✋ Startups hit a nerve

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👋 Good morning. It’s beginning to look a lot like… July? Dozens of Santas, Mrs. Clauses, and elves gathered in Denmark last week for the annual World Santa Claus Congress, which has been convening since 1957. While the event lets the festive bunch — many of whom are professional Santas — swap stories and celebrate, we’d imagine those velvet suits were a little much during this summer’s heat wave.

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NEWS FLASH

💨 Those sweat stains on your work shirt? Not chic, unfortunately. That’s why New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is piloting a radiant cooling system. The tech, from startup Cascara Energy, installs pipes with refrigerants or cold water in the walls or ceiling that pull heat from the station and pump warmed water away, using 25%-35% less energy than a traditional air conditioner. If the East Broadway station pilot is successful, you’ll have to go elsewhere for sauna access.

📝 For the people most angry about AI comes… a new AI tool! Imagine you’re reading this over thunderous applause from the writers of the world: Marker is newly out of stealth with its “reimagined word processor” that it says exists to support writers — doing the work with them, not for them, per Marker. It boasts ideation, drafting, revision, and collaboration tools and a steep uphill climb to prove it won’t exacerbate any sloppification problems.

📈 If it feels like IPOs have gone bananas this year… oh, they have. In the US, at least. The American market is expected to break its record for annual proceeds this week (the haul has now topped $140B for the year, versus 2021's record $142.4B) — and all of that’s happened with nearly half a year remaining, plus titans of industry like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Jersey Mike’s (well, it’s a titan to us) likely to go public later this year.

MORE NEWS TO KNOW

Happy retirement, Internet Dad: Google’s chief internet evangelist Vinton Cerf has stepped down. Cerf is known as one of the “fathers of the Internet” for his work on the web’s architecture, and also for rocking three-piece suits.
Yup, we’re in: Reese’s Pieces will launch its first new flavor in 10 years — the Hershey brand’s latest, coming later this week, will have a crispy chocolate cookie center. Sharing because it’s business news, but also as a public service.
Go incognito: German startup Urban Privacy designed anti-surveillance clothing — AI-confusing jackets, QR code scarves, signal-blocking phone pouches — to make people harder to track as facial recognition gets smarter.
Mirror, mirror: The FCC approved a test of Reflect Orbital’s satellite-mounted mirror, which would beam sunlight onto a three-mile-wide patch of Earth after dark, turning night to day with a goal of 50k space mirrors.

YOUR CASH COW

Why pick an infrastructure business?

Because they’re hard to copy, kill, and quit. Which can lead to value surging over time.

Selling the pipes instead of the water is easier said than done. But our Infrastructure Business Field Guide highlights seven profit archetypes that have real staying power:

Last-mile networks
Alternative supply chains
Stranded, idle assets
Energy infrastructure
B2B infrastructure
Hyperlocal platforms
Regulatory arbitrage

Find your quiet cash cow.

Read on for free

THE BIG IDEA

The World Cup isn’t over but ranch has already won

“The American people are hiding something from the world,” said a pair of applicants for Hidden Valley’s “ranchbassador” role, a summer position posted back in March with the goal of spreading “The Flavor of America” abroad.

Now, whether they succeeded or the leagues of international tourists visiting the US this summer discovered the dressing organically, the secret’s out — ranch has taken over the internet and become the unlikely breakout star of the World Cup.

Ranch’s new fan club

Ranch — made from buttermilk, vegetable oil, and spices — was invented by Alaskan plumber Steve Henson in the 1950s amid a boom in preserved and packaged foods. In 1972, he sold his brand, Hidden Valley, to The Clorox Co., which turned it into the shelf-stable product we know and love today.

Decades later, the rest of the world is now catching on to its creamy perfection.

Tourists are so obsessed with the condiment that the TSA issued this statement last month: “If you’re visiting for a very large sporting event & you happen to discover RANCH while you’re here… pls pack it in your CHECKED BAG on the way home.”

And brands have been working overtime to capitalize on the hype.

Hidden Valley has been handing out “tens of thousands” of ranch seasoning packets at World Cup games, per Business Insider.
Kraft-Heinz Co. announced it would release travel-friendly packs of “TSA Compliant Ranch” in an Instagram post featuring an AI-generated image of the product concept.
UPS is offering 20% off international shipping through its limited-time “Ship and Dip” promotion.
Airport stores located past security checkpoints are stocking up on bottles of the white sauce to meet demand.
Online, brands from the Cheesecake Factory to Jack in the Box are also getting in on the fun.

Ranch mania forever

Ranch is America’s favorite condiment, beloved by 75% of the population, according to a 2025 Datassential survey. But beyond specialty stores, The Atlantic writes, it hasn’t been “popular enough outside the US to justify shipping and stocking it elsewhere.”

After this summer, that may no longer be the case — if the hype lasts, the dressing could become America’s next big export.

While the World Cup finals are still underway, the biggest winners are already clear: ranch brands like Hidden Valley, and ranch-pilled fans, who will be going home with a prize even if their teams don’t.

“Who cares if we lose?” a German tourist told The Washington Post. “I’ve found ranch dressing.”

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

How does The Hustle's founder get so much done? Follow him around for a day to see how he balances his businesses making $10m+ a year.

NEWSWORTHY NUMBER

Age, in years, of the soup at Wattana Panich, a family-run restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. The beef broth, which has simmered in a 5-foot-wide pot since 1974 and is perhaps the world’s oldest perpetual stew, has become a sort of cross between an heirloom and a giant, unmovable baby, tended by three generations who “almost never take vacations” because of it, per The Wall Street Journal.

The old soup has, however, become a focal point of others’ holiday itineraries — thanks to tourists, many of whom have discovered the restaurant’s history on social media, sales are up 30% over the last five years.

AROUND THE WEB

📅 On this day: In 1968, Atlanta Braves slugger Henry “Hank” Aaron hit his 500th home run.

🎵 That’s cool: A vinyl mockup generator.

🌋 Game: Wordle, but for surviving catastrophic situations.

♣️ Woah: No one can replicate your shuffled card deck.

🦌 Aww: A rescued baby deer.

SHOWER THOUGHT

Has screaming for ice cream ever worked? SOURCE

Today's email was brought to you by Singdhi Sokpo.

Editing by: Sara "Extra ranch, please" Friedman.

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🏆 Ranch wins