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Today, Lego is dipping its toes into a massive world of IP that it hasnt explored in nearly 100 years as a brand: anime. The company is gearing up to release a new line of sets inspired by One Piece, the popular manga and anime series thats now also a live-action show from Netflixmarking the first time Lego has adapted an anime property. The collaboration includes five unique sets inspired by Netflixs 2023 adaptation of One Piece, which was originally published as a manga comic 1997 and made into an iconic anime show in 1999. When Netflixs interpretation of the series, co-produced by Tomorrow Studios, launched its first season in 2023, it spent eight weeks in Netflixs Global Top 10 Shows list, debuting at the top of the charts in 46 countries and amassing 71.6 million views in four months. The second season is expected to drop in 2026. [Photo: Lego] It appears that Lego sees an opportunity to follow up on Netflixs success with its own win. Each of the five new sets, which range from $29.99 to $329.99, are inspired by the most recognizable locations in Netflixs One Piece. The sets are available for preorder today, and will officially become available on August 1. Lego’s foray into the anime world makes sense for a brand that’s increasingly turning its focus from open-world sets to IP-based collections. In recent years, the company has doubled down on partnerships with properties like Back to the Future, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Marvel, Minecraft, and Super Mario World, to name a few. The strategy seems to be working: In its full-year 2024 report, Lego notched year-over-year revenue growth of 13%, totaling $10.53 billion. For years, fans of both anime and Lego have waited for an eventual crossover of the two worlds; even designing their own Lego interpretations of properties like Naruto, My Neighbor Totoro, and K-On! Now, the dream is finally a reality. [Photo: Lego] A first for both Lego and ‘One Piece’ One Piece follows a young pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, to find a legendary piece of treasure called One Piece. Netflix and Tomorrow Studios live-action version of the series was created in collaboration with the mangas creator, Eiichiro Oda. The crew used a combination of CGI and practical effects to mimic the cartoony aesthetic of the source material while capturing its whimsical, magic-infused settings. According to Andrew Hugh Seenan, Legos creative lead on the One Piece collection, the show has all the ingredients to make great Lego sets. Its a seafaring world of adventure with a vast range of imaginative island locations, Seenan explains. It has a great range of diverse and unique characters, both good and bad, all with their own visual style, personalities, and abilities. There is also a clear mission and call to adventureto find the legendary One Piece treasure. [Photo: Lego] The effort to adapt One Piece into Lego bricks was a two-year collaboration that involved an ongoing back-and-forth between the shows designers and creatives and Legos design team. Josh Simon, Netflixs vice president of consumer products, says it was also crucial to receive support from Oda himself. Together with Tomorrow Studios and Shueisha, we approached Oda-sensei with a vision to bring the beloved action series adaptation to life in Lego formthe first time in the history of the franchise, Simon says. In a statement posted online, Oda wrote of the collaboration, Even now, I have dozens of Lego boxes piled up at my workplace that I havent even had time to dig into. Theres no cooler toy out there!! For 25 years since the anime started, Ive been asking for a Lego toy, and finally my dream is being fulfilled with a live-action collection! [Photo: Lego]
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If youre an executive, there might be a time when you find yourself showing up on edge. You feel burned out, frustrated, and confused. The symptoms are familiar: You take longer to make decisions that typically come easily to you. You find it harder to move your team. Your instinctsonce your superpowerstart to misfire. Naturally, you start to wonder if youre losing your touch. But what if, instead of breaking down, youre shedding? We often imagine leadership development as a ladderfrom novice to expert, beginner to master. But in practice, its more like biology than business school. Leaders molt. They evolve through distinct stages of identity and presenceshedding strategies that no longer serve them, and emerging into new shapes that fit the future more precisely. In entomology, these stages are called instarsthe phases between molts in an insects development. Each instar is complete in itself but temporary. It worksuntil it doesnt. What comes next is the shedding. And with it, an invitation to morph into an expansive form. Leadership operates in a similar rhythm. And what many executives label as burnout or stagnation is often the discomfort of outgrowing an old identity. They just dont have the language for the new one. Through two decades of coaching founders, CEOs, and senior executives, Ive seen this pattern emerge again and again. A seasoned leader reaches an inflection point where the very instincts that once generated success become constraints. This isnt failure. They need to evolve. Heres how that evolution tends to unfold. Phase 1: The original form This is the early phase of leadership where youre the center of gravity. This stage is scrappy, reactive, and high contact. You make decisions fast, stay close to the action, and operate by instinct. Control is direct. Culture is personal. Your presence moves the work. However, this way of operating eventually breaks down. What once felt empowering becomes exhausting. As the complexity grows, your heroic effort becomes a bottleneck. In a world shaped by AI and automation, leadership is no longer about being everywhere. Instead, its about knowing where you matter most. At this point, you need to ask yourself, What is mine to do, and what do they need to do to release? Phase 2: The first shedding This is the first disorientation phase. Your shape no longer fitsbut youre still wearing it. You start to feel friction where there used to be flow. You sense the team waiting for something youre no longer sure how to give. The leadership identity that once fit you like a glovethe driver, the fixer, the gluenow puts you in a bind. To evolve accordingly, you need to think beyond letting go of tasks. Its about shifting power, narrative, and identity. Traditional leadership prized decisiveness. Todays systems require presence in ambiguity. Youre not just delegatingyoure metabolizing complexity. You need to stop being the answer and start asking questions about what you need to do to move your team forward. Phase 3: Adaptation This is when you begin leading through the system, rather than over it. That means designing clarity rather than delivering it. You influence ripples through structures, rhythms, and culture, not just directives. Youre building coherence, not dependence. You start to notice that your team starts to make decisions without you, and things can work even when you’re not in the room. Rather than jumping in to solve problems, you sense when theyre coming and