​​💀 Deathcare startups are here

PLUS: Should the government use Wikipedia? July 29, 2021 [The Hustle] [The Hustle]( What’s Pac-Man been up to? Well, Nissan just partnered with Bandai Namco -- the company behind Pac-Man -- to create a new set of warning signals. Nice. Today’s rundown: - Creative cremation: Deathcare gets personalized. - Work or play: The future of hybrid work is… a video game? - Infodemic: Could a government crowdsource health data like Wikipedia? Let’s do it. The big idea [grandma on vinyl]( Ashes to… vinyl records? Death startups get creative as cremations rise Where do we go when we die? In some cases, maybe someone’s record collection. An increase in cremations and a desire for more personalized ways to store ashes is opening a path for startups to succeed in the $16B funeral industry, [per]( Bloomberg. Cremations are increasingly popular They are [cheaper]( than burials, and many families have chosen this route as the pandemic postponed original funeral plans. Cremations accounted for 56% of US deaths in 2020, according to the Cremation Association of North America. The number is projected to rise to 73% by 2030. Families looking for ways to store ashes... … that honor their loved ones have found fresh options thanks to startups. - [Parting Stone]( has raised $1.9m to turn ashes into stones. A person yields 40-60 smooth stones that vary in color, shape, and texture. - [Eterneva]( has raised ~$10m to turn ashes into a diamond that you can wear. Prices start at $3k. - British company [Vinyly]( will press ashes into a record, starting at ~$1.4k. - [Recompose]( turns human bodies into soil, a more sustainable and cost-friendly solution than traditional funerals. - LA-based artist C.C. Boyce [makes]( “Planturns” that hold both the ashes of the deceased and a live plant. They retail for $250-$600. But how new is all this? Not at all! “[Mourning jewelry](” was all the rage in the Victorian era, made with ashes, hair, and teeth. Or… a [glass eye](. Related: The Hustle previously [reported]( on the funeral industry monopoly, with 2 companies accounting for 80%+ of casket production. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Ashes+to%E2%80%A6+vinyl+records%3F+Death+startups+get+creative+as+cremations+rise%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F07292021-Deathcare-startups%3Futm_campaign%3DDeathcare%2BStartups%26utm_content%3D07292021-Deathcare-startups%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now get extra snippets on your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. (It takes less than 30 seconds!) Trading app Robinhood will go public [today]( under the ticker $HOOD. It’s reserving 20-35% of its IPO for retail traders and is eyeing up to a $35B valuation (we previously wrote more [here](). Facebook posted strong earnings...but shares [fell]( after Mark Zuckerberg said future growth will slow. Elsewhere, Zucky thinks people will think of FB as a “metaverse company” in a few years (some think this is a [distraction]( from its existing problems). Pinfluencers: Pinterest [added]( support for affiliate links, allowing influencers to make money off promotions. NBA Jams: The NBA [partnered]( with iHeart Media to make weekly podcasts using archived audio clips. Ouch: Uber’s stock is falling because SoftBank -- one of its biggest investors -- will [sell shares]( in the ride hailing firm to cover its losses in… another ride hailing firm (China’s Didi). Join the 84,572 others who are now enjoying extra, personalized snippets. Click the button👇 to choose your favorite topics and see your list grow in tomorrow’s email. [Personalize Your Snippets]( Remote Work [Teamflow graphic]( Teamflow wants to make virtual collaboration feel more like the office As head of product for Uber’s JUMP Starter division, Flo Crivello noticed his team struggling to collaborate when working across multiple locations. His solution became Teamflow -- a customizable virtual office platform that just [raised]( $35m, per Forbes. Teamflow is gamifying virtual collaboration... ...with a 2D office floor plan. Users appear as bubbles and move around like a video game, allowing for spontaneous hallway run-ins and frictionless collaboration. Crivello believes this sense of presence can boost morale and productivity,  citing a research [study]( from MIT that found: - 35% of variation in a team’s performance can be attributed to the number of face-to-face exchanges - Social time is “critical to team performance, often accounting for more than 50% of positive changes in communication patterns” Early customers are loving it, reportedly using the product an