🌀 Stay Agile in Uncertainty

👋 Welcome! This Friday we dive into lessons from innovation programs to help you adapt, test smarter, and grow stronger in uncertain times. Get ready for practical tips you can act on now!

Kids Hacking Schools for Dares – UK regulators revealed over half of school data breaches came from students themselves—many guessing weak passwords or finding logins written down. Some even used password-breaking tools and bragged in forums. Motives included dares, revenge, and notoriety, raising alarms that mischief could escalate into serious cybercrime. The ICO urged schools to strengthen security, tighten access, and refresh GDPR training.

Perseverance Uncovers Hints of Martian LifeNASA’s Perseverance rover collected rock samples showing minerals linked to microbial activity, sparking new excitement about Mars’ ancient past. While not definitive proof, the biomarkers suggest the Red Planet may once have supported life, possibly in a river valley over 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists stress more testing is needed, but it’s among the strongest signs yet.

Yext Scout Guides Brands Through AI Search – Yext has launched Scout, an AI-powered agent built to guide brands through the rapid transition from traditional search engines to AI platforms. The tool provides real-time competitive benchmarks, actionable recommendations, and deeper insights across both AI-driven and conventional search, positioning itself as a key ally for companies navigating the new discovery landscape.

AI Chatbots Face California Crackdown – California lawmakers advanced a bill regulating AI companion chatbots to protect minors and vulnerable users. It bans harmful conversations, requires recurring alerts, and enforces annual reporting for platforms like OpenAI and Character.AI. If signed, it takes effect Jan 1, 2026—making California the first state to impose binding safety rules on AI companions.

Gen Z Risks Future Retirement Security – A new survey finds 46% of Gen Z workers have already dipped into retirement savings, often to cover debt or emergencies. While solving short-term challenges, early withdrawals can derail long-term career and retirement goals by shrinking investment growth and delaying financial independence. Experts stress building resilience—budgeting, side hustles, and savings habits—over sacrificing future stability.

Younger Workers Push Visual, AI-First Tools – Canva research shows employees in their late teens through late twenties are reshaping workplace expectations. Most say they perform best using visual, digital-first, and AI-powered platforms, while text-heavy systems leave them disengaged. Many turn to unapproved apps to fill gaps. Leaders are urged to align with this rising generation by adopting visual-first, collaborative AI tools.

Claude Expands Into Office Productivity – Anthropic has upgraded Claude with the ability to generate Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files directly from prompts. The AI can now analyze data, build reports, and produce fully formatted documents within minutes. By bundling file creation and analysis, Claude positions itself as a serious productivity competitor to ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot.

My name is Brett Fulesday, and I’d like to share an opportunity.

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Breakthrough Energy Shifts Strategy – Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Fellows program is leaning global as economic volatility and trade tensions reshape investment priorities. The 45-fellow cohort spans 22 startups, half outside the U.S., focusing on hydrogen, critical minerals, and grid tech. With techno-economic analysis baked in, the program aims to derisk ventures and boost capital readiness.

Inflation Rises, Fed Faces Dilemma – U.S. inflation climbed to 2.9% in August, the highest since January, driven by gas, groceries, and airfare. Core prices rose 3.1%, while jobless claims hit a four-year high, signaling slowing labor momentum. With markets expecting a rate cut next week, the Fed faces mounting pressure balancing persistent inflation and weakening employment.

Evergrande Liquidators Receive Offers – China Evergrande’s liquidators have received non-binding bids for their 51% stake in Evergrande Property Services, valued around $1.3 billion. Multiple parties signed confidentiality agreements, with final offers expected in November. Trading in the unit, suspended under Hong Kong’s takeover rules, is set to resume Friday.

Perplexity Raises $200M at $20B Valuation – AI search startup Perplexity has secured $200 million in fresh funding at a $20 billion valuation, The Information reports. The deal, following July’s $100 million raise at $18 billion, brings total funding to $1.5 billion. Perplexity’s ARR is nearing $200 million, underscoring its rapid growth.

Nitricity Lands $50M Series B – Nitricity, a climate tech startup electrifying nitrogen fertilizer production, has raised $50 million in a Series B round. The financing was co-led by World Fund and Khosla Ventures, with Chipotle’s Cultivate Next and other investors participating. The raise comes ahead of Nitricity’s groundbreaking organic fertilizer plant in California.

In an era of global uncertainty—shifting markets, trade tensions, economic turbulence—how you build matters as much as what you build. Stories like how Breakthrough Energy’s fellowship is adapting (rethinking its long bets, emphasizing economics early, going global, and allowing pivots) serve as useful examples—not because the specifics translate one-to-one to your life, but because they reveal practices that help innovators succeed in volatile times. Every generation gets tested, but for Millennials and Gen Z the exam is ongoing. These are the lessons—and moves—you can make today.

The first lesson is adaptability & resilience. With change accelerating—from consumer tastes to regulatory policies—projects that are rigid tend to get left behind. Adaptability isn’t optional anymore; entrepreneurs who embed flexibility into strategy and mindset are likelier to thrive. Also, the World Economic Forum has pointed out that entrepreneurship education helps young people develop traits like creativity, risk-taking, collaboration and resilience, which are increasingly essential. For Gen Z/Millennials, this means being ready to pivot, to test ideas fast, and to treat failures as feedback rather than catastrophe.

Another lesson is economic realism & early feedback. It’s not enough to have a big vision or a noble mission—you also need to test whether the idea works in practice: Is there a willing customer? Can you cover costs? Will it scale? The fellowship’s adoption of techno-economic analysis mirrors broader advice: test product-market fit early, use small models/pilots, validate before scaling. These practices reduce wasted effort and improve chances for sustainability.

A third key lesson is the power of mentorship, networks & global perspective. Many young innovators assume they can figure everything on their own—but those who engage with mentors, peer networks, and diverse geographies tend to grow faster. Recent data show startups with mentorship programs scale significantly faster, raise more funds, and navigate uncertainty better. Also, being aware of global challenges and local needs (e.g. recycling, hydrogen economy, grid issues) helps you spot opportunity, rather than stick to what’s “comfortable.”

The takeaway is that success in uncertain times is less about having perfect plans, and more about having the right processes. Adapt, test, connect. For many from younger generations, these methods may feel uncomfortable (e.g., pivoting, asking for help, exposing early imperfect work), but they are what separates ideas that languish in silence from those that gain traction.

Actionable Insights

This week we’re diving into Flowith 2.0, a tool that’s rethinking how we interact with AI. Instead of a single back-and-forth chat, it gives you a more open, visual way to branch ideas, compare results, and work with multiple models in one place.

The upgrade focuses on making creative work and complex tasks easier to manage. Think of it as a space where your notes, research, and AI prompts connect more naturally, while an upgraded assistant can help you plan and carry out projects with less friction.

Our Take: Flowith 2.0 is a powerful tool for people who deal with complexity—creators, researchers, strategists. Because it doesn’t force you into a single thread of conversation, but lets you branch, compare, pull in external knowledge, and let an intelligent agent handle orchestration, it should save a lot of friction. It’s still early days (especially around workflows and discovering which tool to invoke when), but for those who experiment, the upside is big.

✨ Ready to see what Flowith 2.0 can do for you?

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miles is the closest Earth and Mars ever align. Still enough space to squeeze in over a thousand Earths.