Democrats believe health care is an issue that resonates with a majority of Americans as they demand an extension of subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the shuttered U.S. government. But it is also one of the most intractable issues in Congress and a real compromise amid the government shutdown will not likely be easy, or quick.There are some Republicans in Congress who want to extend the higher subsidies, which were first put in place in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of people who receive their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are set to receive notices that their premiums will increase at the beginning of the year. But many GOP lawmakers are strongly opposed to any extension and see the debate as a new opportunity to cut back on the program altogether.“If Republicans govern by poll and fail to grab this moment, they will own it,” wrote Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, in a letter published in the The Wall Street Journal over the weekend. He encouraged senators not to go “wobbly” on the issue.“The jig is up, the pandemic is over and my colleagues shouldn’t blink in any other direction,” Roy wrote.Republicans have been railing against the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, since it was enacted 15 years ago. But while they have been able to chip away at it, they have not been able to substantially alter it as a record 24 million people are now signed up for insurance coverage through the ACA, in large part because billions of dollars in subsidies have made the plans more affordable for many people.Now, some of them see the Democrats’ fight as their chance to revisit the issue putting Republican congressional leaders and President Donald Trump in a complicated position as the government shutdown enters its seventh day and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going unpaid.“I am happy to work with Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to reopen,” Trump wrote on social media Monday night, walking back earlier comments saying there were ongoing negotiations with Democrats.
Waiting for the other side to blink
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has repeatedly indicated that Republicans are open to extending the subsidies, with reforms, if Democrats would reopen the government. But he has refused to negotiate until that happens and has suggested Trump will be key to the eventual outcome.Thune told reporters Monday “there may be a path forward” on ACA subsidies, but stressed, “I think a lot of it would come down to where the White House lands on that.”Many GOP senators argue the only path forward is to overhaul the law. “The whole problem with all of this is Obamacare,” said Florida Sen. Rick Scott.Most House Republicans agree, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has been noncommittal on discussions.“Obamacare is not working,” Johnson said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’re trying to fix it.”Democrats believe that public sentiment is on their side and argue that Trump and Republicans will have to come to the negotiating table as people who are enrolled in the program, many of whom live in Republican districts and states, are notified that their rates will increase.“All I can tell you is the American people feel very deeply about solving this health care crisis,” Schumer said after the Senate rejected a House-passed bill to reopen the government for the fifth time Monday evening. “Every poll we have seen shows they want us to do it, and they feel that the Republicans are far more responsible for the shutdown than we are.”
Bipartisan talks face difficulties
With leaders at odds, some rank-and-file senators in both parties have been in private talks to try to find a way out of the shutdown. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has suggested extending the subsidies for a year and then phasing them out. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, has suggested pushing ahead with a group of bipartisan spending bills that are pending and a commitment to discuss the health care issue.But many Democrats say a commitment isn’t good enough, and Republicans say they need deeper reforms leaving the talks, and the U.S. government, at a standstill.Maine Sen. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, voted with Republicans to keep the government open. But he said Monday that he might switch his vote to “no” if Republicans do not “offer some real solid evidence that they are going to help us with this crisis” on health care.Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said his party is “not budging,” however. “First and foremost, before we can talk about anything, they need to reopen the government.”
Some Republicans urge action on health care
Still, some Republicans say they are open to extending the subsidies even if they don’t like them as it becomes clear that their constituents will face rising costs.“I’m willing to consider various reforms, but I think we have to do something,” said Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. He said Congress should address the issue “sooner rather than later” before open enrollment begins Nov. 1.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she is “not a fan” of Obamacare but indicated she might vote to extend it.“I’m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district,” she posted on social media Monday evening.
Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press
Are you ready to hand over control of your portfolio to artificial intelligence? Fahad Hassan, cofounder and CEO of AI-powered wealth management platform Range, thinks you should seriously consider it.
Hassans five-year-old company is introducing Rai, a new proprietary AI wealth advisor that, he believes, will give a huge swath of American households access to the sophisticated advice and planning that was traditionally only accessible to those with sky-high net worths.
Rai is the first product, the first AI agent, that we believe can do the work of human advisors just as well, if not better, Hassan says.
And while plenty of other fintech companies have rolled out or otherwise introduced AI tools to help with wealth planning in recent years, Hassan says that Rai is different for a couple of key reasons.
[Image: Range]
First, Rai has access to more and better data than other tools, Hassan says. Ranges customers who use Rai can connect dozens of accounts (real estate information, retirement and investments, restricted or private stock holdings, etc.). That gives the tool a broader picture of an individuals financial status.
Second, Rai has been rigorously trained against regulatory standardsthat is, its designed to pass the sorts of exams that human advisors would need to pass, which are administered by organizations like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Not only that, but that level of sophistication also allows Rai to continuously self-improve and learn as it goes.
But Hassan says that Rai goes yet another step further. It can take action against your money, such as file your taxes, develop an estate plan, and more, he says.
Those sorts of actions, which would traditionally require that customers enlist an accountant or an attorney, can now be done in-house by Rai, potentially saving users huge amounts of money.
We can provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in value in 10 seconds, Hassan says. You dont need to wait for a human anymore.
More Waymo than Uber?
If this sounds something like Robinhood for wealth advisories, Hassan says thats not quite the goal.
We think of this as Waymo, not Uber, he adds.
Uber democratized access to ride-sharing and connected drivers with riders. It may be more helpful to think of Rai as connecting you with a ride, and doing the driving.
Its a one-stop shop, and you can access it without the relationship-building processcountry club lunches, tee times, or whatnotthat human advisors traditionally use to build their client bases.
Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Range most recently raised $28 million in a November 2024 round led by Cathay Innovation, 10X Group, Brave Capital, Gaingels, and others, according to data from PitchBook, for a total raised to date of $40 million.
Of course, whether or not people adopt Rai, like they did Robinhood or other financial tools, has yet to be seen. If they do, the tool could potentially shake up a lucrative yet traditionally walled-off branch of financial services for more households. It’s the speed and granularity that the companys leadership believes will make a difference.
Rai analyzes your complete financial picture in secondsevery account, every asset, every opportunity, said David Cusatis, Range’s cofounder and CTO, in a statement. We built proprietary technology to deliver recommendations that no human advisor could match at this speed and scale.
Dainty fashion darling Sandy Liang is bringing her playful, delicate designs to the masses.
The New York City-based designer, who until now has had a small retail footprint and big fashion clout, is releasing a limited collection with Gap (big footprint, big clout). The collection is anchored by core Gap and Sandy Liang categories, like denim and outerwear, including a precious pair of carpenter jeans with bow stitching on the pocket, a faux fur half zip in a Bambi-inspired print, and two heavy-weight fleece hoodies glamified with the Sandy Liang logo or her signature bow. Baby and toddler styles are also available for the first time. Prices range between $15 and $268. The collection will be available starting October 10.
Prior to this collaboration, you could only buy a Sandy Liang piece in two places: on her website, or in her Orchard Street boutique in New York Citys Lower East Side. Now, you’ll be able to get the collab pieces on the Gap website, and at select U.S. and global Gap stores (until they sell out).
