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On the way to work, you see a TikTok video of the president admitting to a crime. In the elevator, you hear your favorite band, but the song is completely unfamiliar. At your desk, you open an email from an executive in another department. It contains valid sales information and discusses a relevant legal issue, but the wording sounds oddly wooden. After lunch, the CEO sends all managers a link to a new app she had casually proposed just a few days earlier. Later, you interview a job candidate via Zoom, but the person looks different from his LinkedIn picture. Any or all of these thingsthe video, the song, the email, the CEOs app, the candidatecould have been generated by AI tools or agents. But our epistemic defaults, I’d argue, are still set to assume these things are human-created unless available information proves otherwise. We have not yet entered a zero-trust paradigm where content is generated unless proven authentic. Instead, we find ourselves in an anxious middle ground. The question now arises whenever we encounter a new image, video, or piece of information: Is this AI-generated? Increasingly, the answer will be yes. We are close enough to that zero-trust reality that we can see it approaching on the horizon. Beyond deepfakes Deepfakes were just the beginning. AI-generated video designed to mislead or incite was, not so long ago, seen as a novelty. Now its common in everything from revenge porn to politics. AI-generated music has gone mainstream. Last year, a fully generated country song called Walk My Walk by Breaking Rust reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart in the U.S. An AI-generated TV ad, made with Googles Veo 3, Gemini, and ChatGPT, ran during Game 3 of the NBA Finals last year. According to a Gallup Q3 2025 report, 45% of U.S. employees now use AI at work. In a similar vein, the email deliverability firm ZeroBounce found in a September 2025 survey that one in four workers use AI daily to draft emails, and that number has likely increased. The same survey found that a quarter of workers suspect their performance review was written using AI. By most accounts, the use of AI agents in corporate workflows is still in the early innings. But AI companies say were moving toward a future in which agents from different departments collaborate to complete back-office tasks, such as compensating suppliers, or to compile decision-support materials, like a business case for entering a new market or making an acquisition. Its already likely that AI agents, including deep research or business intelligence tools, play some role in assembling reports managers receive at work. Amazons AWS says its customers have used AI agents to save more than 1 million hours of manual effort. McKinsey predicts that by 2030 the use of agents and robots could create about $2.9 trillion in value in the U.S. if organizations redesign their workflows for people, agents, and robots working together. (Of course, McKinsey wants to help them do that.) Depending on her technical savvy, the CEO mentioned above may have mocked up a new app using Replit or Bolt. These so-called vibe-coding tools can generate a credible proof of concept in a weekend. She may then have handed it off to software engineering, whose developers might use Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor to turn the idea into a production-ready app that connects to company databases and third-party tools. A late-2025 Stack Overflow study claims that about 84% of developers now use, or plan to use, AI coding tools, with roughly half already using them daily. When applying for remote jobs, more candidates are trying to improve their odds with AI tools that enhance their face or voice or generate answers in real time during interviews. The voice authentication firm Pindrop says that in its own video interviews it regularly encounters applicants using deepfake software and other generative AI tools to try to land a job. Gartner predicts that by 2028 a quarter of all remote applicants will be AI-generated. Deepfakes once threatened to distort reality; now the distortion is structural, embedded in the systems that produce culture, manage companies, and decide who gets hired. AI, weaponized But the scammer may have a different goal in mind, and this points to scenarios where generative AI tools arent just used as timesavers, but as weapons. AI can help conceal the real identities of job applicants who are trying to extract sensitive company information or, worse, secure a role in order to install ransomware. Scammers are also increasingly using advanced face- and voice-swapping tools for outright fraud. In 2024, a team of scammers posed as top executives of the engineering firm Arup during a video call using sophisticated AI tools. They tricked a finance employee into sending them $25 million. We sense that our epistemic defaultsour AI slop detectors, if you willmay lag behind what technology can already do. And that suspicion is correct. The holy-shit moments accompanying new AI breakthroughs now arrive with striking regularity. Recently, some users and journalists concluded that the OpenClaw agent platform had become sentient after watching agents complete tasks independently, deploy humans to finish assignments, and then gather in their own online forum to discuss it. At the same time, many ChatGPT users are grieving the forthcoming loss of GPT-4o because they developed a personal attachment to the model. New Chinese video generation systems such as ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0 are producing highly controllable video thats increasingly difficult to distinguish from footage captured by a camera. The next tech wave Social networks, in many ways, act as intermediariesproviding a wide-angle lens through which a person sees the world. To increase engagement and ad views, Facebook distorted that lens, to the detriment of both democracy and children. This week, Facebook-parent Meta is defending itself in a Los Angeles courtroom after years of deploying design features, including endless scroll, that critics say proved harmfuly addictive for younger users. That was the last tech revolution, and it depended on user-made content. But with AI, the web can generate its own content on demand. This may put an immense amount of power in the hands of a few AI companies, perhaps even more so than was given to social media companies. With so much money and influence at stake, the question is whether AI companies will do what firms like Meta did not and draw a clear line between human-created and machine-generated content. I seriously doubt it, especially with a billionaire class and a Trump administration doing everything possible to stifle legislation that might protect AI consumers. If thats the case, then maybe taking a zero-trust approach to everything that appears on our screens is the only rational path forward.
