LeBron James is setting his sights on a different kind of title. 

Basketball’s biggest star raised $100m for a new media company that aims to uplift Black creators. 

The venture is a major move for James’ growing media empire. It highlights the emergence of a 21st century archetype — the modern athlete who converts megawatt star power into business capital. 

The King is diversifying his kingdom

Named SpringHill Co. after the apartment complex James grew up in, the company consolidates James’ media pursuits under one name. It will finance and produce projects by Black artists with diverse points of view.

SpringHill builds on James’ blueprint for the entrepreneurial athlete — already, he’s headlined talk shows on financial literacy and blockbuster movies, and opened a school for marginalized students. 

SpringHill’s board is made up of some of the sports world’s heaviest hitters, including Serena Williams and Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner. Not to mention business bigwigs like asset manager Marc Rowan and Guggenheim Partners chief investment partner Scott Minerd.

The new company is powered by a diverse staff – 64% of employees are people of color and 40% are women. 

Dunking on the dumb jock dig

James isn’t the only athlete to play ball off the court. 

Last year, Williams unveiled an investment company whose startups had an accumulated market cap of $12B.

David and Victoria Beckham control a holding company for their fashion, ecommerce, and media businesses.

And James’ fellow basketball stars Kevin Durant and Steph Curry have started media companies, too, while the late Kobe Bryant had a VC fund.

Amazon’s newest division is called the Counterfeit Crimes Unit — and no, sadly, it is not the CSI: Cyber reboot that I and 10 other people have been waiting on.

You can think of the Counterfeit Crimes Unit as Amazon’s knockoff Justice League: A group of prosecutors, investigators, and data analysts are teaming up to root out and sue the fakers.

It couldn’t have come fast enough. Amazon has an Everything-Store-sized counterfeit problem, and major brands like Nike and Birkenstock have left the site in protest.

Goods on Amazon are a black box 

The Wall Street Journal found that “thousands” of banned or unsafe products have been selling on the site. Some, like knockoff car seats, are especially dangerous. 

The problem? It’s hard to oversee all of Amazon’s third-party sellers. In the 2nd quarter of 2019, they made up 54% of all sales. 

Our Caroline Dohack dealt with Amazon fakes firsthand. Last year, she bought a Batman figurine for cheap. It turned out to be a phony, even though it was labeled as an authentic Mattel product.

Counterfeits are a PR problem  

Last year, The New Yorker reported that Birkenstock has received an onslaught of refund requests from people who bought Birkenstock knockoffs. 

There’s nothing Birkenstock can do for them, but it’s a delicate situation. If those frustrated customers blame Birkenstock, not the counterfeiters, the company says its reputation is at stake.

There’s online shopping, and then there’s “hyper real” shopping. 

Just in time for our dressed-down summer, the OTB Group — a fashion retailer that owns brands like Diesel and Maison Margiela — is launching a digital showroom that mimics its physical stores. 

Three months in quarantine have made it all too obvious that most online stores look the same — and with its Sims-like pivot, OTB wants to sprinkle on some spice.

Imagine a Minecraft server, designed like a Guess

Let’s say you’re entering Diesel’s new virtual showroom. You start in a leafy waiting room. A concierge guides you into the store. 

Using your mouse, you can steer yourself in and out of the different rooms, organized by category — one for denim, one for footwear. See a hoodie you like? You can zoom in and check the listing. 

Diesel’s new digs are a big innovation, but Diesel isn’t the only company stitching VR into its business plan: In recent weeks, virtual showrooms have hit the online fashion weeks for Stockholm and London.

Virtual showrooms are about to sweep online shopping

Footwear News reported that startups like Joor, BrandLab, and Le New Black — all of which offer virtual showroom tech — have seen “significant increased growth” this year.

But if VR shopping gives you a headache, you can always dip your toe into live streams. 

Beauty brands like Clinique are trying on a sales strategy that China perfected: Mail your new product to a famous person, ask them to stream themselves trying it on, and drop in the buy link.

Personal robots are on fire. Can I get a HAL yeah?

Roomba — your mom’s cute little disk-shaped vacuum — has gone from joker to king since the pandemic, according to Marker. At least as far as sales are concerned.

Aye, robot!

The small-and-not-quite-mighty Roomba has been around since 2002. For years the little round cleaning machines have been dooting around people’s houses, sucking up dirt and terrorizing pets. 

But since we started hunkering down at home and realizing our abodes have a lot in common with commodes, many of us are ready to rage with the machine.

No sitting around collecting dust here

A trade war with China and corona-related supply chain disruptions should have Hoovered up some of the profits — some analysts predicted losses of 30%. But iRobot, Roomba’s parent company, anticipates impressive quarterly revenue of $260m. Last year iRobot had $1.2B in sales.

Although cheaper models will run you ~$300, iRobot has reported significant sales of its deluxe s9 series, which will set you back $1k/unit.

Regardless of how much you spend, Roomba will never come close to replicating the full-service experience of the Jetsons’ best gal Rosie. 

But with many families straining to balance work, childcare, and homeschooling, outsourcing at least one task to Roomba is pretty damn appealing.

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