Inflation rose last month as the price of gas, groceries, hotel rooms and airfares rose, along with the cost of clothes and used cars.Consumer prices increased 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, up from 2.7% the previous month and the biggest increase since January. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 3.1%, the same as in July. Both figures are above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.The reading is the last the Fed will receive before its key meeting next week, when policymakers are widely expected to cut their short-term rate to about 4.1% from 4.3%. Still, the new inflation data underscores the challenges the Fed is facing as it experiences relentless pressure from President Donald Trump to cut rates. Inflation remains stubborn while the job market is weakening, diverging trends that would require polar reactions from Federal Reserve policymakers to address.Hiring has slowed sharply in recent months and was lower than previously estimated last year. The unemployment rate ticked up in August to a still-low 4.3%. And weekly unemployment claims rose sharply last week, the government also reported Thursday, a sign layoffs may be picking up.Typically the Fed would cut its key rate when unemployment rose to spur more spending and growth. Yet it would do the opposite and raise rates or at least keep them unchanged in the face of rising inflation. Last month, Chair Jerome Powell signaled that Fed officials are increasingly concerned about jobs. Yet stubbornly high inflation could keep the Fed from cutting very quickly.On a monthly basis, overall inflation accelerated, as prices rose 0.4% from July to August, faster than the 0.2% pace the previous month. Core prices rose 0.3% for the second straight month.Gas prices jumped 1.9% just from July to August, the biggest monthly increase since a 4% rise in December. Grocery prices climbed 0.6%, pushed higher by more expensive tomatoes, apples, and beef. The cost of travel soared, with air fares rising 5.9% just from July to August and hotel room prices rising 2.3%. Rental costs also increased, rising 0.4%, faster than the previous month.The impact of tariffs appeared to be mixed, with many imported goods rising in price but modestly. Clothing costs rose 0.5% just last month, though they are still just slightly more expensive than a year ago. Furniture costs rose 0.3% and are 4.7% higher than a year earlier. Appliance costs also rose from July to August, after falling the previous month.The inflation data arrives at the same time that Trump has sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook as part of an effort to assert more control over the Fed. Yet late Tuesday, a court said the firing was illegal and ruled that Cook could keep her job while the dispute played out in the courts.
Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
Supermarket chain Safeway is reportedly planning close 12 of its stores in the coming weeks. The grocer, which is a subsidiary of Albertsons Companies, currently operates over 900 stores across the United States. But Safeway will shutter the doors at some locations in Colorado, Nebraska, and New Mexico.
Ten of the planned store closures are in Colorado. Meanwhile, one store in Nebraska and one store in New Mexico will also close, according to a list compiled by USA Today. Albertsons attributes the closures to store performance.
“We continuously evaluate the performance of our stores, and occasionally, after long and careful deliberation, it becomes necessary to make the difficult decision to close certain locations,” Albertsons said in a statement to USA Today. “We are working to place affected associates in nearby stores wherever possible.
Fast Company contacted Albertsons to confirm this list. We will update this story if we hear back.
Which stores are closing?
The following Safeway locations will reportedly close on or before November 7:
201 E. Jefferson, Englewood, Colorado 80113
500 E. 120th Ave, Northglenn, Colorado 80233
1653 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver, Colorado 80222
12200 E. Mississippi, Aurora, Colorado 80012
3657 S. College Ave, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525
860 Cleveland Ave., Loveland, Colorado 80537
5060 North Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918
1425 S. Murray Blvd., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80916
315 W. 2nd St., La Junta, Colorado 81050
906 E. Olive St., Lamar, Colorado 81052
230 Morehead Street, Chadron, Nebraska 69337
730 W. Main St., Farmington, New Mexico 87401
Retail store closures are a growing trend
Retail closures continue to be a growing trend. Fast Company has been following what many have branded as the retail apocalypse nationwide, which has impacted retailers like At Home, Claires, and Rite Aid.
Many familiar retailers have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as they restructure their businesses and reduce their brick-and-mortar footprints. Some chains, such as fabrics retailer Joann, have winded down operations completely.
Safeway isnt the only grocery store reducing its brick-and-mortar footprint. In its first-quarter earnings report in June 2024, Kroger announced plans to shutter 60 of its stores by mid-2026.
The news of Kroger and Safeway store closures comes on the heels of a failed merger.
In October 2022, Kroger reached an agreement to acquire Albertsons for $25 billiona move that would have created one of the largest grocery chains in the United States.
However, in 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block the merger, alleging that it would lead to higher prices and eliminate competition. Federal and state judges ruled that the merger was unlawful, and both companies terminated the agreement.
Grocery store closings contribute to food deserts
Grocery store closures impact local communities. In addition to job losses, closures result in reduced access to food. Supermarket store closures contribute to food deserts, a term used to describe areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food.
