A man says he was tortured for weeks in a New York townhouse. Another in Paris was held for ransom and his finger cut off. A couple in Connecticut were carjacked, beaten and thrown into a van.All, authorities allege, were victims tied to cryptocurrency-related crimes that have spilled out from behind computer screens and into the real world as the largely unregulated currency surges in value.While crypto thefts are not new, the use of physical violence is a far more recent trend, said John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas in Austin who tracks financial crimes.“I think this kind of physical violence is a natural manifestation of the emboldened nature of crypto activities,” he said. “Things that might clearly be outside of social norms in other spaceslike robbing a bankare somehow just part of the game here.”
Kidnapping, burglary and torture allegations
In the New York case, two American crypto investorsJohn Woeltz and William Duplessiehave been arrested on kidnapping and assault charges in recent days after a 28-year-old Italian man told police they tortured him for weeks to get his Bitcoin password. Attorneys for both men declined to comment.While the allegations are still emerging, they come just weeks after 13 people were indicted on federal charges in Washington, D.C., accused of combining computer hacking and money laundering with old-fashioned impersonation and burglary to steal more than $260 million from victims’ cryptocurrency accounts.Some are accused of hacking websites and servers to steal cryptocurrency databases and identify targets, but others are alleged to have broken into victims’ homes to steal their “hardware wallets”devices that provide access to their crypto accounts.The case stemmed from an investigation that started after a couple in Connecticut last year were forced out of a Lamborghini SUV, assaulted and bound in the back of a van. Authorities allege the incident was a ransom plot targeting the couple’s sonwho they say helped steal more than $240 million worth of Bitcoin from a single victim. The son has not been charged, but is being detained on an unspecified “federal misdemeanor offense” charge, according to online jail records. Police stopped the carjacking and arrested six men.Meanwhile in France, kidnappings of wealthy cryptocurrency holders and their relatives in ransom plots have spooked the industry.Attackers recently kidnapped the father of a crypto entrepreneur while he was out walking his dog, and sent videos to the son including one showing the dad’s finger being severed as they demanded millions of euros in ransom, prosecutors allege. Police freed the father and arrested several suspects.Earlier this year, men in masks attempted to drag the daughter of Pierre Noizat, the CEO and a founder of the Bitcoin exchange platform Paymium, into a van, but were thwarted by a shopkeeper armed with a fire extinguisher.And in January, the co-founder of French crypto-wallet firm Ledger, David Balland, and his wife were also kidnapped for ransom from their home in the region of Cher of central France. They also were rescued by police and 10 people were arrested.
Cryptocurrency crime likely fueled by big money, little regulation
The FBI recently released its 2024 internet crime report that tallied nearly 860,000 complaints of suspected internet crime and a record $16.6 billion in reported lossesa 33% increase in losses compared with 2023.
As a group, cryptocurrency theft victims reported the most lossesmore than $6.5 billion.
The agency and experts say the crypto crime underworld is likely being fueled by the large amounts of money at stakecombined with weak regulation of cryptocurrency that allows many transactions to be made without identity documents.Violence may be increasing for several reasons including that criminals believe they can get away with crypto theft because transactions are hard to trace and often cloaked by anonymity, according to the crypto tracing firm TRM Labs. And crypto holders are getting easier to identify because of the prevalence of personal information online and people flaunting their crypto wealth on social media, the firm says.Phil Ariss, TRM Labs’ director of UK public sector relations, said crypto also may be attracting criminal groups that have long used violence.“As long as there’s a viable route to launder or liquidate stolen assets, it makes little difference to the offender whether the target is a high-value watch or a crypto wallet,” Ariss said in a statement. “Cryptocurrency is now firmly in the mainstream, and as a result, our traditional understanding of physical threat and robbery needs to evolve accordingly.”
Dave Collin, Associated Press
Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) dean joined Alan Garber, the university’s president, in condemning the federal government earlier this week after it moved to block the university from being able to admit international students. GSD has a higher proportion of international students compared to the rest of the University’s student body, and Dean Sarah M. Whiting said international students are an integral part of the school.
