Throughout Harvard Square, there are many bookshop brimming with the latest literary fiction and intellectual memoirs, patronized by scholarly types. But in January, a new bookshop popped up in the neighborhood that is nothing like the others.
Lovestruck Books is a romance bookstore. It’s Instagrammable entrance is adorned with pink and purple flowers. There’s a coffee shop that transforms into a wine bar for evening events. Besides an enormous selection of romance novels, you can also purchase sex toys and tote bags emblazoned with I read smut. We want to toe the lie a little bit with being provocative and edgy, says Rachel Kanter, the store’s founder. But the most important thing is that everything is done in a way that feels safe and welcoming.
Her plan seems to be working. The store has been packed since launch and Kanter has blown through all of her sales targets. Customers don’t just visit the store to discover new books; they come to gather with one another. On a recent Tuesday, I sat on a plush velvet sofa in the corner of the store with a cup of tea. Next to me, a woman was tearfully confiding to an older friend about her divorce. When they left, two women sat down and pondered whether Mark Zuckerberg’s newfound embrace of masculine energy would break up his marriage.
Rachel Kanter [Photo: Reagan Byrne/Lovestruck]
The Ripped Bodice in Ventura, California, was the first romance bookstore to open in the United States back in 2016. It was so successful that it went on to open another location in Brooklyn, and has paved the way for dozens more to open. There are now 30 romance bookstores around the country, including A Novel Romance in Louisville, Kentucky, and Blush Bookstore in Wichita, Kansas.
Most of these bookstores are founded by women, and they’ve become safe spaces for their predominantly female and queer customers to gather and create community. This is abundantly clear on Valentine’s Day. While the holiday is purportedly about celebrating romance, these bookstores are choosing to focus on friendship. Lovestruck is hosting a conversation with best-selling novelist Ashley Poston about female friendships. Sweeter Than Fiction, a bookstore in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, has organized an outing for customers who love sports romance novels to attend a hockey game.
[Photo: Sweeter Than Fiction]
Romance goes mainstream
Callie Lamb opened Sweeter than Fiction in Charleston last October. On opening day, a line of customers snaked around the block. I exceeded my three month sales target on day one of being open, she says. Even now, I can’t keep books in stock.
Lamb had spent her career as a buyer for large retailers like Belk and Dollar Tree, but during the pandemic, she decided it was time to strike out on her own. In 2023, she came up with the idea of opening a romance bookstore. She found a prime location on King Street, Charleston’s shopping district, and poured her savings into transforming it into an aesthetically pleasing venue, with a plant wall, pink bookcases, and marble topped tables to display books.
Romance, as a genre, exploded during the pandemic. This coincided with the rise of TikTok. Book lovers took to the platform to promote their favorite titles, driving sales. Today, romance is both a top-selling and fast-growing genre in fiction. In 2023, romance novels sold 39 million copies, more than double the number from 2020. Publishers are now flooding the market with even more titles across many sub-genres, including LGBTQ+ romance, paranormal romance, and romantasy (a blending of romance and fantasy). Romance is a huge category, but most bookstores have a small section devoted to it, Lamb says. There’s a clear demand for a store that specializes in romance.
One reason that some bookstores don’t have more romance books is that the genre has has been stigmatized for decades. This taboo goes back centuries, scholars say, as the male-dominated literary establishment dismissed these books because they were primarily written by and for women. But while previous generations of women felt the need to hide their Harlequin romances, today’s readers are reading romances unapologetically. Indeed, some women want to reclaim the word smut as a form of female empowerment, since romance novels have done a great deal to center women’s desires, sexuality, and experiences.
There is a tendency to dismiss things that are geared towards women, Kanter says. Romance is a powerful way for women to reclaim something that belongs to them.
[Photo: Reagan Byrne/Lovestruck]
A Feminine Energy
While there’s are some men who feel comfortable admitting they read love stories, the vast majority of romance readersand romance bookstore customersare women. So it makes sense that romance bookstores are unapologetically feminine. The interior design tends to be saturated in shades of pink, red, and purple. They sell jewelry, throw cushions, and candles. Flowers are often part of the decor. /p>
For many of these romance bookstores, part of the business model is hosting events and talks. In just one month in business, Lovestruck has already hosted more than 3,400 people at in-store events. The talks tackle a wide range of topics, from discussions with best-selling authors to learning how to play mahjong to unpacking steamy love scenes in LGBTQ+ love stories. The community in Harvard Square has come in out droves to support us, Kanter says. It’s clear they were hungry for this kind of gathering space.
For many people, romance bookstores have become a place to escape from current politics, which have increasingly restricted women’s rights as well as the LGBTQ+ community. Indeed, Lamb points out that part of the reason that romance took off during the pandemic is because readers wanted an escape from the harsh realities of life. By definition, you get a happily ever after, she says. Kanter concurs. Her store and events are deliberately designed to be fun and lighthearted.
But at the same time, creating a place where women and queer folks can find joy in one another’s presence also feels like an act of resistance in this political climate. Our customers are choosing to put their dollars towards supporting a woman-owned business that celebrates the female experience, Kanter says.