According to recent data from the USDAs Food Access Research Atlas, an estimated 18.8 million people in the United States, or 6.1% of the U.S. population, live in areas with limited access to healthy foods. Organizations like Feeding America work to reduce food insecurity.
Wall Street pointed toward a third consecutive day of records before the opening bell Thursday ahead of new U.S. data releases on the labor market and inflation.Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3% while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq each ticked 0.2% higher.Market movement will hinge on government reports about inflation and unemployment benefits, two areas that the Federal Reserve attempts to manage as part of its dual mandate to control inflation and maintain a healthy labor market.Most economists believe the Fed will cut rates at its meeting next week after recent data revealed a labor market that’s been softening for longer than previously thought. While inflation also remains stubbornly above the U.S. central banks 2% target and is forecast to have risen again in August, Fed officials have increasingly expressed concern about a slowing U.S. job market.Recent government reports have also shown that hiring has slowed sharply in recent months and was lower than previously estimated last year, a sign that companies may be worried about future sales and are less interested in adding staff.Stocks have reached records in large part because Wall Street is expecting the economy to pull off a delicate balancing act: slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, but not so much that it causes a recession, all while inflation remains under control.Many things must go right for that to happen, and an encouraging signal came from a report Wednesday saying inflation at the U.S. wholesale level unexpectedly slowed in August.Traders were already convinced the Fed will deliver its first cut to interest rates of the year at its next meeting, but they need inflation data until then to be mild enough not to derail those expectations.In premarket trading Thursday, shares of residential home flipper Opendoor climbed 36% after the company named Kaz Nejatian, the COO of Shopify, as its CEO. Opendoor also announced that co-founders Keith Rabois and Eric Wu are returning to serve on the board of directors, with Rabois stepping into the chairman’s role.Shares of FedEx fell 1.3% while UPS slipped 2.1% after Bank of America downgraded both package delivery companies’ stock.In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX rose 0.3%, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.9%.In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.2% to 44,372.50, with tech investment company SoftBank Group’s shares jumping 8.3% in a second straight day of gains.Data released Thursday showed Japan’s producer prices rose 2.7% year-on-year in August from a 2.5% rise the previous month, in line with market expectations. The higher cost of food, transport equipment and machinery contributed to the rise in prices.In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 0.4% to 26,086.32 while the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.7% to 3,875.31.Shares of chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp added more than 6%, while Hua Hong Semiconductor rose 3.8%. Cambricon Technologies, often called China’s Nvidia, climbed 9%.South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.9% to 3,344.20 while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.3% to 8,805.00. India’s BSE Sensex added nearly 0.2% while Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.1%, trimming earlier gains.
Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott, Associated Press
Americans are marking 24 years since the September 11, 2001, attacks with solemn ceremonies, volunteer work, and other tributes honoring the victims.Many loved ones of the nearly 3,000 people killed will join dignitaries and politicians at commemorations Thursday in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.Others choose to mark the day at more intimate gatherings.James Lynch, who lost his father, Robert Lynch, during the World Trade Center attack, said he and his family will attend a ceremony near their hometown in New Jersey before spending the day at the beach.“It’s one of those things where any kind of grief, I don’t think it ever goes away,” Lynch said as he, his partner, and his mother joined thousands of volunteers preparing meals for the needy at a 9/11 charity event in Manhattan the day before the anniversary. “Finding the joy in that grief, I think, has been a huge part of my growth with this,” he said.The remembrances are being held during a time of increased political tensions. The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a day of national unity, comes a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a college in Utah.
The reading of names and moments of silence
Kirk’s killing is expected to prompt additional security measures around the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York, authorities said.At ground zero in lower Manhattan, the names of the attack victims will be read aloud by family and loved ones in a ceremony attended by Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance. Moments of silence will mark the exact times when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center’s iconic twin towers, as well as when the skyscrapers fell.At the Pentagon in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians were killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military will be honored. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will attend the service before heading to the Bronx for a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers Thursday evening.And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a similar ceremony marked by moments of silence, the reading of names and the laying of wreaths, will honor the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit. That service will be attended by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.Like Lynch, people across the country are also marking the 9/11 anniversary with service projects and charity works as part of a national day of service. Volunteers will be taking part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and other community events.
Reverberations from attacks persist
In all, the attacks by Al Qaeda militants killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives.The attacks reverberated globally and altered the course of U.S. policy, both domestically and overseas. It led to the “Global War on Terrorism” and the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians.While the hijackers died in the attacks, the U.S. government has struggled to conclude its long-running legal case against the man accused of masterminding the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The former Al Qaeda leader was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and later taken to a U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but has never received a trial.The anniversary ceremony in New York was taking place at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood.The Trump administration has been contemplating ways that the federal government might take control of the memorial plaza and its underground museum, which are now run by a public charity currently chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic. Trump has spoken of possibly making the site a national monument.In the years since the attacks, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were exposed to the toxic dust that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed. More than 140,000 people are still enrolled in monitoring programs intended to identify those with health conditions that could potentially be linked to hazardous materials in the soot.__Associated Press reporters Michael Hill in Albany, New York, and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this story.
