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1/ Chat, Plush, Love: Grimes' $99 Grok - Your Kid's New BFF With AI Flair!

Grimes is shaking up the toy scene by teaming up with startup Curio to drop Grok, a $99 AI-powered plushie that chats it up with your kiddos. This high-tech teddy can gab away, and parents get the lowdown with a nifty app that spills the tea on their convos. You can tweak the chat rules, delete transcripts, and breathe easy—no voice data hoarding. Grimes herself, mama to Elon Musk's tribe, is the voice behind Grok, inspired by her space-loving kids. Pre-orders kick off Dec. 17, and these talkative toys hit the streets in 2024. Get ready for the plushie AI revolution!

2/ Wake Up Pretty: The Youthforia Journey from Shark Tank to Stardom!

Youthforia, the TikTok sensation makeup brand, skyrocketed with a $400,000 Shark Tank investment, but founder Fiona Co Chan knows she can't ride the fame wave solo. Enter Tina Shim, the brand's first-ever marketer, on a mission to scale beyond Co Chan's charisma. The game plan? Ditch the one-woman show, hire a stellar team, and unleash the brand's childhood-fun vibe. Forget just sleeping in makeup; Youthforia is waking up to a strategic expansion—TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, get ready for the charm offensive!

3/ The Computer Whiz Who Ditched Bits for Blooms and Homeless Dreams!

Lorenzo Di Ciaccio, a former computer engineer, traded his corporate job for a mission: Ridaje, a startup turning Rome's homeless into gardeners. Using his severance pay, he founded Pedius, a software aiding those with hearing disabilities. Now, Ridaje tackles homelessness by revitalizing abandoned green spaces, creating a win-win for the environment and the marginalized. Lorenzo's philosophy? "Save and change the world one garden at a time," proving social work can be good business. Cheers to Ridaje for saying "daje" (come on!) to uplifting lives in the Eternal City!

4/ Twit-nado Alert! Elon's Antisemitic Tweet Costs Twitter $75 Million in Ads

Elon's wild tweets are burning a $75 million hole in Twitter's pocket as big shots like Airbnb and Coca-Cola hit the brakes on ads. Turns out, it's not just IBM and Disney – internal memos spill the beans on over 200 brands, from Amazon to Microsoft, thinking of ghosting the platform. Twitter says it's just $11 million at risk, but who's counting? This ad apocalypse couldn't come at a worse time, messing up their holiday quarter – you know, when they usually swim in ad money. Brands are ditching Twitter faster than you can say "tweets with consequences."

5/ From Zero to 60,000: How SXSW Turned Spring Break into a Startup Revolution!

So, SXSW, the ultimate startup fiesta, wasn't born from genius but a failed New York music plan. Back in '87, during Spring Break, the founders turned the slowest music week into a hit. From 700 peeps to 60,000 badge holders today, they're the OG trash-to-treasure story. The lesson? Entrepreneurs, like rockstars, turn overlooked ideas into gold—persistently. SXSW isn't just celebs; it's where Twitter and Obama happened. So, if you're a startup, SXSW isn't a festival; it's a launchpad. Apply for Pitch; who knows, you might be the next Siri or Klout. Rock on, startup dreamers!

Toolbox Treasures

Eariously - The text-to-speech generator that will make you question your sanity.

Header Footer Code Manager (HFCM) Pro - The WordPress plugin that will let you add any code to your website... even if you don't know what you're doing.

UXtweak - The all-in-one UX research and usability testing platform.

Gusto - The payroll and HR solution that's so easy, even a caveman could do it.

MindNode - The mind mapping app that will make you think outside the box... or inside a box.

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