Innehållsförteckning för May/June 2020 från Fast Company

As I compose this editor’s note from my home “office”—a writing desk in my bedroom, my laptop propped up by my college copy of The Riverside Chaucer in a feeble attempt at ergonomics—the future is unsettling. Hospitals and healthcare workers expect to be overwhelmed with coronavirus cases, and entire sectors of the economy are shut down, which has led to millions of layoffs. Some beloved local businesses, unable to weather this storm, surely will close their doors forever. Yet we at Fast Company are still finding reasons to be optimistic, a sentiment that’s reflected throughout this issue. The cover image of tidying expert Marie Kondo, along with senior writer Elizabeth Segran’s sprightly profile, can’t help but (forgive me) spark joy. A feature about the employees at corporate messaging platform Slack, who…

THE WOMEN IN EMERALD FENNELL’S projects have one thing in common: vengeance. The London-based writer, director, and author, who first gained recognition as an actor on PBS’s Call the Midwife (and recently played Camilla Parker Bowles on Netflix’s The Crown), has served as the showrunner and head writer for the second season of Killing Eve, and will soon be making her feature directing debut with Promising Young Woman. The genre-busting thriller, starring Carey Mulligan as a medical school dropout on a quest to make people pay for a past crime, is deeply subversive, which makes Fennell’s next project all the more intriguing: She and Andrew Lloyd Webber are in the process of reimagining Cinderella for the London stage. What was your inspiration for Promising Young Woman, which deals with the…

More than 585,000 customers—from local businesses to the world’s largest enterprises—rely on DocuSign to make executing contracts, leases, and other agreements simpler, faster, cheaper, and paper-free. And the eSignature pioneer adds to its track record of innovation with the Agreement Cloud, a suite of applications and integrations that automates how companies prepare, sign, act on, and manage agreements. This integrated cloud platform makes it easier for customers to handle every aspect of those agreements—and it helped the company land the No. 5 spot on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list in the Workplace category. THE DOCUSIGN LOVE STORY “You tell someone you work at Docu-Sign and most people—and I really mean most—will say, ‘I love Docu-Sign,’” says CEO Dan Springer. He and the team call the feedback “love stories.” Hundreds…

Finland’s oldest company, Fiskars, is known for its trademark plastic orange - handled scissors. Now it’s entering the world of high fashion, with a clothing and accessory line in collaboration with fashion and print designer Maria Korkeila coming out in spring 2021. With adaptable and durable design details, the 11-piece collection was made with functionality in mind. One jacket has a detachable hem, hood, and sleeves, and a tool belt can be converted into a fanny pack. (From $10.99, fiskars.com)…

Instagram @BLVCKVRCHIVES This account, run by Renata Cherlise, features photos of black life across the decades, many of them taken by regular folks of regular folks doing regular things. Twitter @SOLEDADOBRIEN Liberated from the faux neutrality required by main-stream media, Sole-dad O’Brien has become a critic of the failings of political media in the age of Trump. Podcast IN THE DARK, BY APM REPORTS A serious investigative series that reveals impressive reporting chops, excellent production, surprising twists, and stories of heart-wrenching injustice. TV Show FORENSIC FILES A lot of the “science,” such as blood spatter analysis, has been debunked, but this show is my go-to when I am on the road and alone in my hotel room at night.…

At Kieran Timberlake, invention is organic. The firm tackles tough design problems, and in doing so, discovers new ways to advance architecture. Some of its well-known projects include the U.S. Embassy in London, designed to embody the pillars of democracy while ensuring security and sustainability, and a multi-use building for New York University designed to foster new ways to work and learn. For more than three decades, Kieran-Timberlake has cultivated a “culture of inquiry,” in which firm members at all levels ask questions at every juncture in a never-ending pursuit to do things better. Sometimes, project work leads to meaningful research or the creation of new tools. The firm’s leadership believes in sharing those developments for the good of the industry. DEEP-ROOTED BELIEFS Founders Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake credit…