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Philip Marcelo, Associated Press
Shares in meme stock darling Opendoor Technologies (Nasdaq: OPEN) are surging once again after the real estate sales platform announced a new CEO: Kaz Nejatian, the chief operating officer of Shopify. Heres what you need to know about Nejatian and how investors are reacting to the news.
Whats happened?
Yesterday, Opendoor named the chief operating officer of Shopify, Kaz Nejatian, as its new CEO. The appointment was news to many, but the fact that Opendoor was looking for a new chief executive was not.
Thats because on August 15, Opendoor announced that its then-CEO, Carrie Wheeler, would be stepping down effective immediately. In her place, the companys chief technology and product officer, Shrisha Radhakrishna, stepped up as interim leader as the search for a new CEO commenced.
At the time, Opendoor said, Wheeler had made the decision to step down from her role as CEO. However, as The Wall Street Journal notes, there has been pressure from retail investors to replace Wheeler, especially after the companys disappointing Q2 2025 results, which saw it purchase 63% fewer homes during the quarter than a year earlier.
Opendoor makes the majority of its money by buying homes directly from homeowners, fixing them up, and then flipping them for a profit.
But during its Q2 results, Opendoor also offered guidance that spooked investors. It said that during its current Q3, it expects revenue of $800 million to $875 million. That represents a 36% decline from the revenue it generated in the same quarter a year earlier.
OPEN stock fell nearly 20% as a result of these announcementsseverely limiting the gains that it had made in July when it became a favorite among meme stock investors.
In a press release announcing the search for a new CEO, Wheeler said she believed now is the right moment for a leadership transition, and Im confident the company is on a strong path forward. The company, in turn, stated that its new CEO search is well underway.
As of yesterday, that search has ended.
Who is Kaz Nejatian?
Kaz Nejatian comes to Opendoor from Shopify, where he had held the role of the online shopping platforms chief operating officer since 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Before becoming Shopifys COO in 2022, Nejatian was a VP of merchant services at the company and, prior to that, held the title of VP & GM of Shopify Money. Before Shopify, Nejatian worked at Facebook as a lead project manager for the companys payment platform and billing teams.
Before his positions at Big Tech companies, Nejatian was the cofounder and CEO of Kash, a mobile payments technology company that catered to small businesses.
Kash was founded in 2012 and acquired by one of the largest fintech companies in the U.S. in 2017, according to Opendoors press release. According to PitchBook, the acquiring firm was undisclosed.
Announcing the appointment of Nejatian as the companys new CEO, Opendoors cofounder and chairman, Keith Rabois, said Nejatian is a decisive leader who has driven product innovation at scale, ruthlessly reduced general and administrative (G&A) expenses to drive profitability and deeply understands the potential for AI to radically reshape a companys entire operations.
He is the right leader to unlock Opendoors unique data and assets as we build on Opendoors original mission, now enhanced as an AI-first company, he added.
As for Nejatian, the new CEO said his position at Opendoor was a privilege. Few life events are as important as buying or selling a home, he added. With AI, we have the tools to make that experience radically simpler, faster, and more certain. Thats the future were building.
How have Opendoor shares reacted?
Shares in Opendoor have reacted very well to the appointment of Nejatian as CEO.
As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading this morning, OPEN shares are currently trading up more than 35% to $7.92 per share. Yesterday, OPEN shares had closed down over 4% to $5.86 per share.
The companys shares are now at their highest level since 2022.
Year-to-date, OPEN shares have surged more than 266% as of yesterdays close. However, whether they can maintain their recent momentum in the long term will likely ultimately depend on the companys future fundamentals, rather than any transient meme stock hype.
Rocket Labs pivot from small launch darling to serious SpaceX competitor is about to be tested. The Long Beach, California-based company has already sent 12 of its light-lift Electron rockets into space in 2025, carrying payloads for commercial and government customers, with several more planned before the end of the year from its Virginia and New Zealand launch sites.
But the next several months are pivotal, as Rocket Lab races to bring its next-generation, medium-lift Neutron rocket to the launchpad before years end. Its an ambitious timeline, CEO Peter Beck acknowledges, and the company will need to hit all its marks in the coming weeks to meet it.
“When we put a vehicle on the pad, we do not expect it to fail,” Beck tells me in our wide-ranging conversation. “If you look at our launch vehicle, our spacecraft history, generally the stuff that we build works the first time.”
