Crowded DTC Categories, Forbes Challenges Substack, Thirteen Lune Funding, Blue Origin Space Tourism, Gumroad Lean Operations, Bold Commerce Raises $35M, AMZN Robo Taxi
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DTC Categories Are Getting Crowded. Can The Fascination Help Brands Stand Out?
“It’s validation for your brand that you can’t manufacture yourself,” said The Fascination cofounder Matt Hayes.
Cofounder Matt Hayes told Retail Brew that appearing on The Fascination should create “validation for your brand that you can’t manufacture yourself.”
Brands selected to appear on The Fascination told Retail Brew the site's take on the content 🤝 commerce intersection is valuable for...
Spreading out sales: “ We truly believe that the [...] adoption of e-commerce buying habits that we saw in 2020 is permanent,” said Bryan Edwards, cofounder and co-CEO of fragrance brand Snif.
Exclusive: Forbes launches massive expansion of paid newsletters
Forbes will hire 20-30 writers with big followings to help get the platform up and running.
The ad revenue share will be based on page views and recurring visitors, says Forbes' Chief Content Officer Randall Lane.
All the revenue comes with the guaranteed minimum of a full-time Forbes salary and benefits, as well as legal support, editorial guidance, copy editing, and fact-checking assistance.
Existing Forbes staffers are eligible to apply to launch newsletter on the platform, but Lane notes that the company is specifically looking for "people who already have a big following in their area of expertise."
Thirteen Lune Raises $1 Million, Invested by Sean Combs, Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts
The online platform sells Black- and brown-owned beauty brands.
“Through this capital that we raised, $1 million with our friends and family, and as we kick off our seed round, this is directed to the development and growth and scale of the site,” said Patrick Herning, who cofounded the company with Nyakio Grieco.
Entertainer and entrepreneur Combs echoed similar thoughts in a statement: “I believe in the Thirteen Lune mission to build generational wealth for Black and brown business owners.
The company, which has been growing its team — a mix of experienced advisers as consultants and Gen Z industry newcomers — officially launched in December, creating a “unique, inclusive, disruptive, important vehicle” for the brands and their founders, Herning said.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin aims to fly first passengers on its space tourism rocket as early as April
Jeff Bezos' private space company Blue Origin aims to carry its first passengers on a ride to the edge of space in a few months.
Blue Origin's prior mission NS-13 flew in October, after being delayed from September due to a power supply issue – and it also came after a nine-month hiatus between flights.
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin on Thursday completed the fourteenth test flight of its New Shepard rocket booster and capsule.
CNBC has learned that NS-14 also marked one of the last remaining steps before Blue Origin flies its first crew to space, with Thursday's flight the first of two "stable configuration" tests.
Founder and CEO Sahil Lavingia shares why he implemented this way of not working and how the company's productivity shot up because of it.
Because there are no standups or "syncs" and some projects can involve expensive feedback loops to collaborate, working this way requires clear and thoughtful communication.
Gumroad engineer Nathan Chan says, "I produce more value for my time than at any other company in my career, and I'm able to fully participate in parenting and watching my kiddo grow up."
This may include breaking down a large shipment (like Gumroad Memberships) into its atomic parts, planning the schema associated with a new feature, or writing up a Help Center article.
Bold Commerce raises $35 million CAD Series B backed by OMERS | BetaKit
Bold Commerce is hoping a $35 million CAD ($27 million USD) Series B round will help it become the platform to power commerce anywhere and everywhere.
In a recent interview with BetaKit, Bold Commerce CEO and co-founder Yvan Boisjoli claimed Whitecap and Round 13’s decision to follow-on showed “a lot of trust and faith” in the startup.
The startup works with omnichannel merchants on e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, and the company’s dynamic pricing model allows it to maximize its profit from every customer regardless of size, separating Bold from most software developers.
“Increasingly, that [point of interest] goes beyond the online shopping cart or in-store sales terminal to include product pages, social channels, in-store kiosks, connected IOT devices, voice commerce and more,” the CEO explained.
Watch: Amazon's Self-driving Robotaxi
A video explaining Amazon;s self-driving electric Robotaxi.
The carriage-style vehicle offers bi-directional driving capabilities and four-wheel steering, and is 3.6 meters long, which allows manoeuvring through compact spaces and changing directions without the need to reverse.
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