Developing treatments and vaccines for some of the world’s deadliest diseases is challenging work, yet Merck has been doing it successfully for nearly 130 years. The secret is, in part, a common mission. Everyone at Merck, from scientists and researchers to engineers, clinical experts, sales-people, and quality assurance experts, are guided by a common mission: save and improve lives. Over the years, Merck has contributed to some of the most important scientific advancements in the history of medicine, including early work in antibiotics, game-changing cardiovascular treatments in the 1980s, critical drugs for HIV in the 1990s, and decades of meaningful research in vaccines, oncology, antimicrobials, and animal health. And, the legacy marches on. Merck is number one on the Fast Company list of “most innovative” businesses in the biotechnology category,…

A new label will soon start appearing on products you see in stores: “Climate Neutral Certified.” Climate Neutral, a nonprofit launched in 2019, helps brands measure their carbon footprints, offset them by investing in vetted pollution capturing projects, and make long-term plans to reduce emissions. Once a company goes through the process, it can print the label on its packaging—a symbol the nonprofit hopes will become as ubiquitous as the USDA organic label. Because calculating a corporate carbon footprint can be a pricey, complex process for brands, Climate Neutral also created a new digital tool to make it simpler. “We wanted to democratize the process of carbon counting and demystify it,” says CEO Austin Whitman. “For many companies, just starting to understand where their carbon emissions come from is a…

1981 Schulman joins AT&T as an account executive in New Jersey Bell’s marketing division. 1984 Before publishing Iacocca: An Autobiography, by Lee Iacocca (1), editors had to remove dozens of four-letter words from this best-selling Detroit tell-all by the famed auto executive. 1986 Schulman graduates from NYU Stern with an MBA. 1987 Trump: The Art of the Deal, by Donald J. Trump (2), is released. “If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big,” the future president opines in an autobiography that the New York Post called “chatty” and “generous.” 1992 Schulman is promoted to group product director for toll-free 800 services. 1994 CEOs should build for the long-term, writes Jim Collins in Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (3), but simultaneously hold themselves to…

MARCH 9, 2020, was always going to be a big day for Slack. The Monday after the start of daylight saving time in the United States brings the U.S. and Europe an hour closer together, and the extra hour of workday overlap between the two continents has traditionally resulted in a jump in simultaneous users on the digital messaging platform. But that Monday, something unexpected happened. Concerns about the coronavirus had been taking hold the previous week across the United States. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google began to tell employees to work from home. Stanford University canceled in-person classes. South by Southwest called off its Austin festival completely. MGM postponed the launch of the 25th James Bond movie from Easter to Thanksgiving. Its title: No Time to Die. “We expected…

On Privacy.com, shrouding your online shopping habits sounds easy: Enter your debit or bank account information, and the website generates a virtual debit card. This so-called burner card acts as a buyer by proxy, keeping your name and billing address out of view. Simply type its number, expiration date, and CVV code into any e-commerce site, hit purchase, and Privacy takes over. The service charges your actual card, adds those funds to the burner one, and uses the new card to do the actual shopping. The promise is appealing. The card can be configured so that retailers can’t tack on any additional charges, such as an automatic subscription fee. If the retailer’s site gets hacked, you just ditch the burner and move on. And if anyone involved in the transaction…

Five years ago, Christina Cassotis stepped in as CEO of Allegheny County Airport Authority, which owns and operates Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). She didn’t take the role to run an airport. She joined to change an industry and advance the region. Pittsburgh is an industrious, techsavvy, and collaborative place, where companies, nonprofits, universities, and government agencies come together to move the city forward. PIT reflects the city ethos by launching innovative programs that earn Pittsburgh International attention and elevate the traveler experience. These initiatives leverage community partnerships, global alliances, and local resources and reflect an innovative culture that permeates the entire organization. INNOVATION VALIDATION Fast Company recognizing PIT on its Most Innovative Companies list validates PIT’s commitment to purpose-driven innovation. Its mission is to not only fulfill its role as…