But with the success of Neutron, Rocket Lab will be able stake its claim as a major player in space-defense infrastructure. Neutron can carry nearly 28,000 pounds, perfect for launching larger satellite constellations and national security missions. Already, Rocket Lab is building satellites for missile defense systems, broadband, and more.
As he prepares for the first flight of Neutron, Beck talked with me about whats riding on this next-gen vehicle, how the companys long-term strategy hinges on making it work, and why launchpad explosions are not part of his development plan.
In this Premium piece, you will learn:
The massive cost savings Rocket Lab is achieving on Neutron compared with the competition
How Beck bested more than 100 small launch companies to dominate that market
What he’s doing to put Rocket Lab in position to be a “real provider” for the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile defense project
Why the major space companies of the future will be “a little bit blurry” in terms of their mission
Weve seen mixed outcomes among your launch competitors this year, with some notable flameouts. How do you see the state of competition right now?
I think everybody can declare that the small-launch race has been won, right? Electron has really hit a high cadence this year, and weve had a lot of customers all turning up on time, which is fantastic.
I remember when we started the Electron [program], there were more than 100 small launch companies and billions of dollars flowed into small-launch. Astra consumed $400 million or so in their program [before going private last year and refocusing on engine building]. Virgin Orbit spent $1.2 billion on their program [before filing for Chapter 11]. ABL spent $300 million or $400 million, and so it goes. Firefly is sending payloads into the ocean.
I think the medium-launch market is going to end up in a similar way. There are a few programs that are funded, and I think that will sort itself out and there will be a viable alternative to the [Space X] Falcon 9, which is much needed for some competition in that space.
Its going to be really interesting as the heavy vehicles shake out. You saw a really great flight from [United Launch Alliances] Vulcan. Youve got [Blue Origins] New Glenn coming on. So it’s getting exciting.
The next phase of Rocket Labs business depends on getting the medium-lift Neutron launched. Youre still holding out hope for a launch in 2025?
Things are happening in parallel and theyll all sort of crescendo at the end. It’s a green light schedulethat means everything has to go. But right now, we can see a path until there’s no path. Were not waving the white flag.
And at the end of the day, if it’s not at the end of the year, it won’t be that far away. A few months here or there in the grand context of a 20-year lifecycle of a product is just totally irrelevant.
One of the things that I don’t think we’ve done a good job of is putting into context that this will be a four-year-plus, $350 million rocket development program. If you look at the last two rocket development programs: The one that just launched [ULAs Vulcan launch], that was a decade and $7 billion. And another one that just launched [SpaceXs Starship] was, like, 20 years and nobody knows how many billions of dollars.
In space exploration, things go wrong all the time. If the first Neutron launch failsif it explodes as weve seen from competitor rocketsare you ready to try again quickly?
Let’s talk about philosophy to start with. So, we don’t put anything on the pad unless we think it’s going to work. The threshold for Electron was 92%: I said to everybody that unless you are 92% sure that your system is going to be perfectly functional, don’t put it on the pad.
Other companies have philosophies where theyll take big risks and are happy to fail and fail fast. I think you can do that if you have essentially infinite capital.
Our development approach is not like that. When we put a vehicle on the pad, we do not expect it to fail. If you look at our launch vehicle, our spacecraft history, generally the stuff that we build works the first time.
The expectation of Neutron is that we reach orbit on the first flight. I’m not setting an expectation that we clear the pad, or that we get a good stage burn or nominate so many seconds of flightthat’s all bullshit. The idea here is to get to orbit.
The one area I would appreciate people giving us some slack on is the reentry and landing, because thats new and it took a company a very long time to master.
But if the worst happens, we have enough capital reserves to fund the entire program three times over. So it would be disappointing. Someone would need to leave me alone for a couple of days. But it presents no existential threat to the company whatsoever.
How quickly can you establish the kind or regular launch cadence you now have with Electron?
At the moment, theres one Electron rolling off the line every 11 days. With the Neutron, we’ve been really consistent that our bill rate will be one, three, and five [for the first three years].
Although everybody wants it to be faster, that’s what it takes. You need that dwell time between those flights to make the upgrades and the learnings that you see and to build that into your manufacturing.
With Electron, we put a factory in that was capable of producing one Electron every week, and we are at one every 11 days now. We haven’t bought or added any capital equipment. We followed the exact same approach with Neutron.
At our Middle River, [Maryland] facility, we invested in a 90-ton, three-story building where we build all of the composite components for the vehicle. We have the Archimedes engine factory, in Virgin Orbit’s old factory building [in Long Beach, California]. So we’re able to really build that scale quickly.