“I join President Garber in condemning the governments illegal action against our school, and in affirming the immense value our international students bring to the GSD community,” Dean Sarah M. Whiting said in a note shared online Saturday.
Whiting, who’s also a Josep Lluis Sert professor of architecture, said GSD is “one of the most international schools at Harvard” and that the school’s international makeup “goes back to the founding of the GSD.”
Nearly a third of Harvard GSD students are international, which is higher than the 14% of international students who make up of the general student body at large, according to Peterson’s, an educational services company. Six of the school’s eight class of 2025 commencement marshals who represent their disciples at graduation are from outside the U.S.
Whiting added that its international student body “is part of our DNAour student body, our faculty, our staff, and the discipline and practice of design all thrive on this internationalism. The extraordinary breadth of experience and perspectives that the international members of our community provide is essential to who we are.
The school offers programs through its departments of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design, design studies, and design engineering. A spokesperson from the school declined to comment for this piece.
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from rescinding Harvard’s ability to admit international students on Friday after the Department of Homeland Security revoked its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification for admitting foreign students. Now, Trump is attempting to go after the university in other ways, including calls to redirect grants from the university to trade schools and no longer scheduling student visa appointments.
Trump said Wednesday Harvard should have a cap of about 15% on international students and accused the university of being antisemitic and a “disaster.” Garber, the university president, told NPR Wednesday that Harvard should “stand firm” to its “commitment to the good of the nation” in the face of Trump’s retaliation over the private university’s policies around admissions, DEI programs, hiring, and international students.
Swiss residents were struggling on Thursday to absorb the scale of devastation caused by a huge chunk of glacier that has buried most of their picturesque village, in what scientists suspect is a dramatic example of the impact of climate change on the Alps.
A deluge of ice, mud and rock crashed down the mountain on Wednesday, engulfing some 90% of the village of Blatten. Its 300 residents had already been evacuated earlier in May after part of the mountain behind the Birch Glacier began to crumble.
However, rescue teams with search dogs were still scouring the area on Thursday for a missing 64-year-old man after an initial scan with thermal drones found nothing.
As the Swiss army closely monitored the situation, some experts warned of the risks of flooding as vast mounds of debris almost two kilometers across are clogging the path of the River Lonza, causing a huge lake to swell amid the wreckage.
“I don’t want to talk just now, I lost everything yesterday. I hope you understand,” said one middle-aged woman from Blatten, declining to give her name as she sat alone disconsolately in front of a church in the neighbouring village of Wiler.
Nearby, the road ran along the valley before ending abruptly at the mass of mud and debris now blanketing her own village. Just a few roofs poked up through the sea of sludge.
A thin cloud of dust hung in the air over the Kleines Nesthorn Mountain where the rockslide occurred while a helicopter buzzed overhead.
Martin Henzen, another Blatten resident, said he was still trying to process what had occurred and did not want to speak for others in the village, saying only: “Most are calm, but they’re obviously affected.”
They had been making preparations for some kind of natural disaster but “not for this scenario,” he added, referring to the scale of destruction.
‘ENORMOUS PLUG’
But the immediate dangers might not be over.
“The water from the River Lonza cannot flow down the valley because there is an enormous plug,” Raphael Mayoraz, a cantonal geologist, told Swiss national broadcaster SRF. “The worst case scenario is possible flooding.”
Up to one million cubic meters of water are accumulating daily as a result of the debris damming up the river, said Christian Huggel, a professor of environment and climate at the University of Zurich.
Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities, said some residents of neighbouring villages had been evacuated as a precaution.
The incident has revived concern about the impact of rising temperatures on Alpine permafrost which has long frozen gravel and boulders in place, creating new mountain hazards.
For years, the Birch Glacier has been creeping down the mountainside, pressured by shifting debris near the summit.
Matthias Huss, head of the Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (GLAMOS), pointed to the likely influence of climate change in loosening the rock mass in the permafrost zone, which triggered this week’s collapse.
“Unexpected things happen at places that we have not seen for hundreds of years, most probably due to climate change,” he told Reuters.