[Photo: Gap]
The collection gives Gap fashion cachet, Liang access to a huge new audience, and the rest of us easier access to Liangs covetable, girlish pieceswhich typically have a pricing floor of several hundred dollars under her own high-end label.
That cachet-by-association is important to Gap because it establishes its authority in the fashion space by targeting a new audience with in-the-know fashion taste. The aim is to win over the tastemakers and conversation starters who later adopters look to for cultural signals, gain cultural relevancy, and then become a driver of cultural conversation itself.
The Sandy Liang partnership brings fashion credibility through her lens, Gap brand president and CEO Mark Breitbard says. And it’s indicative of Gaps broader partnerships strategy. What you can see is that we have a reason for each, Breitbard says, referring to Gaps recent collaborations. There is a story behind each. There it’s a real true marriage of their brand and our brand in each, and it’s something that continues to bring energy.
[Photo: Gap]
Core memories
This collection started with Liangs mood board of creative inspirations: Nancy Myers, herself as a kid in the ’90s, and phrases like Gap kids for adults, and Gap adults for kids. All of her designs started from this tensile idea of creating the most serious baby clothes possible, and the silliest, most fun adult clothes ever.
I really wanted to play with that dynamic of kids things for adults and adult things for kids because when I was a kid going to the Gap stores, so much of that time being in the physical Gap stores was spent fantasizing about what my adult closet would look like, what the adult Sandy would like from this collection, Liang says. With that lens, she then took some of her favorite Sandy Liang pieces and reinterpreted them for everyday wearability and comfortability in the Gap way.
Liang describes the collection as one for your inner child, which is also a core driver of her own label. She recalls being a student at New York Citys Parsons School of Design, where she says she was taught to find a particular subject and sketch a collection from that. For me, being instructed to do that just felt so emotionless and not personal, she says. Instead, the inspiration for her senior thesis came from a capability of the iPhone, which had just come out a few years earlier. Liang recalls scrolling through her iPhone photo albums, which had become an instant and unlimited pool of inspiration.
I remember being like, why can’t I just reference the moments that I’m finding in life? asked Liang, originally from Queens. Whether it be this Chinatown grandma or my grandma’s blanket or this floral motif I found in this random store. So that’s why personal memories influenced me so much. And its how her brand story originated.
[Photo: Gap]
Bows, stars, and frills: childhood motifs as brand emblems
The Sandy Liang label is known for particular motifs: bows, stars, and rhinestones, girly details that stem from her own childhood doodles. These appear in small, premium garment details in the collection, like star grommets on the jeans and work pants, star zipper pulls, eyelet trim on an athletic black tracksuit, bow stitching on the pockets, and bows on the back of the trench and a navy work trouser. In combination, these design elements create a garment that is comfortable, sporty, easy, but also just like the slight hit of that was unexpected, she says. (See the zip-up hoodie with fur trim, for instance.)
[Photo: Gap]
The star motif is something that I’ve been doing a lot with my own collection, says Liang. Again, it goes back to childhood emblems that I always reference back to. It felt right for Gap, obviously because childhood memories are such a big influence on the collection. On a practical level, star was also the perfect size to put on a ball cap in the classic Gap font.
[Photo: Gap]
The recurring bow motif, meanwhile, is kind of born out of this fascination with princesses and crowns and that sort of thing, says Liang. Growing up, I was a bit of a tomboy and I felt insecure to lean more into the pink, girly side. Now that I’m an adult, what I’ve been trying to do is always fulfill my inner child. So I’m doing all the things that I wish I had.
All her design references come down to core memories and are interpreted through the eyes of childhood. Her interest in the ’90s is because thats when she was a kid. Rather than referencing it in a literal sense, she references her memories of what the adults were wearing in the ’90s and what it felt like to be a kid in the ’90s and less so real references, she says. It’s more like the energy and feeling.
[Photo: Gap]
The opposite of a trend forecaster
Her consistent use of childhood motifs has led content creators to missassociate her with ephemeral TikTok trends that bubble up over the years, which the chronically online might remember: like balletcore and girlhood. Who What Wear claimed Liangs ballet references were one of many to emerge following MiuMius fall/winter 2022 show. Last year, Marie Claire put Sandy Liangs spring/summer 2024 collection within the popularizing catch-all of the girlhood aesthetic.
However this is purely coincidental. The idea of childhood, or girlhood for her, has been driving her brand since it was founded in 2014. Her Mary Jane pointe shoes ended up in a lot of #balletcore roundups, but it had actually been in production for two years prior. That trend may be in the internets dustbin, but the shoe is still a core shorthand for Sandy. In fact, you can get it on a Sandy Liang x Gap sweater.
[Photo: Gap]
I literally am the opposite of a trend forecaster. I’m just trying to find what makes me happy and inspires me, whether it’s a TV show or being a mom right now, or whatever, she says. I had no idea what ballet core even meant. That’s just the timing of life.
A similar coincidence of timing happened with bows, an internet microtrend which outlets like the Guardian and Harpers Bazaar say Liang popularized and was associated with balletcore and hashtags like #girlhood. I just happened to really love bows and satin, she says.
The conflation was really funny for me because none of it’s intentional and none of it’s me trying to play a part. Or even being with Girlhood. That is something that I identify with, but it’s not a new thing for me. It’s something that’s always driving me, but it’s the thing right now, so people like to associate that. The internet is just so crazy.
[Photo: Gap]
Girlhood forever
Once again, the bow trend if there ever was one, is overbut the bow as a core symbol of the Sandy Liang brand lives on. Today, you can find it stitched onto a pocket of Sandy Liang x Gap jeans, and its these kinds of recurring visual symbols and related aesthetic tensions of practicality and frivolity and adlthood and girlishness that appeal to Liangs core customers year over year. And with this release, Liang will likely have many more customers on her hands.
[Photo: Gap]
The Sandy Liang hoodies also show how Gap is improving the quality of its overall product lines. They have a boxy contemporary fit but also a weighty hand feel that led me to inquire about the fleece make itself. The company told me it expanded its fleece assortment last fall to include heavyweight (400 grams per square meter) and extra heavyweight, (650 grams per square meter) its most premium fleece offerings to date. The Sandy logo hoodie is extra heavyweight, and the bow hoodie is heavyweight, which establishes quality in addition to exclusivity as a limited drop. It also released the classic Arch Logo hoodie in extra heavyweight fleece this month.
Collaborations can also create leads for Gaps core brand: 20% of consumers who made a collab purchase also added a Gap item to their cart, the company told me in September. So just maybe, the fashion set will buy into Gap, too.
When its time to face the day first thing in the morning, everybody needs informationabout the weather, about their calendar, about whats going on. Most of us get all this information manually, building habits like listening to the radio, browsing various news and media apps, and checking schedules. But a storied few have personal assistants who will pre-curate all of that, creating a highly personalized set of prioritized information.
That, as far as I can tell, is exactly what ChatGPT Pulse is supposed to be: a digital assistant in the true sense of the word. Pulse is a new feature in ChatGPT thats available initially only to ChatGPT Pro subscribers (thats the $200 monthly tier). After you set it up by telling it what topics youre most interested in (among other things), Pulse will build a highly tailored daily update, just for you. And its not just the news of the day; Pulse will look to your chat history, email, and calendar for context, assembling a highly personalized custom summary.
