🤔 Could a Rollout Be Any Worse?

Some announcements can't seem to stick the landing...

GM all. Thank you all for reading my interview with Jonathan Eppers, CEO and founder of VYBES yesterday. It was my most read newsletter to date and I am looking forward to doing more interviews with founders, creators, and tastemakers in the space soon.

No interview today though, you’re stuck with me. I am working on some longer deep dives but today we are going over some insane headlines—

News:

• The SEC ‘approved’ the first Bitcoin ETF, then retracted. A bitcoin ETF has long been in the works, pending SEC approval. This would be a landmark shift for the regulatory body and send shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community in terms of legitimizing the asset class and adding in more entry points for investors. Bitcoin soared after the SEC sent out a now deleted tweet claiming it had approved the ETF. However, within 30 minutes the agency removed the tweet and alleged it had been ‘compromised’ and the ETF was under review. Not sure what is going on with this, as this reads likes a pump and dump scheme or an over enthusiastic and jumpy social media manager? Will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

  

• Rabbit launched a new ‘pocket companion’ at CES. This device resembles a brightly colored GameCube, and features a scroll wheel and a camera. BUT, the product launch video, while slick, literally does not describe what this product does or who this is for AT ALL. The landing page is not much better. This is a common problem with physical tech startup launches, they do a horrible job at showing the true value prop of their device through their marketing. Yes, make the cool video, but tell me what the product does, or seed this to influencers who can tell the story for you in the real world. I had a similar criticism of Humane’s AI Pin last year. The launch video began talking about the COLORS it was available in and not what it DID.

  

• Nike is launching a workwear line. Oh my god this is so bad. To me, Nike has really lost its way in terms of creating new, interesting products. The Nike Soho store is situated very close to the Carharrt WIP store (which now has a line at all times) you’d be better going off there for workwear.

  

• Is Thrive cosmetics a future model of success for the beauty industry? The NYT profiled Karissa Bodnar, the 34 year old founder of Thrive cosmetics, a beauty brand dedicated to donating profits to social causes. In a world filled with celebrity backed cosmetic brands, Thrive is finding massive success, and with very little capital (she only raised $100,000) I thought this whole fad had worn off (see Toms) but I guess not?

  

• Bella Hadid is back from her long hiatus, covering (and creative directing!) the new Perfect Magazine cover. Very excited to see if we’ll see her walk in the upcoming fashion weeks. I know a lot of people here in NYC who are going to be running out of work if Hadid is serious about creative directing.

  

• The new Guy Morgan website launched and it’s stunning. I love the grainy hero video and the flawless layout. So well done, kudos to the designer.

Okay thanks all for reading, have a great day and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!

About the Writer

Jake Bell is a content marketing and creative strategist based in NYC. He specializes in content creation, branding, art direction, creative strategy, and making things cool.

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