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E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. One of the clearest messages from KB Homes leadership during its last earnings call was that the homebuilderranked No. 526 on the Fortune 1000is intentionally shifting away from elevated spec inventory and back toward more built-to-order (BTO)which will also help firm up its compressing margins given that BTO has higher margins than spec. When the supply chain crashed [during the pandemic] and our build times significantly extended, it was very difficult to sell a built-to-order home to a buyer when it was going to take 10 or 11 months to build You cant lock the interest rate for that long, Mezger tells ResiClub. So they did more spec. Thats over now. Weve significantly compressed our build times Were back down to four months or less, which is our historical level, Mezger tells ResiClub. With shorter cycle times and shifted conditions, KB Home wants to move to less spec. For years and years, [built-to-order] was 70% to 80% of our business, Mezger noted. In the fourth quarter, deliveries were around 50% BTO.In late January 2026, ResiClub interviewed KB Home CEO Jeffrey Mezger and COO Rob McGibney. Beginning March 1, 2026, McGibney will assume the CEO role, with Mezgerwho has served as CEO since 2006moving into the newly created position of executive chairman. Below are some main housing market takeaways from our recent conversation with KB Home. KB Home says its Florida business is showing signs of stabilizationbut the story is hyper-local Speaking on their September 2025 earnings call, KB Home executives said they had cut home prices across Floridalast years weakest pocket of the housing marketand were beginning to see signs of stabilization in the Sunshine State as a result. Do they still stand behind that signs of stabilization statement? Thats still largely accurate But it really remains very market specific, McGibney tells ResiClub. McGibney adds that some Florida communities have improved, allowing KB Home to lift prices a little this spring. Other Florida communities remain sluggish, requiring additional price adjustments even after earlier cuts. We look at every community as its own business, McGibney explained. It can vary significantly within the same metroTampa, Orlando, Jacksonvilleyou name it. As for magnitude, KB Home estimates most Florida home price adjustments since peak are modest. Even -10% would be on the extreme side, McGibney said, referring to price moves from peak levels. Most of what were talking about is in a -1% to -10% range. The new-home supply pipeline is pulling back some in softer markets Weve seen [housing] starts come down year-over-year in many [weaker] markets, Mezger tells ResiClub. Especially spec starts. KB Home says the pullback is helping limit further inventory pressure in markets like Florida, Phoenix, and Denver where prices just ran up too much relative to incomes. It’s good to see that there’s not a lot more inventory being injected into some of the softer markets, and I think that’s going to help places like Florida stabilize, Mezger says. The new-vs-existing price gap is compressingand thats making new construction more attractive According to the ResiClub New Home Premium Index, the median sales price of new single-family homes in October 2025 was -1.2% lower than the median sales price of existing single-family homes. This shift reflects how the affordability-strained housing market of the past three years has played out unevenly across segments. Many existing-home sellers have resisted downward price pressure, often at the expense of being able to transact. Homebuilders, by contrast, have been more willing to make affordability adjustmentsmost notably through price cuts, incentives, and a greater mix of smaller homesto avoid a sharper pullback in new-home sales. While theres no question that the new-construction premium has fallen meaningfully from a few years ago, national median comparisons (i.., ResiClubs index) likely overstate the magnitude of the decline somewhat due to mix-shift effects. KB Home says its premium has compressed; however, it still exists. There’s a lot of [existing] sellers that have stuck to pricing that’s very high, and they haven’t moved off the pricing so it doesn’t trade. And historically, we’ve always, over time, been able to support a 10% premium to resaleand above 15% when there was no resale inventory. The premiums for the industry gapped well above that [during the Pandemic Housing Boom], and you have seen them compress. But in our case, we try to target our product when we open a community to be within that 10% to 15% range. And when we do that, we’ve [still] seen a buyer that will absolutely take new over used, Mezger tells ResiClub.
