

Via, a digital platform used in ~300 DRT projects — including ones with universities like Harvard, Northwestern, and NYU — has raised $887m.
Liftango modeled out DRT improvements to Auckland, New Zealand’s public transit system, helping them optimize resources. (Specifically, driving a 14% increase in ridership while reducing operating costs).

Want to get in on this emerging space? Join our pals over at Trends — they’ll loop you in on the best opportunities.

Listen Now

The business of hip-hop (ft. the founder of Trapital)

Hip-hop has always been more of a movement than just music. And rappers have always been more like entrepreneurs than just artists. Yet, only one LinkedIn Top Voice has spent the last few years decoding the moves of these moguls.

That man is Dan Runcie — who, to celebrate hip-hop turning 50 (no pun intended), joined us to sum up the business of hip-hop.

From early legends like Sugar Hill Gang and Run-DMC, to modern icons like Jay-Z and Drake, the genre’s superstars have influenced the flow of fashion, media, and culture as we know it.

This mashup of The Hustle Daily Show x Trapital just makes sense. (Hit the big red balloon below, then pass it to a friend.)

50 years of hip-hop 🎈 →

weekend reads

Welcome to Weekend Reads

In case you missed ‘em, here’s this week’s best…

Tweet: On the internet, nobody knows you’re dead inside.
Blog: Want to have your cake and eat it too? Corporate entrepreneurship combines the rush of startup culture with the security of a larger corporation.
Chart: Storage company profits and stocks have cooled from covid-fueled peaks, but are still beating the rest of the S&P 500.
Story: Papantla, Veracruz, is the birthplace of vanilla and home to some of the world’s best beans. So why are they so easy to steal?
Video: This look inside the Joy ice-cream cone empire — responsible for an astounding ~70% of cones consumed in the US — is a real treat. But fair warning: you’re gonna want ice cream after watching it.

AROUND THE WEB

🔭 On this day: In 1868, French astronomer Pierre Janssen observed helium during a total solar eclipse. Unfortunately, scientists believed neither Janssen nor English astronomer Joseph Norman Lockyer, who also spotted helium, for another 30 years.

🧠 Cure boredom: With this random trivia generator.

🚀 Blog: These 17 leadership principles will help managers transform their teams.

🌲 That’s cool: Scroll for “A Tiny Adventure.”

🐦 Aww: These birds can groove.

SHOWER THOUGHTS

Powerball winners are the heaviest taxed billionaires in the world. SOURCE
SOURCE
Lowballing is almost always frowned upon, except when guessing a 30+ person’s age. SOURCE
SOURCE
There is no reason for baby clothing to have pockets. SOURCE
SOURCE
Visiting Times Square feels like going to a dodgy website without ad blockers. SOURCE
SOURCE
There’s an extremely small chance that your dryer will finish its cycle having perfectly folded your laundry. SOURCE
SOURCE

via Reddit

SHARE THE HUSTLE

Hey. Don’t keep us a secret.

Refer just 3 people and we’ll send Hustle essentials as a thank you.

Share this custom referral link: {{contact.referral_url}}

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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.

Here’s that special link one more time:

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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 take your morning coffee to the next level.

Get {{10-contact.referral_count}} more referrals and you’ve got yourself a Hustle mug. Keep your cup warm and your workspace clean.

You’re just {{10-contact.referral_count}} referrals away. The mug awaits.

Here’s that special link one more time:

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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.

Here’s that special link one more time:

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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.

Here’s that special link one more time:

{{contact.referral_url}}

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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.

Here’s that special link one more time:

{{contact.referral_url}}

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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.

Here’s that special link one more time:

{{contact.referral_url}}

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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.

Here’s that special link one more time:

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

SHARE THE HUSTLE

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.

Here’s that special link one more time:

Your referral count: {{contact.referral_count}}

Today’s email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah.
Editing by: Ben “Refuses to ever use the word ‘kidfluencerr” Berkley.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

PODCAST	JOBS	CONTACT US

{{site_settings.company_name}}, {{site_settings.company_street_address_1}}, {{site_settings.company_city}}, {{site_settings.company_state}} 02141, US.

Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and unsubscribe.

Get the 5-minute roundup you’ll actually read in your inbox

Business and tech news in 5 minutes or less

100% free. We don’t spam. Unsubscribe whenever.

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.

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.

🚌 A public transit alternative

Sign up for the free, 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop with stories on business, tech, and the internet.