Dave Graham, Reuters
The Trump administration has taken another step to limit international students in the United States, threatening action against Chinese nationals in particular.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States will aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students. About 277,000 Chinese nationals studied in the U.S. during the 2023 to 2024 school year.
The vague statement goes on to explain that this includes individuals connected to the Chinese Communist Party or choosing to study in critical fieldswhatever he decides that means.
Rubio also states that future Chinese applicants, including those from Hong Kong, will face updated student visa criteria to enhance scrutiny. The Departments of State and Homeland Security will work together on these aggressive actions.
Fast Company reached out to the State Department for additional details.
Vague statement immediately reverberates
Incoming Chinese students are now scrambling to find a solution. According to Reuters, those who have yet to procure a student visa are scouring for any available appointments, considering deferring their acceptance, or turning to schools in more accessible countries.
The announcement follows another blow to international students this week.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration reportedly told embassies around the world not to schedule any new interviews for student visa applications until it could determine a social media vetting plan. The order came through a cable signed by Rubio, viewed and first reported by Politico. Once again, Rubio provided no clear guidance on how this vetting will occur or the impact on international students set to begin classes this fall.
Lego makes shoes for humans now.
The Danish toymaker announced a cobranded bright Lego yellow kids sneaker today in collaboration with Nike. The Nike Air Max Dn x Lego was designed in a Tour Yellow colorway with Lego-style studs on the upper, Lego’s red block logo on the tongue, and hybrid Nike-Lego logo on the back. The shoes will be available for sale in August following a 1,180-piece Lego Nike Dunk set to be released in July that includes a rotatable brick basketball toy.
[Photo: Nike; Lego]
Together, the shoes and basketball-themed Lego set are the first releases in a joint multiyear partnership between Nike and Lego that the companies announced last year and said would span products, content, and experiences.
The LEGO Group says in a study of parents it found 59% of respondents worried their children don’t have sufficient fun activities or playtime. To respond to those concerns, Nike said the partnership would bring to life the many ways sport and creative play can help all kids be the best versions of themselves. Online, reaction to an early look at the Nike x Lego shoe was mixed, but remember, this is a shoe for kids, not grown sneakerheads. It’s about taking an inside toy brand and extending it to physical play, and showing the connection between creativity in play as well as in success in other areas of life.
To do that, Nike and Lego tapped A’ja Wilson, the WNBA Las Vegas Aces center and Nike signature athlete, to appear on the brand’s digital channels to promote the partnership. The brands are also opening a pop-up Lego Play Arena at Legoland California Resort from June 7 to 11 to mark International Day of Play. A Nike Dunk Low x Lego collection is to come.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by HYPEBEAST (@hypebeast)
“I have loved playing with Lego bricks since I was a kid and know that my creativity and play helped me not only in sports but also at school and in life,” Wilson said in a statement.
Lego has made partnerships a central part of its business model by releasing branded sets for outside intellectual property, like Marvel, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, as well as adult sets based on art history and architecture. By collaborating with Nike, these brands extend their reach into new product categories, capturing likely new customer bases. Nike similarlly benefits from attaching itself to a product aimed at young people who will grow into Nike buyers.
As Nike aims to increase its market share, it’s doing so, in part, one demographic group at a time. Earlier this year, it announced a new brand in partnership with Skims to puncture the women’s athleisure market. With Lego, kids are next.
Elon Musk is leaving his government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy.His departure, announced Wednesday evening, marks the end of a turbulent chapter that included thousands of layoffs, the evisceration of government agencies, and reams of litigation. Despite the upheaval, the billionaire entrepreneur struggled in the unfamiliar environment of Washington, and he accomplished far less than he hoped.He dramatically reduced his target for cutting spendingfrom $2 trillion to $1 trillion to $150 billionand increasingly expressed frustration about resistance to his goals. Sometimes he clashed with other top members of Trump’s administration, who chafed at the newcomer’s efforts to reshape their departments, and he faced fierce political blowback for his efforts.Musk’s role working for Trump was always intended to be temporary, and he had recently signaled that he would be shifting his attention back to running his businesses, such as the electric automaker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX.But administration officials were often vague about when Musk would step back from his position spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, and he abruptly revealed that he was leaving in a post on X, his social media website.“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” he wrote. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”A White House official, who requested anonymity to talk about the change, confirmed Musk’s departure.Musk announced his decision one day after CBS released part of an interview in which he criticized the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda by saying he was “disappointed” by what the president calls his “big beautiful bill.”
