NEW BUSINESS MODEL FOR WOMEN’S SPORTS LEAGUE

Starting with softball, this new pro league aims to revolutionize women's sports in Power Plays by Lindsay Gibbs on Sept 1, 2020.  

This is a fascinating deep dive into a new women’s athletic league, which is blowing up the traditional model of owner, manager, and payment structures. It includes an interview with the CEO/co-founder Jon Patricof and explains how it will work, why specific (often unique-to-this-league) structural decisions were made, their growth strategy, and why they believe it will be successful. It’s always super interesting to learn about a revolutionary business model in a fairly old-school industry-- and this issue won’t disappoint. (3559 words; 13 minutes) Read it...

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCHOOL AND REAL LIFE

Unlearning in Fab Fridays by Ana Lorena Fabrega on Aug 29, 2020

This issue highlights seven behaviors and concepts that adults must unlearn after school in order to be successful in the real world (ex: school asks you to do what you’re told while the real world demands you figure it out).  BUT, what struck me as interesting about this issue is NOT it’s intended “for adults to unlearn” purpose; rather, that you can actually use it as a framework to have a dialog with kids about these differences, and about how they can break some of these habits/norms while they’re IN school as opposed to waiting until they are out. Given the start of school and the importance of these skills in the real world, the issue seems perfectly timed to facilitate discussions with kids and help them to develop these skills NOW so they don’t have to UNLEARN them later. The issue may also leave you questioning the educational system on a whole, and that, friends, may require a stiff drink… (786 words; 3 minutes) Read it... 

WHY FASHION BRANDS MOVE INTO FURNITURE

Why an Area Rug is the new Vans Half Cab in The Sociology of Business on Aug 31, 2020

If you haven’t spent much time pondering how (and why!) fashion and streetwear brands have been moving into the furniture industry, this issue is a great opportunity to do so. In general, Ana writes about how evolving societal and cultural norms affect brand strategy, and in this issue specifically she delves into the “art of living”, “branded lives”, the concept of “taste-first” instead of following trends, etc - all of which have led to massive brand extensions (which she calls Brand Galaxies) for companies like GUCCI and Ralph Lauren. It’s an intriguing read that will make you feel more in the know about why this furniture hype phenomenon has been skyrocketing. (799 words; 3 minutes) Read it...  

I hope you found the issues intriguing…

And if so, you can help other readers to discover these writers by doing a quick review here: Power Plays, Fab Fridays, and The Sociology of Business. The narrowSCALE community really appreciates it!