🟦 Facebook = Meta

PLUS: How Foxtrot’s reinventing convenience stores. October 29, 2021 [The Hustle]( Need a scary movie for Halloween? Juliet, our in-house expert on all things spooky, recommends Malignant (campy fun), The Night House (poignant and atmospheric), and Werewolves Within (if you do your horror with a side of comedy). Also, keep an eye out for her Sunday story on the economics of pumpkin patches. Today’s rundown: - That’s so Meta: Facebook’s rebrand, explained. - Fantastic beasts: Which mythological creatures win the internet? - Foxtrot Q&A: Meet the CEO of a convenience store that’s a coffee shop in the morning and a date spot at night. - Around the web: Millennials running gravestone businesses, a pumpkin-carving game, and more internet… things. Let’s do it. The Big Idea [Meta & Facebook logos]( Facebook is now Meta The last time Mark Zuckerberg renamed his social network, it was very cosmetic: dropping “The” from “The Facebook” (thank you, [Justin Timberlake](). Yesterday, Facebook received a full makeover and will now be known as Meta. Why the change? The official reason is that Facebook wants a name to reflect its ambitions in the metaverse, which is a future vision of the internet that is a persistent shared digital space (and probably includes AR or VR tools). Earlier in the week, Zuckerberg announced at Facebook’s earnings call that 2021 operating profits would fall by [~$10B]( because of the company’s huge investments in VR and metaverse-related hardware. On Thursday, Zuckerberge laid out… … the full metaverse road map It took place during the Facebook Connect event. Here are [highlights]( per The Verge: - “Meta” name: While obviously a nod to the “metaverse,” Zuckerberg already owned the URL meta.org for his medical philanthropic arm - Facebook Reality Labs: Zuckerberg said Meta’s corporate structure will stay the same but that the company will now report 2 operating segments: Family of Apps (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc.) and Facebook Reality Labs (VR/AR/Metaverse operations) - Examples of the Metaverse: In a 1hr+ [video](, Zuckerberg demo’d what metaverse life may look like including virtual fitness, exploration, and workplace activities - Ticker change: Facebook will start trading as $MVRS on December 1 (replacing $FB) The changes come with Facebook under fire Over the past few weeks, leaked internal documents -- provided by former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen -- showed how the platform was failing to police [hate speech]( and potentially creating a toxic environment for teenage well-being. Two popular comparisons for Facebook’s name change: - when cigarette giant Phillip Morris rebranded as [Altria]( - when Google rebranded as [Alphabet]( The former was done as a way to ditch a toxic brand. The latter was done to create a tech holding business. How will history remember Facebook’s rebrand? [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=Facebook+is+now+Meta%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F10292021-Facebook-Meta%3Futm_campaign%3DFacebook%2Bgoes%2BMeta%26utm_content%3D10292021-Facebook-Meta%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!) LinkedIn’s new gig: LinkedIn [launched]( a marketplace for freelancers after getting 2m users in its US beta. New podfather: Spotify [reported]( it’s now the No. 1 podcast platform in the US, reaching 28.2m podcast listeners per month, surpassing Apple’s Podcasts app, which reached 28m. NFTweets: Twitter is reportedly [working]( on a tab for blockchain collectibles. Foundries, so hot right now: GlobalFoundries, a global chipmaker, went public with a ~[$26B]( valuation (we previously wrote on the state of the chip industry [here](). Tech earnings: [Apple]( missed revenue estimates and said supply chain issues cost it $6B in the most recent quarter. [Amazon]( also missed sales estimates and provided weak guidance for Q4 (projecting billions of dollars of extra expenses in labor, shipping, and logistics costs). Join the 117,935 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]( Creature Feature [mythical creature search stats]( Viz: Singdhi Sokpo The most popular mythical creatures for Halloween 2021 In a previous newsletter, we asked about your Halloween costumes. Here are some of our favorite responses: - Mrs. Frizzle, “space dress, red hair, lizard, and all” (Lindsey from Ann Arbor, MI) - The [Little Lad]( Who Loves Berries and Cream (Jillian from Worcester, MA) - A lobster in a 1970s Elvis costume -- a shellfish impersonator (Martin from Surrey, BC, Canada) What else is popular in 2021? Other than Squid Game costumes? Well, price comparison website Money.co.uk scoured Reddit, Google, TikTok, and Instagram for mentions and searches of mythological creatures, assigning each a popularity score of 0-25 per platform. Here are the top 5: 1. Dragon (92) 2. Zombie (91) 3. Unicorn (90) 4. Vampire (83) 5. Elf (81) Given our pop culture landscape, these results aren’t so surprising - “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” came in hot with [new teasers]( -- and costume ideas -- this month. - Zombies are always in, but stuff like the final season of “The Walking Dead” and Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead have kept them top of braaaain. - We got plenty of