The legislation includes a mix of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement. Musk described it as a “massive spending bill” that increases the federal deficit and “undermines the work” of his Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk said. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, defended his agenda by talking about the delicate politics involved with negotiating the legislation.“I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” he said.Trump also suggested that more changes could be made.“We’re going to see what happens,” he said. “It’s got a way to go.”Republicans recently pushed the measure through the House and are debating it in the Senate.Musk’s concerns are shared by some Republican lawmakers. “I sympathize with Elon being discouraged,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson.Speaking at a Milwaukee Press Club event on Wednesday, Johnson added that he was “pretty confident” there was enough opposition “to slow this process down until the president, our leadership, gets serious” about reducing spending. He said there was no amount of pressure Trump could put on him to change his position.Speaker Mike Johnson has asked senators to make as few changes to the legislation as possible, saying that House Republicans reached a “very delicate balance” that could be upended with major changes. The narrowly divided House will have to vote again on final passage once the Senate alters the bill.On Wednesday, Johnson thanked Musk for his work and promised to pursue more spending cuts in the future, saying “the House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings.”The White House is sending some proposed rescissions, a mechanism used to cancel previously authorized spending, to Capitol Hill to solidify some of DOGE’s cuts. A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said the package will include $1.1 billion from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, and $8.3 billion in foreign assistance.Musk occasionally seemed chastened by his experience working in government.“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” he told The Washington Post. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.”He also recently said that he’ll reduce his political spending, because “I think I’ve done enough.”Musk had previously been energized by the opportunity to reshape Washington. After putting at least $250 million behind Trump’s candidacy, he wore campaign hats in the White House, held his own campaign rallies, and talked about excessive spending as an existential crisis. He often tended to be effusive in his praise of Trump.“The more I’ve gotten to know President Trump, the more I like the guy,” Musk said in February. “Frankly, I love him.”Trump repaid the favor, describing Musk as “a truly great American.” When Tesla faced declining sales, he turned the White House driveway into a makeshift showroom to illustrate his support.It’s unclear what, if any, impact that Musk’s comments about the bill would have on the legislative debate, especially given his departure from the administration. During the transition period, when his influence was on the rise, he helped whip up opposition to a spending measure as the country stood on the brink of a federal government shutdown.His latest criticism could embolden Republicans who want bigger spending cuts. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee reposted a Fox News story about Musk’s interview while also adding his own take on the measure, saying there was “still time to fix it.”“The Senate version will be more aggressive,” Lee said. “It can, it must, and it will be. Or it won’t pass.”Only two RepublicansReps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentuckyvoted against the bill when the House took up the measure last week.Davidson took note of Musk’s comments on social media.“Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the Big Beautiful Bill where the House missed the moment,” he wrote. “Don’t hope someone else will cut deficits someday, know it has been done this Congress.”The Congressional Budget Office, in a preliminary estimate, said the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over the decade, while the changes to Medicaid, food stamps and other services would reduce spending by slightly more than $1 trillion over the same period.House Republican leaders say increased economic growth would allow the bill to be deficit-neutral or deficit-reducing, but outside watchdogs are skeptical. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the bill would add $3 trillion to the debt, including interest, over the next decade.
Stock markets are moving higher in premarket trading on Thursday as of the time of this writing. Two groups of stocks are doing particularly well: Big Techs Magnificent Seven and major chipmaker stocks. Shares in one stock that crosses over into both groupsNvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA)are currently up 6% in premarket trading.
But NVDA isnt the only chip and tech stock that is up. Other major technology companies like Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), and Broadcom Inc. (Nasdaq: AVGO) are also trending significantly higher.
Why are Big Tech and chipmaker stocks surging this morning? It comes down to three pieces of news. Heres what you need to know.
