We've got hair, yes we do

Hair product startup Mayvenn looks to give the hair-extensions industry a makeover after it raised $23m.

The Hustle

Mayvenn raises $23m to give the hair extension industry a new ’do

Mayvenn, a startup that sells and affixes hair products, raised $23m to extend its hair care business. By catering to black women, a demographic traditionally underserved by the beauty industry, Mayvenn has already made $80m in revenue.

Now Mayvenn is on track to keep growing rapidly while empowering black entrepreneurs to capitalize on the multibillion-dollar hair industry.

This hair is having a good business day

More than $6B of hair-care products are sold in black communities across America every year. But Diishan Imira, Mayvenn’s CEO, noticed that “90% of the [entrepreneurs who make and sell extensions] are owned by people not in the community.”

So, Imira partnered with hairstylists, offering a 20-25% commission for selling and putting in Mayvenn hair products.

This partnership model gave Mayvenn a massive distribution network. But it also helped stylists share in the hair fare: So far, Mayvenn has paid out more than $20m to its growing network of stylists.

Have your hair and wear it too

Initially, Mayvenn just sold the hair itself, meaning hairstylists sold hair and its attachment separately. But that was expensive (often $250 for hair and another $250 for attachment).

So Mayvenn adjusted its pricing model. By selling both hair and styling as a bundle, Mayvenn cut costs for customers 40% and increased business for its stylists.

But by cutting costs, Mayvenn also extends its lead over the only significant competitor trying to share the hair: AliExpress.

Keeping hair clean in a messy global supply chain

For now, Mayvenn has a lead over AliExpress, which sells hair but doesn’t attach it (Mayvenn does both for the same price). But as Mayvenn grows, it will have to work hard to make sure it sources its hair ethically.

Across much of the world, the hair industry is tangled in ethical knots: In some communities in India, poor women are forced into virtual hair-slavery to earn enough money to survive.

Hopefully Mayvenn, which now has $36m and the backing of hair-vangelists such as Serena Williams and Andre Iguodala, can improve the global hair business starting at its roots.

Bobbin’ and weavin’

What the outcome of the midterms means for tech

The Democrats took the majority in the House of Representatives, and the Senate remained firmly in the hands of the Republicans, which means the power struggle between the two chambers of Congress got even more real after Tuesday’s midterms.

Here’s what the outcome of the much-buzzed-about Tuesday election could mean for big tech:

The good…

With the chambers deadlocked, it will be much more difficult for Big Tech’s critics to push through much-threatened regulations on the industry’s ads and business practices. In other words, the wild west of the tech space may roam untamed until 2020.

The bad…

There are some regulations that Big Tech desperately wants to pass, like a federal privacy bill that would pre-empt a “much tougher bill” set to go into effect in California by 2020.

The Senate also added a few more notable tech-skeptics to the justice league:

Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn, who proposed net neutrality, and Missouri’s Josh Hawley who, as former Missouri attorney general, opened antitrust and data privacy investigations into Google, Facebook, Uber, and Equifax.

The ugly…

Axios reports that the split Congress also means “profitable status quo” will likely continue in the healthcare sector.

Case in point: the dialysis industry. Last week we wrote about the US’ two dialysis giants and their $111m mission to defeat a California ballot measure aimed at capping their profits.

Welp, mission accomplished — and DaVita and Fresenius saw their stocks go up 11% and 9%, respectively.

By raising $750m in debt, Musk boldly steers SpaceX toward the financial frontier

SpaceX announced yesterday that it is looking for a partner to give it $750m of another type of rocket fuel: cold, hard cash.

After discussing a $500m loan with Goldman Sachs months ago, SpaceX has upped the ante and put a new bank in the cockpit: Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

One small loan for Musk, one giant valuation for SpaceX

SpaceX raised $500m at a valuation of nearly $27B earlier this year, proving venture capitalists in private markets are willing to invest in the moonshot company’s interstellar ambitions.

The company has raised more than $1.9B from VCs and varied investors, and SpaceX’s finances are looking better than ever (its market share of commercial space launches rose from 45% to 65% this year).

So the question is: Why would SpaceX take out expensive debt when it doesn’t need to?