empower your team to do it on their own. This is critical because legacy models taught leaders to control. But today, your leverage is in the conditions you create. Leadership becomes less about managing people and more about managing the systems ability to adapt. At this stage, you need to figure out what would allow this system to self-correct without you. As aspirational and freeing as that sounds, this is the biggest unconscious hijack for most leaders. You’ve spent a lifetime being the one who gets it done. Suddenly, your team doesnt need you anymore. And that means you experience loss. Loss of your identity. Loss of your place as the person people turned to for answers, even when you wanted them to stop asking. Many leaders will unconsciously create a way “back in,” a way to return to their identity as the person people turn to so they can get out of the discomfort. To move to the next stage, you have to attach to a bigger purpose, and attend to your loss. Its real, and its an important stepping stone in your growth. Phase 4: Resonance This is the stage where leadership becomes coherent. Youre no longer relying on charisma or control. Youre building not just for this quarter, but for whats emerging (or trying to emerge) in the long term. This is the kind of leadership that organizations need if they want to be sustainable and succeed in the long term. This type of leader can sense what the system needsbefore it asksand hold that signal long enough for it to take root. Most leadership breakdowns dont come from incompetence. They come from trying to scale a shape that no longer fits. When leaders dont recognize the phase theyre in, they double down on outdated behaviors. They push when they need to pause. They demand clarity when they should be holding space. And they burn out chasing a version of leadership that was never meant to last. While it might sound counterintuitive, growth isnt always forward. Sometimes its through. What distinguishes those who evolve isnt brilliance or brute force. Its the willingness to recognize when a season is endingand the courage to lead from the unknown before the next form reveals itself. If youre a leader and youre feeling the friction, take the time to pause. You might just be going through a transformation that your organization desperately needs.
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E-Commerce
Whether it’s picking out a new brunch spot or deciding which pants to buy next, the influencer economy has cemented itself as a powerhouse in consumer decision-makingand copy-trading app Dub believes the stock market is next. Founded in 2021 out of CEO Steven Wangs Harvard dorm room, the retail investment platform launched from stealth in February last year and has since amassed more than 1 million users. “Especially during times of volatility like this, people need more help than ever to navigate how to invest,” Wang says. “People are seeing us as a trusted source to be able to find experts who guide them on how to invest and let them sort of do the hard work for you.” After witnessing the impact of social media and investing through the infamous GameStop short squeeze in 2021, the 23-year-old founder set out to harness social media influence to benefit young investors. Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, more than 62% of Americans own stock, and younger generations are showing growing interest in entering the market. Gen Zers, for example, are beginning to invest at age 19earlier than previous generationsand are often turning to social media for financial advice. While Dub first gained traction by allowing users to copy high-profile investors like longtime California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and billionaire Warren Buffett, now the app also taps into the power of everyday creators, letting users copy and be copied by one another. (Politicians portfolios are not managed by the politicians themselves, but rather Dub advisers, and may take up to 45 days to update depending on their financial filing.) Functioning as a marketplace ecosystem, the app allows users to browse in-app creators, with visible returns displayed on-screen, offering a transparent and accessible experience for young investors. “It’s kind of like an eBay or an Amazon,” Wang says. “You can shop through all the different people who might interest or align with your investing style, your investing thesis. Or you might be enthused by their track record and their great performance.” Headquartered in New York City, Dub has raised $47 million in funding, including a $30 million Series A round in early May, and is growing quickly. Notable investors include Nathan Rodland of Robinhood, Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber, and major firms such as Notable Capital and Tusk Venture Partners. Monetizing influence In January of this year, the app launched its Top Creator Program through its registered investment adviser, allowing a select group of vetted, handpicked top performers to receive royalties. One of the top creators is 28-year-old Kian Saidi, who started investing 10 years ago and has held various roles in the investment world. Before joining Dubwhere he runs the $UNUSUAL portfolio with $2.6 million under management and 1,500 people copy-trading himhe led the Owls Capital Discord group, sharing market insights with 2,800-plus users. His X account has also gained more than 60,000 followers for his financial commentary. Through Dub, Saidis followers can ensure his returns are accurate and updated in real time, reflecting trades brokered directly within the app, while he continues to grow his audience. “It was a win-win,” Saidi tells Fast Company. In addition to monetization, he sees the creator program as a platform for young investors to showcase their skills. “Let’s say you’re interested in working for Goldman and JP Morgan,” he says. “You can showcase your performance on this app because you are only buying long stock . . . so it’s very similar to being on the floor.” Learning while trading Wang gained his trading insights long before his Harvard days (he says he got into investing in the second grade). But most young investors begin much later. Daniel Tang, a 26-year-old early Dub user who works in the commodities trading industry in Houston, initially joined the app to diversify his investments but quickly discovered an unexpected benefit. “I have a lot of insight on the commodities market, but I lack the ability to understand the equities market as much, so there are people I’m competing against where their full-time jobs is to look into the equity side of things, Tang says. Tang especially likes that the app requires creators to explain their rebalancing decisions, noting that such transparency helps him learn from the experts he subscribes to. “It gives me insight on the equities market that I could use even in my personal job,” he says. The apps educational focus is designed to encourage beginners to start investing with more confidence. “Most people never learn how to invest, and it’s one of the most powerful things that one can do,” Wang says. “The stock market is the compounding engine of capitalism, and is truly the most powerful way to make money in modern society.”
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