average of 5 hours a day, 6 days a week. The virtual HQ space is heating up Startups like Gather, Branch, and Outreach have raised money to build virtual office capabilities, validating the need for better remote work tools. Crivello believes Teamflow’s focus on productivity, with in-app chat and collaborative whiteboards, separate it from the pack. If successful, Crivello and team may end up creating a virtual office that’s harder to leave than “Fortnite.” [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Teamflow+wants+to+make+virtual+collaboration+feel+more+like+the+office%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F07292021-Teamflow%3Futm_campaign%3DDeathcare%2BStartups%26utm_content%3D07292021-Teamflow%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Free Resource The truth about user-generated content Perks of running UGC marketing tactics: - Credibility: 92% of people tend to trust other people over brands. - Cost-effective: contributors craft content that boosts your visibility. - Viral potential: sticky posts can reach the masses on social media. Great content starts great conversations, plain and simple. Watch this [3-minute video]( on the power of UGC This rundown by HubSpot shares examples from Coke and McDonald’s to explain how to approach these digital campaigns. Watch this before you try to leverage the world’s rowdy creative energy (it can backfire big-time). Subscribe to HubSpot’s YouTube for top business tips, tricks, and trends. [Ask the masses →]( Food for thought [Wikipedia]( Could Wikipedia’s crowdsourcing be the solution to pandemic misinformation? Renée DiResta is the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, and she writes on internet misinformation. In a recent piece for The Atlantic, she offered an [interesting way]( to combat public distrust in the CDC’s official COVID-19 press releases. - DiResta’s idea: If the CDC launched a crowdsourced site that thousands of knowledgeable people could update and edit anytime, it might just garner more public trust than the CDC’s press releases. Why would a site like Wikipedia help? First of all, people use Wikipedia -- [a lot](: - It’s the 13th most-visited site in the world. - Its articles [garnered]( 266B page views and 585m edits in the last 12 months. Studies show Wikipedia is highly [reliable](, and nearly every Big Tech company trusts it as a primary source for search results and flagging misinformation at scale. - The COVID-19 Wikipedia page is also [the only]( top-100 Wiki page that did not exist at the beginning of 2020. (Translation: it’s a popular one.) DiResta thinks a Wikipedia model where thousands of reputable contributors and editors (including folks outside government) can transparently relay and edit pandemic-related info could be the way to go. What do you think? [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Could+Wikipedia%E2%80%99s+crowdsourcing+be+the+solution+to+pandemic+misinformation%3F%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F07292021-Wikipedia%3Futm_campaign%3DDeathcare%2BStartups%26utm_content%3D07292021-Wikipedia%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 😮 That’s cool: Ever wonder what the top of an Egyptian pyramid looks like? Then check out [this]( drone footage. 👏 Wholesome: An Oakland mother and her son folded an origami crane for each day of the pandemic. At 400+, [here’s]( what they learned. 💎 Wild story: Workers digging a well in Sri Lanka [found]( a 1,124-pound star sapphire cluster -- the biggest such cluster in the world. 🏡 How to: Are you all about remote work? The Harvard Business Review has some [tips]( for negotiating a work-from-anywhere situation. 🎨 Cure boredom: If beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, you might still find something you like at the [Museum of Bad Art](. 🦕 Hmm: Frozen chicken nugget sales are up ~18% YoY this month (dino-shaped ones are selling better!). Artists have found nugget novelty products to be hot sellers. But making “fun nuggets”? It’s [harder]( than it seems. Meme of the day [Wikipedia meme] Wikipedia, loved by some… hated by others... (Source: [Reddit]() SHARE THE HUSTLE [Hustle Cons Greatest Hits ebook]( Over the years, we’ve learned… secrets. The business secrets, tips, and tricks that have helped founders go from zero to millions -- and even billions -- of dollars. Want to see ‘em? Just refer 3 more friends to The Hustle and we’ll send you our curated set of interviews with founders from brands like Zola, AWAY, Vungle, Bonobos, and more. Here’s a message you can use to share with your friends: Hey! 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