Shiverton Hall and The Creeper Fennell wrote these two YA novels, published in 2012 and 2014, respectively, which follow the mis-adventures of a group of friends attending a haunted boarding school. Monsters Her 2016 adult novel was about two disturbed children obsessed with a serial killer in their seaside vacation town. The Crown Fennell appeared in the third season of Peter Morgan’s acclaimed Netflix drama as Prince Charles’s self-possessed, miniskirt-wearing girlfriend Camilla Shand (later, Parker Bowles). She is set to return for season 4. Killing Eve Taking the reins from her friend (and the BBC America series’ creator) Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fennell was the head writer and show-runner for the assassin drama’s second season. She received an Emmy nomination last year for her work. Promising Young Woman Fennell’s directorial debut, an…

Attention is a scarce resource. Consumers sift through hundreds of ads every day, forcing many small and midsize businesses to compete for the attention of their target customers. But it’s not just audiences who are overwhelmed; to reach these potential customers, entrepreneurs can choose from an exhausting menu of marketing products, often resulting in a patchwork solution that may not meet all of their needs. For business owners who are already wearing a lot of different hats, determining the right marketing strategy—and the tools with which to implement it—can be daunting. “There are more than 7,000 different marketing-technology solutions on the market right now,” says Allison Sitzman, director of product marketing at Mailchimp. “For small business owners who are already short on time, it’s tough to keep up with all…

JLab Audio is on a mission to provide high-performing audio products at affordable prices. Think $49 wireless earbuds and $20 headphones. CEO Win Cramer is frank about how they keep prices down. “We are okay with making less money from a product sales perspective. We make up for that margin with a really hungry and lean team.” “Lean” means 50 people running a company that sells a product almost every two seconds at such stores as Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, and smaller retailers. The team is exceptionally talented, hard-working, and innovative, Cramer says. They are also determined to put their customer above all else. This mindset is evidenced by JLab’s prices, continuous product development cycle, and huge product portfolio, designed to give customers choice, with an emphasis on fit,…

01 Waking Up “LOVELY DAY,” BILL WITHERS You can’t listen to this and not feel happy. Sometimes I do a little dance in the kitchen. 02 Driving “MY CHURCH,” MAREN MORRIS Singing in the car is my church. I hit the steering wheel as if I’m clapping, too. 03 Working Out PIVOT PODCAST I need something that distracts me—Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s banter does the trick! 04 Hard at Work “AS,” STEVIE WONDER It has an energy and a beat that keeps me motivated. 05 Get Psyched “THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER,” WHITNEY HOUSTON Gets. Me. Every. Time. 06 Mellow Out “ SUMMER HIGHLAND FALLS,” BILLY JOEL A great song to relax or have a good cry to.…

As a worldwide phenomenon in helping people meet, Tinder understands the power of chemistry. The app’s trajectory from startup to iconic brand with a staff of roughly 400 people—far less than many other tech companies—shows the advantage of finding the right people and creating a culture where they thrive. That culture creates an environment where innovation thrives. The proof is in Tinder’s ability to find new ways to delight members. Swipe Night, the app’s interactive post-apocalyptic adventure, is a good example. Launched in October 2019, members must make a series of choices in limited time, within the context of the story. Those choices can then be shared on their profiles as a fun way to spur conversations and connection. Swipe Night helped Tinder secure a place on Fast Company’s Most…

(FROM $969, DJI.COM) “I love drones, and this one is by far the best value for your money. It’s small, so you can travel with it anywhere. It flies more than 2 kilometers, even in hard conditions (snow, rain—I’ve done it), and it records in 4k.”—Adam Singolda, founder and CEO, Taboola NECESSARY VICE “McDonald’s on a road trip. But only on a road trip.”—-Nick Molnar, founder and CEO, Afterpay MORNING ROUTINE “In the morning, I use Cocofloss. It’s like flossing with a loofah after you’ve been using your bare hands for your entire life. Hands down the best floss I’ve ever used. You know it’s working when you rinse and see the grime going down the sink.”—Michael Pao, cofounder and CEO, Trove…