ChatGPT Pulse is arguably an inflection point in our relationship with AI. It’s different from previous AI products because it shifts AI from a passive tool to a proactive one. Intelligence is no longer something you go to with a specific queryits now pushed to you when youre not even engaging with it.
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How Pulse is a different kind of aggregator
Thats a pretty big change, one with a lot of opportunity. If Pulse takes off, theres no doubt media, marketing and PR companies will compete for its attention. And where theres attention, advertising soon follows. In fact, Pulse looks like a pretty obvious play to build something that could end up being an ad platform for OpenAI, which, given its ambitions, needs all the cash it can get.
That of course depends on whether people actually want it. Its not like theres a shortage of apps and features in apps vying to be everyones start your day touchstoneeven the default home screen in Windows will show you headlines. When you set them up, some get you to pick news sources, and some offer you topics. But OpenAI is betting its intelligence, paired with the right context, will produce something better.
And it may be onto something. Ive been using Pulse for several days, and I like how it writes summaries of not just the news Im interested in, but how that news intersects with my work. I often write about how AI search engines and agents are changing how content is discovered, and Pulse surfaced a new report from DataDome on bot security the morning it came out.
Your mileage on this might vary depending on how much you use ChatGPT for work vs. personal tasks, but because Im constantly collaborating with ChatGPT on writing, courses, consulting, and more, Pulse (my version anyway) is heavily skewed toward what Im working on as opposed to what I relax with. Id wager thats probably true for most users. And thats OK. Id much rather want an executive assistant than a butler.
Trust: the biggest hurdle
To be an effective assistant, though, Pulse will need to consistently bring users good, actionable information. There are of course many platforms out there built for media monitoring, but Pulse is something different. Not an alert system, but a kind of opportunity assessment, one with a large dash of personal context. Thats valuable, but only if it doesnt miss things, eliminates redundancies (I dont want to see the same stuff highlighted day after day), and doesnt fill my update with junk when there isnt anything of use.
If it can do that, though, OpenAI might finally crack the notification barrier, earning a place among the apps that send you push alerts you might actually open. One of the primary reasons newsletters took off in the last decade is because your email inbox was a reliable way to get user attention. Is AI in that category? ChatGPTs 700-million-strong user base suggests its built a large degree of trust. Pulse could leverage that to successas long as the content is good.
In that future, where AI is powering not just our active queries but the information were using to start our days, news providers start to look a lot more like information wholesalers, providing the raw data that AI will curate, summarize, and put in context for the user. And that’s an existential threat to a big chunk of what the media does. While morning newsletters, digests, and story roundups are helpful, they wont be able to compete with Pulse. And thats because theyll never have what ChatGPT has: the entire picture of everything you care about.
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Matchmaking is an ancient dating process that stretches back thousands of years. But as online dating fatigue has begun to dominate the modern-day discourse around finding love, one company is betting that matchmaking will see a revival, and theyve spent years developing a tool to make it happen: an AI matchmaker named Tai.
One might argue that all modern dating apps aim to serve as a kind of matchmaker; an intermediary whose purpose is to connect two singles with each other. But Adam Cohen-Aslatai, CEO of the matchmaking company Three Day Rule, says dating apps still put the onus on users to choose the right partners based on what the algorithm serves. In contrast, he explains, a traditional matchmaker uses their in-depth knowledge of the client to facilitate that process, selecting matches that arent just compatible on a screen, but in real life.
Now, Three Day Rule is rolling out its first-ever app designed to bring that human-centric matchmaking experience to a broader client base. The app leverages multiple AI models built upon 15 years of matchmaking data collected by the company. While Three Day Rules elite white-glove matchmaking services typically run clients around $2,000 per month, its AI matchmaker is available starting for free.
AI features have become increasingly popular on existing dating apps in recent months. But Cohen-Aslatai says none of them are fixing the larger problem: Self-serve dating apps just dont work very well. Traditional dating apps are effective 9-11% of the time, he claims, compared with an 70-80% success rate for traditional matchmaking.
Matchmakers aren’t self-serve; they are serving you, Cohen-Aslatai says. They are doing all the work for you. And they’re saying, I know you better than you know yourself. I know what you need for long term relationships. And I’m not going to let you waste your time on people that are candy, I’m going to give you the full meal.
Three Day Rule Founder Talia Goldstein and CEO Adam Cohen Aslatei [Photo: Three Day Rule]
Is matchmaking the new swiping?
For many singles searching for love, AI-powered tools are becoming an integral part of the swiping process. Hinge now uses AI to help users craft better profile prompt responses; Tinder is set to roll out AI-powered personalized matches; the AI assistant app Rizz uses AI exclusively to help users come up with responses on dating apps; the AI relationship advice app Meeno helps men find love; and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd even announced that the company is currently working on its own AI matchmaking service.
Cohen-Aslatai has seen it all. He previously worked at dating apps including The Meet Group, Zoosk, and Bumbles gay dating app Chappy, and even founded and sold his own app called SMore. But, over the past few years, hes become convinced that matchmaking is the most effective dating option out there.
He argues that, on dating apps, users are looking for a match that meets their requirements on paperstandards that, oftentimes, are preventing them from taking healthy risks. Matchmakers are trained to take those preferences into consideration while also encouraging clients to try people slightly outside their comfort zone.
Three Day Rule’s process starts by assigning three experts to each client: A matchmaker tasked with learning everything about the clients needs and wants in a relationship, a coach to help advise clients on dates, and a recruiter who meets potential matches at places like the airport or the beach. For its highest paying VIP members, the company offers everything from personal stylists to hair and makeup services. It’s dating for people with more than just a little extra money who don’t want to leave their love lives up to chance.
Cohen-Aslatai stepped in as the CEO of Three Day Rule last October. In the past year, he says company sales have increased by a whopping 40%. Its VIP matchmaking membershipwhich costs a head-turning $100,000 for 16 monthshas also shot up from accounting for 5% of its business to 50% in the same period.
Last year, Three Day Rule conducted its own survey to understand how singles outside of its network are thinking about matchmaking. The report, which included 250 respondents, found that 74% would try matchmaking, while only 1% actually have. The main reason for that discrepancy is the price barrier.
So, if you think that matchmaking works, and everyone would try it, but it’s too expensive, the question is, how do we democratize this concept? Cohen-Aslatai says.
[Image: Three Day Rule]
How Three Day Rule built an AI matchmaker
The answer hes landed on is Tai. Cohen-Asla”tai” and Sneha Ramachandran, general manager of Three Day Rules new app, have been working on perfecting this AI matchmaker for the past two years.
Whereas Three Day Rule’s services typically start at a hefty $1,500 for a three-month plan, its new app comes in a free tier, which gives users five minutes of daily voice conversation with Tai and a separate AI coach (alongside unlimited texting), as well as five ogoing conversations with matches. A second premium tier costs $99 per month and includes four guaranteed match introductions per month, 10 minutes of daily conversation with Tai and an AI coach, and unlimited conversations with matches.