The one wrinkle here with Neutron is that its a reusable first stage. So the highest production rate we will ever have of stage ones at least is at the beginning of the program. And then stage ones get replaced once every 10 or 20 flights.
Launch services are just one part of Rocket Labs business. Where do the others stand right now?
On the space-system [spacecraft components] side, we continue to build out scale there with pending acquisitions of companies like Mynaric [a German manufacturer of laser communication equipment], which are a really key elment.
And the third pillar is youve seen us for the first time move into payloads, which is squarely focused on national security. We think with the opportunities that are there right now, that is exactly the right place to be focused.
Can you explain what you mean by payloads?
The sensor. Basically, you only build a satellite to host the sensor. The sensor is doing the work, and you only launch a satellite because you need to put the sensor in orbit. So, everything revolves around the sensor, whether it’s an antenna for doing broadband or it’s a telescope for doing Earth observation, it is the reason that you build something and go to space.
And thats the reason for acquiring Geost, which makes electro-optical and infrared sensor systems?
The acquisition of Geost positions us to be a disruptive player in [defense] programs such as the Golden Dome. Its not quite the Manhattan Project, but not that far off, with massive spending. And the space domain piece of that is core.
Our aspirations are slightly larger than just to be a part of it. We want to be a real provider. And the payload, or sensor, acquisition of Geost is a key element for that missile defense infrastructure that we now have under our belt.
With the continuing uncertainty around the Ukraine conflict and U.S. involvement with NATO, have you had more demand from governments in Europe, too?
With the world today, unfortunately, everybody is looking at their defense strategy. I’d say we are just getting our feet in Europe. Obviously, we’ve won some launch contracts for the European Space Agency on Electron, and our components business has sold into Europe for a long time. But once we close the acquisition of Mynaric, well have a German base. If you look at how weve expanded globally, Europe is the next big opportunity for us outside America.
Have changes in government contracting under the Trump administration, and the DOGE cuts, impacted your business? Have you benefited from the Trump-Musk falling out?
I have a policy not to comment on politics. Unlike my competitor, I’m just a humble rocket guy. But what I will say is that there is more desire than ever to have a really fulfilled competitive landscape within launch especially. And both commercial customers and government customers really, really want Neutron to come along and provide some competition in a market that has become a little bit less competitive over time.
Do you think the space industry will look very different five years from now?
If I have my way, it will. I think it’s going to become very clear, if its not already, that the really large space companies of the future are going to be a little bit blurry about how much of a space company they are and how much of something-else company they are.
I mean, if we look at our friends over at SpaceX, are they a telecommunications company, or are they a space company?
It has always been our ethos and our belief that if you have the ability to build the spacecraft and launch it and deploy it in orbit at a rate that’s faster than anybody else, then you have a distinct advantage.
That’s been proven out with Starlink. The only way to be competitive with Starlink is to have your own ability to launch at will, at mass, at cadence, your own satellites. I think that will become true in a lot of domains in space.
And so there’ll be a relatively small number of companies that have launch and manufacturing capabilities who will be the large players.
Does that mean that many of your current competitors will not be around in five years?
I dont know if they’re still around, or they morph, they adapt? Thats up to them. As the industry changes and adapts, you can have your Kodak moment or not, right?
Artificial intelligence may be booming, but there are some things people can still do better.
That’s according to a new study from the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, which found that virtual salespeople in livestreams dont outperform humans in the same role. In fact, when interacting with consumers to promote products in real time, these AI-powered digital streamers barely do better than no streamers at all. (So much for AI coming for that job.)
People assume that if businesses are using digital streamers, they must be doing well,” said Yanwen Wang, coauthor of the study. “But they arent, at least not in their current incarnation.”
The study, published in Information Systems Research, looked at sales data from e-commerce site Tmall.com. It compared sales by humans and AI-powered digital streamers of 328 products (74 by humans, 72 by digital streamers, and 182 with no streamers).
While the results were clear that sales were much higher when actual people were involved, the question of why remained.
By testing AI streamers that looked and sounded different, study researchers found more realistic avatarswhich behaved more like humans, with more human-sounding voicesmade a real difference in what people bought.
In fact, one key factor made the most difference: The avatar’s ability to answer questions in real time increased sales by 25%, for an 86% rise in revenue. (That’s not all: Surprisingly, adding a lottery to the livestreamwhere viewers could win prizeshelped increase sales by another 17%, boosting revenue 70%.)
Only enhanced real-time Q&A interactions allowed the digital streamers to achieve sales performances on par with human streamers, Wang concluded, suggesting quicker, interactive engagement is a key driver of sales, and that the best approach to selling online may be a mix of human and AI elements.
Resilience is often misunderstood.
Were taught to think of it as some hardened mental posturethe ability to push through pain, to toughen up, to bend and not break. But real resilience doesnt come from brute strength. It comes from self-understanding. From owning your truth, finding meaning in your pain, and choosing who you want to become in the face of your worst fears.