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E-Commerce
You might think the most important amenities a hotel could provide would be a comfortable bed and a friendly concierge. For workers looking to shake up their WFH routine, though, a lightning-fast internet connection and electrical outlets aplenty may top that list. The chicer cousin of the coworking space, a hotel lobby is no longer a place to simply check in or out: Its an often overlooked third space in major cities, where guests and remote workers alike can mingle, relax, and get work done. Kayla Terzi is a recent convert. The hospitality real estate broker used to bounce around different cafés while working remotely in New York Citythat is, until she discovered the common area of the Soho Grand. I started noticing hotels offer a quieter, more consistent environment, especially for long calls or focused work sessions, Terzi, 26, told Fast Company. At the same time, an energized, cool, social environment helps me stay inspired. The concept of using hotels as coworking spaces is far from new, but as many companies increasingly opt for hybrid working arrangements, hotels are filling a growing gap between demand and supply when it comes to workspaces. Nearly one in three workers say their company has cut office space since 2020, with 43% reporting that no replacement workspace was provided. Thats according to a November 2025 study conducted by Engine, a booking platform for business travel. Additionally, the rise of the gig economy means there are more freelancers and self-employed workers than ever before. According to the MBO Partners State of Independence in America Report, there were an estimated 72.9 million Americans freelancing in some capacity in 2025. Those workers need space to work, with nearly one in five surveyed by Engine regularly going on space scavenger hunts for a change of scenery from their cramped apartments and desk-next-to-bed setups. Instead of turning visitors away, hotels are increasingly opening their doors to take in stray workerseven if theyre not guests. As long as I order a coffee or something to eat, they usually let me work and hang out for as long as I need, Terzi said. Of course, I make sure not to overstay my welcome. For those who are looking for a little more privacy, services like Engine Spaces make it easy for workers and business travelers to make use of professional workspaces and meeting rooms from the platforms extensive hotel network, 82% of which otherwise sit empty most of the time, a December 2025 Engine survey found. People shouldnt need to call a hotel to get basic information about a meeting space, Elia Wallen, founder and CEO of Engine, told Fast Company. Its 2026, and this is one of the last corners of hospitality that needs to come online, fast. Theres a gap in the market, apparently. Within the first month of Engines beta launch, more than 1,000 spaces were added to the marketplace by hotels, according to the company. What Terzi looks for in a hotel lobby is reliable Wi-Fi, accessible power outlets, and comfortable seating. One of my favorite lessons is that nothing extraordinary happens in ordinary spaces, Terzi said. Remember, even if youre not forking out hundreds or thousands of dollars a night for a room in a five-star hotel, in most cases you can still order a coffee and take advantage of the propertys common spaces. Then, following a productive day of work, seamlessly make your way to the hotel lobby bar. Because why not?
