Boston's startup scene, Pinterest's acquisition, and expired marketing playbooks

Occasionally, I’ll scroll on X and one post that caught my eye from Brian Halligan, the co-founder of HubSpot. He (along with others like Jason Kelly and Drew Volpe) has written and talked extensively about Boston and how much potential it has to be a destination for AI startups and development, but just isn’t due to its perception from emerging talent, housing costs, and being a desirable destination to live to build a company. I’m personally curious to see if there could be another emerging place for AI and the startup scene that’s not NYC or San Francisco. Boston could be poised to be that place, but only after its macro issues are fixed to make it a desirable place for graduates and founders.

There’s been a lot of rumors (and subsequent outrage) that OpenAI is looking to acquire Pinterest. Additionally, Pinterest’s CMO, Andréa Mallard, announced she is leaving the company after seven years. Between this and their licensing agreement with Disney announced last month, OpenAI looks to be positioning itself as less of a chatbot and more of an entire ecosystem, not just to answer but to sell, owning the full loop from discovery to purchase. Pinterest gives OpenAI access to its massive visual dataset, which is enough for it to compete with the likes of Google and Meta. 

In light of the release of the People We Meet on Vacation movie adaptation, it was announced that Netflix will produce two more of author Emily Henry’s books, Funny Story and Happy Place. I could see a lot more authors brokering streaming rights deals with a single streaming platform rather than with several services (much like how various actors were under contract with specific studios in the golden age of Hollywood). It can provide these movie adaptations with brand continuity and be mutually beneficial for the author and the streamer.  

With the rise of GLP-1s and “skinnytok,” it’s no surprise that gym brands are noticing an uptick in customers, especially younger ones—members now visit an average of 6.7 times per month. Young people (particularly Gen Z) are turning more to fitness compared to their generational predecessors. Additionally, a semaglutide approach for weight loss requires users to consume more protein and strength train, and gym brands like Planet Fitness are taking note, prioritizing strength training and lifting over cardio. Even here in Seattle, they are opening a new club in the city’s U-District neighborhood to appeal to the Gen Zs who live in the area and attend the University of Washington.

I watched this great video analysis from Jessica Stansberry on digital course and product grifters in the online marketing space (like Amy Porterfield, Jenna Kutcher, Alex Hormozi, among others) and how they are starting to discreetly close down courses and services rather than admit their methods no longer work in today’s online business world. The video brings up two incredible points: 1) Authenticity sells, and that we are starting to see right through the people who are selling fake results that even they know no longer work. And 2) it creates a “standard” and a “playbook” that operates the entire industry…that never gets revised. I think about this same concept in the B2B space—how much of what we do is tied to this playbook that once worked, but no one is taking the time to question whether it still does?

What’s caught your attention online this week? Reply to this email and let me know!