I learned that the hard way. At 19 years old, I took another mans life and was sentenced to 17 to 40 years in prison. I would spend 19 years behind bars, seven of them in solitary confinement. I went into that system broken, angry, and afraid. And for a long time, I let that pain define me.
But at my lowest pointtrapped in a cell the size of a parking space, cut off from the worldI made a decision. I chose to change. I began to write. I read hundreds of books. I confronted the darkest parts of myself and committed to something radical: I was going to rebuild my identity from the inside out.
That process didnt happen overnight. It happened through small, daily choices. The same way we build muscle in the gym, I built resilience by showing up for myself when no one else could.
What I learned in that cell has guided me every day sincethrough my reentry into society, through building relationships, raising children, writing books, working with CEOs, and speaking on stages around the world.
Here are a few of the most powerful lessons I took from that experience:
1. You have to tell yourself the truth.
At the core of any transformation is brutal honesty. Most of us are in denialabout our pain, our patterns, our past. We bury the things we dont want to face. But until you confront your truth, youre a prisoner to it.
For me, the truth was that I had been deeply wounded long before I ever picked up a gun. I had unresolved trauma, I felt unworthy of love, and I didnt know how to ask for help. Prison forced me to stop running from that truth. It taught me that freedom begins where denial ends.
2. You are not your worst decision.
One of the most damaging myths we carry is that we are defined by the worst thing weve done. That belief keeps us locked in shameand it keeps others from seeing our humanity.
I will never forget what I did. I live with that every day. But I also know that Im more than my past. The man I am todayfather, author, mentor, friendis a result of years of conscious work, reflection, and growth. You dont have to stay stuck in the story someone else wrote about you.
3. Stillness is a superpower.
Solitary confinement is designed to break people. And for a long time, it nearly broke me. I was angry, bitter, and desperate for an outlet. But in that silence, I began to hear myself clearly. I began to feel emotions Id numbed for years. Stillness became my teacher.
In the outside world, were surrounded by noise. But resilience requires space. You cant rebuild yourself in chaos. Whether its five minutes of breathing or an hour of journaling, carve out silence. Your growth depends on it.
4. You can choose your thoughts.
This was the biggest revelation of all: I didnt have to believe everything I thought. I could challenge the stories in my head. I could reframe my pain. I could interrupt the loop of self-hate and replace it with something better.
In prison, that meant shifting from Ill never get out to What can I do with this time? Outside of prison, it means shifting from Im not good enough to Whats one small thing I can do today to move forward?
Your mindset is your operating system. Update it as often as necessary.
5. Growth is nonlinear.
Change is messy. Youll stumble. Youll relapse into old patterns. I certainly did. But I kept coming back to the vision I had for my life. I held onto the version of myself I hadnt yet become.
The goal isnt to be perfectits to keep growing. Thats what resilience really is: not avoiding failure, but learning how to recover with grace.
These lessons didnt just help me survive prisonthey helped me lead. Today, I speak to leaders around the world about trust, culture, and transformation. And I tell them what I know to be true: the same tools that saved my life can strengthen their teams, their families, and themselves.
Because in the end, were all doing time. Were all navigating systems, stories, and struggles that can box us in. The question is: will you let those constraints define youor will you choose to break free?Adapted from How to Be Free by Shaka Senghor. Copyright 2025. Reprinted by permission of Authors Equity.
The fastest way to destroy value in a high-potential company isnt a bad market, its scaling a business that isnt ready to grow. And this article highlights one of the few ways you can identify and take action before you find out the hard way.
Mid-market companies ($20M$200M in revenue) often attract private equity attention for their expansion potential. Yet many hit a ceiling post-close, not because of market miscalculations, but because internal maturityacross leadership, systems, and culturelags behind external ambitions. Scaling when this is present magnifies disorder, not value. This is what we call the growth trap: a condition where external growth initiatives overwhelm internal capacity, suppressing returns and elongating the value creation timeline, ultimately delaying or decreasing returns.
For private equity firms seeking faster time-to-scale and stronger exit readiness, avoiding this trap requires one critical shift: treat internal capability as the foundation for growthnot a post-acquisition fix.
I. The Anatomy of the Growth Trap
The growth trap isnt caused by ambitionits caused by misalignment. In dozens of post-acquisition performance reviews, we observed a consistent pattern of dysfunctions that emerge when growth outpaces infrastructure:
Premature Expansion: Companies rush into new markets or product lines without conducting thorough due diligence or assessing the organizational impact.
Operational Inefficiencies: Existing processes, often adequate for smaller operations, become bottlenecks as the company scales. Lack of standardized procedures, inadequate technology, and poor communication lead to operational chaos.
