Comment on Executive Insights: A learning lollapalooza

Target plans to cut prices on thousands of consumer basics this summer, from diapers to milk, as inflation cuts into household budgets and more Americans pay closer attention to their spending. The price cuts, already applied to 1,500 items, will eventually include 5,000 food, drink and essential household goods. Target and other retailers are increasingly catering to customers who are struggling with higher prices for groceries, though inflation has begun to cool.

It’s a difficult time to be a founder. These insights can help. 2024 is forming into one of the hardest years to survive as a startup founder. Last year, entrepreneurs were already reporting high rates of anxiety and depression.

A new Cooper Hewitt exhibition explores what makes an object worthy of living in the museum’s permanent collection. At the entrance of the Cooper Hewitt design museum’s latest exhibition, Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection, two objects sit side-by-side. One is a 3D-printed model of a coronavirus particle, 2020; the other is a turquoise lotus-shaped cup, circa 1100 BCE, from Egypt—the oldest object in the museum’s collection. 

The new book Seen Yet Unseen makes a case that one size does not fit all, and sacrificing an entire group of people for profit while choosing to disregard them is even worse. In addition to unionization for more humane working conditions, employees are on the front lines fighting for a say in how companies deploy their products, and to whom, to ensure they’re not being weaponized.

Alex Triplett, CFO and COO of Appfire argues that companies should focus on building an AI strategy, not hiring a Chief AI Officer. Artificial intelligence has had an undeniable impact on most industries and organizations over the past year, and I believe it will dramatically transform how business is conducted for years to come.

Increased geomagnetic activity doesn’t just bring auroras into view—it can also affect the power grid, satellites, and GPS. If you were one of the millions of Americans who got to see the multicolored, dancing northern lights recently—without needing to take trip toward the North Pole—you experienced the effects of a solar storm.