Takumi Kawahara is watching his wife, Marie Kondo, massage her face with a brush. She’s wearing a white bathrobe and standing next to a bouquet of pink cherry blossoms. She has asked for soft instrumental music to be piped into the room. It appears to calm her on this February morning in Los Angeles as a dozen production workers mill about, capturing footage that will show Kondo’s 2.5 million Instagram followers how to dry brush their faces. Kondo closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and starts making small circular motions on her fore-head. When she opens her eyes, she has conjured up a euphoric expression for the camera. Kawahara isn’t buying it. He taps me on the shoulder to show me his phone, on which he has pulled up…

By the time the World Health Organization officially designated the coronavirus a pandemic, COVID-19 had already swamped northern Italy, reducing its formidable modern healthcare system to some-thing resembling a MASH unit. The National Guard rumbled into New Rochelle, New York, to secure the perimeter of a viral hot spot. Universities began closing their physical campuses for the remainder of the academic year. The NBA, NHL, and MLS all suspended their seasons. Broadway went dark, the NCAA pulled the plug on March Madness, and businesses around the world told their workers to log in from home, with millions likely to lose their jobs. Was it all going to prove too little, too late, this desperate, eleventh-hour race against a rapidly spreading virus? Surely you saw the chart—that ubiquitous graph of the…

Nearly 4 billion people worldwide lack internet access, mostly in rural, remote areas, where wireless infrastructure is too costly to install. Carlsbad, California–based broadband company Viasat is using satellite-connected Wi-Fi hot spots to change that. Last year, the company launched its first community Wi-Fi service in more than 3,000 locations across Mexico, putting over 1.8 million people within a 5-to-10-minute walk of a hot spot. While many of these people already had smartphones, their limited cell service did not allow for anything beyond phone calls. Viasat charges users as little as 50 cents for an hour of broadband internet, enabling people to Skype with relatives, check weather forecasts, or do homework. “They want to do a lot of the things other people want to do,” says Viasat cofounder and CEO…

The Amplatzer Piccolo Occluder is a big solution for very small patients. It’s used to treat premature newborns with a heart defect known as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), a congenital condition that affects some 12,000 U.S. new-borns a year. Prior to birth, all babies have an opening in their hearts that allows blood to bypass the lungs (which aren’t used in the womb). Typically, this hole closes up shortly after birth, but for babies with PDA, it doesn’t. PDA makes it difficult for preemies to breathe and can be fatal. Traditional treatment for this group (infantsas small as 2 pounds) was to put babies on ventilators and hope the hole closed on its own, or in some cases risk invasive surgery. The FD-Aapproved Piccolo offers another option: A tiny device, about…

Guild Education works with companies such as Walmart and Disney to create education benefit programs that connect employees with non-profit universities. In 2019, working with Guild, Chipotle became the first fast-casual restaurant to offer a network of completely debt-free degrees G to employees. In total, Guild helped students avoid more than $100 million in student debt last year. Workers can earn a degree or gain certification in software engineering or other prized skills. Employee costs depend on their employer’s education program: Walmart employees contribute $1 a day while enrolled, while Disney completely foots the bill for its workers. By offering an education benefit just like they do a health benefit, employers enhance recruitment and retention. More than 3 million Americans have access to Guild Education today, and 400,000 have already…

Some companies build businesses by following industry trends; French audio manufacturer L-Acoustics grew by ignoring them. Founder Christian Heil drew on his PhD in particle physics to pioneer Wavefront Sculpture Technology in the 90s—a quantum leap forward in providing laser-like precision to control and focus sound for large audiences. The result is greater clarity and uniformity as well as an enhanced concert experience, all in a compact package that reduced events’ carbon footprint dramatically. Their new technology rendered previous technology obsolete and is now used by most top events and venues around the world. The company continues to find ways to elevate the listener experience. Accomplishments include creating the industry’s first 3D design modeling software and developing some of the world’s lightest, most flexible, and most powerful speakers. CEO Laurent…