Tai is built off of ChatGPT, which, Cohen-Aslatai says, has the fastest voice response rates of any other models on the market. But while ChatGPT serves as the base of the model, its trained on data collected by Three Day Rule. That means that all of Tais interactionsfrom their tone to the questions they askare informed by data collected through Three Day Rules human matchmakers.
Unlike other dating services, which are primarily focused on facilitating first dates, Cohen-Aslatai explains that Three Day Rule has collected a wealth of post-date data. This information, gathered through multi-question surveys sent after every date, lets matchmakers know exactly what the client did and didnt like about their match. All of these insights have helped to refine Tais matching abilities.
When users first download Three Day Rule, theyll have to complete a mandatory photo verification process in order to join. From there, theyll have an initial conversation with Tai (via text or voice messages), during which Tai will gather key details like important preferences, demographic and psychographic information, and relationship deal-breakers. After that discussion, Tai will begin searching the apps database for matches. Over time, the model will make its way through 150 questions identified by Three Day Rule as important topics to understand exactly what a client is looking for.
We’re trying to really deeply understand your personality, Cohen-Aslatai explains.
Part of that process means attempting to replicate the uniquely human touch of a matchmaker in AI form. If a user is giving brief yes or no answers, Ramachandran says, Tai will adjust its responses to match that cadence and probe deeper in later conversations. A chattier user will get chattier answers. Tai is even programmed to trick you by asking the same question in different ways if it suspects you may just be giving the answer it wants to hear.
When the app identifies potential matches, both parties have to approve the decision before theyre connected online. From there, users can also chat with a second AI model in the app, which stands in for the human coach the company offers to its clients. This model has been trained using company podcasts, articles, and coaching guidelines to field questions about dates, debrief interactions, and help clients overcome personal obstacles to love. In response to a question like, I liked him, but how can I know if he liked me? for example, it might give three potential signals of mutual attraction.
The app is built to offload the effort of swiping, searching, and vetting potential partners from the user onto the AI matchmaker. All the client should have to worry about, in theory, is uncovering what they really want in a partner.
[Image: Three Day Rule]
Why relationship experts are wary about AI-powered dating apps
Tai is designed to make navigating the online dating world less complicated. But Treena Orchard, an associate professor at the School of Health Studies at Western University in London and author of the book Sticky, Sexy, Sad: Swipe Culture and the Darker Side of Dating, isnt convinced.
As a researcher specializing in the intersection of sex, relationships, gender, and tech, Orchard is generally wary about the claims made by many dating apps that AI features will make dating easierespecially considering that, from her perspective, that shouldnt necessarily be the goal.
The problem I have with a lot of these different services is that it just really amplifies the difficulties that already exist, Orchard says. Dating is going to be hard no matter who’s doing it, because relationships are strange and we’re humans, and we have lots of desires and things pent up, and we’re not really good at teaching each other how to talk about these things.
When we start to rely on an external source to facilitate datingwhether that be a matchmaker or a digital deviceshe says that we become removed from the process of actually getting to know each other.
In regard to Three Day Rules new app, Orchard sees the utility of tapping into a network created by professional matchmakers who have experience in pulling together eligible singles. Still, she says, its important to recognize that, while matchmaking may be statistically more effective than dating apps, thats also because its historically required a much greater financial investment.
Okay, it’s been trained by high end white-glove matchmakersgreatbut it’s still AI, Orchard says. One of the critiques I have is that variety is so important. Taking a chance on someone new and someone different can open up a whole interesting Pandora’s box of experiences that you could never have calculated in your wildest dreams if you just rely on an algorithm.
On a broader scale, shes concerned about what it might mean to continuously find new ways to incorporate AI into our romantic relationships. For those who feel trapped in the online dating cycle, she recommends balancing the apps with trying new in-person events and hobbieseven, and especially, if its hard.
The struggle is how we learn about rejection, about resilience, about failure, about one another, and how we get better at dating and become confident in ourselves, Orchard says.
Shares in AppLovin were up slightly in premarket trading today after falling by double digits on Monday. The volatile movement follows a Monday report about a rumored probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which reversed the fortunes of what had been a high-growth tech stock for much of 2025. Here’s the latest on AppLovin and what to know:
What was reported about AppLoving?
On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the SEC was looking into the ad tech company’s data collection practices in response to a whistleblower complaint and multiple short-seller reports published earlier this year.
Specifically, the regulatory agency is looking into whether AppLovin violated service agreements with its platform partners to “push more targeted advertising to consumers,” Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
Reuters reported on the rumored probe later on Monday.
AppLovin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fast Company. A spokesperson for the SEC said the agency was unable to respond to press requests due to the ongoing government shutdown.
How has AppLovin’s stock reacted?
AppLovin Corp stock (Nasdaq:APP) has fallen significantly since the reports surfaced. Shares were down more than 14% by market close on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, however, the stock remained volatile. It was down close to 4% in premarket trading earlier in the morning but moved into positive territory later in the session. It was up about 1.11% as of this writing.
The stock had seen tremendous growth this year, trading at around $341 a share in early January and mushrooming to over $682 as of Friday of last weekan increase of around 100%. In terms of growth, it has outperformed Big Tech giants such as Nvidia, Meta, Google, and Apple.
In September, AppLovin’s stock was added to the S&P 500. This followed a better-than-expected earnings report in August in which net income more than doubled to $819.5 million, CNBC reported. At the time, the company was seen as benefiting from its AI-powered technology that helps advertisers better target users in mobile games.
This story is developing . . .
Working with your romantic partner isn’t just a niche phenomenon; it’s a growing trend. A recent study from the National Library of Medicine reveals nearly one in four U.S. small businesses are run by romantic couples. Yet, for all the talk of “power couples” in the startup world, precious little unfiltered insight exists on what it actually takes to share a bed, a budget, and a booming enterprise. For many, the lines between personal and professional don’t just blur; they cease to exist.
My husband, Joe, and I are the founders behind Serenity Kids, now the fastest-growing shelf-stable baby food brand in the U.S. Our origin story is uniquely intertwined with our personal one: the business was our first “baby,” meticulously nurtured from a shared frustration with the unhealthy baby food aisle. Our second? A literal, adorable human baby who is, unbelievably, seven this year.
As we scale a multimillion-dollar company while simultaneously navigating the exhilarating chaos of parenthood, Ive gained an interesting perspective on the strategic moves and nonnegotiable rules that keep our marriage, and our company, thriving.
The Nonnegotiable Boundary That Saved Our Marriage
It sounds counterintuitive for founders whose lives are inextricably linked to their venture: put a hard stop on work discussions once you walk through the front door. But for Joe and me, this rule became the lynchpin of our relationship’s resilience.
In the early days of Serenity Kids, it was 24/7. Every meal, every car ride, every evening was a business meeting. Our passion was relentless, but I quickly realized the constant operational debriefs were eroding our identity as a couple. We were colleagues who lived together, not partners.
