It’s been a wild 2017, friends. Since this time last year, The Hustle’s christened 2 new offices, hired 10 people, sent 260 emails, and welcomed over 500k of you aboard our pirate ship.
Now we’re settling down for a long winter’s nap, and we won’t be coming out of hibernation until January 2nd, 2018. So, we thought we’d wet your news whistle with our Greatest Hits of 2017.
Thanks for keeping us jolly. See you in the New Year.
— Lindsey Quinn, VP of Spreading Holiday Cheer
1. Who actually uses Google’s ball pits?
“Resters and vesters.” AKA, the engineers coasting by on 6-figure salaries at big tech companies, while doing virtually no work.
2. Shopify stock drops $1.5B thanks to a lone blogger
After blogger Andrew Left accused Shopify of peddling its services through get-rich-quick influencers, the e-commerce platform tanked hard. How does Left’s site, Citron Research, wield so much influence over the market?
3. The guy who brought McDonald’s to India is raging against the Mac-chine
62-year-old Vikram Bakshi first brought the Big Mac to India as a franchisee in 1996 — and McDonald’s has been trying to push him out ever since. So, what’s Notorious Vikram B been up to?
4. AI researchers fresh out of school are getting paid $500k
The world’s biggest tech companies are fighting over a small class of graduates: AI research. All-stars in the AI field are negotiating contracts like NBA players and have racked up “double-digit millions over a four- or five-year period.”
5. How the king of fake news built his empire
Over 3 years, Jestin Coler grew his website into a 100m-views-per-year fake news monolith. But was getting rich worth sacrificing his dignity?
6. A Microsoft font is scandalizing Pakistan’s First Family
The story of how Calibri — an unsuspecting little sans-serif font — somehow found itself at the center of a massive corruption investigation involving the family of Pakistan’s prime minister.
7. Billionaires’ first jobs
An analysis of the very first jobs of Forbes’ 100 richest people.
8. Anthony Levandowski wants to start a futuristic religion… seriously
The former Google/Uber exec notoriously known for self-driving cars says he is dead serious about starting a groundbreaking religion in the Bay Area — the deity of which will be highly advanced artificial intelligence.
9. Nobody wants an M.B.A. anymore
Applications to M.B.A programs in the US have fallen for a third straight year, prompting some of the nation’s leading business schools to rethink their programs… simply put, M.B.A.s just aren’t as important as they once were, and students know it.
10. How a janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
This is the true “rags to riches” story of how Richard Montañez went from cleaning toilets to inventing the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto, becoming one of the most respected execs in the food industry.
