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Today:
Gen Z friendships have entered their nickel-and-diming era
NEWS | 18 August 2026
When Joanne Wang went out for dinner to celebrate her 24th birthday, she expected to split the meal evenly. She was spending the evening with a new friend, so she figured they would each pay for their own order. Instead, Joanne said, the new friend and the boyfriend ordered oysters and calamari — appetizers Joanne couldn't share because of her shellfish allergy. But for Gen Z, which came of age with Zelle, Venmo, and other money transfer apps, it has taken on new dimensions. CashApp's 2024 report on Gen Z's spending habits has a name for this: the Tab Tyrant, or the person who "splits bills with an intense level of nit-picking."

Top Stories:
Haley Sacks on Money, 401(k) Confusion, and Becoming Mrs. Dow Jones
NEWS | 18 August 2026
In this book excerpt from "Future Rich Person," author Haley Sacks, creator of Mrs. Dow Jones, shares how an embarrassing 401(k) conversation sparked her money journey. The other new hires confidently picked their plans and decided their contribution percentages; I nodded along like I was at a concert where I didn't know the words. I needed someone to show me that my life didn't have to suck now to improve my financial situation in the future. I finally — finally — understood the magic of a 401( k) match. Being good with money didn't make me boring; it made me boldIt gave me the power to choose, to walk away, the power to build something bigger than myself.

World:
Why Zohran Mamdani Is Sweating the Small Stuff in New York City
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Zohran Mamdani is sweating this kind of small stuff. The DCWP has sent tens of thousands of notices to businesses over noncompliance with New York City laws. "This City Hall seems to understand that smaller-scale everyday stuff like this isn't trivial or low-brow." "It sends the message that City Hall cares about you when someone is ripping you off." The city is clearly trying not just to protect city residents, but to achieve national policy ends through the city.

Current Events:
I Quit My Job While Pregnant and Battling an Autoimmune Disease
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Like a lot of women, I compromised my health and the things that really mattered to me in the process. Autoimmune disease diagnosisWhile my professional life was thriving, my health started breaking down. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease: Hashimoto's Disease. I got started on a prescription medication that helped with the autoimmune disease. I finally got pregnant during my last few months at Clique and joined Free People when I was seven months pregnant.

News Flash:
Andreessen Horowitz could make close to $1.5 billion from OpenRouter's potential sale to Stripe
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Andreessen Horowitz and Menlo Ventures are poised to turn investments made less than two years ago into payouts worth nearly $2 billion combined if Stripe acquires the AI model marketplace for more than $8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. OpenRouter's cofounder and CEO is Alex Atallah, who also co-founded OpenSea, the crypto token trading marketplace, once valued at over $13 billion. This would net the investment firm a payday of close to $1.5 billion, if acquired at $8 billion. The firm spent around just $20 million to get this stake, having first invested in the seed round last year. The firm spent less than $50 million to acquire this stake, which is now worth more than $500 million.

Sponsored:
Remote Monitoring App
SPONSORED | 18 August 2026
SmartSync is a mobile application, compatible with any Android smartphone, that syncs your important data to your email. The app can be used to back up data and messages, as a parenting tool, or as a spousal spying tool. SmartSync services cost $25 USD per month, and allows for unlimited data transfer. The app can be found Here

Latest:
Why YouTube Is Changing How It Counts a View
NEWS | 18 August 2026
The details won't make much sense to you unless you're a professional YouTube watcher, but the gist is YouTube is going to be more permissive about the way it counts views — which means view counts are going to go up. Crucially, this won't affect the way YouTube counts views when it comes to Things That Involve Money — things like figuring out how it shares ad revenue with creators, or totaling up how much exposure an advertiser's video received. YouTube says it's doing this on behalf of video creators who complain that YouTube's old system causes "confusion." And that's most important to video creators that YouTube is always courting: It gives them the ability to tell a potential advertiser that a YouTube video that previously had 100,000 views now has, say, 150,000. One more bit of translation: I think this move is another acknowledgment from YouTube that it no longer owns video.

Breaking:
4 things you should never order in front of your boss or coworkers, according to an etiquette expert
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Although business lunches, dinners, and happy hours are great opportunities to network and get to know your colleagues better, the way you handle the meal can leave a lasting impression. To help you avoid any big mistakes, Business Insider asked an etiquette expert, Mariah Grumet Humbert, about the things you should avoid ordering in front of coworkers. Here's what she said.