STEVE BALLMER PRESSED THE HEELS OF HIS HANDS AGAINST HIS THIGHS AND LEANED FORWARD. HE WAS SIT TING IN HIS customary spot at Staples Center, along the baseline in the arena’s north end. Most NBA owners sit at mid-court, and dress like the corporate executives with billion dollar fortunes that they are. Ballmer was wearing a plaid shirt and casual pants. “I can’t wear a sport coat to a basketball game,” he’d said a few minutes earlier. In front of him, L.A. Clippers forward Paul George dribbled without moving. Then he passed the ball along the perimeter. Eventually it reached teammate Kawhi Leonard, who was waiting at the top of the circle, behind the three-point line. Leonard, who last season led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA title, flicked a…

Artists’ merchandise, or “merch,” used to mean black T-shirts adorned with the concert name, logo, and a list of tour dates. Fans bought them as souvenirs to prove they were there. But it would end up in the back of their drawer or relegated to sleepwear. Bravado, the merchandise and brand management, division of Universal Music Group, is changing the narrative on artist merch. With teams in 40 countries, the business provides merchandising and brand management services to some of the world’s biggest names in music, including The Rolling Stones, Justin Bieber, Elton John, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd. The company helps artists design apparel and accessories that reflect their aesthetic, often in partnership with renowned designers. You may not even find them at shows. Fans buy artist collections at…

A basic prerequisite for landing a consumer loan is a credit score. For many, this presents a conundrum: how do you get a credit score if banks won’t extend credit to you? Now, Oportun—a fintech company providing affordable financial services to low-to-moderate-income individuals—has found a solution. About half of Oportun customers do not have credit scores. The other half have been “mis-scored,” meaning their rating does not adequately ref lect their ability to pay back the loan. Oportun serves low-to-moderate-income customers, many of whom are supporting families. Before Oportun, they would turn to expensive, even predatory products when times were tough, including high-cost, short-term payday loans that set them up to fail. Oportun was founded to help people succeed by providing fair, affordable loans, enabling customers to establish or improve…

GENERAL EXCELLENCE Vulcan II Icon A giant 3D printer that can extrude the walls of a house in just 24 hours COMPANY OF THE YEAR Abbott A range of entries focused on devices and projects to improve global health, from a new implant to keep babies’ hearts beating, to fighting malaria, to advancing the careers of underrepresented people in STEM ADVERTISING Planned Parenthood: Roo High School R/GA An advertising campaign to boost the use of Planned Parenthood’s sex education chatbot for teens AI AND DATA Clues Carbon Lighthouse A software platform that maximizes energy efficiency savings in buildings APPS Food Rescue Hero 412 Food Rescue An app that connects volunteers to drive extra food from restaurants to hunger-fighting organizations—and will now offer rides to people in need as well ART…

WORLD-CHANGING COMPANY OF THE YEAR Adidas Chobani Cisco HDR IBM Nike Tableau Software Sweetgreen GENERAL EXCELLENCE 4 Day Week Global Perpetual Guardian AeroFarms, AeroFarms Bank of the West Bank of the West Climate-positive movement Max Burgers Creator, Creator End Plastic Waste Initiative, Adidas Eos Bioreactor Hypergiant Future Ready, WSP Gratitude to Give Futurus Group Haxtun: Saving Main Street Phillips County Economic Development, HDR, Haxtun Hospital District Heliogen, Heliogen Ibi, Cariuma Majority, Majority Mycocycle, Mycocycle Parental Leave Sweetgreen Pittsburgh International Airport micro-grid, Allegheny County Airport Authority Sendle, Sendle World’s first drone delivery of a human organ for transplant AiRXOS, part of GE Aviation ADVERTISING Climate Neutral Certified, Climate Neutral Corona: Oceans Week 2019, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Fortis: Honor the Donor, Leo Burnett India Grenfell United: #DemandChange Anomaly Ikea: ThisAbles McCann Worldgroup The…

