The Rumspringa is over
And Bibles be Bibling
Wanna sponsor this thing? Have a spicy tip? Hit reply. For everything else, find me here.
In today’s issue:
Jesus keeps selling books
Reverse testimonials are an unlikely marketing hack
Y2-nay?
And more
Sup, friend.
I went to Born X Raised’s Sadie Hawkins party last week and paired the below Saint Laurent gown with Pleaser stripper heels and earrings I bought at a Hollywood Blvd adult clothing store.
My dog is sick, my throat is sore (again), I’m tired, and brushing my teeth feels like a lot of work. What’s redeeming, however, is that now that my blissful 6 month Rumspringa is over, I feel like I’m getting my head back into the game. Two of Trust Fund’s portfolio companies are raising new funding, I’m heading off to speak at a conference this weekend, and I’m inspired to work more than I have been in a while – which is a blessing because lord knows I need the structure that it provides. And founders need the kind of help that I provide :)
Wheels up,
Sophia
This is what I’d wear to holiday parties
But I’ve only been invited to one. After last week’s holiday shopping guide knocked it out of the park, I realized how much I miss dressing people. So I put together another guide, but this time specific to holiday party dressing. A few items are featured above, but the entire guide is here.
Collabs on my radar
Ghia and Coming Soon dropped Le Pill, a travel cooler that perfectly fits a bottle of Le Fizz. So good. A reminder that you can get a little quirky and weird without sacrificing function. Marni and G-SHOCK partnered on a funky anti-status timepiece. Christopher Kane collaborated with Sef-Portrait with 30 incredible looks. Like this pink lace satin mini dress and this black lace cutout dress. Kate Moss designed a party capsule collection for Zara, and it’s going to sell out fast. Onitsuka Tiger and Patou dropped a balletcore collab with shoes, hoodies, and tees. If you want bratty Dr. Martens, stay tuned for their collab with Awake NY. Designer Kate Barton (of the goldfish bag) is partnering with Syky, a platform for digital, luxury fashion. Barton designed a dusty sky blue version of her Pierced Leather Bag in both a real version and a “phygital” one. Only 20 physical and NFT will be available. Sabrina Carpenter partnered with Absolut and Kahlúa on an espresso martini kit. Comes with an edible kiss mark. So cute.
Links to make you smarter and more interesting
Solawave’s red light products are being copied and sold online, an increasingly common problem for beauty tech brands.
Some dupes even use the brand’s exact imagery, copy, and messaging. One way brands like Solawave can protect their ideas/intellectual property is through Schedule A litigation, which lets companies sue 50 to 500 defendants at once.An attorney working on these cases told Glossy that the number of design patent infringement cases using this legal process have increased from 30 to 2020 to 59 just in the first nine months of 2023, and are centered on products sold on Amazon, eBay, and other online marketplaces.
Sneaker marketplace Goat fined $2 million by the FTC for illegal shipping practices
The company had marketed “Instant” and “Next Day” priority shipping orders, yet the FTC found that 37% of “Instant” orders were shipped late, and more than 16% of “Next Day” orders were shipped on the second day or later. Customers paid extra for these services. Not only does that piss consumers off, but it’s going to cost Goat a lot of bread.
Plot launched on Product Hunt yesterday!
Plot, Trust Fund’s first investment, is live on Product Hunt. Everything social media teams + creators need to plan, store, and source content wherever you are.
Bible sales are up 22% in the US this year
Some attribute this to collective anxiety and a search for hope. But it’s also good marketing. Sales spikes aren’t just being seen at religious stores, but secular bookshops and online marketplaces, especially bibles catering to certain demographics with leather-bound options, different colors, and large text. “I’d like to say there is a craving for knowledge of scripture, but a lot of smart people are thinking about Bible marketing,” Mark Bertrand, founder of bible design site Lectio, said.
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Layoff influencers might be a red flag for potential employers
Posting TikTok videos about your layoff is trending among Gen Z. Hiring managers are definitely looking at your social media, and some say that this is a bit of a turn off. Still, workers are becoming more emboldened to share their layoff experiences online, and people want to tune in. It’s why the Laid Off Substack, where people share all the intimate details of their layoff, has more than 5,000 readers in just a few months.
