You’re cordially invited to get the F back to work

Today, the gig economy caters to cooks-on-demand and the nose-diving market for drones isn’t what investors planned, but first…

Happy Back-to-Labor Day!

Just because you haven’t gone in to work in days doesn’t mean business news took a vacation. Here are some highlights you may have missed: 

Cooks on demand are the newest members of the gig economy

Food delivery workers were original members of the on-demand workforce, but now startups — including Pared and Instawork — are connecting line cooks with gigs at restaurants that need skilled chefs at the last minute. 

There’s a tourism boom in Georgia 

No, not that Georgia — we’re talking about the tiny European country, where tourism increased from 100k visitors in 1996 to 6.5m in 2016. How? The post-Soviet government attracted English teachers, issued more travel visas, and secured World Bank funding.

As high-flying expectations crash, investors say: ‘Hold the drone’

In the past decade, 25 drone startups have closed their doors — despite the fact that VCs invested more than $2.6B in drone startups between 2012 and 2019. What went wrong? Supply chain issues and stiff regulation grounded most companies before they could take off.

Well-to-do parents are giving rise to Slumber Party Inc.

More than 20 different companies across the US sell high-end slumber party packages to parents. Companies with names like “WonderTent” provide everything from personalized eye masks to organic cotton bedding and charge from $300 to thousands of dollars. 

Manny Pacquiao launches a cryptocurrency 

The Filipino boxer-politician-entrepreneur’s new cryptocurrency, the “pac,” will enable fans to buy merchandise by exchanging secure digital tokens. Pacquiao isn’t the first celebrity to try something strange to monetize his fanbase: See the Kylie Jenner app or the Jeremy Renner app. 

Google will pay at least $150m to settle an FTC investigation

The Federal Trade Commission found that YouTube (which is owned by Google’s parent, Alphabet) was guilty of violating children’s privacy law by targeting minors with manipulative ads. 

‘Worker deserts’ are popping up across the US

With unemployment rates across America at historic lows, businesses in areas of low population growth — like Iowa and New Hampshire — are struggling to find enough employees to continue operating. Some Iowa businesses are moving operations out of state where it’s easier to hire.

Kid-focused ride-sharing companies are entering the fast lane

Zum, which raised $44m in February, is expanding to 6 new cities (San Diego, Miami, DC, Phoenix, Dallas, and Chicago) as competition heats up between startups such as Kango, HopSkipDrive, Bubbl, and GoKart to become parents’ first choice for carpooling.

Welcome back to the grind

Goodbye white pants, hello Hustle Con Sale

Labor Day means two things: your white chinos are officially out, and our Hustle Con Labor Day Sale is officially on.  

That’s right — we’re chucking up 200 two-day tickets at $75 off 

The sale ends Wednesday at midnight PST, so get ‘em while you can using code SUMMERSOVER. 

Your ticket gets you access to our biggest event ever, with talks from:

1. Michael Acton Smith – Co-Founder/CEO of Calm
2. Amy Errett – Founder/CEO of Madison Reed
3. Mark Gainey – Founder of Strava
4. Kat Schneider – Founder/CEO of Ritual
5. Gunnar Lovelace – Founder/CEO of Good Money and Founder of Thrive Market
6. Toby Sun – Founder of Lime
7. Hilary Coles – Co-Founder of Hims
8. Eric Ryan – Founder of Olly & Method
9. Heidi Zak, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, ThirdLove

Score your discounted tickets →

SPONSORED

Readers went gonzo for this credit card offer from Wise Bread

So we figured we’d run it again, in case you missed it. 

Here’s the gist: Greg Go, resident credit card expert for US News & World Report and Yahoo Finance, claims this is “the best credit card he’s seen in 10 years.” 

It’s the highest paying cashback card on the market, and comes with:

• $200 sign-up bonus offer
• 3% cashback on the biggies (AKA online shopping, dining, travel, or gas) 
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• No annual fee

We may not have Greg’s credentials, but we know a good deal when it walks up to us and slaps us in the face with three-figure bonuses and sky-high cashback. Learn how to score one and start racking up the dollars:

Rack it up

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