The encroachment was subtle. Wed be dissecting strategy over dinner or debating a supply chain hiccup right before bed. I realized that I missed him. And I had no idea what was truly happening in my partners life outside of work. The breaking point was Joe sleeping in the guest room because wed had yet another work fight at bedtime. Those nights were disconnecting and actually set us backboth personally and professionally. Because close connection is our special sauce. Personality-wise, we are total opposites in every wayhes an extrovert while Im an introvert, Im a perfectionist while hes a good enough kind of guy, etc. So when were disconnected, were each operating as only half of a complete whole. I knew we needed a sacred space where we could simply be Serenity and Joe, disconnected from our job titles.
Our solution: an unwavering commitment to compartmentalization. Of course, genuine emergencies warrant discussion. But the default is clear: once we’re home, we consciously shift gears. We discuss our day as parents and individuals. We prioritize connecting on a human level over any work-related issues. We have 1:1 meetings on the calendar three times a week just to discuss work. And if either one of us tries to bring up a work topic, we say put it on the agenda! We also have dedicated date days or date nights where we commit to avoiding both work and kid talk, so we can focus on each other, as well as quarterly vision retreats where we visualize the future of our relationship, family, and business. This rigorous boundary, challenging as it was to implement initially, has proven invaluable. It forces hyperefficiency during work hours and provides essential emotional bandwidth to nurture our romantic relationship, separate from the relentless demands of the business.
Strategic Division of Labor
In any cofounder dynamic, clear role definition is paramount. When you add parenting to the equation, that clarity shifts from crucial to existential. For Joe and me, this has been a huge area of growth and evolution.
For the first several years after we had our daughter, I had the constant hum in my head that most working moms experience. Whats for dinner? Whos handling bath and bedtime tonight? What meetings do I have today and what should I wear?
For a long time, I wrestled with that mental load. Not just about completing the task, but all the thinking, planning, and worrying that drained my energy. I wasnt sleeping well, I wasnt eating well, and I just wasnt taking care of myself. While Joe watched TV at night, I stayed up late washing bottles, ordering next-size-up baby clothes, and researching Dellas latest mystery rash. All while still working full time plus managing our familys finances and anything that required paperwork.
I was miserable. And after a brush with death from COVID pneumonia, I knew something had to change.
I found the Fair Play method by Eve Rodsky, and my mind was blown. I now could see the mountains of invisible work I had been doing since Della was born that Joe had no idea even existed. After some hard conversations and Joes willingness to experiment with a different way, the constant weight began to lighten. Throughout this process, he and I have become true partners. He is no longer a partner who just “helps out.”
This philosophy has shaped how Joe and I built our marriage and approach parenting. He dives deep into this in Episode 7 of his podcast Dadicated Joe, sharing how weve worked to keep the spark alive after becoming parents.
Applying these principles has not only brought more harmony to my family but also reinforced the importance of clear roles, mutual respect, and holistic well-being at Serenity Kids. We work to build culture and sustainable systems where everyone can truly thrive.
While encouragement is nice, what we all really need is a partner willing to jump in and fold the laundry when the piles get high. Weve learned to be that support for each other. At home. At work. Everywhere.
5 Crucial Lessons
Ive learned a wealth of actionable insights I’d offer to other romantic partners considering, or currently navigating, the high-stakes journey of entrepreneurial cofounding:
Strict Role Definition (and Unwavering Trust): This is nonnegotiable. You need to clearly delineate who owns what. Then, extend absolute trust in your partners domain. Undermining their decisions in their area of responsibility is a direct threat to both business progress and relationship integrity.
Cultivate Separate Spaces (Even Symbolic Ones): Joe and I quickly learned that constant physical proximity, transitioning from “work mode” to “couple mode” in the same room, was counterproductive. Whether it’s different offices or simply dedicated “zones,” creating some physical and mental separation during work hours is vital for psychological resets.
Proactive Relationship Investment: Your business will demand everything, but your personal relationship is the fundamental platform. Prioritize dedicated date nights, even if they’re modest. Engage in non-work conversations. Actively recall and reinforce the shared values and affection that initially drew you together, beyond the business ambition.
Embrace Dynamic Balance, Not Static Perfection: The concept of “perfect balance” is a myth. ome days, the business will command absolute priority. On others, your child will need every ounce of your attention. Success lies in embracing this inherent fluidity and adapting, rather than chasing an unattainable, rigid ideal.
Leverage Objective External Counsel: Engaging an objective third partya business coach, a therapist specializing in entrepreneurial couples, or even a trusted mentorprovides invaluable perspective. They can facilitate healthy conflict resolution, reinforce boundaries, and ensure that communication remains robust and constructive.
The journey of building Serenity Kids has served as a rigorous masterclass in leadership, partnership, and parenthood for Joe and me. We’re not merely disrupting the baby food market; we’re actively demonstrating a new paradigm for how ambitious couples can build a thriving enterprise and a fulfilling family life. Its not perfect. Its often messy. But I hope our story encourages others to set strategic boundaries, show mutual respect, and find an abundance of resilience. Maybe those of us crazy enough to do both journeys together truly can have it alleven if it means putting your first “baby” to bed before focusing on bedtime at home.
Our second annual Ignition Schools awards recognizing the colleges and universities shaping future entrepreneurs and innovators arrives at a crucial crossroads for higher education. On one hand, artificial intelligence has caused us to rethink assumptions about how far and how quickly technology can improve our society and our lives. On the other hand, a storm of skepticism brewing in a sea of disinformation has dimmed the view of many toward college educations, which some have also accused of being politically indoctrinating. That has led to unprecedented attacks on university research funding at a time when core research is needed to develop advanced solutions in such fields as healthcare, defense, and education.
The colleges that lead our list represent the diversity of education approaches that will be needed to prepare the next generation of disrupters to prevail. They include centuries-old institutions, sprawling public universities, colleges in the hearts of tech hubs, business schools with global footprints, and innovation centers helping to lift up new voices and communities.
But they all recognize that they must offer more to todays students than the business savvy that has long defined the MBA pipeline. In addition to focusing more on adaptability in a rapidly shifting tech and economic landscape, colleges are nurturing the inventive spirit by hosting pitch competitions, celebrating industry recognition, and addressing the needs and resources of their communities. (Read more about our methodology.)
In many cases, they have launched or forged ties with incubators and accelerators that promote networking with peers and successful entrepreneurs. These can also serve to leverage IP as the “secret sauce” providing an advantage to startups, enterprises, or thriving rural businesses without the pressures of exit-maximizing venture investors. In encouraging entrepreneurship, their programs are helping to develop the advancements of the next generation while inspiring alumni who can keep the innovation ecosystem healthy for future generations.
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1. Stanford University
Stanford, California
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanfords entrepreneurial engines have yielded incredible results. StartX funds and mentors founder teams involving at least one member of the Stanford community, while Launchpad challenges students to get their startups off the ground in 10 weeks, emphasizing action over planning.
2. University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Beyond pursuing a masters in entrepreneurship or engineering or participating in startup clubs and competitions, students can find entrepreneurship opportunities at Penns Venture Lab, a hub catering to four different routes. The Founder, Explorer, Joiner, and Investor pathways offer resources to students curious about entrepreneurship as well as those looking to gain investing experience.