Turns out viral insults can be brilliant marketing
Copywriter Miguel Ferreira reminds us that reverse testimonials can be a surprisingly effective (and fun) way to promote your brand. For example, ski resort Snowbird used one-star reviews from exasperated skiers in their print and digital marketing campaigns. Genius.
Women leaders face 30 types of workplace bullshit and they’re mostly about personal qualities, not performance
A study finds that gender bias is not just about being a woman, but it’s also about their accent, age, attractiveness, body size, class, color, communication style, marital status, pregnancy, and sexual orientation. I think most women know this, but it’s always nice when a study
A great way for designers, creators, and creatives to organize digital assets
The way you organize your digital spaces have a psychological impact. It’s why seeing a million tabs open at once might make you feel stressed or chaotic. File conventions matter – designer Dan Mall shared how he neatly organizes his file folders into projects by year. Every project has a folder for Assets, Editable Files, Review, and Delivery. This is tailored more toward designers, but anyone owning multiple projects should figure out what their evergreen folders are and consider neatly organizing each by year.
How to write the perfect intro email
This Wall Street Journal piece interviewed social science experts and power networkers on the potential of a perfectly executed introductory email. One of the interviewees, a Chicago architect who has done this thousands of times, shares his secret: A paragraph for each person describing what they do, why you thought of them, and why they’re a perfect fit to be introduced to one another. Include links to their LinkedIn profiles and put the person with the most to gain last.
Telfar just introduced a new bag size: “shmedium”
Cult NYC handbag designer Telfar’s products sell out in minutes, to the tune of $7 million in a single drop. Last week, the brand dropped a new bag size, “shmedium,” and it’s already sold out.
You don’t need hundreds of thousands of followers to land a content partnership with a beauty brand
Nano and micro-influencers (following counts between 1,000 and 10,000) are hot right now as brands are increasingly gravitating to more raw, authentic content – which also tends to get more engagement. When you create for everyone, you create for no one, which can be a curse when you have a lot of followers/customers/subscribers. This is a classic read on the topic if you want to know what I mean.
The rise of AI shopping is here to stay, so get onboard
Here’s a stat for you: 44% of Black Friday shoppers plan to use AI to shop this year. AI search engine Perplexity recently released a pretty cool feature, which lets users add an image to their search to surface recommendations with product details, pros and cons, key features, and reviews. Brands can apply to the program here, which can help boost their visibility to increasingly savvy consumers.
The Y2K aesthetic is hot again, but millennials are protective of their era
“People are very possessive of what they know or what they think they know,” said Nancy Deihl, a fashion historian and department chair at New York University. “Everybody has an opinion and they feel like they have leave to express it.”
A24 is dropping an actual film called Y2K tomorrow. The criticism? The vibe feels too Gen Z/TikTok-ified. But for brands, that’s okay. Ugg made over $2.2 billion in sales this year. Designers, it’s time to get some alien sunglasses and JNCOs into your next collection, stat.
More from my rich universe of endeavors
What’s cooking in Trust Fund:
Carry has a free end of year tax planning checklist that’s been super popular.
Baton was recently featured in Inc Magazine.
GiftShop was featured in The New York Times this week.
Have a B2B startup idea? Pitch Trust Fund here.
What’s sizzling in Business Class:
This week in Business Class, content strategist Amber Figlow and creative director Aurielle Sayeh hosted live workshops on how to create authentic content and build a sustainable content ecosystem for yourself and your brand. And members can join the weekly co-working club on Friday for a dedicated hour to creating content for Instagram, email, and their websites.
Next week, human design expert Leah McCloud is teaching members how to build their business in alignment with their energy, and PR pro Danika Daly is back to share influencer marketing strategies for the new year.
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You should put together more outfit posts!! It was an inspiring collection
Thank you so much for the mention had a blast teaching over on business class!!!