Buy yourself the damn diamonds, unlock the 3rd dimension, engineer custom microbes, and win the podcast market
Hi friends,
We’re back and sending from a new platform! We were won over by their bold choice to let us use one font and one font only. This week: buy yourself the damn diamonds, unlock the 3rd dimension, engineer custom microbes, and win the podcast market.
This jewelry start-up is imploring women everywhere to “buy yourself the damn diamonds.” Their pieces range from the traditional (spices up a power suit) to the teen-femme (give to your niece at her bat mitzvah) to the hipster-interesting (pair with Carhartt beanie). To make it easy for women to buy for themselves, Mejuri substantially lowers prices, and they can afford this by cutting out middlemen and avoiding traditional mark-ups. A whole breed of companies are taking this approach to the retail industry -- think Everlane, Warby Parker, etc. The model works because the internet allows direct-to-consumer sales at scale. These companies are all big on advertising their approach and their transparency, and Mejuri is no exception. They commit to using high-quality, ethically-sourced materials, and instead of big seasonal drops that often lead to excess stock, they launch a new staple piece every week.
They’re hiring product designers, marketers, copywriters, and more. Jobs are based mainly in Toronto.
Some people are trying to tackle the affordable housing crisis via policy; Bumblebee is trying to solve it by “unlocking the 3rd dimension.” Their flagship product is a ceiling-closet that helps homeowners store unused items like umbrellas, wardrobes, or even beds. This is all managed by a “robot butler” AI system that moves the items, remembers their location, and retrieves them for you via voice command. You can tell Bumblebee to descend a pair of yoga pants and pick up the bed when you want a quick work-out; it can drop the TV (gently) when you’re looking to relax. We aren’t even joking one bit! The system retails at around 6k-10k for developers and somehow only takes a half-day to set up.
They don’t have any jobs posted, but they do encourage “unlike minded” folks to reach out.
Ginkgo calls themselves “The Organism Company.” We initially became interested because we misread that assertion. Their fundamental idea is that biology is both the best designer and “the best manufacturing technology on the planet,” so they use natural processes like fermentation to build custom organisms at relatively low cost. Some of their projects include the isolation of compounds in cannabis for health benefits and the pursuit of better perfume through cultures. They’re also working to create agriculture that requires less nitrogen fertilizer. If you like what Ginkgo is doing you should also check out their spin off company, Motif Ingredients, which focuses on sustainable food.
Positions are open across all teams: engineering, business development, operations and HR. Some of their internships look really stellar and are open to both grads and students. Location is Boston.
The podcast wars are coming, and Luminary is competing with media giants like Apple and Spotify for space in a growing market that boasts 51% of American households as its customer. Luminary calls itself the premium podcast app and wants to become “synonymous with podcasting in the same way Netflix has become synonymous with streaming.” While Spotify and Apple offer podcasts as free add-ons, forcing creators into an advertiser-driven business model, Luminary has a different strategy. They rely on paid subscriptions, but hope to win over customers with big-star podcasts. They then source these superior podcasts by offering creators large upfront payment guarantees. This pushes production value up and encourages riskier — and oftentimes more interesting — podcasts.
Luminary is hiring full-time for finance associates and engineers. Locations are Chicago and NYC.
See you next week.
Love,
Your Caring Parents
(Dana & Lea)