This jacket grows on trees.
Vollebak, a London-based experimental clothing lab, has released a prototype garment made out of timber panels overlaid on a fabric interior. The long-sleeve hooded men’s Wooden Jacket is a feat of fashion design, turning a stiff material into pliable and stylish outerwear.
Once it becomes available, the jacket will sell for $3,295. For now, there’s a waiting list “while we grow them,” Vollebak says.
[Photo: Sun Lee/Vollebak]
The jacket is par for the course for Vollebak, which experiments with sustainable materials to make its unlikely apparel. The company has also designed an antiviral jacket made from copper, a decomposable hoodie made from pomegranate peels, and a sweater made from natural fibers grown in a petri dish and assembled by a 3D knitting machine.
Of course wood pulp can be used to make fibers like viscose and lyocell, which can be turned into fabric for clothing. What makes Vollebak’s jacket unique is that its not made with plant fibers extracted from wood. Rather, it’s made of the wood itself.
The key to the Wooden Jacket’s functionality requires close inspection. While it appears to have a solid wood pattern with natural grain, closeups of the prototype fabric show the textured pattern is actually a pliable grid of tiny squares that give the garment flexibility. The prototype design also features two front patch pockets and zippers.
[Photo: Sun Lee/Vollebak]
On its website, Vollebak says it designed the Wooden Jacket just to prove it could, noting that “turning a tree into a jacket is an absurdly difficult technical challenge. . . . It forces us to tackle, then solve, technical challenges that would otherwise remain completely theoretical.
Eric Migicovsky has barely started working on a successor to the Pebble smartwatch, and hes already talking about being finished with it.Eight years ago, Migicovsky shut down the smartwatch startup he founded, having sold its software assets to Fitbit, which later became part of Google. But all this time, he and thousands of Pebble die-hards have continued to wear their watches, aided in part by a community thats kept Pebbles app store and core services alive. Last month, Migicovsky persuaded Google to make Pebbles software open source, and now hes started a company to build new watches. (They wont be called Pebbles, though, since Google still owns the name.)While theres plenty to do before new watches can ship, the longevity of current Pebbles taught Migicovsky a lesson: Not every gadget needs an annual release cycle, a steady cadence of software launches, and a change-the-world mindset. Instead, its possible to release a finished product that stays in its lane. This is an atypical approach to consumer tech, but it will be a defining trait for Pebbles successor.Pebble has not had a firmware update in eight years, and it still isfor me, at least, for the features I wantthe best option on the market, which is crazy, Migicovsky says. Before that, we were updating every month . . . and I never once realized, or thought, or even considered: What if we were done?Why Pebble is specialAs one of those last remaining active Pebble users, I understand where Migicovsky is coming from. Ive worn a Pebble Time Steel on and off ever since it launched in 2015, and I even bought a couple more as backups in case of hardware failure (both of which I eventually had to start using).[Photo: Jared Newman]While Ive dabbled in Apple Watches and Androids WearOS models, I always drift back to Pebble. Im not big into quantified health, so the increasing fitness focus of other watches doesnt resonate with me. A watch that delivers notifications, music controls, and timers is good enough, and Pebble arguably does those things better than any modern smartwatch. The battery lasts for a week, so I can leave the charger at home on weekend outings, and side buttons let me control music or dismiss notifications without even looking at the screen.Meanwhile, Pebbles lo-fi design has become part of its allure. The Game Boy aesthetic, fun animations, and thousands of installable watch faces give Pebble a geeky charm, made all the more novel by how many people wear identical Apple Watches on their wrists. Migicovsky says the aesthetics help explain why Pebble has maintained its enthusiastic community of users.[Photo: Jared Newman]It was retro when it started, because of the black-and-white feel, and so I think it didnt become dated because it was already dated, Migicovsky says. That stuck around in peoples memories, and on a lot of peoples wrists.Bringing Pebble backYou can still find Pebble watches on sites like eBay, but getting them to work is a challenge. Pebbles iPhone app departed the App Store in 2021 because no one kept up its Apple Developer account, so you have to sideload it using work-arounds like AltStore. On Android 15 and above, new security requirements make direct sideloading impossible, so you have to push the app to your phone from a computer.Even if you get the app installed, it wont do much on its own because Pebbles servers shut down in 2018. Fully reviving the watch requires a tool called Rebble Web Services, which hijacks the setup process to provide its own version of Pebbles app store and online features, such as weather and voice dictation. Its a miracle that any of this works, but the end result is a product that still fulfills its original purpose.