Markets and Big Tech jump on Trump tariff court ruling
As of the time of this writing, market futures are trending higher this morning. S&P Futures are currently up 1.1%, Dow Futures are up 0.56%, and Nasdaq Futures are up 1.6%.
The main reason for this broad surge in futures is a ruling issued by the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday that declared President Trumps Liberation Day tariffs illegal.
As CNBC notes, the three-judge panel ruled that the mechanism Trump used to invoke the tariffs without Congressional approvalthe International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)doesnt grant the president the authority to impose universal tariffs.
The judges declared that the Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs, and ordered not only a permanent halt to the tariffs but future modification to them as well.
As Fast Company previously reported, multiple states and small businesses sued over the implementation of the tariffs.
The judges also ruled against the Trump administration’s implementation of tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China based on the importation of fentanyl into the United States, saying those separate tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders.
Not all of Trumps tariffs have been ruled unlawful. The presidents tariffs on aluminum and steel can remain because they were not implemented under the IEEPA.
The Court of International Trade gave the Trump administration 10 days to put a halt to the tariffs ruled illegal, but the Trump administration has already appealed the ruling, which may very likely end up before the Supreme Court.
While the tariff situation is likely to continue to play out in the courts in the weeks ahead, news of the ruling has lifted futuresand Big Tech stocks.
The companies that make up Big Tech’s Magnificent SevenGoogle, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Teslafaced particular challenges from the tariffs since many of their products are sourced from China, the country that received the highest tariffs.
If not directly sourcing their products from China, they still rely on supplies or components from the country, such as servers, that the tariffs have threatened to make acquiring more expensive.
Heres how Big Techs Magnificent Seven stocks are currently trading based on the news:
Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG): up 1.29%
Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN): up 2.5%
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL): up 2.4%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META): up 1.4%
Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT): up 0.8%
NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA): up 6%
Tesla, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA): up 2.49%
Elon Musks time in the Trump administration comes to an end
One of the Magnificent Seven stocksTeslais certainly getting a boost from the ruling against Trumps tariffs, but theres likely another reason why the stock is trending higher today, too. That reason is Elon Musk.
On Wednesday, the CEO took to his social media platform X to announce that his time in the Trump administration has come to an end.
As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending, Musk wrote, adding, The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
Musk joined the administration in January to head the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But his work with the administration and DOGE has cost his most well-known company, Tesla, dearly. Musk’s involvement in politics has alienated many of the carmakers fans across the globe, leading to plummeting Tesla sales in many key markets, including those in Europe and the United States.
News that he is leaving DOGE and the Trump administration is something Tesla investors have been waiting to hear for a long timeand it’s contributing to TSLA stock moving higher this morning.
Nvidias earnings lift chip stocks
Finally, while many chipmaker stocks are also getting a lift today due to the Trump tariff ruling news, chipmaker and chipmaker-adjacent stocks, including chip machine maker ASML Holding N.V. (Nasdaq: ASML), are also seeing a boost thanks to Nvidias Q1 fiscal 2026 earnings results, which the company announced yesterday.
Nvidia reported revenue of $44.1 billion, which was up 12% from the previous quarter and 69% from the same quarter a year earlier. It also reported data center revenue of $39.1 billion, a 10% rise from the previous quarter and a 73% rise from the same quarter a year ago.
As CNBC notes, the better-than-expected earnings results have sent NVIDIA Corporation shares higher. Currently, they are up 6%.
But since Nvidia is often seen as a bellwether for other chipmakers and chipmaker-adjacent stocks, companies operating in those spaces are also seeing their shares rise this morning on Nvidias news.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD): up 2.9%
Arm Holdings plc (Nasdaq: ARM): up 3%
ASML Holding N.V. (Nasdaq: ASML): up 1.6%
Broadcom Inc. (Nasdaq: AVGO): up 2.9%
Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC): up 1.28%
Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU): up 2.4%
NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA): up 6%
QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM): up 1.69%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE: TSM): up 1.1%
Moreover, as Nvidia’s tehnology has been playing a key role in powering the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, its earnings beat was seen as a sign that demand for AI remains strong. All in all, its looking like a positive start to the morning in the markets, especially for stocks that operate in the Big Tech and chipmaker sectors.