3. Harvard UniversityCambridge, Massachusetts
Through its One Harvard approach, the schools entrepreneurship initiatives reach across its 13 colleges, leveraging an extensive network of alumni and resources. The Harvard Innovation Lab, or i-lab, is the physical space where students and alumni build community and startups with access to funding and specialized programming.
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Cambridge, Massachusetts
When it comes to business, MIT takes advantage of its world-class science and technological research. The two disciplines merge under the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, with programs and courses stemming from the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework. Developed at MIT, the step-by-step guideline helps founders transform their research or ideas into market-ready ventures.
5. Columbia UniversityNew York, New York
Crowning Manhattans rapidly growing entrepreneurial scene, Columbia offers direct access to an expert network in the city, support for student ventures with groups like the Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs, and a postgraduate resource in the Columbia Startup Lab for recent alumni.
6. University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan
The nnovation Partnerships Startup Incubator helps shape the University of Michigans state-of-the-art IP into real-world applications. The program pairs founders from around the world with entrepreneurial mentors and provides access to world-class lab and office spaces. The incubator represents just one of the universitys business innovation programs, which include its Center for Entrepreneurship and the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.
7. Tel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv, Israel
Consistently ranked at the top for global entrepreneurship programs, Tel Aviv University offers students access to a network situated in a global startup hub, an in-house accelerator program and funding, and courses emphasizing a hands-on approach, including one that pairs students with Israeli startups.
8. New York UniversityNew York, New York
The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute brings the universitys new founders and seasoned researchers and alumni together under a shared goal of launching startups. Community members can follow a clear path designed by the Startup Accelerator Program, including the Bootcamp, Sprint, and Launchpad phases, and continue toward a market-ready venture with seed funding and fellowships.
9. Cornell UniversityIthaca, New York
The spirit of entrepreneurship rises far above Cayugas waters in Ithaca, New York. Any undergraduate may pursue a minor in the field, while eLab serves as an accelerator for student-led ventures. More specialized resources are offered, too, such as the training program for female and nonbinary PhDs and postdocs and an incubator for science and engineering-based businesses.
10. University of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, California
For the sixth year in a row, PitchBook named UC Berkeley the top public university producing venture-backed startup founders. Berkeley SkyDeck, the universitys incubator and accelerator, commercializes research and provides programming and coursework through the engineering and business schools.
11. Northwestern UniversityEvanston, Illinois
At the center of Northwesterns entrepreneurship ecosystem is the Garage, which offers mentorship, events, and workspaces to more than 3,000 Northwestern students each year. The university emphasizes science-driven startups at the Querrey InQbation Lab and rewards top initiatives with funding and exposure through VentureCat, its annual startup competition.
12. Yale UniversityNew Haven, Connecticut
Bulldogs of all disciplines are encouraged to embrace their entrepreneurial spirit at the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale. One program, Launch, invites incoming first-year students to hear from alumni founders and collaborate in workshops, equipping them early on with the tools they need to excel as business leaders.
13. Tsinghua UniversityBeijing, China
Tsinghua University, which lies in startup hot spot Zhongguancun, Beijing, boasts the governments support through national funding and partnerships. The institution hosts competitions such as the Great Idea Challenge and the Presidents Innovation Challenge for startups and helps research efforts transform into successful commercial ventures via its private equity firm Tsinghua Holdings.
14. Duke UniversityDurham, North Carolina
Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship emphasizes problem-solving through programs, courses, competitions, and mentorship; students can join entrepreneurial-forward campus organizations like the Cube and HackDuke. Physical resources are available too. These include spaces like the Foundry for developing ideas and building prototypes and the Innovation Co-Lab for exploring emerging technologies like 3D printing.
15. University of Texas, AustinAustin, Texas
UT Austin bridges budding entrepreneurs and Austins booming tech scene. The Austin Technology Incubator, the longest running of its kind, connects students with investors and experts who help commercialize their innovations. The college also supports female entrepreneurs through the Kendra Scott Womens Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute.
16. University of WashingtonSeattle, Washington
The University of Washington has climbed the entrepreneurship rankings in recent years. The Arthur W. Buerk Center offers programming to undergraduates as well as masters students and PhD candidates, while the CoMotion hub supports student founders from industry-targeted incubators.
17. University of Southern California (USC)Los Angeles, California
Known as the longest-running entrepreneurship program in the country, the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC encourages flexible thinking in dynamic situations. Students across all industries and experience levels are encouraged to participate in coursework and programming, including a connection to the extensive network in the neighboring tech startup hub, Silicon Beach.
18. University of OxfordOxford, England
EnSpire, the hub of entrepreneurship at Oxford, encourages all community members to develop business innovation skills. The university focuses on commercializing scientific and technological research. Oxford University Innovation manages the universitys IP and helps transform the research into companies, while Oxford Science Enterprises funds and develops those companies.
19. Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, Maryland
The Pava Marie LaPere Center for Entrepreneurship hosts a range of programs and funding for JHU community members. The institution is also committed to strengthening Baltimore. The Presidents Venture Fellowship provides funding to recent graduates pursuing full-time startups in the city, while courses like CityLab for MBA students explore livability challenges and solutions.
20. INSEADFontainebleau, France
A graduate-only business school, INSEAD has a strong focus on fostering entrepreneurship. The Maag INSEAD Centre for Entrepreneurship offers boot camps for startups, venture competitions, and mentorship through programs like Entrepreneurs in Residence. Its LaunchPadlocated in Pariss Station F, the worlds largest startup campuspromotes alumni-led business ventures through networking events and workspaces.
21. University of TorontoToronto, Ontario
Recognized as the top university in Canada for entrepreneurship, U of T offers extensive resources to its students, faculty, and alumni. Its incubators and accelerators include the Creative Destruction Lab, which supports seed-stage tech companies with high potential, and the Entrepreneurship Hatchery, which helps students team up to develop startups.
22. University of MarylandCollege Park, Maryland
The University of Marylands approach to entrepreneurship builds on its strength in technology and health sciences, supporting both social and commercial ventures. The Startup Shell is a student-led incubator equipped with coworking spaces, while the Presidents Entrepreneurial Fellowshi offers Terrapin students a chance to bring faculty research to market.
23. University of California, San DiegoSan Diego, California
UCSDs entrepreneurship offerings span its engineering and management schools. Students and alumni find like-minded peers and mentors amid the programs and funding of the Sullivan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, where disruption is viewed as an opportunity to build positive change. Specialized offerings include the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, which trains engineers, and the Triton Sustainability Challenge, which spotlights environmental solutions.
24. Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
CMU community members are encouraged to submit their startups through its website to receive access to an array of resources and networks. These include the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurships VentureBridge, a pre-seed fund and accelerator program for full-time founders, and the Innovation Commercialization Fellows Program, which helps the universitys research evolve into marketplace offerings.
25. Babson CollegeWellesley, Massachusetts
Babson is consistently ranked at the top of the countrys universities for entrepreneurship. In addition to funding the Butler Launch Pad, a community of entrepreneurs, the small New England powerhouse launched the first U.S. business-school center dedicated to female founders: the Frank & Eileen Center for Womens Entrepreneurial Leadership.