[Screenshot: Rebble Store]All of which means that Migicovskys work is largely about delivering a functional product rather than a reimagined one. Existing Pebble owners will get a new app that works without any rigmarole, and newcomers will get modern hardware that preserves Pebbles apps, watch faces, and core features, including an always-on e-paper screen and physical buttons.As for new functions, Migicovskys plans are surprisingly low-key. His to-do list includes things like adding more notification icons for apps that didnt exist a decade ago and providing a standard weather API for watch face makers. He expresses some admiration for the complications features of Apple Watches but is noncommittal about bringing the idea to a Pebble successor.Meanwhile, Migicovsky flatly rejects some more ambitious concepts for Pebble that never came to fruition, like wristbands with extra features built in. (Pebbles original attempt at that idea, called SmartStraps, went nowhere.) In a blog post following up on the original announcement, he warned people to temper their expectations.Please dont get your hopes up that the new watch will have X/Y/Z new featre, he wrote, noting that Pebble will be almost exactly as users remember it, except now with open-source software that can be modified and improved.The open-source doorPebble was always amenable to tinkering by outside developers. Even before adding its own health features, Pebble allowed apps like Misfit to track steps and sleep in the background. And when Katharine Berry, a third-party developer, built a web-based tool for making watch apps, Pebble hired her and started recommending the tool itself. (Berry, who now works at Google, later became instrumental in developing Rebble Web Services and getting Google to open-source the Pebble operating system.)Now that anyone can use and modify Pebbles source code, the door is open to even wilder modifications. While Migicovsky will stick to what sounds mostly like a Pebble rerelease, hes content to let outside developers experiment.We were an amazingly hackable smartwatch then. Now that the OS is open source, theres nothing you cant hack on it, he says. You can build new hardware. You can add new features. You can write a new mobile app.Regardless of how much hacking actually happens, the approach at least gives Pebbles successor a clearer identity. By Migicovskys admission, one reason Pebble failed is that it never settled on who it was for. The watch began as a geeky gadget, but later pitched itself as a productivity tool, then pivoted toward fitness features in a last-ditch attempt to compete with Fitbit and the Apple Watch.This time, Migicovsky wont make that mistake. If you had to take one of those three, he says, Ill take geek every day.
During the Great Resignation, employers offered signing bonuses at unprecedented rates and, while the labor market has since cooled, the cash incentive remains popular, especially among in-person roles.
According to a recent study by Indeeds Hiring Lab, the one-time bonus was included in less than 2% of job postings on the platform before the pandemic, and skyrocketed to a peak of 5.6% in September of 2022.
Though the labor market is largely back to pre-pandemic norms, signing bonus offers remain nearly twice as common as they were in 2019, and are now attached to 3.7% of U.S. job postings.
In the last couple years, the trend line has actually diverged, explains the reports author and Indeed economist Cory Stahle. In other words, we saw wage growth start slowing down really fast, and signing bonuses started slowing down too, but not nearly as fast.
According to the study, the jobs that are most likely to come with a signing bonus require a physical presence and tend to be in a medical field. Veterinarians, for example, have seen a nearly 50% spike in signing bonus frequency since February of 2020, with 12.1% of roles now offering one.
The nursing profession also offers signing bonuses at similar rates, while the physician and surgeon, beauty and wellness, and medical technician fields round out the top five, with the bonus offered with roughly 10% of jobs in each.
Signing bonuses are most prevalent in jobs where employers are still actively recruiting people at really high levels, and if we look at where those jobs are, we see that those tend to be in healthcare, with a lot of in-person, skilled labor, hands-on jobs, Stahle says. On the flip side, signing bonuses are much less common in traditional white-collar, knowledge-work roles.
A Substitute for Flexibility?
The elevated frequency of signing bonuses in roles that require a physical presence may suggest that in the age of remote work, employers that are unable to offer location flexibility need to find other ways to sweeten the pot. (The Indeed report did not collect data on the average size of signing bonus, but it varies depending on the role and industry.)
According to a study conducted by Owl Labs, more than half of American workers prefer hybrid work, and more than 38% would not accept a role that required them to be in the office full time.
The data suggests that many employees value a work-life balance and are willing, in certain instances, to draw lower salaries if they are allowed the option to work remotely or hybrid, says Owl Labs CEO Frank Weishaupt. If employers want their employees to work in person, they will need to offer new and improved benefits.
Weishaupt adds that in-person requirements come with real financial costs to employees. According to the study, workers spend an average of $61 each day on commuting, food, and other expenses related to coming into the officea 20% increase from 2023and save about $42 each day they work from home.
We found that, on average, U.S. workers would sacrifice 8.3% of their annual salary for a flexible or remote working location, Weishaupt says. Since our report found that coming into the office can be more costly than working from home, a signing bonus, more than ever, is an acknowledgment that an extra incentive may be needed to fill those in-person roles.
Why Employers Should Proceed with Caution
While the added upfront cash might help lure candidates, Weishaupt warns that a one-time payment may not be effective at retaining them over the long run. Signing bonuses are short-term solutions for issues that will arise again; namely the desire by employees for work-life balance, he says.
Society for Human Resource Management CHRO Jim Link agreed that its risky to use a one-time payment to secure a long-time commitment. That is why he recommends attaching a few conditions to the increasingly popular perk.
If the employer is intending to pay those [bonuses] upon the start date, we encourage them to have a fallback agreement that says if that employee leaves after a specified period of time, they are due to pay back all or part of it, he says. Thats option one; option two, if you dont want a claw back agreement, is to make that lump sum payment go into effect at a specified time, like after 90 days or 120 days, assuming certain conditions are met.
