👋 Good morning. Go out and find the salad-tossing tongs of your dreams today because scientists at Imperial College London have unleashed a new creation on humanity: protein lettuce. Let's just assume this freakshow lettuce, made by combining pig genes with plant DNA (!), is the tip of the iceberg — it's now only a matter of time until we're all inundated with a protein-maxxed supercharged salad fad.
NEWS FLASH
🚁 Helicopter parenting reaches new heights: Recruiters say parents are increasingly applying for jobs on behalf of their adult children, calling hiring managers, attending interviews, and even lurking off-camera during Zoom calls. A Zety survey found 20% of Gen Z job seekers have brought a parent to an interview, while HR leaders say they've fielded calls about everything from rejected applications to performance reviews, benefits, and even calling in sick.
⚖️ How important are ethics, really?: OpenAI reportedly had just one ethicist on staff — Chloé Bakalar, formerly Meta’s chief ethicist — but the operative word there was had. Per a Financial Times report, Bakalar quietly left the company last month and sources say she has not been replaced. ChatGPT only has ~900m weekly active users — left to their own devices to agree on trust and morals, they'll probably be just fine?
💕 The whole thing Bumble is known for is no longer a thing: Dating app Bumble, which rose to prominence behind its women-make-the-first-move policy, is now allowing men to send opening messages to their matches. Losing its signature is obviously a gamble for Bumble, but can’t fault them for trying something: Dating apps are categorically struggling, and Bumble specifically cut nearly a third of its staff last year and has seen its stock tumble 57% year-over-year.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
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If you have tens of billions laying around… It probably isn’t too late to toss in on the $500B raise Nvidia just closed to build out AI infrastructure. Why let the Wall Street power players have all the fun?
- Money in, money out: A CBS News analysis found that Americans collectively got a nice raise — on average, making $1.25k per week, up $342 from 2019. Oh, but it also found that they immediately lost most of that extra cash to inflation. The 38% raise met a 30% increase in consumer costs.
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Unternehmertum… is German for "entrepreneurship" and, one must assume, an increasingly used word: The first half of 2026 saw record growth in Germany’s tech sector. More than 3k companies were launched, 52% more than the prior six months.
- No more robo boogie: Spotify added a label to identify AI artists on its platform — and profiles that bear the mark of the bot will no longer be recommended to listeners. Sorry if you're one of the weirdos who were really into ghastly slop tunes (also, are you OK?).
BE A DISRUPTER
Giants have weaknesses, too (we found 10)
We champion capitalism as much as the next citizen, but there are also megacorps and private equity powerhouses making “stealth monopolies” by acquiring the suppliers, competitors, and distribution channels in different niches.
Consider the firetruck industry, where consolidation has:
- Doubled or tripled prices in the last decade
- Caused 2-4 year backlogs for essential safety equipment
- Left departments nationwide suffering aging, breaking fleets
The silver lining for folks like you? Here are 10 golden opportunities where you can steal a humble slice of a $1B (or even $1T) pie.
We looked into recession-proof, old-guard industries like eyeglasses, vet clinics, medical equipment, commercial waste, and meat.
THE BIG IDEA
This tattoo startup is paying artists royalties and attracting brands
For the uninitiated, getting a tattoo may feel daunting.
The days when your options were a mom-heart-anchor from a burly biker or full-sleeve yakuza dragons are long gone, but you may not know where to go to get one of those sleek, tiny tattoos that your younger co-worker effortlessly rocks.
Enter: Tiny Zaps, a burgeoning startup that makes getting small tattoos easy and accessible, while also paying tattoo artists royalties, per Inc.
Now the company is attracting the attention of major brands looking to get in on the tiny tattoo trend.
How it started
Inspired by the growing trend of small, simple tattoos, Tiny Zaps co-founder Sam Kelly, who previously worked in tech, wanted to create a tattooing experience that was quick, easy, and painless — well, maybe not totally painless.
Kelly partnered with tattoo artist Bruno Levy, who had the innovative suggestion to pay artists royalties when their flash tattoo designs were used.
To reduce overhead, the pair launched a series of pop-up events before opening a permanent location in Manhattan and later Brooklyn (which includes a party room for group sessions!).
- Tattoos range from 0.25 to 2.5 inches in diameter, depending on the design, and take 10-30 minutes.
- Prices range from $50 for "freckle-size" micro tattoos to $75-$250 for tiny tattoos.
- Five tattoos earn a free $75 tattoo (like a coffee shop loyalty card)
How it's going
Tiny Zaps now partners with major brands — from Adidas and Red Bull to Kimpton Hotels and Urban Outfitters — to offer custom tattoos at pop-up events.
- Brands work with Tiny Zaps to create a custom collection of bespoke tattoo designs.
- Clients pay an activation fee, and guests receive tiny tattoos for free (nothing like a free offer, right?).
While getting inked at a brand pop-up may seem unusual, corporate logo tattoos have become increasingly popular, with Disney leading the inky pack, followed by Nintendo and Harley-Davidson. Some people are even getting crypto tattoos.
Most of Tiny Zaps' event designs, however, don't include company logos, just related imagery.
Now Tiny Zaps is challenging a South Carolina ban on face and neck tattoos, arguing the ban is unconstitutional.
Tiny tattoos not edgy enough for you? Perhaps you'd prefer an AI-driven tattoo robot from the startup Blackdot, which previously offered blockchain-stored tattoos that enable artists to receive royalties.
Let's see the burly biker try that.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
“AI bubble” is the phrase on everyone’s lips — but what actually happens if and when it pops?
NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
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Number of units at the newly opened Stacks Auto Loft, a gated luxury condominium community for car collectors located just outside of Las Vegas. Many have already been sold for prices as high as ~$1.6m — not a crazy price for a home these days, except these condos won’t be housing the actual owners of these luxury vehicles but the cars themselves. It’s the latest of several car condos to open around the US in recent years, per Business Insider.
Is it really the type of housing this country needs right now? Probably not, but it is a good solution for wealthy collectors looking to free up space at home and show off their overpriced rides to other people who might care.
HOW YOU HUSTLE
You all are always up to cool things. Here’s our weekly feature on a Hustle reader building something big.
Founder: Matt Rey
Building: BountyBay — a reverse marketplace where people post cash bounties for hard-to-find items and verified hunters compete to track them down.
Edge: Instead of browsing listings and hoping for the best, buyers post what they're looking for and pay only when someone finds a legitimate lead.
Advice: “Do something no one else is doing.”
Working on something cool? Tell us here.
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1990, the largest-ever T. rex skeleton was discovered in South Dakota.
🖼️ That’s interesting: Mapping the world’s artwork.
🎞️ Game: Name the film from one screenshot.
👁 That’s random: How long can you go without blinking?
🐱 Aww: A kitten drinking from a bottle. You’re welcome.
SHOWER THOUGHT
It's envying to see a nice house from the highway, until you realize you can see it from the highway. SOURCE
Today's email was brought to you by Singdhi Sokpo, Ben Berkley, and Danny Jensen.
Editing by: Sara "Tats all, folks" Friedman.
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