The world's 4th largest economy isn't a country
Yellowstone, spin and wine demand in China.
Hello,
I hope you’re well and the Mini Egg-induced fog is starting to lift.
I’ve been reading this book called Humanise by Thomas Heatherwick about how most modern architecture is basically inhumane because it’s so boring. City skylines have been blighted by dull but efficient buildings for decades. They’re designed to cram in the largest amount of people into the least amount of space in order to maximise returns.
It occurred to me this is a feature of modern life more broadly. Everyone is so focused on optimisation, productivity and clarity of messaging that sameyness has become an endemic feature of our lives. Software all looks the same, and it makes sense to some degree because you don’t want to baffle users, the only problem is you bore them in the process. It’s of course the same with much corporate communication, professionalism is prioritised and any sense of fun takes a backseat.
So go on then, add some flourish, maybe a ‘mellifluous’ in an email here or a jaunty diagram in a presentation there. Have a bit of fun, you know.
Be silly,
Hugo
Chief Silliness Officer
The Business of Stuff
The Stuff
Blackrock is coming for the UK 💰 - it’s a bit of a double-edged sword when Larry Fink, who controls $11.6 trillion of capital, says the UK is “undervalued”. No one is complaining about investment but will we have all to be implanted with chips and prostrate before our lizard overlords? We do need some new infrastructure though, so probably just got to suck it up.
California is the world’s 4th largest economy 📈 - it has surpassed that of Japan, with a GDP of $4.10 trillion in 2024. It’s been having a tough time recently with all the fires and stuff, but they love to grow and make things there. They’ve also got the country’s two largest seaports.
100-year-old shopkeeper is considering retirement (at some point) 🧵 - Arthur Ferguson has been running his haberdashery in Cumbria since the 1950s which he set up with his wife, Cicely. He’s still enjoying it and gets out of bed at 7am every day, except on Sunday when he has a bit of a lie in. Good on you Arthur.
JP Morgan and Amazon have brought back the suggestion box 🗳️ - Jamie Dimon and Andy Jassey have been asking employees how they can reduce bureaucracy and improve the businesses. Jasey said he received over 1000 emails and implemented 375 changes off the back of them. Toyota pioneered the idea of the suggestion box back in the 1950s and they’ve given us many things from personalised coffee cups at Starbucks to Playstation controllers.
Door Dash makes an offer to buy Deliveroo 💸 - the American company has offered to pay £2.7 billion for their London-based rival which some people reckon is going to start a bidding war. The board would be “minded to recommend” a deal at 180p a share which is still significantly below the initial IPO price of 390p a share, which was dubbed “the worst IPO in history.”
Apple is going to make all its US iPhones in India 📳 - the tech giant has been looking to move some of its operations away from China for a while, but the urgency has obviously intensified with all the tariff malarky. They are aiming to do this by the end of 2026, which if we’re being honest feels a little bit ambitious. You gotta do a lot of stuff to make 65 million iPhones. I’m just not sure they can do that much stuff in that time.
Decreasing wine demand in China is pushing down prices in Bordeaux 🍷 - there was a buying spree over the past couple of decades as China’s economy flourished and French wine became popular. Thanks to the big headache of actually producing wine and a growing number of domestic producers, this trend has gone into reverse.
Yellowstone is making Paramount loads of money 🤠 - it’s got to be the most dangerous ranch in the world but god it’s good television, them all cowboying about in nice scenery. It has brought in an estimated $ 2.9 billion, of which $450 million were from DVD sales. I’m not sure why, but that’s so on-brand for Yellowstone.
Mo Farah launches Urunn to take on Strava 🏃 - with the recent acquisition of Runna by Strava and a current heightened interest in the sport it’s a good time to be getting an AI-powered running coach out there. Urunn is a joint venture with WithU (trying saying that out loud) which already has a number of deals with companies from Maccies to John Lewis.
1Rebel to take over Revolution site on Clapham High Street 🚲 - it’s a sign of the changing times that kids these days would rather exercise than knock back a load of Woo Woos and make some bad choices. A planning application has been put in with Lambeth Council to turn the former bar into a new spin class studio. Long live the revolution.
Quote of the week
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. - Margaret Mead