Your Ellie the Elephant Pinterest pinboard just became official. Pinterest has announced that its first-ever sports partnership will be with the WNBA champions New York Liberty.
The social platform has made its name as a crucial resource for anyone planning a wedding or home renovation, but global head of consumer marketing Sara Pollack says the move into sports reflects a broader ambition.
Pinterest is a really interesting place for fandom, says Pollack. It’s not where you’re going to see highlights from last night’s game. We have research that shows that Pinterest users are much more likely than non-Pinterest users to be looking for things like Game Day outfits, sports-themed recipes, and inspiration for hosting watch parties. So the unique role Pinterest plays is for those who have an immense fandom for something. It’s a place where those fans come to weave their fandom into a variety of things. And for us, that’s such an interesting opportunity.
Pinterest’s revenue is up 17% year-over-year, according to its second quarter reporting earlier this month. Monthly active users surged 10% year-over-year to a record 570 million. The two-year deal is a boost for Pinterest, and will focus on the two brands collaborating through curated Pinterest boards, on-platform editorial content, and community outreach programs. A new content series called Away Game Fashion will go deep on the connection between hoops and fashion inspiration. Pinterest is also investing in refurbishing basketball backboards in the New York area.
Pinterest searches for WNBA tunnel outfits were up over 2,000%, with terms like Sabrina Ionescu shoes pink up 1,706%, NY Liberty WNBA up 306%, and Ellie the Elephant spiking 168%. Pollack says fans are already using the platform to make the game part of their identity, and this new deal aims to give them more tools to do it.
Brand beyond the court
The New York Liberty are not only out to a winning record on the court early in this WNBA season, the club has signed 19 new brand partners. Three years ago, CEO Keia Clarke was in a strategy meeting. The teams head of sponsorship asked everyone to go around the room and tell everyone what brands and platforms everyone was using most. And I said Pinterest! says Clarke. So this one is particularly personal.
The WNBA overall has excelled at bringing in corporate sponsors like Bumble, Glossier, and over-the-counter contraception brand Opill, beyond the NBAs usual brand suspects. Here, the Liberty are making a similarly bespoke brand move.
From the teams perspective, its been building a cultural connection with its fans for years, a bond perhaps most consistently expressed through its marketing gold mascot Ellie the Elephant. But Clarke sees the Pinterest partnership as yet another way to strengthen those bonds far beyond the court.
Whether you’re in the arena at a game or watching on television from home, or youre on Pinterest or at a community event, we want to always have that touch point with our fans that feels authentic and real, but it feels continuous, says Clarke. So this partnership in particular, its about looking at the search data, and figuring out how we can provide more moments for people to showcase their pride in our team, and showcase who they are as fans. Those are the moments for us that create generational longevity. That’s how you create real fandom that never goes away.
Ive spent the last 24 years as a charity auctioneer on stages around the world selling anything and everything to potential bidders. From Robinhood to Goldman Sachs, the biggest names in business and philanthropy entrust me to win over audiences and secure the sale.
When I give talks about selling, I always kick things off with one simple question: Whats the most important part of sales? The answers I get are all over the place and sometimes hilarious: persuasion, charm, bringing good snacks . . . but few people get it right. The most important part of sales is listening. This fact is just as true when youre pitching investors as it is when youre closing a deal.
If you want investors to take you seriously, your pitch cant be a one-size-fits-all presentation. It has to be tailored to their interests and needs. Your goal should be to meet your audience where they are, not where you are. Here are three surefire ways to make sure you stand out the next time youre pitching a crowd.
1. Know your audience
Before you craft a single bullet point on your deck, ask yourself: Who am I pitching to? What do they invest in? What gets them excited? What have they backed in the past? If your business doesnt immediately fit into their portfolio, find a commonality to draw them in. Help them draw the line from what they know to what youre offering. Show them how your vision connects to their world, even if it takes a little creativity.
As a charity auctioneer, Im often handed a sheet of paper with 10 lines about a trip or an item being auctioned off, then am told to get on stage and simply Raise a million dollars. I only loosely employ the notes Im given; I think of them as a reference point rather than the selling point. Because a powerful pitch isnt about reading a sheet of paper and regurgitating factsits about telling a story that taps into the audiences emotions. I find the pain point or the dream, and I make it personal.