new vamps this year from “American Horror Story: Red Tide” and a new season of “What We Do in the Shadows” to Netflix’s new horror flick, Night Teeth. And while fantasy horses are cool, what about dressing like your favorite tech [unicorn](? [This guy]( did it with SpaceX’s [Starman](. [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=The+most+popular+mythical+creatures+for+Halloween+2021%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F10292021-Halloween-mythical-creatures%3Futm_campaign%3DFacebook%2Bgoes%2BMeta%26utm_content%3D10292021-Halloween-mythical-creatures%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]( Modern Convenience [Foxtrot]( Q&A: Foxtrot CEO Mike LaVitola on reinventing the convenience store If you’ve been to Chicago in the last 5 years, you might have come across Foxtrot, a modern convenience store that seems to have everything you ever wanted. We spoke with CEO Mike LaVitola about how Foxtrot got started, and how he’s redefined what a convenience store can be. How did Foxtrot get started? About 7 years ago, my co-founder, Taylor, and I were living in Chicago, and realized all of our favorite neighborhoods had cool bars, restaurants, and shops, but at the corner of every block was a big, multinational convenience store. What is the biggest difference between Foxtrot and 7-Eleven? We realized that chains like 7-Eleven know which categories drive frequency, so we followed their lead with the categories, but merchandised them with products we love. Beyond that, it’s the retail experience. Each store functions as a coffee shop in the morning, a cafe in the afternoon, and a market at night. I was at one of our stores last night, and there were 3 Bumble dates going on. I’m guessing that’s not happening at 7-Eleven. What are 3 of your favorite brands that you sell at Foxtrot? - Carol’s Cookies, which we’ve carried since day one - Momoshack, which makes amazing dumplings -- we discovered them through our [Up & Comers]( program - Athletic Brewing, which serves a great use case and really transformed a category Do you have a request for a startup? If someone could make a nonalcoholic wine that tastes good, I’d be all ears. Read the full Q&A [here](. [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=Q%26A%3A+Foxtrot+CEO+Mike+LaVitola+on+reinventing+the+convenience+store%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2Finterview-foxtrot-ceo-mike-lavitola-on-reinventing-the-convenience-store%2F%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 📚 On this day: In 1965, The Autobiography of Malcolm X was [published](, 9 months after he was murdered in New York. The book is a collaboration between Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley, author of the 1976 miniseries “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.” 💻 How to: If you find yourself using Microsoft Teams a lot, here are [7 tips]( to help you use it like a pro. ⚰️ That’s interesting: Headstone carving may seem like a lost art, but there are [~20 businesses]( in the US keeping the tradition alive, many owned by millennial and Gen Z artists. 😮 Art: “Forever is Now” is the 1st art show to use Egypt’s famous pyramids of Giza as its backdrop, [resulting]( in some jaw-dropping images. 🥨 Haha: Comedian Alonzo Lerone [tries]( pumpkin-spice everything. It does not go well. 🎃 Cure boredom: For a little Halloween team building, [check out]( “Mayor Bones Proudly Presents Ghost Town’s 1000th Annual Pumpkin Festival.” Tweet of the day [Zuck with bbq sauce in background] During the Facebook Connect event, a peculiar object appeared on Mark Zuckerberg’s home bookshelf: a bottle of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. Zuck is known as a [BBQ enthusiast]( -- and in the tweet above, Instagram head Adam Mosseri seems to confirm the easter egg. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (A roundup of our best reads from the last couple weeks…) 👩‍💻 [The burgeoning business]( of OnlyFans consulting 🎥 [Redbox is proving]( it’s much more than a DVD kiosk company 📊 [What you can learn]( by analyzing data from ‘The Bachelor’ 🐄 [What the odd economics]( of milk and sawdust teaches us about supply chains. 🍷 [BoyWithNoJob]( just launched Spritz Society, a canned wine cocktail. Shower Thoughts - [“Teachers swear and students swear, but when they're together they both can't swear.”]( - [“QR codes are the opposite of Captchas. Unreadable to humans but easily interpreted by machines.”]( - [“Condom companies exist to eliminate their future customers.”]( - [“If stress ruins meat, then most humans must taste like garbage.”]( - [“Actors start off in commercials playing someone else, but when they've really made it they return to commercials playing themselves.”]( [via Reddit]( How did you like today’s email? Today's email was brought to you by [Trung Phan](, [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, [Rob Litterst](, [Sara Cravatts](. Editing by: Mark “Rebranding to meta-Mark” Dent. [PODCAST]( [JOBS]( [CONTACT US](mailto:news@thehustle.co) [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Trends]( 25 FIRST ST. 2ND FLOOR, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02141, UNITED STATES  +1 888 482 7768 Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and [unsubscribe](list=thehustle). [The Hustle](