In Europe and Asia, intercity train travel is commonplace, which reduces the number of cars on the road and saves travelers time and money. Brightline, a new express passenger rail system, is on a mission to help the U.S. follow suit. It is America’s first privately funded passenger rail system in more than 100 years, and it is connecting complementary city pairs that are too close to fly but too far to drive. Its first mission is to connect Miami and Orlando (235 miles), and it is already operating between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, Florida. Even those familiar with intercity rail travel will find Brightline novel because of its emphasis on delivering an unforgettable travel experience. With plans to expand in Florida and to build a rail…

Flexible work options, including remote work, have increasingly been a priority for employees in recent years. And since the COVID-19 pandemic, more companies have had to find ways to make remote teams effective. Dropbox, a leading global collaboration platform named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list, helps companies navigate remote work. Last September, it unveiled the smart workspace, which brings together all of a team’s content and conversation with the tools they love, so knowledge workers can stay focused, organized, and in sync. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Bharat Mediratta believes COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on enterprise processes, as companies realize the possibilities of distributed work and the importance of creating healthier work habits. DON’T KEEP ’EM SEPARATED Since Co-Founder and CEO Drew Houston launched his cloud-based file…

Alison Roman’s salted butter and chocolate chunk cookies are so famous, they’re known merely as #thecookies on social media. Search Instagram, and you’ll find thousands of posts of the flat-topped shortbreads—and they’re not her only recipe the internet has minted as the be-all and end-all. The chef’s New York Times column, which publishes every other week, has inspired #thestew and #thepasta, and several other viral recipes. Roman’s second cookbook, Nothing Fancy, was a New York Times best seller after its release last October. With a conversational tone and a deep appreciation for her millennial following’s small budgets (and kitchens), Roman has built a dedicated audience for her unfussy take on cooking and entertaining. Here, she shares her recipe for making food, stories, and content people love to share. LEARN BY…

Construction materials alone, including carbon and steel, contribute 11% of global carbon emissions (by comparison, air travel contributes about 2.5%). That’s why architects and development companies around the world are opting for a novel but not-so-new solution: wood. A study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in Germany, found that with proper forest management, a global boom in wood buildings could sequester up to 700 million tons of carbon a year (wood naturally stores carbon, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere). The idea is catching on: Google’s Sidewalk Labs has proposed a 12-acre timber neighborhood in Toronto, while in February, France mandated that all public buildings after 2022 be constructed of at least 50% wood or other organic materials. The University of Arkansas completed the largest…

CRISPR-Cas9 is a method for quickly and accurately editing the genome of virtually any living thing. Using custom-built guide RNA paired with a cutting enzyme (Cas9), it can find and snip a selected sequence of DNA or RNA, eliminating or replacing a “bad” gene. Since it was first described in late 2012, CRISPR has drastically accelerated the scope of research and moved into practical applications in medicine. So far in 2020, there are 15 trials underway. In medicine, where new drugs take a decade or more to develop, that’s game changing. CRISPR-related Patent Filings in the U.S. Filings increased tenfold over four years. Largest Public Companies 2019 revenue of the three largest publicly traded CRISPR companies (based on market cap) CRISPR Therapeutics, testing treatments for blood disorders, including sickle cell…

Dressed in a black Deus Ex Machina baseball cap, half-zip Nike jacket, and Balenciaga slides (with socks), Sean Miyashiro was hunkered down on an early February afternoon in the common room of his apartment building on New York’s Upper East Side. The 38-year-old cofounder and CEO of the Asian-focused record label and media company 88rising has an actual office in the label’s Chelsea neighborhood headquarters. But he was using this room as a makeshift control center while he and his team met to hash out plans ahead of the annual Coachella music festival, which was scheduled to take place in mid-April. Also, the space made a sleek backdrop for the cameraman who was recording their discussions. This year, Coachella was planning to hand an entire stage to 88rising, the first time…