When youre pitching investors, do the same. Dont just sell your product. Sell the feeling. Sell the why. Tell the story.
2. Find common ground and lead with it
In public speaking, I tell people to sell to the thing that unites you with the person across the table. Investors care about your margins, absolutely, but they need to connect with you and believe that you are the type of person they want to invest their time and energy in for the long term.
Start your pitch with something that grounds everyone. I like to start with something simple like: Its late in the day. I know youre tired, but I want you to know Im going to bring the energy to keep you awake. That simple acknowledgment shows you are invested in making your time with them as engaging as possible.
Then, personalize the pitch. If you looked at their website and saw nothing like your potential investment, address it head on instead of shying away from it: I saw that youve invested in sustainable materials and emerging markets. You might be wondering why youd invest in a platform for teachersbut heres the connection . . .
Dont let your audience sit there wondering why theyre in the room. Tell them. Draw the bridge. Find the thread that links your vision to their interest. And if youre pitching something they might be inclined to dismisssay, a luxury product to a tech investorbe ready to pivot.
During auctions, I am constantly coming up with different ways that someone might use the item Im selling. A few weeks ago, a nonprofit was delighted to tell me they had secured a ski house in Aspen for their charity auction gala. While they were excited, I thought about it differently. Not everyone likes to ski, nor do they want to visit somewhere in the cold weather. I immediately asked them Can the house be used in the summer too? The broader the appeal, the stronger your pitch. Dont get shut down before you even begin. The more ways you can encourage someone to view what you are selling, the better chance you will have of selling it.
3. Do the work before you get in the room
The best place to hear a tough question? In the comfort of your living room.
When you are preparing for a big presentation, practice until it looks like you are a natural. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make it count. Rehearse the pitch with people who dont know your business inside and out. Their questions will expose assumptions you didnt know you were making, and help you refine your message so it lands with confidence. Practice in front of friends, family, former colleagues, or anyone willing to poke holes in your presentation. The harder the questions, the better. You want to know your blind spots before you get in the room with an investor.
This week, Maxs critically acclaimed comedy Hacks is concluding its fourth season. The showwhich follows legendary Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her Gen Z comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) as the two work together to turn Vances career around and win new audienceshas already been renewed for a fifth season.
For showrunner and cocreator Lucia Aniello, thats all part of the plan. She and cocreators Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky had a five-year arc planned even when pitching the show.
Ahead of the season four finale, showrunner and cocreator Lucia Aniello came on the Most Innovative Companies podcast to talk about how she approaches writing, directing, and producing; how the show helps up-and-coming writers break into the industry; and why she doesnt mind working with her husband.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Hacks season four is ending this week. Do you feel a lot of pressure to stick the landing?
For better or worse, I feel the same amount of stress and anxiety making the show now as I did season one. At that point, there was a different stress and anxiety [because we were thinking] can we even make this show? Will anybody ever watch it? Will people like it? Then the next stress of season two was sophomore album vibes, and then season three was . . . will people continue to watch the show? It continues. It never feels less stressful to me. It morphs into a new different anxiety that’s the exact same amount
This show has changed every season. Season one, we’re in Vegas, here’s what the show is. Season two is on the road. Season three is this quest for late night. And now we are in season four actually making late-night TV. So it always has to evolve, but the question of how much does it evolve versus how much you just stick with what people love is a constant delicate balance and battle.
Hacks was also renewed for season five this week. You and your cocreators have said youll end the show after five seasons. When did you realize that was going to be the case?
We pitched five seasons. Even in the pitch of the whole series, we pitched the very last scene, the finale. [WarnerMedia vice president of original comedy and animation] Suzanna Makkos, who bought the show, stopped us before we got there. She was like, you don’t have to pitch anymore. I’m going to buy the show.
You’re a director, a writer, and a producer on this show. How do you balance those three roles?
