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👋 Good morning. If you think you’ve perfected your morning coffee, think again. An international team of mathematicians and scientists just published a study claiming to have cracked the code for the perfect espresso. Using physics and 3D imaging, the researchers found that factors like grind size, packing, and surface area all shape how water flows through a coffee puck — ultimately dictating the flavor. Personally, we think the perfect espresso is whichever one is already in your mouth.

🚨 This September, HubSpot’s iconic marketing conference is back, with a twist – INBOUND is evolving into UNBOUND. You’ll think bigger, move faster, and operate without limits, but if you need yet another nudge: Hustle readers can use code “GEM-HUSTLE” for 10% off. Hope to see y’all in Boston.

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NEWS FLASH

An outline of the state of Maine with several lights blinking off.

⛔ All eyes on Maine: Maine could become the first state to ban new data centers of 20 megawatts or more — that’s enough to power 15k homes — until November 2027, per The Wall Street Journal, giving the state time to examine how such construction would impact the environment and its power grid. It’s a hot topic across the US as AI use fuels the need for more data centers, which use a lot of energy and water while potentially inflating energy costs for consumers.

✈️ It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… an unmanned hypersonic aircraft. It’s a mouthful, but if startup Hermeus has its way, it will be the future of defense. The Los Angeles-based startup — which raised $350m and hit a $1B valuation — claims it’s building the “fastest unmanned aircraft” and has already had two successful test flights. The startup is well-positioned to take off: VC investments in the defense tech industry surpassed $9B last year, per PitchBook data.

💸 Crypt-oh no: Americans lost $7.2B to crypto investment scams in 2025 — now the most costly form of fraud — according to the FBI’s 2025 IC3 report. The agency received 1,008,597 total complaints in 2025, up from 859,532 complaints in 2024, and the total amount stolen by scammers surpassed $20B.

MORE NEWS TO KNOW

Child’s play: Netflix released Playground, a gaming app for young kids that’s free with any tier subscription. It has no ads or in-app purchases and works without Wi-Fi.
Cutie alert: The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago’s new pea-sized resident, Domino, is believed to be the first warty frogfish born and raised in captivity. Senior aquarist Jenny Richards told NPR his birth could help raise other species, crucial amid climate change.
That’s innovation: The Texas Rangers debuted new concession items for Globe Life Field, including the 9th Inning Rally Sombrero, or “nachos you can wear on your head.” That’s it. That’s the pitch.
You’re in the game now: PlayStation fans can apply to be featured in games, starting with “Gran Turismo 7.” One winner will be scanned in an LA studio, then appear as an in-game character.

PROMPTS FOR PITCHING

Be honest: is your elevator pitch weak?

Do you even have an elevator pitch? Oh, Lord.

You never think you need a tight script detailing your business idea and value props until it’s too late, and the big fish is shining in front of you.

You’ve gotta be ready. Here are 25 quick-hitting samples for pitching like you’ve been there.

Inside are prompts for fundraising, networking, and more. Use them as fill-in-the-blank, or to kickstart inspiration.

Pitch-perfect templates

THE BIG IDEA

A bed sits at the foot of an escalator in a shopping mall.

Not-so-secret mall apartments

Food courts and multiplexes. Your friends and favorite stores. Minimal adult supervision. As a teenager, the mall had it all. So much so, that living at the mall sounded pretty rad.

Well, now you can live that mall rat dream.

The Arcade in Providence, Rhode Island — considered America's oldest shopping mall — has been reimagined with affordable micro-apartments, per GoodGoodGood.

The Arcade's adaptive reuse is part of a growing trend of repurposing malls, offices, and factories to address the country's housing crisis and breathe new life into sprawling, underutilized real estate.

The mall is dead. Long live the mall.

We've heard plenty about the demise of malls, including one report suggesting that 87% of large malls could shutter over the next decade.

Rather than face extinction, some malls are fighting their way up the down escalator.

The Arcade saw the writing on the mall wall and converted the upper levels of an 1828 Greek revival building into 48 tiny apartments starting at $550/month. Perched above shops, the development has a charming city-within-a-city vibe.

Converting zombie malls into housing isn't new, but the pandemic accelerated the trend. At least 33 malls added housing, and roughly 192 have similar plans.

A historic Milwaukee mall converted into apartments with pickleball courts and a doggy wellness center because, of course.
Malls in New Jersey are adding hundreds of apartments, spurred by the state's affordable housing mandate.
A Colorado shopping mall is adding 347 units including luxury and affordable options.

Skyscrapers and everything

Beyond the valley of the malls, developers are transforming office buildings, factories, and other vacant buildings into housing.

A new city-wide ordinance in LA streamlines converting underutilized offices, industrial buildings, and even parking garages.
A former Japanese cracker factory recently transformed into a 175-unit affordable and supportive housing complex.
From Massachusetts' mills to Illinois' schools, adaptive reuse projects are converting factories into affordable housing.
Cities across the country are fast-tracking office-to-residential conversions with New York and D.C. leading the pack.

Here's hoping some of those mall conversions also revive Orange Julius and The Magic Pan.

🔗

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

It’s a gamble: Prediction markets like Kalshi are booming — but loose regulations are making analysts nervous. Here’s the whole story.

NEWSWORTHY NUMBER

How many lost dogs have been reunited with their owners since 2021 thanks to Petco Love, a nonprofit associated with the pet store giant, per The Washington Post. Its AI-powered Lost tool scans photos of missing pets from social media and 3k+ animal shelters and rescues, and compares them against photos uploaded by owners, who are notified if a match is found.

Looks like AI and facial recognition tech can, in fact, be used for good — assuming those dogs wanted to be found, anyway.

HOW YOU HUSTLE

Our readers are always dreaming up cool ideas. Here’s our weekly spotlight on a Hustle reader working on something big.

Who: Fernando Leon

What: Acaso

The elevator pitch: “Acaso is a social app where friends share their closets and try on each other's style using AI. Think of it as the digital version of raiding your roommate's closet before going out.”

One truly innovative thing they’re doing: “We're using AI virtual try-on not as a shopping tool but as a social feature. When you try on something from a friend's closet, you're not browsing a catalog — you're exploring someone's taste. That interaction generates a signal about how style actually spreads between people, which no one else is capturing.”

Biggest win in the last year: “Launching the closet feature and watching engagement depth grow 56x in three weeks — with zero paid acquisition. People started uploading their closets and inviting friends on their own. That organic pull told us we'd found the right behavior to build around.”

What are you working on? Tell us here.

AROUND THE WEB

📅 On this day: in 1993, Ellen Ochoa became the first Hispanic woman in space as an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

🌍 That’s cool: Monitor a bunch of stuff happening around the world all at once.

🍎 Haha: Every apple, ranked.

🐈 Game: Find the cat.

🐹 Aww: Look at this majestic hamster.

SHOWER THOUGHT

People do not get bored anymore, they get interrupted. SOURCE

Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah, Danny Jensen, and Singdhi Sokpo.

Editing by: Sara "Reformed mall rat" Friedman.

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🛍️ Mall rats rejoice