Skills Gaps and Economic Uncertainty
The widespread desire for hybrid or remote work among employees may help explain why more companies are leaning on the signing bonus to lure workers into less flexible roles, but that doesnt tell the whole story. After all, the bonus is just one of many tools employers could use to attract employees, and not a historically popular one in mostmore sectors.
The signing bonus, however, is unique for presenting employers with a one-time cost, rather than an ongoing commitment, which may be particularly appealing in the current economic climate.
Employers in 2024 were very cautionary in their overall financial management, particularly as it relates to things that they would have to pay again and again, like substantial pay raises, explains Link, pointing to both economic and political uncertainty.
Furthermore, while the labor market has cooled, Link suggests certain roles remain in extremely high demand. There’s a significant gap between what employers are looking forwhether it be in healthcare or other industriesversus what’s immediately available out there on the market, he says. We don’t see in the short-term anything coming that’s going to lessen that gap.
While those gaps remain, and with lingering uncertainty in the long-range economic forecast, Link believes employers will continue to choose the lump sum bonus over other employee perks for the foreseeable future.
My best guess is that this current rate overall that we’re seeing of employers across industries utilizing it, there’s nothing that I see forthcoming that would make me think that that number is going to either substantially increase or decrease, he says. This is the new normal.
When workers repaved part of Interstate 94 near Minneapolis last fall, it looked like they were pouring ordinary concrete. But instead the highway was the first to use a new, near-zero-emissions material.
Its one of a series of large projects to use material from C-Crete, a Bay Area-based startup. Shortly, the highway was repaved, and the company poured slabs and foundations at San Francisco International Airport. Earlier in the summer, it also poured a floor slab in a super-tall skyscraper under construction in Manhattan, the future headquarters of JPMorgan Chase. Other projects are underway now.
[Photo: courtesy C-Crete Technologies]
Producing cement, the glue that holds concrete together, is a major source of global emissionsaround 8% to 9%, or three times as much as the aviation industry. But as startups are racing to bring low-emissions alternatives to market, some of those new products may be at a tipping point.
This is cost-competitive, says C-Crete CEO Rouzbeh Savary, who began working on a more sustainable cement alternative as a PhD student at MIT. Were making binders that are the same cost, same performance, and no CO2.
Typical Portland cement, which has been in use for the past 200 years, is a big polluter for two reasons. First, its made by heating up limestone, which releases CO2 as the limestone breaks down. The process also uses a lot of energy, which is usually run on coal and other fossil fuels.
JPMorgan, 270 Park Ave. [Photo: courtesy C-Crete Technologies]
C-Crete replaces limestone with other rocks that dont contain CO2, such as granite or zeolite. Some other startups are taking a similar approach. Brimstone, for example, a startup backed by Bill Gatess Breakthrough Energy Ventures, uses calcium instead of limestone. Sublime Systems, another startup, dissolves calcium silicate with chemicals. (Sublime first poured concrete for a building in Boston a year ago, and won a DOE award in December to build a new, clean-cement factory in Massachusetts.) C-Crete says that it has a simpler process: Rather than extracting a single element from rocks, requiring multiple steps and creating waste, it found a way to use the full mix of materials inside granite and other rocks.
The team spent years developing a process that worked. We had thousands of failed formulas, so this didnt come overnight, Savary says. In the final process, rocks are pulverized, and then the company adds a mix of chemicalscalibrated for a particular rocks compositionto reform a new, strong material.
The process uses far less energy than making Portland cement; if it’s made renewable energy, the binder can be zero-emissions. (The other materials in concrete, like sand and water, are only a minor source of emissions.) The poured concrete also acts like a sponge, capturing CO2 from the air as it cures.
[Photo: courtesy C-Crete Technologies]
When the binder is used to make concrete, the material is as durable and strong as conventional concrete, the company says, meeting ASTM performance standards. It also flows and pumps like typical concrete, so construction methods dont have to change.
In its initial projects, C-Crete now produces cement itself. But the startup is now in discussions with ready-mix concrete companies around the country that can use its approach. Those companies already have quarries where they mine rocks like granite for aggregate. They can buy off-the-shelf equipment to pulverize the rocks, and then use binder materials from C-Crete; the changes can easily integrate into the existing construction industry without needing large-scale investments in manufacturing.
San Francisco International Airport [Photo: courtesy C-Crete Technologies]
Unsurprisingly, the construction industry is cautious about adopting new materials. But as a growing number of real-world projects demonstrate the performance of the concrete, it could scale up quickly. Some building owners might choose the material for sustainability reasons, but the biggest factor in its favor will likely be the affordability. While the material already competes on cost, it has the potential to become even cheaper than conventional concrete, since it’s more efficient to produce.
“We believe that what we are doing is the most scalable, simplest, nd most affordable way of decarbonizing concrete,” says Savary.
Super Bowl ad spots range from just 15 to 60 seconds, but their impact lives on through social media for the days, weeks, and sometimes even years that follow. Although around 50 brands bought broadcast time, less than a week later, only a handful are still being talked about.
