Raising a Billion Dollars with an HTML Site
Raising a Billion Dollars with an HTML Site
AI Branding, Nordstrom Drama, and Swaggy Rain Jackets
GM everyone. If you missed yesterday’s newsletter on the new J. Crew catalog, go read it.
I went to the store and picked up a few copies. The photography and styling is really quite good and I enjoyed the interview with Demi Moore, who herself is a vintage J. Crew fan. I’m currently wearing a 90s J. Crew fleece.
In Today’s Newsletter
Tiers of AI Branding
Nordstrom Goes Private
Haider Ackermann Joins Tom Ford
Beams x Arc’teryx
Tiers of AI Branding
The smartest minds working to advance artificial intelligence warn it has a non-zero chance of ending human civilization. But the world has collectively decided until that happens it can at least make everyone a sh*t ton of money.
In February alone this month AI companies received over $4B in VC investment.
As companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity introduce consumer-facing products, we're seeing AI transform from powerful tech tools into recognizable brands.
The way in which these companies do this is vastly different—
Great: Perplexity is by far the coolest. They’re leaning into this fascinating mix of retro aesthetic (serif fonts) and bold, surreal, futuristic color palettes.
They just dropped a really cool video hyping up their education offerings.
Bad: On the other hand, Discord’s Midjourney tools is very useful, but the user interface is awful and it feels like I’m using Limewire.
Ultra Minimalist: The founders of Safe Super Intelligence tout their $1B backing from a16z with an ultra simple HTML website. I have to respect this. Its giving Berkshire Hathaway website.
Nordstrom May Go Private
Nordstrom is one of the remaining survivors of the department store apocalypse.
In the past few years we’ve seen Macy’s scale back storefronts and initiate layoffs, Barney’s completely closed, and is JC Penny still around? IDK.
But Nordstrom’s (the family owners of Nordstrom) have been vying to take the company private since 2017, in hopes they can operate and restructure without the quarterly pressures of public investors.
Now with the help of Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool, the family has proposed taking the company private at $23/share, valuing the company at $3.8 billion.
This is substantially less than their $8B valuation in 2017, when the family failed to take the company private.
What genius is going to find a way to create a modern department store that can make money?
Haider Ackermann is Taking Over Tom Ford
One of the world’s sexiest brands is getting a new leader, but first the tea behind this shakeup—
In 2023, Tom Ford decided to cash in his chips and sell his namesake company to Estée Lauder and the Ermenegildo Zegna Group for $2.8B.
He appoints his right hand man, Peter Hawkings, who had been at Ford’s side for 25 years, as creative director.
But this was quickly forgotten after fan-favorite designer, Haider Ackermann, was announced the new creative director of Tom Ford.
Ackermann is known for his “superb tailoring skills and mastery of varied materials.”
TBD on when Ackermann will present his first collection, but it is now highly anticipated.
I recall being introduced to his work about 10 years ago, when his biggest fan was none other than Kanye West.
Beams x Arc’teryx is Back
Remember a few years ago when everyone was showering in their Arc’teryx jacket?
This colorway is pretty muted compared to previous drops.
If you see a fella wearing this, you should grab their number. They probably work in tech, make a f*ck ton of money, a casual Japanese streetwear addiction, but find a balance between practicality and flexxing.
Jake Bell is a content marketing, creative strategist, designer, and writer based in NYC. He specializes in brand building, content strategy, creative direction, business development, and making things cool.
Want to chat? Email me: jake@jb.studio