While Magic Leap and Microsoft wrestle with bulky headsets, and tech giants such as Apple, Facebook, and Snap attempt augmented reality glasses, startup Mojo Vision has been aiming for an even more seamless medium: a contact lens. The company revealed the world’s first working prototype earlier this year, which can overlay users’ vision with basic graphics such as weather icons, arrows, and text. Mojo isn’t the first company to dream of an AR lens, but even its own engineers doubted the feasibility of such a product—until they built it. Their breakthrough is a minuscule screen, slightly larger than a grain of sand, which directs 70,000 pixels to the eye’s retina. It’s an achievement more than a decade in the making, due largely to the work of Mojo’s chief science officer,…

Logitech is well-known for its consumer electronic products and video conferencing solutions, but it is more than that. It is on a mission to become a truly design-led company, by considering intelligent use of design across all aspects of its business, from products to internal processes. President and CEO Bracken Darrell explains that in 2020, you can’t be a design-led company without prioritizing sustainability, because it is the right thing to do, and increasingly, customers care about it. The Swiss company has been quietly ramping up its sustainability efforts for more than a decade. The company is finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of its products, across the entire lifecycle, with the understanding that sustainability advances are as important as technology breakthroughs. Using carbon offsets, it has made its…

What’s your best habit, and what’s your worst? I can eat everything. I guess that would be my best and worst habit. What do you do when you’re creatively stuck? I go for a walk or start reading trends in consumer marketing. Reading trends sparks ideas! What’s the business buzzword you never want to hear again? When we’re in external meetings or conferences and folks say that it’s time to take a “bio break.” That’s really too much information. It’s gross. How do you unplug? I play with my kids, who are 6 and 7. Our home is pretty neat, but there is an understanding that the Hot Wheels race track going from the second floor to the front door remains up. I get particular joy launching a Hot Wheel…

01 The Four Agreements DON MIGUEL RUIZ I find [some of] the agreements, “Be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, and don’t make assumptions,” to be an incredible frame-work for daily life. 02 Just Mercy BRYAN STEVENSON I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much while reading a book. Bryan Stevenson’s declaration about the power of getting proximate to people who are suffering informs everything I do. 03 The Bluest Eye TONI MORRISON I revisited this book after Toni Morrison passed away last year. It was even more heart wrenching, poignant, and surprisingly relevant than the first time I read it, in high school. 04 The Color of Money MEHRSA BAHRASADAN This book shook up my perspective about how the racial wealth gap in the U.S. can be…

Last year, Food Rescue Hero (FRH) realized that its platform, which over five years had diverted more than 12 million pounds of food from waste bins to empty stomachs, could also be deployed to transport people. Now, in addition to delivering nutritious fresh food, the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit will begin responding to transit deserts by getting low-income people to medical appointments, jobs—and voting booths. “It’s like we started out as Uber Eats and now are going to become Uber,” says founder and CEO Leah Lizarondo. Having already built “a true crowdsourced transport network” (more than 10,000 volunteers making more than 90,000 trips in five cities), the organization is using a grant from the Department of Energy to fund expansion into transportation as FRH moves into six more cities, including Vancouver and…

More than half a billion people live off the grid in Africa and can’t use an ordinary refrigerator. But a new low-cost fridge from a brand called Youmma uses so little energy that a single solar panel on a roof can power it. “We redesigned the whole system to make it as efficient and affordable as possible,” says André Morriesen, product head at Youmma, a brand of Brazil-based Nidec Global Appliance. The solar fridge launched in Uganda and Kenya in 2019. Families using it are now saving as much as half of their weekly household income on food costs, and women (who frequently continue to shoulder the food preparation burden in many developing communities) save hours in daily treks to the market.…

