He was the hero we needed...

Now he’s the one we probably deserve. [The Hustle]( Fri, Aug 4 You either die a hero… or live long enough to become the villain In what we’ll refer to as the “Ken Bone effect,” Marcus Hutchins, the man lauded across the internet for stopping the WannaCry ransomware attack, has been [detained by the FBI]( -- proving once again that even our most highly regarded web heroes are flawed. Hutchins, better known by his online alias, “[MalWareTech]( was arrested in Vegas yesterday for creating a malware program called “Kronos,” which harvested banking and credit card data for fraud. A rising star in cybersecurity Never thought we’d type that sentence… But back in May, the 23-year-old digital security researcher made the “white hat” hacker hall of fame when he found the “kill switch” for WannaCry, stopping it from spreading to other machines. At the time of the arrest, he was still riding high: renting exotic cars and staying at a [$1.9k per night]( Airbnb in Sin City. But it seems he was black hat all along According to federal investigators, back in 2014, Hutchins wrote the Kronos malware, posted it for sale in online hacker forums, and split the profits with an unnamed co-conspirator. It’s speculated that the arrest is related to the takedown of the black market site, AlphaBay, which the [FBI had been surveilling]( for months, unbeknownst to its users. Yet, some of Hutchins’ supporters in the cybersecurity community are skeptical, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (an internet advocacy group) has already expressed their [deep “concern”]( about his arrest. If you play with fire, prepare to get burned Companies are increasingly [employing hackers]( to help them identify weak points in their security systems -- kind of like a corporate version of the Suicide Squad. But, it’s a dangerous game, and when you put power into the hands of a hacker, you better hope they’re one of the good guys. [Revenge of the nerds]( GrubHub gobbles up Eat24 Yesterday, [GrubHub acquired]( Yelp’s food delivery platform Eat24 for $287.5m, in a play to gain as much of a lead on Uber and Amazon as possible. The deal includes a 5-year partnership in which Yelp will integrate GrubHub into its restaurant listings, and GrubHub will pay a fee for every order placed through the site. Following the announcement, Yelp’s stock immediately [jumped 20%]( indicating Wall street executives trust GrubHub more to manage Yelp’s data than Yelp itself. The ‘Hub’s been hungry GrubHub’s been on an acquisition spree, snatching up Groupon’s ordering platform, OrderUp, earlier this week, and Boston-based delivery service, Foodler, back in June. A recent survey showed that [34% of online delivery customers]( use GrubHub even before the deal, and with Eat24 under its umbrella, they will own the majority of the market, with a network of [75k restaurants]( at their disposal. According to the same survey, just 20% of users are UberEats loyalists, and an even smaller 11% use Amazon for food deliveries. That said, having either of those companies sniffing around your space is enough to give any CEO heartburn… [Just a little nervous gas]( Private valuations are a fugazi According to [a study]( by Stanford and the University of British Columbia, about ½ of private “unicorns” (companies valued at over $1B) founded after 1994 got their horns through some questionable practices. If you’ve ever asked yourself how a seemingly unprofitable company can sell for billions or IPO seemingly overnight, the answer might be “complex stock mechanics.” AKA, special provisions for investors We’re talking things like “liquidation preferences,” which guarantee investors a minimum payout in case of a sale or exit and can juice a company’s valuation by up to 94%. In fact, 11% of the 116 unicorns studied -- including HomeAway and SolarCity -- used “preferential stock” to boost their valuations 2x more than what they would be worth using an impartial value estimate. These protections incentivize VCs to be bullish in their valuations But they can end up biting the company in the long run, diluting the actual stock value of early employees and shareholders. For example, 2 years ago Blue Apron [gave preferential stock]( to backers in exchange for their $2B valuation, including a provision for them to receive additional equity if their IPO was set below the target price -- a benefit that investors took full advantage of following BA’s [not so BA public offering](. A notable exception to the hype? Uber: They only have one instance of a liquidation preference, and it turns out their monster $69B valuation is pretty on point. [Don’t believe the hype]( Are we human? Or are we banker? NYU’s Stern School of Business is one of the best in the country, which means admission to their institution requires a myriad of qualifications. Their most recent: [not being a psychopath](. Apparently, the empathy-lacking, Patrick Bateman-esque investment banker stereotype is a real problem. According to [one researcher]( at the Queen Mary University of London, these bankers “literally don’t have a self -- it is bypassed and put to one side.” So they need friends to vouch for their EQ Stern is asking friends and colleagues of applicants to send in 250-word letters attesting to the applicant’s empathy and self-awareness. Friends’ letters are preferred over bosses because they offer more insight into personality -- and because 40% of manager recommendations are actually drafted by the applicants themselves. But there’s only so much one school can do Researchers theorize the prevalence of bland, emotionless, drone-in-suit personalities in banking stems from [the work itself]( which includes “highly specialized expertise and almost no job security.” Meaning, not everyone who goes into banking is a sociopath, but many become one temporarily to deal with the nature of the job. [Literally selling your soul]( friday shower thoughts - A résumé is just a fancy version of a "Will work for food" sign. - All sitcoms are set in bizarro-universes where nobody ever laughs at their friends' jokes. - If you put a "secured by ADT" sign on your lawn, you already have the security of ADT, even if you didn't purchase their systems. - I'll watch 4 hours of a tv show before I'll watch a 2-hour movie because 2 hours seems like too much of a time investment. - The first guy to tell a "knock knock" joke must have had a hard time explaining the procedure. - via [Reddit]( This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by You’re not Justin Bieber And probably don’t want to be. So why are “luxury” brands posting his image on billboards to get you to buy underwear? Come to think of it, why does every underwear packet feature chiseled abs -- does expensive underwear give you a six-pack? Hint: it doesn’t. And you shouldn’t pay extra for marketing gimmicks. Instead, try underwear that’s actually [comfortable]( Unlike other brands that mass produce their fabric on the cheap and charge you for branding, [CDLP]( uses all high-quality fabric from a third generation factory in Portugal. In other words, they’re comfy as fugg. What do we mean by “high quality fabric?” We’re talking about [Lyocell]( -- a textile that’s 3x softer than cotton, repels moisture and bacteria, and is 100% biodegradable. The sad truth is, good underwear won’t make you shredded -- but it can make you feel like you’re being cradled by a soft, stretchy cloud. [Buy CDLP,]( and get 15% off using the code HUSTLE. Go ahead, make yourself comfortable… 0 REFERRALS [ BECOME AN AMBASSADOR WHEN PEOPLE SIGN UP USING YOUR LINK Lindsey Quinn WRITER Kamran Rosen WRITER Zack Crockett WRITER John "T.G.I.F." Havel BACKSEAT EDITOR Tara Neuwon STAFF DISCIPLINARIAN [SUBSCRIBE]( [JOBS]( [ADVERTISE]( [EVENTS]( You opted in by signing up, attending an event, or through divine intervention. 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