Talent Gaps: Rapid growth exposes weaknesses in the talent pool. Existing employees may lack the skills or experience required for larger-scale operations. Recruitment and training lag behind expansion, leaving critical roles unfilled or filled with underqualified individuals.
Culture Shock: Growth triggers significant cultural shifts that are often underestimated. Existing cultures can be disrupted, resulting in employee resistance, decreased morale, and a decline in productivity. Data consistently shows that organizational culture is not a soft factor but a core driver of business performance and growth. McKinseys Organizational Health Index further revealed that companies with healthy cultures deliver shareholder returns 60% higher than their peers and are more resilient during transformational change.
Leadership Deficiencies: Leadership is the top internal determinant of a firms performance. Leaders may struggle to adapt their management style to the demands of a larger, more complex organization. This can lead to a lack of strategic direction, poor decision-making, and an inability to drive change.
II. How Private Equity Can Learn to Architect Scalable Growth
The good news: private equity firms can insure the operating company is uniquely positioned to intervene early, structure operational discipline, and drive scalability as a value lever. Rather than seeing talent and systems as post-close cleanup, the most effective firms approach internal optimization as a precondition for external expansion.
Below is a four-part playbook to prevent or reverse the growth trapone that places people, process, and leadership at the center of value creation. We have implemented this strategy with business leaders that plan to scale to ensure the company is ready for growth.
1. Culture Change as a Strategic Imperative:
Recognize that scaling is a significant change management effort, not just a transaction.
Implement structured change management programs that address employee concerns and build buy-in.
Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
2. Right People, Right Roles:
Conduct thorough organizational assessments to identify talent gaps and define clear roles and responsibilities.
Invest in talent acquisition and development programs to build a high-performing team.
Implement performance management systems that align individual goals with organizational objectives.
3. Operational Excellence:
Streamline and standardize processes to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Invest in technology that supports scalability and automation.
Implement robust data analytics to monitor performance and identify areas for improvement.
4. Strategic Leadership:
Provide leadership coaching and development to equip executives with the skills needed to manage a larger organization.
Foster a culture of strategic thinking and data-driven decision-making.
Ensure clear communication and alignment across all levels of the organization.
III. Case studies in transformation
Here are a few examples of how our strategic partnerships can support growth.
Case Study 1: Operational Discipline Drives Margin Expansion in Residential
Construction
A $50M portfolio company in the housing sector had ambitions to double revenue within five years. Initial efforts to scale via geographic expansion quickly exposed deep inefficienciesmanual scheduling systems, undocumented workflows, and informal project tracking.
Operational leadership halted expansion efforts and implemented a scalable operations framework: documented and aligned operational processes and procedures, established a decision making framework on go/no go work, developed a KPI dashboard and standardized billable time and project tracking mechanisms.
A new organizational design was rolled out to expand in multi-region rollouts. Within 12 months, operational waste dropped, top-line revenue grew, and margins improved, setting the stage for accelerated yet sustainable growth.
Case Study 2: Culture Integration in a $1B Construction Firm
A construction portfolio company scaling from $200M to $1B through acquisition faced significant cultural turbulence. Top talent exited due to unclear roles and shifting norms. Productivity dipped despite rising demand.
Recognizing culture as a performance variable, the operators introduced a dedicated integration officer and initiated quarterly culture pulse surveys across acquired units. A “culture blueprint” was developed and shared through onboarding and leadership workshops. Within nine months, employee engagement scores rose and project delivery timelines improved, aligning performance with scale.
Case Study 3: Scalable Leadership in a Bank Growing to $5B in Assets
A regional bank executing a roll-up strategy grew from 800 to 3,000+ employees and from under $500M to $5B in assets in five years. Despite strong top-line growth, internal systems and leadership infrastructure struggled to keep pace. Operations implemented a focus on people, process, and technology integration. A shared operating model, “Shared Success, Shared Failure,” was adopted for each acquisition.The result: unified reporting lines, reduced duplication, and a shared cultural identity that anchored the business through hyper-growth.
Case Study 4: Strategic Joint Ventures in Electrical Fabrication
An electrical fabrication firm in the industrial services sector aimed to expand via joint ventures but lacked process rigor and alignment. Integration efforts stalled as internal teams were unclear on ownership, accountability, and delivery standards.
Through a post-investment diagnostic, the operator firm uncovered structural issues in project ownership and communication. A centralized Project Management Office was created, roles were clarified, and joint venture integration playbooks were deployed. The company improved 25% in on-time project delivery within three quarters, unlocking the next wave of JV opportunities.
IV. The takeaways
For Private Equity Investors:
Diligence Beyond the Deck: Evaluate internal readinessnot just market potentialduring diligence. Ask: Can the current systems, people, and leadership model handle 2x scale?