26. University of ChicagoChicago, Illinois
Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago takes form at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. With accelerator programs like the New Venture Challenge, which launched Grubhub and Braintree, and incubators like Polsky Exchange, the institution takes an interdisciplinary approach to foster a collaborative entrepreneurial environment.
27. University of WaterlooWaterloo, Ontario
Structured in a co-op program that integrates work experience with academics, the University of Waterloo offers 45 for-credit programs for entrepreneurs. The university hosts four incubators and fosters corporate partnerships to drive research to commercialization. Its unique creator-owned intellectual property policy ensures that their researchers own their inventions.
28. University of CambridgeCambridge, England
According to the university, the Cambridge Cluster is the most successful technology cluster in Europe. From within that sea of incubators and innovation hubs, the 816-year-old institution offers support through mentorship, lectures, and training to aspiring founders all the way to enterprise-stage businesses.
29. Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania
Invent Penn State is the overarching hub of all things entrepreneurial at the university, connecting students to coaches, conferences, and competitions. The LaunchBox Network provides free business resources to community members. Its statewide locations enable widespread access.
30. University of VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia
Although a longtime supporter of entrepreneurship, UVA launched a new phase of commitment with UVA Innovates in September 2024. With the Foundry, a new student entrepreneurship hub, and Enterprise Studio, which partners with faculty, researchers, and investors to bring ideas to market, the university is amplifying the impact of its innovations.
31. Arizona State UniversityTempe, Arizona
In September, U.S. News & World Report named Arizona State the most innovative school in the U.S. for the 11th consecutive year. Business advancement is baked into the university through the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute, which gives students tools to get their ideas off the ground and tackle challenges, and extends to connected entrepreneurship centers at the business, engineering, and design schools.
32. HEC ParisJouy-en-Josas, France
HEC Paris supports startups, regardless of the stage or industry, through its Incubation & Acceleration Center, Deep Tech Center, and Social Entrepreneurship Center. The innovation hubs offer a slew of programming, from a six-month-long acceleration program, Women Entrepreneurs for Good, to longer HEC Challenges.
33. University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota
The Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship works in tandem with the Carlson School of Management to ignite an entrepreneurial spirit within its members. Student-owned Atland Ventures funds early-stage tech companies while the MN Cup, the largest startup competition in the country, supports Minnesota entrepreneurs.
34. University of North Carolina, Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina
In joining Innovate Carolina, the UNC community opens the door to resources that enhance and boost its innovative sparks. At the Junction, Tar Heel students and faculty, corporations, and citizen entrepreneurs can find the Launch Chapel Hill startup accelerator, mentorship, and co-working spaces. The Carolina EcoMap brings all these tools together on one platform.
35. Imperial College LondonLondon, England
The Imperial Enterprise Lab encourages its community to test ideas and launch products to drive positive change. It connects students with mentors, co-founders, and workspaces and recommends relevant books and accelerators. The institution also offers a prototyping hub through the Advanced Hackspace and resources specific to climate, tech, and global health solutions.
36. University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignUrbana-Champaign, Illinois
The University of Illinois encourages students to get involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. They can attend networking events each week at the Research Park, gain real-world experience at student-run consulting firm EntreCorps, or explore 3D printing at the Illinois MakerLab. Faculty and alumni can participate as mentors or competition judges in addition to pursuing their own innovations.
37. Texas A&M UniversityCollege Station, Texas
Texas A&Ms McFerrin Center, housed within the Mays Business School, offers programs to community trailblazers. Beyond the university-wide Aggie Pitch competition, students can meet and learn from peer entrepreneurs through a series of discussions at Entrepreneurs Exposed. Each year, the Aggie 100 celebrates the colleges entrepreneurs.
38. Princeton UniversityPrinceton, New Jersey
In October 2024, Princeton launched the Office of Innovation to strengthen its commitment to entrepreneurship, which includes educational programs, mentorship, and funding. The hub hosts Strategic Partnerships and Engagement, Technology Licensing and New Ventures, and Innovation Infrastructure and Programs, all focused on promoting the universitys innovative minds and honing the impact of its research and education.
39. Washington Universitybr>St. Louis, Missouri
WashU splits its entrepreneurial offerings between its Olin School of Business and Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship, both of which emphasize a hands-on approach. In addition to workshops and events, the Center operates the Student Enterprise Program, in which students run businesses that serve the WashU community, while the business school hosts competitions and pitch events like the Olin Cup.
40. University of Colorado, BoulderBoulder, Colorado
The University of Colorado offers entrepreneurial resources across each of its four campuses. Venture Partners at CU Boulder supports the commercialization of university research, and the Jake Jabs Center at CU Denver offers entrepreneurship program scholarships to students pursuing degrees, minors, or certificates.
41. Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlanta, Georgia
Georgia Techs Create-X educates students about business fundamentals and provides the tools and space they need to innovate. The programs three categories, Learn, Make, and Launch, instill entrepreneurial confidence through coursework, launch programs, and funding. Regular networking events provide students with connections and information to further refine business concepts.
42. University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California
Accelerators and coursework support entrepreneurial education throughout UCLAs schools, but Startup UCLA is the root. The hub is home to the Blackstone LaunchPad mentor network, which sets students up for innovation success; Innovation Fellows, which advances faculty projects into startups; and Bruin Impact, which drives students toward positive change through innovation.
43. Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, Massachusetts
While Boston Colleges Carroll School of Management roots entrepreneurship in business fundamentals across all fields, the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship offers programs such as TechTrek@Shea, a professional development course in which students meet with senior leaders at companies such as Airbnb and Tesla and travel to business hubs like New York City and Silicon Valley.
44. McGill UniversityMontreal, Quebec
In 2024, PitchBook ranked McGill number one in Canada for both producing the greatest number of successful undergraduate startups and supporting the most female entrepreneurs. McGills Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship supports the communitys entrepreneurial minds through resources like the X-1 Accelerator and the annual Dobson Cup competition for seed funding.
45. London Business SchoolLondon, England
Located in a European startup hub, LBS offers its students an array of unique entrepreneurial development options. These include Global Experiences, which introduces students to international business approaches and cultures through panels and workshops. Others include the INcubator program and Entrepreneurship Summer School.
46. Purdue UniversityWest Lafayette, Indiana
Purdue Innovates is a bustling network targeting each stage of the startup process. Students find their footing through the incubator and grow through programs like Firestarter and Market Readiness. Meanwhile, seasoned entrepreneurs scale their ideas through the accelerator. And the Alumni Entrepreneurship Network provides long-term connections.
47. Iowa State UniversityAmes, Iowa
In 1996, philanthropist and entrepreneur John Pappajohn funded the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship at Iowa State, laying the foundation for what has become an innovation ecosystem. The Student Innovation Center and the ISU Research Park complement the entrepreneurship center, with all three supporting the universitys creative and motivated self-starters.
48. Boston UniversityBoston, Massachusetts
From teaching technology creation and commercialization to fundamentals of interactive media, the urban campus overlooking the Charles overlooks little in developing entrepreneurial acumen. Through seed grants, a summer accelerator, and mentorship, students are encouraged to build the future. BU also hosts Idea Con, the only cross-college innovation conference in the world.
