David Lidsky's Blog, page 12

Don’t use this cookware: FDA expands list of products that could be poisoning your food with lead

The health agency is warning consumers that certain brass and aluminum cookware could leach dangerous amounts of toxic metals.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its warning to consumers and retailers not to use or sell certain imported cookware that may leach significant levels of lead into your food.

Rivian breaks ground on a $5 billion plant in Georgia amid challenges in the EV market

The Georgia plant, first announced in 2021, is Rivian’s key to reaching profitability.

It seems like a terrible time to build an electric vehicle plant in the United States, but Rivian Automotive leaders say they’re confident as the company starts long-delayed work on a $5 billion facility in Georgia.

Starbucks to add ‘hundreds of thousands of seats’ back to its stores

At the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol shared his plan to bring the coffee chain back to its glory days.

There was a time, back in the mid-2010s, when Starbucks was in its prime. It was an era characterized by handwritten notes on cups, signature purple chairs, and coffee houses teeming with people sitting down to enjoy a morning pick-me-up. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol wants to revive that era—starting by adding hundreds of thousands of chairs back into its stores.

This refinery is turning cattle into ‘green’ jet fuel—but it’s destroying the Amazon

Diamond Green Diesel is a major player in the U.S. sustainable fuels market.

A Texas refinery that supplies green fuel to U.S. airlines has been purchasing animal fat from cattle raised on illegally cleared lands in the Amazon rainforest, according to a Reuters review of government tracking data, interviews and eyewitness accounts.

ChatGPT gets a teen-only version with safety guardrails

The new offering restricts explicit content and lets parents monitor and shape how their teens use AI.

On Tuesday, AI startup OpenAI announced it would launch a new ChatGPT experience just for kids. The announcement explained that the latest ChatGPT was created as part of an effort to protect children’ s privacy. 

Far-right groups are doxxing people who criticize Charlie Kirk’s death

A now-removed site published names and comments of dozens of people, opening them up to harassment, threats, and even job loss.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk is widening the political divide in America—and some people who have made critical remarks about the conservative icon are finding their personal information being posted online, opening them up to harassment and threats.

The Fed is expected to cut rates: here’s how it might impact jobs

This week the Federal Reserve is expected to announce interest rate cuts in hopes of stimulating job growth.

How wearing many hats can be a founder superpower

Here’s the journey I went on as a founder and what I learned at each stage.

Most founder advice tells you to delegate fast and focus on your strengths. After six years of building Percent, a private credit marketplace, from $80,000 in credit card debt to a Series B, I believe the opposite: The founders who win are the ones who do wear every hat as they go through their journey.

Corporate social impact is experiencing a market correction

Five lessons for leaders during this correction, which is not a depression.

The past few years in corporate social impact have felt like a bull market. After 2020, companies raced to make commitments on racial justice, climate, mental health, and equity. Budgets grew. New executives were hired. “Purpose” became central to investor pitches and employee branding. Optimism and momentum were everywhere.

Make hard things look easy

Advice from a female manufacturing CEO

At the Exceptional Women Alliance, we enable high-level women to mentor each other to achieve personal and professional happiness through sisterhood. As the nonprofit organization’s founder, chair, and CEO, I am honored to interview and share insights from thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer mentoring.