This week’s highlights: Sorority Rush Consultants, Hot Chicken and the Secret of Online Ad Spending

Fifteen on Friday – 09/29/17 – Issue 255

Food for Thought:

1. Eater – Burned Out – Credit SF – Hot chicken was the Prince family legacy — then Nashville transformed it into an icon, and now everybody wants a piece.
2. NewYorker – How Everlane Hacked Your Wardrobe.  Amidst the retail carnage, startup brand Everlane has slowly taken over the basics.
3. MD – Fragile friendships for boys and why they matter so much
4. MM – Our Last Season – Credit MW – Chip and Jo seem to time the hype cycle to perfection, announcing the final season of Fixer Upper…either that or they ran out of $75,000 4 bed, 3 bath houses in Waco that they could renovate?
5. T&C – The Strange World of Sorority Rush Consultants  Would you pay an expert to get your daughter into the sorority of her dreams?

Business/Economics:

1. BI – Restoration Hardware CEO reveals a startling reality about online ad spending  “[W]e’ve found out that 98% of our online business was coming from 22 words. So, wait, we’re buying 3,200 words and 98% of the business is coming from 22 words. What are the 22 words? And they said, well, it’s the word Restoration Hardware and the 21 ways to spell it wrong”
2. Bloomberg – The Massive Hedge Fund Betting on AI.  Initially wary of the technology, Man Group was soon persuaded by the returns from algorithm-centric funds.
3. Bloomberg – Wall Street’s Best-Kept Secret Is a 72-Year-Old Russian Chess Expert.  For over two decades, Lev Alburt has been teaching strategy, patience, and prognostication to the finest in finance.
4. TC – Why Restaurants Hate GrubHub Seamless
5. FastCo – This 10-Year-Old’s $2 Million Amazon Business Is Leaving Competitors In The Dust.  His small family business leverages software, hardware, and geography to stay ahead of Chinese competitors.

Culture/Tech/Science:

1. FS – Why You Shouldn’t Slog Through Books
2. NYP – Archaeologists solve the mystery of the Great Pyramid
3. BBC – New antibody attacks 99% of HIV strains
4. AdWeek – These Activists Are Trying to Get a Giant Trash Patch in the Pacific Recognized as a Country.  The Trash Isles have their own currency and passport.
5. Entrepreneur – The Luxuries People Can’t Live Without (Infographic).  A recent study finds that more people would give up Spotify for Netflix.