So how can brands best transform their (very expensive) ads from momentary entertainment to long-lasting conversation pieces? Data from Metricool, a social media analytics tool, shows that the Super Bowl ads with the largest reach and impact are ones that use social media to turn their seconds-long time slot into an all-encompassing experience.
Brands should focus on full-scope coverage, rather than putting all their eggs in a TV ad, says Anniston Ward, a specialist at Metricool. It takes a full experience to really create a lasting effect.
Poppis influencer marketing tactic, for one example, scaled beyond its brief TV spot to make a lasting post-Super Bowl impact. In the week leading up to the big game, the health-focused soda brand launched a series of giveaways, collaborations with influencers, and a high-profile stunt involving the brand sending neon pink branded vending machines to more than 30 influencers.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Poppi (@drinkpoppi)
Days later, people are still talking about Poppis tacticsthough not all of the reception has been positive. Many online called Poppi out of touch for giving large amounts of free product to already wealthy influencers.
And now, Poppi is in everyones mouths, whether it’s good or bad, Ward says.
Metricool observed that Poppis Instagram engagement reached 4%which might seem a paltry figure, but Instagrams industry average is 0.7%, and anything higher than 1% is considered a strong performance. The brands Instagram post likes spiked by nearly 100%.
Carls Jr. also turned its Super Bowl ad spend into a weeklong online experience, featuring a scantily dressed Alix Earle biting into a Carls Jr. hangover burger to promote a free burger day on February 10. The company shared behind-the-scenes footage leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, and even released a snippet of the ad on Reels the Wednesday before the game.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Carls Jr. (@carlsjr)
That reel secured the fast-food restaurant chain a 91% increase in Instagram followers and a 47% engagement ratethe top engagement of any Super Bowl social media promotion, Metricool observed.
When an ad campaign is successful, the conversation around it can last for weeks. For Apple, the conversations been going for decades. Yes, more than 40 years later, Apples 1984 adwhich redefined Super Bowl commercials and permanently launched the company into the international spotlightstill sets the bar for branding brilliance.
Last years best-performing Super Bowl spot also garnered international attention. Beyoncés announcement of her Cowboy Carter album, in collaboration with Verizon, is still having a positive ripple effect today: The album broke Spotify records upon its release, and Beyoncé paired up with Verizon yet again this year to announce her Cowboy Carter tour.
The Super Bowl is one of the largest marketing events of the year, Ward says. It can give us a footprint to how marketers can craft their campaigns for the next year, and use it as kind of a reference to what has worked well.
Chilis is celebrating National Margarita Day this month with a new romcom Lifetime holiday movie.
The casual-dining restaurant chain and cable network will debut a 15-minute TV short film, called Ill Be Home For National Margarita Day, first airing on Lifetime on February 19 and available on Lifetime.com, YouTube, and social platforms.
Starring actors Maria Menounos and Taye Diggs, the new flick hits on all the classic Lifetime tropes, including a big-city-dwelling woman returning to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who happens to be a bartender at Chilis. The reunited lovers must work together to save a small towns National Margarita Day celebration from the villainous big-city developer.
Hes like a bad guy right out of a Lifetime movie, says Diggs during one of the films self-referential moments.
I think there are parallels between why people look to Lifetime and the great content they create, as well as why people look for a night out at a place like Chilis, says Chili’s chief marketing officer George Felix in an interview with Fast Company. Its a reliable source of comfort.
The project also presents an appetizing marketing opportunity for Chilis, which sold 25 million margaritas last year, more than any other restaurant chain in the U.S. Chilis worked with creative agency Mischief on the film, which is a core pillar of the restaurant chains largest-ever marketing campaign for National Margarita Day, a holiday that is celebrated on February 22.
‘We need excuses to laugh’
Chilis is also offering several margarita promos, including a one-day $5 margarita special called the Tequila Trifecta, which combines el Jimador Silver, 1800 Reposado, and Jose Cuervo Gold.
When people are thinking about margaritas and a place to go out, Chili’s is really the first choice, says Felix.
Menounos, who plays Liz, is already well known to the Lifetime audience having previously appeared in the networks films including Christmas at Plumhill Manor and The Holiday Dating Guide. The actress says she is so charmed by the genre that she cofounded a holiday movie production company in 2024 with her husband, writer and film producer Keven Undergaro, called We Heart Holidays.
Life has gotten so hard and so challenging, we need excuses to laugh, and smile, and have fun, and have margaritas, says Menounos.
[Photo: Chili’s]
Menounos has also been a devoted fan of Chilis for well over two decades and even hired a former Chilis waiter to work at her company. Menounos says she tends to prefer appetizers including the chips and salsa, nachos, and the fried mozzarella.
Beyond her love of holiday flicks, Menounos says she was lured to the project to work with a friend, Diggs, who plays Sam in the film and also previously starred in Lifetimes Terry McMillian Presents: Forever. Diggs says hes a more recent convert to the Chilis cuisine.
We all knew these characters, but at the same time, its a little bit tongue in cheek, because were talking about Chilis and mozzarella sticks and margaritas, says Diggs.