49. Georgetown UniversityWashington, D.C.
Georgetowns entrepreneurship program leverages its unmatched proximity to the seat of government power. Venture in the Capitalthe universitys first student-led conferencehosts forums at which attendees discuss the intersection of entrepreneurship and public policy. The founder spirit extends into the community, too. The Pivot Program offers a certificate in business and entrepreneurship to those who have been incarcerated.
50. University of FloridaGainesville, Florida
UFs Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center aims to instill a sunbaked entrepreneurial spirit into its community through the core principles every student an entrepreneur and total entrepreneurial immersion. The center hosts competitions like the UF AI Days Gator Tank for AI businesses and offers an incubator, accelerator, and dreammaker through the Gator Hatchery.
In the long-established American ecosystem of scientific advancement, fundamental researchnot geared toward immediate applicationhas mostly been conducted at universities with federal funding. The commercial sector, on the other hand, has been more likely to fund more applied research around ideas closer to market, including backing university studies in promising areas of computer science and medicine.
Over time, industry has increasingly built its own innovations on top of basic, federally funded research, says Lee Fleming, professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. One prominent recent example is artificial intelligence, he says, which received federal funding for decades before exploding into commercialization in recent years.
Earlier this year, though, when sudden federal funding cuts upended university research budgets, the ecosystem fell into turmoil. Faculty whose work often flew under the public radar publicly pleaded the case for their academic pursuits. Researchers at UCLA even held an old-school science fair highlighting the work federal cuts have left in limbo, including studies of brain cancer; the colleges renowned math professor Terence Tao argued for a restoration of federal funding or donations to help make up some of the difference.
But non-federal agencies can only make up a fraction of the sums that these institutions depend on to continue their work. Universities have leaned on sources such as philanthropies founded by businesspeople who have built innovations on university research foundations. The Gates Foundation, charged with donating the fortune of Microsofts former CEO, has long offered support for medical research, for instance, and a new $3.1 billion Fund for Science and Technology, backed by the estate of his cofounder Paul Allen, recently announced plans to award at least $500 million in grants over the next four years.
When staffers at the Spencer Foundation, which funds educational research, learned that their federal funding had been suddenly terminated, theyalong with the Kapor Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundationquickly stepped into action, offering $25,000 bridge grants to scholars affected by the sudden cuts.
“We heard stories like, I really just need to fund my grad student through the summer,” says Leah Bricker, Spencer’s director of programs. “Or, I’ve spent so much time partnering with X, Y, or Z community, and we’ve invested so much time, and now, overnight, I’m just going to have to leave.”
It was just one of a number of rapid moves by the sometimes slow-turning philanthropic sector to get funds researchers needed to continue their work and pay grad students and other vital staff. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, for instance, has provided millions of dollars to researchers at academic institutions in “rapid response” health research funding to make up for lost federal money, with plans to offer more over the next year.
As universities have also stepped up outreach efforts to alumni and corporate sponsors, states with strong tech sectors, including Massachusetts and California, have proposed providing their own funds for research. California, for example, is proposing a $23 billion, bond-funded science research agency. Nonprofits, including some backed by industry, have also pushed into historically federal domains, such as managing infrastructure, for vital scientific data that could improve efficiency, even as they receive rapidly rising numbers of applications for existing grant programs.
“While it’s really hard for any of us to say there’s opportunities coming out of all this uncertainty, I think there would be a better path forward for how scientists have access to and have data infrastructure,” says Elizabeth Weiss, senior director of philanthropic advising at the Science Philanthropy Alliance.
But experts agree that any such efforts likely won’t be enough to make up for the potential shortfall anytime soon. “There’s a lot of creativity going on right now,” says Amy Miller, president of the PhRMA Foundation, which supports health-related university research with backing from drugmakers that also often fund research directly, including science at academic institutions. “But I really want to emphasize there is absolutely no way that the foundations and industry together can fill the gaps.”
This story is part of Fast Company and Inc.‘s 2025 Ignition Schools awards, the 50 colleges and universities making an outsize impact on business and society through entrepreneurship and innovation. Read about the methodology behind our selection process.
Startups bubbling with new perspectives, fresh technologies, and a war chest to spend on disruption while their businesses find their footing are often rife with innovation, but they dont hold a monopoly on it. Young talent looking to disrupt legacy industries traditionally looked to entrepreneurship and startups. As corporations prepare for AI theyre trying to convince innovators that the best place to turn their ideas into reality is within the enterprise.
Its fundamentally shifted in the last year and a half to two years, says Michele Capra, a senior client partner for talent recruiting and consulting firm Korn Ferry. Clients are now coming to me saying, were looking at our skills across the organization at the entry level, those skills have changed, and we need to recruit differently because of that.
That transition, Capra explains, has also forced large employers across industries from tech to financial services to consumer goods to abandon one of their signatures selling points, namely a clear and predictable career development plan.
Traditionally you knew which roles would be here in 10 years, so there were career paths that offered true stepping stones, she says. Now organizations dont know what roles will be like in 10 years, so theyre hiring for skills, because the career paths will look very different for these individuals.
While some formal AI credentials are widely valued amongst large employers Capra says theyre also looking to hire those that demonstrate more human or soft skills, which can help them put the technology to use solving challenges or developing new products or services.
Traditionally, many courses on innovation within a larger business, or intrapreneurship, have targeted executives in professional learning programs. Cornell University offers an online course to obtain a certificate in intrapreneurship. Some programs, like one at Temple Univerisity, offer courses that span organization types, focusing on big-picture thinking needed to launch your own business or propose innovative initiatives within existing organizations.
Northwestern Universitys Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation however, offers an advanced class in Corporate Innovation, wherein students delve into corporate venture capital, internal incubation processes, M&A decisions, and gain the tools to champion change within organizations.
While the Northwestern course is offered through its engineering college, the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence is compelling many institutions to broaden students technology education experience.
We have several institutional partners that are doing this, but one I would call out is Emory University in Atlanta, says Christine Cruzvergara, the chief education strategy officer for Gen Z career platform Handshake. They proactively hired AI experts within each of their academic domains to be embedded into those programs.
Cruzvergara adds that, in her experience, graduates with highly desirable skills and attributes are often less concerned with a prospective employers size, and more concerned with its values, They’re usually looking for a place that has a larger mission or vision around something that they can get behind, she says. [Employers] ability to articulate that pretty clearly and upfront in early conversations really determines whether that conversation is going to continue. That said, as with graduates pursuing startups, savvy candidates may realize that a lofty mission can have negative consequences.Nor does it mean that the corporate career ladder is the endgame. Cruzvergara says enterprises, much like many colleges, are highlighting the accomplishments of alumni especially those who went on to become successful entrepreneurs to imply that the company can offer young innovators a crucial stepping stone whenever theyre ready to trade greater risk for a greater potential reward.
This story is part of Fast Company and Inc.‘s 2025 Ignition Schools awards, the 50 colleges and universities making an outsize impact on business and society through entrepreneurship and innovation. Read about the methodology behind our selection process.
