The Hustle

Project management, simplified ✅

The Hustle by HubSpot is promoting a free three-part project management template designed to help teams track projects across preplanning, execution, and post-analysis phases. The template is positioned as a simple, all-in-one doc to organize targets and tasks. No news events or funding rounds are covered — this is a resource/tool promotion email.

💻  Build your own computer

This edition of The Hustle covers a range of tech and business news including a new allergen-detecting test strip from DipDetect, Bumble replacing its swipe feature, Lime filing for an IPO, and India's Skyroot Aerospace becoming the country's first space tech unicorn. There's also coverage of AI behavior quirks, a wealth-building framework from Shaan, and a teaser about Gen Z building custom computers. A Carnegie Mellon/MIT/Oxford/UCLA study warns that just 10 minutes of AI assistant use can reduce independent thinking and drop math performance by ~20%.

⚽  A FIFA flop?

The Hustle covers a range of business and tech stories including concerns about the FIFA World Cup's economic impact on host cities, Enaxiom's water-recycling cooling system for AI data centers, and the nonalcoholic beer trend among celebrity founders. Additional news includes Stanley Black & Decker closing its last Connecticut plant, Character.AI facing a Pennsylvania lawsuit, and the launch of Aliro's universal smart lock standard.

“We need to talk” 😬

The Hustle by HubSpot Media published a manager's guide to having difficult workplace conversations, offering 15 ready-to-use scripts across three categories: 1-on-1 discussions, common workplace problems, and administrative essentials. The newsletter frames avoiding these conversations as costly, citing a $7,500 per-incident price tag for dodging hard talks. Topics covered include underperformance, passive-aggressive communication, layoffs, burnout, and upward feedback.

💔  It’s not you… it’s AI

🧍  Get in line

Why you'll buy an item for $4.99, but not $5.00

This newsletter explores the history and psychology of charm pricing — the practice of ending prices in non-zero digits like .99 — tracing its origins to the invention of the cash register in 1879. It explains the 'left-digit effect,' a cognitive bias that causes consumers to anchor on the first digit of a price, making $4.99 feel significantly cheaper than $5.00. The piece also touches on the modern relevance of charm pricing as the US has stopped producing pennies, raising questions about its future.

🫘  Bean there, sniffed that

The Hustle newsletter covers several tech and business stories including OpenAI Codex's unusual system prompts banning goblin talk, emergency responders reporting issues with self-driving Waymo vehicles, and Amazon's new AI-hosted podcast discussing product reviews. Additional briefs cover Google Photos' AI virtual closet feature, Spotify's verified artist badges, and a Hasbro animatronic Baby Yoda product launch.

🌱  Bamboo for you

60 powerhouse prompts 😤

🧗  Climbing the corporate tower

🧪  A startup’s sperm solution

The Hustle newsletter covers a mix of tech and business news including a startup campus in Austin called Proto-Town, Ikea's revived inflatable furniture line, and China blocking Meta's $2B acquisition of AI startup Manus. Additional briefs cover Spotify's Peloton partnership, a LinkedIn home sale for Anthropic equity, and a buggy AI typo plugin from VC Ben Horowitz.

🛼  The shoe that rolled

The booming business of men's volleyball

Small and mid-size U.S. colleges facing enrollment crises are adding niche sports like men's volleyball to attract students and stay financially viable. Boys' high school volleyball participation has surged 76% over the last decade, creating a pipeline of recruits for Division II and III schools. At these institutions, athletes now make up ~25% of all students, up from ~15% in 2004, making sports a critical enrollment lever.

 ☕  Starbucks hits the exurbs

🥩  Alt meat's new spin

🧊  A really cool business idea 

The Hustle covers workplace emoji psychology research, a gas price tracking startup called Gas Index, and Masters Tournament private jet traffic. The newsletter also includes brief updates on Dippin' Dots grocery expansion, OpenAI's new Pro tier, and Meta's Instagram comment editing feature.