A bar and grill on a roll
The chain has become a star performer for restaurant operator Brinker, which also owns the Italian-themed Maggianos. Comparable restaurant sales, which tracks the performance at locations that have been open for more than 18 months, have increased steadily over the past several quarters.
For the most recent fiscal second quarter, comparable restaurant sales jumped 31% at Chilis, growth that astonished Wall Street analysts, who have praised the chains comeback as one of the strongest ever in the restaurant industry.
Felix says the chain has benefited from reinvesting in national TV advertising after a long pause during the pandemic, as well as a streamlined menu with 25% fewer items than two years ago. The core focus is now on five categories: burgers, chicken crispers, fajitas, margaritas, and the triple dipper.
[Photo: Lifetime]
The triple dipper, which allows diners to select from a range of three different appetizers, has been a particular popular dish. Last spring, Chilis began to notice some social media chatter, especially on TikTok, that frequently featured the combination of sliders, honey chipotle chicken crispers, and fried mozzarella.
TikTok users were particularly drawn to performing whats known as the cheese pull” as they bite into the fried mozzarella.
This item really lends itself to the way that the TikTok food world works, says Felix. Chilis cultivated interest in the dish by partnering with social media influencers. The triple dipper has amassed over 200 million views on TikTok in just he past six months.
The Lifetime film presents yet another opportunity for Chilis to lean into pop culture. While the networks audience tends to skew more female, Chilis says the brands overall strategy is fairly gender balanced. Recent partnerships include launching the espresso martini with the female cast members of Bravos TV show Vanderpump Rules, but other recent activations with NASCAR and the comedy group Dude Perfect lean more male.
The fact that Chili’s is a brand that really appeals to a wide demographic gives us, as marketers, a wide range of partners that we can play with, says Felix. Lifetime hits one of our big audiences in a big way.
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Over the past decade, the rising cost of insulin epitomized the broader systemic issue of higher healthcare out-of-pocket costs that prevented many Americans from accessing essential care. People with diabetes, who rely on insulin to maintain their health, were routinely priced out of accessing their medicationsforced to choose between filling their prescriptions or paying other bills. As a result, lowering the cost of insulin became a political rallying cry, compelling elected officials and regulators to take action.
Given the complexity of the American healthcare system, theres no magic bullet when it comes to reducing insulin pricesor any prescription price for that matter. Patent protections, gaps in targeted affordability regulations, and supply chain issues are just a handful of the network dynamics at play. But, through collaborative efforts by pharma, lawmakers, and other stakeholders, the tide on insulin prices is beginning to turn.
New research from GoodRx shows that the average price per insulin unit dropped 42% from 2019 to mid-2024the lowest average in a decade. Notably, it wasnt just one factor that contributed to this significant drop. The Inflation Reduction Act, which began capping costs for Medicare enrollees, was a game changer for millions of Americans. Voluntary manufacturer price cuts and savings programs, as well as increased approvals of biosimilars and generics, also drove big declines in insulin prices. Collectively, these efforts reflect a pivotal shift toward improving accessibility. Most importantly, this illustrates how, when the industry comes together, we can make medications more affordable.
Collaboration as a catalyst for change
To usher in a new era of affordable medicine, working together across the healthcare ecosystem is essential. Pharmaceutical companies, policymakers, insurance companies, and healthcare systems each hold a critical piece of the solution. While insulin price reductions are a notable victory, out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications continue to trend upward. Since 2014, prescription list prices have grown nearly 40%. Today, fewer medications are covered by insurance, and others are subject to restrictions like step therapy and prior authorizations. These factors contribute to why an estimated 53 million Americans leave their medications at the pharmacy counter every month.
The insulin example demonstrates the impact that joint efforts can have in making lasting change, and private partners can play a significant role in driving innovation. At GoodRx, we saw an opportunity to contribute to the solution by partnering with Sanofi in 2023 to offer their most prescribed insulin, Lantus, for only $35 to all Americanswhether they had insurance or not. This happened before the manufacturer implemented its own program for consumers with commercial insurance and within the same coverage year that Medicare enrollees began benefiting from $35 insulin copay caps.
Apply the insulin blueprint
Though insulin was the starting point, it was only the first step on our path to better support people with diabetes. Since partnering with Sanofi, GoodRx broadened its efforts by launching cash-pay programs with other manufacturers to make essential diabetes medications and devices more affordableespecially for those not covered by insurance or with high out-of-pocket costs. For instance, weve partnered with Dexcom to lower the price of their Dexcom G6 and Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitors by over $200 per month for consumers with diabetes. Both of these programs have brought savings to thousands of people who used GoodRx to complement insurance shortfalls.
Our success with diabetes offers a playbook to tackle affordability challenges for other chronic conditions, such as heart and renal diseases. The groundbreaking medications and technology used to treat and monitor these conditions, especially solutions new to the market, typically come with high price tags that put them out of reach for many people. But it doesnt have to be this way.