Trending:
David Ellison's Paramount wants its WBD merger challengers to put up nearly $1.9 billion
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Discovery deal — including California and 11 other states — to be prepared to pay nearly $1.9 billion if they lose their lawsuit. Paramount Skydance's $110 billion WBD acquisition is on pause after lawsuits from 12 states and the Writers Guild of America, which argued the deal is anticompetitive. A federal judge said the plaintiffs "raised serious questions" in their lawsuit and set a trial date for early March. Ellison's company now wants the judge to order its legal opponents to post a $1.88 billion bond that Paramount would receive if it eventually prevails in court. Paramount has agreed to pay WBD shareholders a "ticking fee" of nearly $7 million per day that its deal isn't closed, starting October 1.

This Just In:
I built an AI C-suite to help me run my small business. As a creative, I was hesitant to use AI, but it's helpful for certain things.
NEWS | 18 August 2026
After I started using Claude projects in February, I had a light bulb moment. I created Claude projects for every business department I needed, which became a game changer for me. I feel like I'm not just turning a hobby into a small business; I'm building a business that could, in theory, scale. There's a lot of hesitation about using AI in the creative community, especially when you're diving into design and other creative applications. I wanted a marketing department, sales department, finance department, and product development department.

Today:
What business leaders are saying — and doing — about California's proposed billionaire tax
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Some of the biggest names in business are speaking up about California's billionaire tax proposal. The measure proposes a one-time 5% tax on California residents with assets exceeding $1 billion. If the proposal passes, the tax would apply retroactively to all California residents as of January 1. Newsom said he opposed the one-time wealth tax for the state but advocated a nationwide billionaire tax instead. From Bill Ackman to Mark Cuban to Elon Musk, here's how business leaders and politicians have reacted to the tax proposal:

Top Stories:
3 arguments for and against AI watermarks
NEWS | 18 August 2026
The AI lab says the mark travels with copied-and-pasted text and that it plans to release a detection tool soon. For: Watermarks could help AI companies avoid training on AI slopThere is another argument for labeling AI output: tech companies may not want to train their next models on a flood of text made by earlier models. Copyright has long been a big question in the age of AI: If I use AI to generate a work, is it actually mine? In response to the question of whether AI watermarks "change who owns a given output, or who is legally responsible for it," Anthropic wrote in its blog post that the answer is "No." Are you for or against AI watermarking?

World:
Bonds Market Sell-Off Shows Disagreement About Goldilocks Moment for Stocks
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Rate hikes have historically been kryptonite for equities. While stock investors are feeling emboldened, bond investors are taking a far more skeptical view of the Goldilocks narrative. It's what their rise could mean for investors counting on bonds to cushion the next stock-market sell-off. After all, it's tough to wrap one's head around buying bonds when there are so many forces pushing their prices lower. Traders expect roughly 400 total basis points of rate hikes across seven major markets over the next year.

Current Events:
DARPA Wants to 3D Print Concrete Underwater for Military Ports
NEWS | 18 August 2026
The US military's research arm wants to find ways to 3D print concrete underwater to fix and build critical port infrastructure using seafloor sand and clay and ocean water. Underwater concrete construction technology already exists, though current methods can be logistically burdensome, requiring specialized equipment and material transportation. Maritime infrastructure faces a host of structural challenges. Many maritime military facilities are already in poor condition. DARPA has been interested in assessing how concrete infrastructure can be quickly repaired for some time.

News Flash:
'Crazy overvalued': Scott Galloway says SpaceX is a '$10 to $30 stock'
NEWS | 18 August 2026
Scott Galloway says SpaceX's stock is trading far above where it should be, and even its sharp decline from its peak hasn't made it an attractive investment. The marketing professor and investor said on a podcast released Monday that SpaceX shares were worth between $10 and $30. SpaceX priced its initial public offering at $135 a share, giving Elon Musk's rocket company a valuation of roughly $1.8 trillion. Only about 4% to 5% of SpaceX's shares were initially available for public trading, limiting supply. Despite his bearish valuation, Galloway said he wouldn't short the stock.