Shadow Boards, Hip-Hop Trends and a Peek Inside Facebook’s Little Red Book

Each week, we sift through a ton of content and then debate it ad nauseam at FEVO HQ. And since good content, like the mind, is a terrible thing to waste, we are also sharing it here with you, our fans, in the form of this weekly blog post on e-commerce, media and life on the internet.

Trapital: The Culture Report 2022

In this trend report from media forecaster Trapital, founder Dan Runcie lays out the key drivers that will dictate hip-hop music and culture in the coming year. That includes a breakdown of the financial side of the industry, from top artists and sub-genres to the networks driving growth (spoiler: it’s TikTok). The report is free when you enter your email and well worth the read, as many of the lessons apply far beyond hip-hop. [Read More]

Harvard Business Review: How Shadow Boards Bridge Generational Divides

Though this article is a few months old, we’ve been discussing the phenomenon it covers at FEVO HQ recently. A Shadow Board is “a group of young, nonexecutive employees who work with senior executives on strategic initiatives.” This serves two important functions: 1) ensure that the company and its strategy account for the needs, desires and behaviors of younger generations; and 2) help promising young employees get valuable facetime and learning experience from company stakeholders. This piece outlines the impactful ways in which shadow boards across various industries have driven revenue growth, prevented unnecessary spend and contributed to vital cultural shifts. Next time you’re thinking about a big initiative that has only been run by people 50 and older, give the young guns at your company a shout to see what they think. [Read More]

Amjan Masad: The Facebook red book is the best startup culture book ever written

Earlier this week, Replit CEO Amjan Masad shared the entirety of one of Facebook’s fabled “little red book,” an erstwhile employee handbook that outlined the tech behemoth’s mission, culture and history. It’s an unprecedented look at the inner workings of a company that has had an impact on us all, and also an incredible example of how to create inspiring and impactful content for new hires, complete with  a gritty, DIY zine feel we really love. (Note: Sharing of Facebook content does not imply endorsement!)
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And some assorted other nuggets of internet wisdom ...

How Red Bull reinvented soccer (GQ)

Professional cornhole has a cheating scandal called BagGate (WSJ)

Ralph Lauren launches Fortnite fashion line with redesigned Polo logo (Bloomberg)

Serena, Justin Timberlake among investors in Tiger and Rory's new venture (CNBC)

Evaluating Facebook’s metaverse pivot, one year late (Time)

I'm pretty sure I broke Linkedin (Young Money by Jack Raines)

The top 100 universities, ranked by number of startup founders (PitchBook)

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