To prioritize affordability and increase access to lifesaving treatments, there must be a sustained commitment to transparency and accountability from all stakeholders. Policymakers can strengthen and expand consumer-centric legislation while enforcing regulations that ensure companies prioritize the needs of people over profits. Pharmaceutical companies can prioritize the development of innovative treatments to advance patient care while also taking deliberate steps to improve affordability. This includes providing savings programs and supporting the production of biosimilars and generics to ensure broader patient access to lifesaving medication.
Charting a path forward
At GoodRx, we collaborate with partners across the healthcare industry, from pharmaceutical companies to retail pharmacies and healthcare professionals. These interactions provide an unparalleled vantage point for identifying opportunities to improve transparency and affordability.
The journey toward making healthcare more affordable is undeniably complex, but the insulin price reduction serves as a beacon of hope. It underscores how sustained, collaborative efforts and a shared commitment to the public good can improve access to critical medications for those who need them most. The path forward is clear, and it is up to us as industry leaders to follow it.
Dorothy Gemmell is chief commercial officer and president, manufacturer solutions at GoodRx.
The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
When I was a college student renting an apartment in New York City, I learned firsthand that the rental process was overly complex and inefficient. My friends and I lost out on an apartment we really wanted simply because we couldnt gather the necessary documentation fast enough.
That experience stuck with me, and it sparked an ideawhy not electronically store all of the documentation you need to apply for rental housing so its always ready at your fingertips. So I built an app to do just that.
Along the way, I began talking to more people on both sides of the rental process, and I realized the issues went beyond just tenants.
Understand both sides of the equation
As I spoke with more landlords, I realized that they were just as frustrated as tenants, if not more so. I saw that independent landlords, in particular, felt a deep connection to their tenants and wanted them to have a positive experience. Yet, they were forced into a system filled with inefficienciesusing pens, paper, and spreadsheets to manage complex situations, resulting in logistical headaches.
Independent landlords told me about pain points they were struggling with: how to collect rent efficiently; how to handle maintenance requests in a timely fashion; how to fill vacant units faster; and how to create a rental experience that makes people want to stay. Meanwhile, the technology available was not cost effective nor purpose-built for them. The existing systems were designed for massive property managers with different issues and budgets.
Interacting with renters (and being one myself) revealed that renters value convenience just as much as their landlords. Tenants also struggled with outdated payment systems, maintenance requests getting lost or forgotten, and difficulties communicating with their landlords, making them feel dissatisfied and less likely to renew their leases. They wanted an easy way to pay rent, submit maintenance requests, and stay informed about issues (like property water shutoffs or garbage day changes).
Driven by the belief that there had to be a better way, I saw an opportunity to bridge this gap, making the renting process easier for both landlords and tenants. Listening to the needs of both sides was instrumental in turning a personal project into an industry-changing solution.
The power of customer feedback (and trust)
Since my desire to build a software platform was born from talking to potential product users, it was only natural that listening to customers has been the cornerstone of my product development approach. One of my biggest regrets was waiting too long before sharing the platform with potential customers.
I spent over two years building the first version without letting anyone use it because I was convinced it had to be “perfect.” Ive since learned that waiting for a perfect or “customer-ready” product before releasing it is counterproductive.
In technology, quick iterations are important. If a technical feature or update can solve 50% of the customers problems, just release it. Helping people sooner is better than waiting until a solution is 95% complete. Plus, customer feedback will help refine and optimize the product along the way.
Once we got our product into customers hands, their feedback shaped everything. We learned that some features we thought were essential werent actually necessary, while othersones we hadnt even consideredbecame must-haves. By creating a direct feedback loop, we could pivot quickly, iterate fast, and build a product that truly meets users needs.
Both customers and investors are willing to take a leap of faith with you if they feel heard and included in the journey. Weve built a technology platform alongside users, and that collaboration has been invaluable. By staying engaged with our customers, weve ensured that were delivering what they actually need, not just what we think they need.
A data-driven, customer-centric approach
Once you have a good process to incorporate customer feedback into the development process, adding and analyzing data provides an even higher level of alignment on goals and decision making. Data gives us the “why” behind our choices, creating transparency and understanding within the company. This approach allows us to focus on the “right” thingsgiving customers everything they need, and nothing they dont.
As Steve Jobs once said, innovation is actually saying “no” to a thousand good ideas so you can focus on the most important ones, and I believe that wholeheartedly. Starting with your customer lets you focus on the most important ideas, and making data-driven decisions helps you refine those ideas and turn them into real solutions that help real people.
Case in point: We added a Credit Boost feature that allowed tenants to report their on-time rent payments to TransUnion to help them build credit and/or boost their credit scores. When analyzing our internal data over the past four years, we learned that landlords are likely to see a 13% jump in on-time rent payments when their tenants use it.
So this feature that was originally intended to benefit tenants was also benefiting landlords. Therefore, we added partnerships with Experian and Equifax, becoming the first property management software to enable on-time rent reporting to all three major credit bureaus, and we also made the feature available to landlords so they could purchase it for their tenants as an extra perk or amenity.
We used this approach to improve landlords and tenant relationships and lives many times. Some examples: offering autopay to reduce missed rent payments and late fees; providing customizable experiences such as template builders for pre-qualification and application processes; developing accelerated two-day funding for rent payments; and adding state-of-the-art security layers to protect landlord and tenant identities, protecting them against fraud.