Elon Musk hates haters

Recently, Musk’s erratic tweets have caused short-sellers to send stock in his companies tanking, causing headaches in the short term.

So while the company still doesn’t need to take on debt, it’s taking out bank loans because they are more private than normal funding — and harder to short.

LL Cool J & Ice Cube might be trying to purchase some local sports TV stations

According to TMZ Sports, lyrical-legends-turned-respected-businessmen LL Cool J and Ice Cube have paired with jewelry tycoon (and billionaire) Carolyn Rafaelian to quietly court 22 different sports stations left on the market after the Disney-21st Century Fox merger.

Fox’s free agents

Just as Walt Disney Co. was about to reel in its $71B fish (AKA, a collection of 21st Century Fox assets), the Justice Department said they would only approve the deal if Disney agreed to sell Fox’s 22 regional sports networks.

Disney was granted 90 days from its closing date with Fox to sell all 22 networks, including YES (a network that holds the rights to New York Yankees games) and Fox Sports West (rights holder for many LA-based sports teams).

LL and Cube aren’t the only ones looking to get in the mix

The multi-hyphenates are up against some stiff competition, with private equity firms Apollo Global and the Blackstone Group, as well as media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcast Group.

YES network is arguably the biggest get of the lot, as Disney reportedly wants $5B to $6B for the Yankees affiliate, and for a total package deal, Disney is aiming in the $15B to $25B price range.

There might just be a way to bring your cubicle-quitting fantasies to life…

Here’s the deal — your side hustle may not need to be your side hustle much longer, if you have the right tools.

But that’s never gonna happen when you’re wasting valuable time dealing with paperwork, trying to organize payments, or correcting spelinlg spelling mistakes on a client invoice.

So, how do you take your small-scale operation into big biz territory?

One word: FreshBooks.

Small biz management, paperwork, and accounting made simple

If it sounds surprisingly straightforward, that’s because it is. FreshBooks is the #1 cloud accounting software for small, service-based businesses, and they’re here to help yours thrive.

With the right tools (like FreshBooks), you’ll spend less time on paperwork and more time on your priorities… and if we know one thing, it’s that spending your free time wisely is how great hustles are born.

They’re built to start with you and grow with you, so that one day you can finally tell Big Boss Man to stuff it and live that long-awaited corporate walk-out fantasy.

If you like the sound of that, give their 30-day trial a try totally free. After that, it’s only $15 a month to stick with it. You’ll thank us some day.

Supercharge your side gig → things you should…

SADDLE: Up for Red Dead Redemption 2, $59.99

It’s been a looong time coming, but the most rip-roarin’, debauchery-fuelin’, weekend-consumin’ open-world adventure is back. Step into the boots of Arthur Morgan and explore the vast reaches of the wild west as you hunt, ride, and stick up everything in sight as a member of the notorious van der Linde outlaw gang.

EARN YOUR SPURS →

WELCOME: Your friend’s adorable newborn with the ugly truth, $16-$22

Wondering what to get your friend/family/coworker for their baby shower? Look no further than this painfully honest wall art from Subversive CrossStitch. And because you buy the supplies and stitch it yourself, it’s technically homemade… which means bonus points come party time.

BOW BEFORE THEM →

FOLD: Your smartphone in half, Starting at $1,318

The Royole Flexpai is the first smartphone you can fold in half (without breaking). Cut that 7.8 inch screen in two and tuck it into your pocket without a second thought. Most of all, get it because we just want to see one in action.

YOGA FOR YOUR PHONE →

WATCH: Your brainwaves as you meditate with Muse, $159

The future is now, people. Muse: the brain sensing headband is an EEG device that measures and guides your focus in real-time during meditation. What’s that mean for you? The ability to improve your meditation practice and hone your mind into that of a Zen master with precision accuracy. Get 20% off the original Muse headband with code HUSTLEMUSE.

THE SOUND OF ONE ‘BAND CLAPPING →

HOLD: Conference calls that don’t suck with Highfive, Start a trial

The Hustle team looks forward to just two things: Thursday company lunch and Friday all-hands with Highfive video conferencing. Highfive brings us all together from across the country in glorious HD-video and crystal clear audio with just one click — no frozen faces, tin-sounding microphones, or PIN-code anxiety.

OKAY LOVE YOU, BYE! →

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