Rob Litterst
Contributing Writer, The Hustle

Ugly shoes are taking over the world

Footwear brands new and old are leading an ugly shoe renaissance and making billions of dollars along the way.

Rob Litterst • February 8, 2022

Olympic viewership is way down. What’s going on?

NBC paid $7.75B for the rights to air the Olympics through 2032, and it needs viewers to start tuning in.

Rob Litterst • February 7, 2022

Brands are botching Black History Month

Bath & Body Works launched a collection to celebrate the month, but has been accused of exploitation and problematic products.

Rob Litterst • February 4, 2022

McCormick is building a hot sauce empire

The 132-year-old spice behemoth thinks hot sauce could be the next ketchup – and the key to stealing the condiment crown from Kraft Heinz.

Rob Litterst • February 2, 2022

The SAT is going digital — but does it matter?

The College Board is making massive updates to the test as more schools move away from requiring entrance exams.

Rob Litterst • January 31, 2022

Science says ‘Zoom fatigue’ is real — and worse when you don’t like your face

A new study shows that people who don’t like how they look when videoconferencing are more likely to suffer from Zoom fatigue.

Rob Litterst • January 28, 2022

The dark side of ‘buy now, pay later’

“Buy now, pay later” apps pitch customers on being a safe alternative to credit cards, but many users end up where they feared they’d be with credit cards: in debt.

Rob Litterst • January 27, 2022

Peloton’s problems have gone from bad to worse

Declining demand for home fitness has caused Peloton to halt production, and shed $40B in value in the last year.

Rob Litterst • January 24, 2022

Retailers are flocking to NFTs. Why?

Different retailers are pursuing different strategies, but all of them are rooted in self-preservation.

Rob Litterst • January 21, 2022

Is Tumblr on the road back to relevance?

Gen Z makes up 61% of Tumblr’s new users, leading to a resurgence for the microblogging platform.

Rob Litterst • January 20, 2022

Artists are making millions creating digital stickers

On Line, Japan’s most popular messaging app, 4m creators have fueled a booming sticker economy.

Rob Litterst • January 18, 2022

Terms and conditions suck. The TLDR Act might help

The TLDR Act would force tech companies to break legal jargon into understandable language, and be more transparent about data collection.

Rob Litterst • January 17, 2022

Pro sports leagues are doing whatever they can to engage Gen Z

The decline of cable is leading to changes in sports consumption for young fans.

Rob Litterst • January 14, 2022

How a 10-year-old became the king of toys, and YouTube

Ryan’s World has 31m+ subscribers, making the 10-year old one of YouTube’s highest earners.

Rob Litterst • January 13, 2022

Is Brady Brand the next Jordan Brand?

Tom Brady follows in MJ’s footsteps by launching his own apparel line.

Rob Litterst • January 12, 2022

4-day workweeks are the new trend taking over tech.

Bolt, a hot ecommerce startup, is the most recent tech company to adopt a 4-day workweek after testing it out during a 3-month trial.

Rob Litterst • January 11, 2022

In digital advertising, the cookie is crumbling

Apple and Google shifted away from cookies. Now consumers are taking privacy more seriously.

Rob Litterst • January 7, 2022

Wordle is the viral daily word game you’re about to get addicted to

Wordle is a daily word game that is going viral, with 300k+ daily players just a couple months after launching.

Rob Litterst • January 6, 2022

Why pastors are turning to big data

With church attendance on the decline, pastors are turning to Big Data to help fill the pews.

Rob Litterst • January 5, 2022

Apple’s AirTag problem, explained

AirTags, Apple’s coin-sized location-tracking devices, are being used for nefarious purposes, including stalking and car theft.

Rob Litterst • January 4, 2022

Black Oxygen Organics made a fortune selling magic dirt. Then it got caught

Black Oxygen Organics, a multilevel marketing organization, made millions selling “magic dirt” before it got caught.

Rob Litterst • December 24, 2021

The houseplant community is growing like a weed

Houseplants took over the pandemic, and collectors are finding themselves in a jungle of their own making.

Rob Litterst • December 23, 2021

In the world of fast fashion, Shein is literally built different

Shein, a Chinese online retailer, has taken fast fashion by storm. Why?

Rob Litterst • December 21, 2021

Turkey’s currency crisis made bread a political issue, and bakeries are losing dough

Turkey’s currency crisis has made bread a hot-button issue, and bakeries are in the middle of the crossfire.

Rob Litterst • December 20, 2021

Autodesk’s platform play, explained

Autodesk has helped bring the industrial world into the future, but with Forge -- its cloud development platform -- it’s giving companies the tools to build the future themselves.

Rob Litterst • December 17, 2021

Pickleball is sweeping the nation, and creating a full-blown gold rush

Pickleball has spiked in popularity throughout the pandemic, with 4.2m people playing the sport in 2020, a 21% increase YoY.

Rob Litterst • December 16, 2021

Amazon’s warehouse tragedy puts its safety procedures under the microscope

An Amazon warehouse in Illinois was struck by a tornado, killing 6 people. Now, the company’s safety practices are under investigation.

Rob Litterst • December 15, 2021

Malls have long been losing steam, but it’s worse than we thought

Shopping malls have lost ⅓ of their value in the last 4 years, and could face extinction soon.

Rob Litterst • December 13, 2021

Amazon is proving there are pros and cons to being its own best customer

Amazon’s logistics unit has made the company indispensable this holiday season, but AWS outages could ruin the fun.

Rob Litterst • December 10, 2021

There’s a cream cheese crisis — and bagel shop owners are panicking

There’s a cream cheese shortage, and bagel shop owners are struggling to find supply.

Rob Litterst • December 8, 2021

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