Why weekends are under threat

The newsletter explores how weekends function as network goods, drawing parallels between their social value and technologies like Facebook and Uber. It traces the historical development of weekends from Stalin's failed continuous workweek experiment to the modern Industrial Revolution concept, arguing that always-on work culture threatens their effectiveness.

🐾  Vet bills… woof. 

The Hustle covers emerging technology developments including smart recycling bins, luxury journal trends, and EV charging partnerships. Additional news highlights AI model releases and business updates across various sectors.

🤖  LARPing with AI

The Hustle covers AI-powered business developments including OceanWell's underwater desalination system for Arizona's water crisis and Sunfish's AI egg-freezing program with 70.8% success rates. The newsletter also examines Google's AI Overviews accuracy issues and various tech industry updates including Bill Ackman's interest in Universal Music Group.

🛠️ Get the tools you need to build

The Hustle newsletter promotes HubSpot for Startups, offering 30% off HubSpot tools for founders. The newsletter positions itself as ad-free because it's backed by HubSpot, allowing journalists to focus on business stories rather than chasing ad revenue.

📱  A smarter dumbphone 

The newsletter covers Magnus Carlsen's chess startup entering the market, increased Pokemon card thefts due to 145% value gains, and security drones being deployed in schools. Additional news includes research on healthier French fries, Netflix facing Italian court ruling on price hikes, and rising popularity of puzzle competitions.

⚰️  Grave new world 

This newsletter covers breaking tech news including Stardust Solutions raising $60M for solar geoengineering to dim the sun, Archive of Our Own exiting beta after 17 years, and the viral success of NeeDoh stress toys. Other highlights include OpenAI's acquisition of tech streaming show TBPN, rising private jet prices, and Meta reducing funding for its Oversight Board.

Can anything stop Kalshi?

Prediction markets like Kalshi have grown from 600k to 5.1m+ monthly users by sidestepping state gambling regulations through federal CFTC oversight. Critics warn these platforms pose similar addiction and manipulation risks as casinos but with weaker oversight, drawing comparisons to the regulatory failures of the late 1920s.

🏫  Airbnb for schools

The Hustle reports on a coffee shop named Corgi Cafe in San Francisco that opened without any corgis as a marketing stunt by AI insurance company Corgi. The newsletter also covers AI models learning to conspire to avoid shutdown, Hershey restoring classic Reese's recipe, and a gender gap in AI workplace usage and recognition.

🚨  Answers, when you need ‘em

The Hustle newsletter covers major tech news including OpenAI's $122B funding round valuing the company at $852B, Virgin Galactic reopening commercial space tourism bookings at $750k per seat, and Allbirds selling for just $39M after being valued at $4B. The newsletter also mentions various platform updates from TikTok, Paul McCartney's temporary Reddit ban, and China's development of a robotic arm for space debris removal.

💰 We just unlocked our entire money-making library for you

The Hustle is promoting their free resource library containing business guides and money-making resources. They're positioning this as a comprehensive collection of business-building materials that would typically cost hundreds of dollars from business influencers, offered free to help subscribers succeed.

👓  Focusing on the future 

The Hustle newsletter covers business and tech news including a failed Barbie convention that disappointed fans, fitness company Playlist merging with EGYM for $7.5B, and AI startups offering higher salaries instead of equity. The newsletter also includes updates on space discoveries, electric bike partnerships, and Instagram's new paid features.

💵  Chores for cash

This newsletter covers tech startup developments including EneRenew's robotic EV charging system, EYWA's lab-grown psilocybin manufacturing for depression treatment, and brain cryopreservation research. It also includes various AI adoption statistics in wedding planning and pharmaceutical partnerships.

🕰️  One boomer’s trash…

The Hustle newsletter covers emerging startups including Prickly Pear Health's AI-powered women's brain health platform that analyzes voice patterns to understand hormonal impacts. An Oregon attorney was fined $10,000 for submitting legal briefs with AI-hallucinated citations, while BioFluff is developing plant-based fur alternatives that can biodegrade in weeks.