David Lidsky's Blog, page 135

Gaming is the key to reaching Gen Alpha consumers

As Generation Alpha blends gaming with social connection, brands are moving into platforms like Roblox to stay relevant—and drive real-world sales.

If brands want to reach the shoppers of the future, they’ll need to meet them where they already are: playing video games.

Letterboxd is launching a curated streaming service for indie films

The popular film-tracking app is opening the Letterboxd Video Store, a new rental platform focused on hard-to-find titles, emerging filmmakers, and festival circuit gems.

Exciting news for anyone who’s already burned through the entirety of Netflix: There’s a new online movie rental platform coming to town.

Coinbase cyberattack: What users need to know about stolen customer data, password security, and more in $400 million incident

The crypto exchange’s stock price fell 8% Thursday on news that hackers had successfully bribed staff for information on certain accounts.

Stock in Coinbase (COIN), the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, fell more than 8% Thursday on news it was the victim of a cyberattack, in which hackers successfully bribed overseas contractors to leak important information so they could steal customer data. The company estimates it could cost $400 million to resolve the situation.

Noodles & Company to close more locations: Doomed list now up to 21 as restaurant chains trim down in 2025

The pasta and mac-and-cheese joint upped its projection for closures this year in its first-quarter earnings report.

Noodles & Company, the fast-casual chain known for serving an array of noodle-based dishes, will shutter up to 21 restaurants.

The brand, founded in Denver, Colorado in 1995, has already closed at least nine locations over the past year. In a conference call last week, chief financial officer Michael Hynes said, “We expect to close 13 to 17 company-owned and four franchise restaurants in 2025.” The most recent count is up from a previous estimate of 12 to 15 company-owned closures.

Senate grills EPA chief Zeldin over cuts to climate change and pollution programs

Funding for two programs was abruptly terminated by the Trump administration in actions that Democrats have denounced as illegal and unconstitutional.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency came under bipartisan criticism Wednesday over his agency’s actions to cancel billions of dollars in congressionally approved spending to address chronic pollution in minority communities and jump-start clean energy programs across the country.

Trump just handed data brokers a gift—in the form of our data

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday quietly withdrew new rules requiring data brokers to get consent before collecting and selling a consumer’s data.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under acting director Russell Vought, canceled proposed new rules this week that would have protected Americans’ sensitive private data—including financial data, credit history, and Social Security numbers—from being collected by data brokers without consent and sold to advertisers and other third parties. 

How Congress’s weakening began decades before Trump

There’s no one culprit but instead a collection of factors that have provided the ineffectual Congress of today.

Republicans in Congress have been making behind-the-scenes efforts to pass major domestic legislation via the federal budget process. They include potential cuts to Medicaid and extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts.

Hey, at least HBO Max can laugh at itself

The streaming service brand name game of musical chairs continues, but HBO Max nailed its comeback on social.

The streaming service branding game of musical chairs continued this week when Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced the streaming platform Max would once again be called HBO Max, starting this summer. It’s a complete brand reversal from a switch the company made back in 2023, when it ditched the “HBO” in its name for a head scratching “Max.”

Trump’s Middle East tour is all about AI diplomacy

The administration is actively competing with China to get American AI and chips into new deployments around the world.

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here.

The competitive edge you could be overlooking?

Customer-focused leadership may require a cultural overhaul, but the results are worth it.

An often-overlooked competitive advantage in business isn’t your technology stack, market share, or even your talent pipeline—it’s your leadership team’s customer obsession.