In a weird way, it’s all one role. It’s really about the story. You are figuring it out with your brilliant staff together. You’re using the best ideas that everyone’s contributing. Producing the idea is figuring out we want to spend the budget. As a director, you’re basically taking the story that you want to tell and you’re [dividing] it up into a million piecesevery take, every side that you’re shooting, all of that stuff, and you’re parsing it out, whether it’s everything from wall color to costumes to the casting, to all of those things.
Then when you get into post, you sew it all back up and you try to make it the best version of that original idea. I haven’t in my career directed a lot of things where I wasn’t at least part of the writer’s room for. That’s not to say that I don’t think that a lot of people can take those things and elevate it, but for me, it’s really a cohesive story. There’s a billion calculations constantly, but if I didn’t have the writing, producing, directing hats on all at once, I wouldn’t be able to assess it as well as I do.
Your husband, Paul W. Downs, is a cocreator of the show. He also acts in it and youre in the writers room together. Whats that been like?
Paul and I met doing improv comedy at UCB. We didn’t start dating immediately. We were just friends. We did a lot of improv together over the years in New York. Thats how we got to know each other, Improv is a very supportive community. Literally, it’s yes, and and trying to make the other person better by agreeing and getting on board and trying to make them look as good as possible. So in a weird way, all relationships should start doing improv together because you learn to be a team.
I am his number one fan, and I have been since the first day I saw him perform. I love writing for him. He directed three episodes of this season. I did five or six. We’re together so much. We work so much. If we weren’t also married, I would never see him because we were working so much at the time. So it’s actually a marriage saver in a lot of ways.
How do you create an inclusive culture in your writers room?
I haven’t really come up in traditional writers’ rooms. Jen Statsky, one of the shows co-creators and showrunners, worked in late-night, then The Good Place, and came up through the writer’s ladder. But Paul and I came from a DIY background. We made a lot of videos, we made web series, then we worked on Broad City where we wrote and directed on all five seasons. What made Broad City a unique thing was it didn’t feel like people who necessarily made a lot of TV made that show, but in a way that made it feel fresh.
Between our untraditional background and her more traditional background, I like to think we have a pretty good respectful room. More than one of our writer’s assistants have been hired into our writer’s room. We’ve had editors direct. We really try to promote from within. That’s not to say that we’re perfect by any means, but we are conscious of trying to foster a healthy environment and pipeline for people. There is inherently a power dynamic when you are the boss. I was friends with a lot of people before hiring them. It puts a weird power imbalance in those relationships, which I don’t love. But on the other hand, I love hiring people I’m friends with and I think are so great.
I think I’ve come to terms with the fact that there is a text thread that Im not on, and they might talk about going to see a movie together. And they did go to a Sound bath last week and they didnt let me know, and that’s fine.
The WGA released a stat that TV writing jobs declined by 42% in recent years. Every day I read about how writers are not able to get jobs in writers’ rooms or don’t have access to residuals anymore. What advice do you give aspiring writers or people who want to break into the industry?
Its a brutal time, especially in comedy. Personally, I started on Broad City, which is a Comedy Central show. I made a mini series at Comedy Central called Time Traveling Bong. I worked on another Comedy Central show, Nora from Queens. Those not only paid me but they helped me get better at my job. That network doesnt exist anymore. That was almost like eight years of my life and other people behind me don’t get to have that. When I look at who’s just churning out comedies, there isn’t really a place to do it. I am concerned for the comedy pipeline in terms of people getting experience and breaking out. I am lucky enough that I do hire writers.
Some people we hire because they make really funny videos, and sometimes we might read a spec that is really good, or sometimes it’s just a standup who we think is really funny. Recently there’s somebody who just runs a very funny Instagram and Twitter I asked her if she had a spec and I read it. It can come from anywhere. Somebody can makea short film that is really good.
Doron Max Hagay did an incredibly funny short film called Marina Tire. I didn’t know him but I saw the short and we loved it. He was the only guest director that we had this season on Hacks. That was literally just from seeing his short film on Vimeo or whatever because a friend of mine had posted it. It’s so random how you can get that break. I would say whatever format seems most natural for your voice, do that. If that can get in front of people, thats all that matters.
