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A franchise owner describes losing a corporate job in 2017 while their franchise business was struggling after a slow launch. They outline six lessons learned during that period, split into emotional lessons about mindset and identity, and tactical lessons about business strategy learned through trial and error.
An Entrepreneur contributor revisits Coca-Cola's 1985 decision to replace its original formula with New Coke after more than 200,000 blind taste tests showed consumers preferred the sweeter recipe over both original Coke and Pepsi. The company launched New Coke on April 23, 1985, only for the change to fail within weeks despite the extensive research behind it.
A commentary piece traces corporate identity design back a century, noting that early visual identities were built by craftspeople with deep expertise in applied arts. It argues that today, having a polished visual identity is no longer enough to set a brand apart from competitors.
A leadership commentary piece describes the author's personal experience of feeling defensive ego when an AI system's recommendation contradicted their own judgment. The author uses this anecdote to argue that traditional leadership habits are becoming obsolete as AI systems increasingly generate ideas that rival or surpass those of human leaders.
Driscoll's has filed more than 20 lawsuits against Chinese companies it accuses of illegally propagating its proprietary blueberry varieties and copying its greenhouse designs. The theft reportedly involves simply taking plant cuttings and replanting them, a method also caught by rival Spanish grower Planasa using private investigators. Analysts estimate thousands of hectares of illegally grown blueberries now exist across China.
New reporting highlights that corporate AI adoption is stalling not just because of technical hurdles but due to workers' skepticism toward leadership's AI decisions. Separately, Google's Gemini model was reportedly used in the first known AI-driven breach affecting three companies, and Donald Trump said he plans to launch an 'AI Force' initiative.
Speaking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York, Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden explained that removing executives and managers who habitually blocked new ideas was central to reviving the company after a difficult stretch. He framed this cultural shift in leadership as the main driver behind Adidas's recent recovery.
An Entrepreneur contributor argues that most small businesses like restaurants and bars overprice branded merchandise, charging $25 to $80 for items that often cost only $5 to $15 to produce. The writer says this pricing discourages purchases and wastes an opportunity, since customers who love a product or experience are often willing but reluctant to pay high markups for logo gear.
Fast Company convened Alex Amouyel of Newman's Own Foundation, Sharon Prince of Grace Farms Foundation, and Les Szabo of Purpose Pledge for a discussion on modernizing corporate giving. Moderated by Morgan Brady, the panel examined how companies can move past conventional charity models to tackle systemic problems more directly. The conversation centered on the idea that effective philanthropy often requires risk-taking and challenging existing institutional structures.
In a Fast Company discussion featuring Chief CEO Alison Moore, Moms First's Reshma Saujani, and Mama Glow's Latham Thomas, panelists described how leadership roles and parenting demands have both intensified, pushing accomplished working mothers toward burnout. The conversation, moderated by Shalene Gupta, questioned whether corporate structures were ever built to let women hold both senior positions and caregiving responsibilities without sacrifice.
A nine-year-old running the Mighty Mike Plays YouTube channel used his father's saved corporate credit card details to fund a series of self-directed ad campaigns promoting his Roblox and Minecraft content, ultimately charging $118,000 without his father's knowledge. His father, Dave, only discovered the spending after being summoned to a meeting with his company's finance team to explain the missing funds.
A former corporate communications executive recounts the chaos of 2017, when the Charlottesville violence and CEOs' ties to a presidential business council forced companies into snap decisions about public statements. The account describes how internal drafts kept shifting because leadership hadn't already agreed on core values, making crisis response slower and less confident.