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E-Commerce
At $600, Jamie Haller loafers arent an impulse buy, but theyve become one of those rare fashion items people evangelize anyway. The shoes, which resemble classic mens leather loafers, have quietly built a cult following thanks to a surprising claim: Fansfrom TikTokers to Wirecuttersay they mold to your feet the moment you step into them. This didn’t happen by accident. The Los Angeles-based designer spent years seeking out a factory that would be willing to make her loafers using sacchetto construction, a labor-intensive Italian technique more often found in bespoke mens footwear. Take all of the hard bits of the loafer out, she remembers telling the cobbler in her Italian factory. Just make it skin on skin so that it fits your foot like a slipper. Now Haller is betting that the same philosophycomfort engineered through old-world techniquecan translate into her next hero product. On February 12, Haller is launching sneakers. The new style is made in Italy and uses the same sacchetto construction that turned her loafers into bestsellers. I wanted to create a beauty-forward everyday sneaker that has the same very, very special construction that the loafers have,” she says. The sneaker, inspired by climbing shoes and ballet slippers, is low-profile, flexible, and subtly sculptural. It feels like a hug, Haller says. [Photo: courtesy Jamie Haller] The New Class of Luxury Brands The sneaker launch comes as Hallers business is accelerating quickly. She spent years designing for other labels, including Guess and Bebe. But in 2020weeks into the pandemicshe decided to launch her own brand. At first, the business was built around a single slipper-like shoe that was a precursor to the loafer. But by early 2023, the Jamie Haller label had grown enough that she felt ready to leave her day job. Since then, the business has taken off. Year-over-year growth was in double-digit multiples early on, and momentum has continued as the business scales. Today, about 65% of sales are direct-to-consumer through her website and Montecito, California, store, with the rest coming from wholesale. The brand has expanded into ready-to-wear, bags, and now jewelry, and is entering more stores globally. Net-a-Porter picked up the shoe line and is adding ready-to-wear this springa major inflection point for international reach. Hallers rise places her squarely within a broader shift in luxury, alongside other female designers like Nili Lotan and Trish Wescoat Pound, who design collections focused on quality and construction. Their clothes offer devoted customers a uniform they can wear repeatedly. I’m toeing the line between casual and polished, Haller says. [Photo: courtesy Jamie Haller] Making Menswear Work for Women What makes Haller’s collections stand out is her deep affinity for vintage menswear. As a child, she loved her grandfather’s overcoats, well-worn briefcases, and shoes. She scours vintage markets to find classic men’s garments that might fit her but often doesnt like how they hang on her curves. So she taught herself how to translate those garments to suit a womans figure, combining the hard edges of menswear with the sensuality of a woman’s body. It is this blending of masculine and feminine that is intriguing to her. [Photo: courtesy Jamie Haller] Haller says men’s trousers usually don’t fit her well because she has curvaceous hips. To maintain the straight, slung look of a mens trouser, she pulls seams forward and adds shape only where its needed, often in the back rise. The visual appearance is still very straight, she says, even though the pattern is doing more work underneath. That same logic applies across categories. Her shirts are cut with straighter armholes and dropped shoulders, often in Japanese yarn-dyed cottons meant to mimic the feel of a perfectly worn vintage Oxford. Its always a balance of small and big, she saysrolling cuffs, opening collars, exposing just enough of the body to create contrast. Jewelry, too, follows this masculine thread. Hallers debut jewelry collection, launched last fall, centers on chunky signet rings inspired by the rings youd see on an 80-year-old Sicilian man, she says. They arent precious everyday pieces, but styling elementsmeant to add contrast to an outfit built from polished basics. Its the styling layer you put on top of te button-down and the basic trouser, she explains. [Photo: courtesy Jamie Haller] At every stage, Haller designs for herself first. She fits everything on her own body and refuses to release pieces she doesnt love. That conviction seems to resonate with customers, many of whom return again and again. Im making clothes they can wear every day very comfortably, she says. Haller’s success reveals a shift in what women want. Many are eschewing larger, flashier designers for independent labels, brands offering understated clothing that doesn’t overshadow the woman wearing them but rather makes her feel put-together thanks to a relentless focus on quality and fit. Haller’s designs borrow the best of mensweardurability, ease, comfortwithout losing sensuality. Now her customers will be able to swap their loafer for a sneaker to add a casual touch to their outfit. I design to make myself happy,” Haller says. “If Im wearing something every single day, thats usually a good sign. And I never take these sneakers off.
