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Today's News You Need2Know

• How Taylor Swift built a billion-dollar empire

• Will 23andMe sell your DNA?

• A data-driven look at the labor market

• How Lucyd Eyewear is enhancing eyeglasses

• China seeks economic partners amid trade war

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

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Stocks in today’s newsletter

$SPX ( ▲ 1.81% )  $META ( ▼ 0.5% )  $LNKD ( 0.0% )  

How Taylor Swift built a billion-dollar empire

Kevin Evers, author of “There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift” joined us to talk about how the global pop star is a brilliant businesswoman.

Evers spent two and a half years researching Swift's career, aiming to look beyond "the songs and the sequins." He wanted to explore how Swift built "a $2 billion enterprise" in the notoriously brutal music industry. According to Evers, in 2024 alone, Swift represented "1.7% of the total music market, the recorded music market, with just her streams, just her albums."

One of the most striking revelations from Evers' research is Swift's early vision. "I think the biggest thing is she sees an opportunity that other people were ignoring very early on in her career," Evers explained. "She was 15, 16 years old. She had a very clear vision for what she wanted to do. She wanted to write her own songs. She wanted write those songs for an audience of her peers, teenage girls." He noted that "country music did not think that market existed, but she persisted. And because she persisted, she ended up being a category of one."

Swift's boldness also stands out. Evers pointed out that "she makes bold choices when she doesn't need to make bold choices." He elaborated, "She had cornered the country market and she decided to leave that market completely behind for pop. And if she didn't take that risk, I don't think she would have grown her popularity, and I don't think she wouldn't have grown her global appeal."

Perhaps one of the most "punk rock" moves in music history, according to Evers, was Swift's decision to re-record her old albums. "When she decided to re record her old music because her old recordings were sold to a private investment firm, that was the most punk rock move in music industry history,” Evers said.

I’m going to disagree with Evers there. I think the Sex Pistols ruining a TV interviewer’s career by trading insults with him on a live broadcast might trump it, but sure. Taylor Swift is, er…$2 billion worth of punk rock.

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Will 23andMe sell your DNA?

We spoke with Wall Street Journal reporter Rolfe Winkler about 23andMe's bankruptcy,

"This is a company that's been around for 20 years and had raised 1.4 billion in that time and eventually just spent it all,” Rolfe said. A key problem was the business model. "Their core DNA testing business, it's the kind of thing you only have to do once. So there's no recurring revenue associated with it."

23andMe's attempt to transition into drug development proved costly and time-consuming. "It's incredibly expensive and it takes many years to get drugs to market successfully," Winkler noted, "and that's not something they have a lot of time to do."

One of the biggest concerns is what will happen to the collected DNA data. When asked if the data might be sold or transferred, Winkler admitted, "That is a great question, and you know, I don't have a good answer for you."

Thanks, Rolfe. That makes me feel a lot better.

“What are the risks we're really thinking about here?” he said. “Your hackers want your bank account information. There's not a lot they're gonna do with your DNA."

Winkler highlighted the human element of the story, particularly founder and CEO Ann Wojcicki's vision. "The story of Ann Wojcicki, the founder, is fascinating… she still says in a statement she released that she believes in the mission, she wants to secure the assets and she still thinks she can make this happen. It might be good for the world if she could, right?"

Or would it?

From @cheddar

Post of the day: @MadsPosting

A data-driven look at the labor market

Kory Katenga at LinkedIn $LNKD ( 0.0% ) joined us to talk about the state of the labor market and how it has evolved since the pandemic.

Five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, its shadow continues to loom large over the labor market. "So we saw a huge resurgence from the pandemic. The government poured a lot of money into the economy. Interest rates dropped to zero. That led to a very sharp recovery of historical proportions in the U.S., but also in other countries like Canada,” he said. This "supercharged the labor market," leading to "a lot of competition between employers for workers." However, this shifted around spring 2022 as "interest rates started to rise" to combat inflation, causing "a slowdown in the labor market."

With the Federal Reserve's focus on both price stability and full employment, Kory discussed what signs of labor market weakness to watch for. "Canary in the coal mine in this case, it might be hiring," he said. "Hiring often precipitates a rise in unemployment. It's not usually layoffs. Hire freezes first, then we start to see layoffs."

Kory noted a recent "6% slowing in hiring, which is a bit outside the range of what we would normally see fluctuating month to month." This could signal "things are softening in the labor market."

Another concerning trend Katenga highlighted was the stalled progress for women in leadership. "When labor market conditions are doing better, women increase in representation and leadership," he explained. "We've seen labor market positions going the wrong direction for the last few years, and that has stalled progress."

Are you #OpenToWork or #Hiring? Do you agree with Kory?

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👎🏻

Nope

How Lucyd Eyewear is enhancing eyeglasses

Innovative Eyewear CEO Harrison Gross joined us to talk about how Lucyd Eyewear is different than other smart glasses. When asked how Lucyd glasses differ from the popular Ray-Ban Meta $META ( ▼ 0.5% ) glasses, Gross explained, "Our product aims to be a natural upgrade to the eyeglasses and sunglasses that people wear every day by adding useful technology features but not compromising on style or price."

He emphasized that Lucyd focuses on "useful technology features" rather than just capturing photos and videos for social media. The AI integration is a key feature.

"Six months after ChatGPT came out in October of 2022, we created the world's first voice interface for it. So this allows you to speak to ChatGpT through our eyewear… It's just like having Wikipedia in your glasses. It's extremely powerful," he said. "It's like having a second brain and a research assistant living in your glasses. It really is like a second-brain in your frames."

Lucyd also offers prescription lenses. Gross explained, "We were actually the first company ever to ship prescription-fitted smart glasses in the world.”

Cool!

Quote of the Day:

China seeks economic partners amid trade war

China’s top leaders emerged from a two-day summit this week to say they want more trade and cooperation with Asia. Leader Xi Jinping and Communist Party elites met this week to discuss relations with neighboring countries.

Chinese state media reports didn’t mention the U.S. or President Trump, but analysts say China’s exports to the U.S. are set to collapse. Meanwhile the markets took another dive yesterday in the U.S. due to increased concerns over the intensifying trade war. The S&P 500 declined by 3.5% $SPX ( ▲ 1.81% ) , eroding the previous day's gains. Economists warn that the full impact of these tariffs — alongside prevailing U.S.–China tensions and hesitant global markets — could disrupt economic growth and amplify inflationary pressures. That would risk long-term stability across various sectors, from technology to agriculture, and reverberate through the global economy.

Let’s hope Jinping and Trump get on the phone soon to sort it out, eh?

Poll of the Day:

Results from Thursday’s Poll

We asked: Is America's global trading position stronger today than it was a week ago?

You answered:

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes, and it will only get stronger. 16% (139)

 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 No. 84% (771)

910 Votes — via @beehiiv polls