Value Creation = Infrastructure + Strategy: True value creation doesnt begin at revenue accelerationit begins with operational predictability.
People as Assets: View top talent not just as cost centers but as scale enablers. Investing in leadership often yields higher ROI than bolt-ons.
For Portfolio Company Leaders:
Build Before You Scale: Rushing growth without aligning structure will burn resources and reputation. Dedicate time and budget to organizational development as a proactive strategy.
Make Culture Explicit: Dont let culture drift during scale. Define, document, and live the behaviors that will carry the organization forward.
Train Leaders for Tomorrow: Your leadership team must evolve alongside the company. Equip them now to manage complexity later.
Prioritize Culture: For all involved, prioritizing culture leads to better financial performance and outcomes. Studies show that when PE-backed firms prioritize culture, they see up to 2.3 times better financial performance and 25% higher first-year post-acquisition results when using experienced integration specialists to bridge cultural gaps.
V. A Real and Present Danger
The growth trap is a real and present danger for midsize companies. By understanding the underlying causes of this phenomenon and implementing an integrated strategy that prioritizes people, processes, and leadership, private equity firms can unlock significant value and drive sustainable growth. The key is to recognize that scaling is not just about increasing revenue; it’s about building a strong, resilient organization that can thrive in a dynamic market. By focusing on internal optimization, PE firms can insure their portfolio companies have a dedicated partner to avoid the growth trap and realize their full potential.
To understand how artificial intelligence is starting to shape the built environment, look at the ceiling inside Mt. Hope Elementary School in Lansing, Michigan. There, running across the tops of classrooms and hallways are thousands of feet of exposed metal electrical conduitthe tubing that holds the electrical guts of the building.
This tubing runs through the entire school, bringing power exactly where it’s needed. And for the first time in the U.S., this electrical system was designed completely by AI.
The AI company Augmenta created the tool that designed the electrical system. It uses a combination of machine learning and a deep background in electrical engineering to streamline the process of wiring up buildings.
Augmenta cofounder and CEO Francesco Iorio says that in the growing sea of AI design tools being applied to architecture and construction, few are focusing so specifically on the complex inner workings of buildings. “It is not new that people use generative and artificial intelligence technologies for simple things like floor planning, making sure that the facade looks good, or for shape exploration, massing, and that sort of stuff,” he says. “This is the very first time artificial intelligence designed a piece of critical infrastructure.”
While AI has made most of its splash in the digital realm through uses like chatbots and virtual assistants, the technology is also increasingly seen as a new paradigm for the design and construction of buildings. Architects were quick to glom on to AI’s image-creation and design-iteration abilities, and some have even turned AI into the basis for their entire architectural practice. But AI-designed buildings are still off on the horizon. For now, AI tools are bringing automation into more mundane, yet critical, parts of building design.
[Photo: courtesy Augmenta]
Why AI-designed electrical systems make sense
Iorio says AI is an ideal tool to address the haphazard nature of designing electrical systems for buildings. Despite their essential role in making buildings work, electrical systems are often among the last parts of a building to get a detailed design.
“Mechanical systems and plumbing systems generally take priority in terms of the space inside buildings,” Iorio says. “Electricians are actually left to last, and essentially have to just figure it out and fit everything they need to fit inside the building.”
[Photo: courtesy Augmenta]
Augmenta’s generative design tool analyzes the design of the entire building, from its architecture to its mechanical and plumbing systems, and uses those parameters to formulate a more detailed design for the electrical system that complies with building codes. Instead of electricians coming to a building site after the plumbing and mechanical systems have been installed, Augmenta allows the electrical system to be formulated alongside those parts of the building that usually get constructed first.
[Photo: courtesy Augmenta]
More speed, less waste
The tool adds a level of precision to the material side of this work that speeds up construction. With highly detailed measurements of conduit lines, bends in those tubes, and connection points to outlets and breaker boxes throughout the building, Augmenta’s electrical system design can plug directly into automated tools that cut and bend conduit to exact specifications.
Iorio says the design of the Mt. Hope Elementary electrical system took only about two-thirds of the time it would have taken to design manually, and also reduced material waste by 15%. “There are really multifaceted advantages that this technology brings to the industry overall. This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he says.
Augmenta’s tools are being used to design electrical systems for other large-scale and commercial projects, from hospitals to data centers to manufacturing facilities, but Mt. Hope Elementary is the first project to actually come to completion. “For us, it’s very heartwarming that the first project is a school,” Iorio says.
The school has used the electrical system to do more than just keep the lights on. The design called for parts of the electrical conduit and other building systems to remain uncovered by drywall and visible within classrooms. “They are using the systems as a teaching tool,” Iorio says. “It’s showing the kids that this is how a building works.”