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E-Commerce
For many Black tech founders, raising venture capital is often positioned as the ultimate milestone. It signals that your idea is validated, your business is taken seriously, and opportunities begin to take shape. As the managing partner of an early stage VC firm, and a 3X Black tech founder that speaks and meets with thousands of founders a year, I can tell you the truth is far more nuanced. Venture capital can be powerful, but its not for everyone. Before chasing your first check, founders need clarity, preparation, and strategy. Fundraising is not just about storytelling or networking; its about understanding the system youre stepping into and deciding whether raising venture capital truly aligns with your long-term vision. Venture Capital Is a Business Model, Not a Badge of Honor It’s important for first time founders to understand the venture business model. Investors are not simply backing good ideas”; we are seeking outsized returns within a defined time horizon. That means VCs are looking for companies that can scale rapidly, dominate large markets, and potentially return 10x, 50x, or even 100x their investment. For founders, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, this distinction matters. Too often, VC is treated as a symbol of success rather than a strategic tool. Before you fundraise, ask yourself these tough questions: Is your business designed to scale quickly? Does it address a large enough market? Can it grow aggressively without breaking what makes it special? If the answer is no, that doesnt mean your business isnt valuable, it just simply means venture capital may not be the right fuel for it. And thats okay. VC Readiness Starts Long Before the Pitch Deck Many first-time founders assume fundraising begins when the pitch deck is finished. In reality, thats often the final step. True VC readiness starts months earlier. It takes time to develop your story. Even at the earliest stages, founders should be able to clearly articulate who their customer is, what problem theyre solving, and why their solution is meaningfully different from competitors who are already in market. Part of that story are performance metrics, why your team, and why is this the right time. Equally important is team readiness. VCs invest in people as much as products, especially first-time founders. Youre almost betting on the person more than you are the business concept. Founders with complementary skill sets, operational discipline, and the ability to execute consistently tend to inspire confidence with VCs. For solo founders, this often means building a roster of strong advisers, impressive early hires, and/or strategic partners who help de-risk the business. The more prepared you are, the better leverage youll have throughout the fundraising process. Holding Your Power in VC Rooms Venture capital, like most industries, doesnt hold Black founders in mind, and that reality shows up in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. From biased pattern matching to lowered expectations, founders will encounter dynamics that challenge their confidence. Thats why entering investor conversations with the right mindset is critical. You are not lucky to be in the room; you earned your place there. I see founders make this mistake often. Investors are evaluating an opportunity, but you need to remember that youre also evaluating them. Not every VC is the right fit for your business. Alignment, values, and long-term partnership matter just as much as check size and valuation. Holding your power means controlling the narrative around your business, being clear about your vision. It also means taking a collaborative approach to conversation as opposed to a subordinate one. You are supposed to answer questions to VCs but youre not in a job interview. Confidence (not desperation), when backed by preparation and performance, can shift the entire dynamic of a fundraising conversation. Knowing When Venture Capital Is Or Isnt The Right Move Its important to remember that not every successful company needs venture capital. Bootstrapping, revenue-based financing, grants, and strategic partnerships can often provide growth capital without sacrificing equity or control. This is more possible than ever in the era of agentic AI. Founders need to be sure that they have a massive market, directional customer demand that validates the market, and the right team at the earliest stages. Even better is true confidence in scaling the offering to $100M+ revenue in 57 years, given ideal conditions. VCs are looking to accelerate something thats already working, not serve as a lifeline. Raising money out of desperation only leads to two possible outcomes: a bad deal from a predatory partner or no deal at all. Extraordinary people with amazing opportunities know their worth in a room. Its also important to consider, the larger the raise, in most cases the deeper the partnership with your investors. This is why setting up the correct relationships up front is key. You want to be in position to work with your board, not for your board. Take the time to evaluate whether a VC truly fits your business model, personal goals, and tolerance for risk. The Real Work Starts After the Check Clears Fundraising is often glamorized, but the real work begins after the money is in the bank. Scaling a team, managing burn, hitting milestones, and navigating investor expectations can be more challenging than raising the round itself. Post-funding success requires operational maturity, strong communication, and the ability to grow as an individual. Youll quickly find that what you did to get to level one does not work to get you to level two. This is where clarity of values matters. Founders who raise with intention and choose investors who understand and respect their vision are better positioned to grow without losing themselves Raising venture capital is a strategic decision. Understand how VC works, prepare deeply, know how to manage your power dynamic with investors, and choose the right path to build your company (not theirs). If you decide that venture capital is the right path for you, the goal isnt just to get funded. Its to build something meaningful, scalable, and sustainable on your own terms.
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E-Commerce
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