We are continuously iterating, adapting, and refining the platform to ensure that renting is an easy and enjoyable experience for all. By focusing on these principles, weve created a platform that not only simplifies property management but also improves relationships between landlords and tenants. Investors can dedicate more time to their personal lives while growing their financial success, and renters benefit from a seamless, hassle-free process.
Embrace the entrepreneurial mindset
Ultimately, Ive learned that success comes from a simple but powerful philosophy: Build only whats needed, listen to the people who use your product, and always look for ways to make things better. By focusing on these principles, weve created a platform that simplifies property management and makes renting a better experience for everyone.
Renting shouldn’t be a battleit should be a partnership. And thats the future we continue to build.
Ryan Barone is cofounder and CEO of RentRedi.
The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
As the number of internet of things (IoT) devices is projected to reach 40 billion by 2030, IoT integration into our daily lives is undeniable. From smart homes to industrial systems, IoT devices offer unprecedented convenience and efficiency. Netgears 2024 IoT Security Landscape report found that IoT devices, including TV sets, smart plugs, routers, and more face frequent attacks, with an average of 10 per device, per day. The rapid adoption of IoT is outpacing the security measures necessary to protect them.
The rise of IoT goes beyond smart homes, reaching into critical sectors like healthcare, utilities, and transportation, where the stakes are far higher. A security breach in these areas could lead to devastating outcomes, from personal data theft to operational disruptions in essential operations. To fully realize IoTs potential, it is crucial to rethink device security, establish stronger standards, and foster a security-first culture that aims to protect the systems driving our future.
The explosion of IoTand its security gaps
The rise of IoT has been transformative. What began as simple, smart devices in homes has expanded into a vast, interconnected ecosystem that touches nearly every industry such as agriculture, healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing. IoT devices now power real-time decision making, automate complex systems and optimize operations at a global scale. However, significant security gaps threaten to undermine these benefits. Many IoT devices lack fundamental protections like encryption, regular firmware updates, and secure boot processes. The issue is compounded by the sheer volume of devices now deployedeach a potential entry point for attackers. In many cases, once an IoT device is compromised, it can serve as a gateway to more critical systems, creating a ripple effect of vulnerabilities across entire networks.
Key risks include default security settings, limited processing power and memory, and the lack of standardized security protocols across the IoT ecosystem. These gaps allow attackers to exploit devices to access sensitive data, disrupt essential services, or breach larger, more critical networks, putting the integrity of entire systems at risk.
The role of users and manufacturers in IoT security
IoT security is a shared responsibility between users and manufacturers, who play crucial roles in safeguarding devices from cyber threats. Manufacturers are primarily responsible for designing and developing secure devices, but they sometimes need to prioritize time-to-market over comprehensive security features. Many IoT devices, such as smart home gadgets, cameras, and wearables, are produced by companies with limited experience in cybersecurity, leading to vulnerabilities in device firmware and communication protocols. Inadequate testing and security oversight at the design and development stages expose devices to risks like unauthorized access and data breaches.
On the user side, negligence in maintaining device security further exacerbates these risks. Users often fail to change default passwords, leaving their devices vulnerable to brute-force attacks. Users often do not regularly update firmware or software, unaware that patches are released to fix known vulnerabilities. Many consumers also need to gain awareness of the potential privacy risks, such as the misuse of personal data collected by their devices, which can be exploited if not correctly and adequately protected.
The complexity of addressing these issues lies in the need for more standardization across the industry. Manufacturers often release products with proprietary systems that dont always adhere to universal security frameworks, making it difficult for users to implement best practices consistently. Without standardized security protocols and better consumer education, the IoT ecosystem will continue to face challenges.
Implement best practices for IoT security
As IoT systems are integrated into critical infrastructure and daily life, evolving policy changes are essential to address growing risks. Regulatory frameworks, such as stricter data protection laws and mandatory security standards for IoT devices, will play a pivotal role in enhancing the security environment. Governments and organizations should work together to develop global security standards that mandate encryption, authentication protocols, and regular software updates. These policies will not only encourage manufacturers to design more secure devices but also hold companies accountable for maintaining security throughout the lifecycle of their products.
Given the scale and complexity of IoT ecosystems, traditional security measures often fall short. This is where AI and machine learning can play a transformative role. AI-driven security systems can analyze large datasets generated by IoT devices in real-time, identifying anomalies that might signal a breach. Machine learning algorithms improve over time, enabling them to predict and preempt emerging threats before they escalate. That said, the technologies effectiveness depends on its proper integration with existing security infrastructures and ongoing updates informed by the latest threat intelligence.
Your voice matters. Insist that manufacturers prioritize security by choosing products from companies that are transparent about their security practices and committed to regular updates. By supporting policies and initiatives that push for better security practices across the board, you help ensure that all devices, from the smallest sensor to the most complex system, are built with security in mind.
Svetlin Todorov is cofounder of Shelly and CEO of Shelly U.S.A.