Americans discard more than 400,000 cellphones every single day, and global consumers produce more than 53 million metric tons of electronic waste each year. Most of it winds up in landfills, where “forever” chemicals inevitably leach into the soil and water. The Right to Repair campaign—led by the Public Interest Research Groups, iFixit, and Repair.org—is lobbying state legislatures to introduce bills empowering consumers to modify or repair (rather than discard) their own devices and machines; manufacturers now block modification of products ranging from smartphones to tractors. The campaign has gradually been gaining momentum since it succeeded in pushing legislation through the Massachusetts statehouse in 2012; last year more than 20 states were considering new right-to-repair bills. “We are like a band of Davids versus an army of Goliaths,” says Nathan…

BILL GATES Ballmer and the Microsoft founder met as Harvard undergrads and became roommates. In 1980, Ballmer became the 30th Microsoft employee—starting as Gates’s assistant. DEVELOPERS During a 2006 speech as Microsoft CEO, a sweaty, wildeyed Ballmer lauded the company’s tech partners by chanting “developers” while stomping across the stage—a moment now immortalized on YouTube. FACEBOOK Ballmer tried to acquire Facebook for $20 billion in 2007 and was rebuffed. Instead, Microsoft took a 1.6% stake for $240 million. Ballmer had to defend the investment against analysts who said the price was too steep. FORD Ballmer’s father was a manager at Ford, and the billionaire remains loyal to midpriced Detroit-made cars. In 2009, then Ford CEO Alan Mulally personally brought him a Ford Fusion hybrid. NBA Before he bought the Clippers,…

Amazon is synonymous with fast shipping, but many people don’t see or think about the company’s warehousing strategy. The key to one- or two-day delivery is not faster shipping; it is storing inventory in the right locations and quantities so it can get to the end customer quickly. To facilitate high-speed delivery for merchants, fulfillment platform Flowspace built a network of warehouses and connected them with intelligent software. The result is one of the country’s largest warehousing and fulfillment platforms. With a single integration point and no capital investment, companies of all sizes can store and fulfill their products from anywhere, scaling up or down as needed. The benefits of joining the network include monetizing underutilized space and leveraging updated technology for more efficient processes. Flowspace’s goal—to empower the entire…

Their platform is not human or machine, it is human and machine, explains the team at Persado, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software solution that allows enterprises to make data-backed decisions about the words they choose for customer communication. In fact, by using Persado’s natural language generation technology, companies have increased conversions by an average of 41%, across tens of thousands of campaigns across all channels—proof that human/machine partnerships can create deeper connections with people than humans do on their own. JPMorgan Chase, one of Persado’s early adopters, saw the potential of AI to drive measurable business outcomes from the start. By using Persado on its marketing campaigns, Chase generated significant increases in performance and announced a five-year, enterprise-wide deal with Persado. AI’S POWER REALIZED Most companies are at some stage…

Justin Ahrens Chief evangelist, Rule29 Brandon Anderson Founder, Raheem Emiko Atherton Director, National Complete Streets Coalition, Smart Growth America Lisa Bowers CEO, Rhia Ventures Alexandra Bromson Origination, Generate Capital Sebastian Buck Cofounder and strategic lead, Enso Carol Cone CEO, Carol Cone On Purpose Jeremy Deaton Associate director, editorial, Nexus Media Krista Donaldson CEO, D-Rev Zoe Feldman Senior director, incubator and new ventures, Chobani Aria Finger CEO, DoSomething.org Grant Garrison Communications leader, global community impact, Johnson & Johnson Rhiana Gunn-Wright Director of climate policy, Roosevelt Institute Toshi Anders Hoo Director, Emerging Media Lab, Institute for the Future Jessica Jackley Chief impact officer, Aspiration Justin Kazmark Independent communications strategist for social enterprises, Kickstarter Jonathon Keats Experimental philosopher Marjorie Kelly Senior fellow and executive vice president, The Democracy Collaborative Anthea Kelsick Chief marketing…

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