Startup Stash - Motor Knees, Job Hate, & Headaches 🦼

Ever felt out of your depth when a casual walk with friends turned into an unexpected mountain climb? If so, relief is on the horizon. Arc’teryx and Skip, a spin-off from Google’s X Labs, have created the MO/GO pants.

Short for “mountain goat,” the pants have a lightweight electric motor at the knee, to boost your legs when you’re tired. The pants not only help you ascend with ease but also cushion your steps on the way down. In fact, Skip claims the MO/GO pants can make you feel up to 30 pounds lighter. 

Some more detes

• The pants feature carbon fiber braces under the fabric that attach the power module to your legs.
• The rechargeable batteries last for about three hours.
• The pants automatically adjust their assistance based on your leg movements. You can even tweak the settings manually if needed.
• According to The Verge, these pants weigh just seven pounds.

However, all this cutting-edge tech comes at a price—around $5,000.

According to a 2024 Stack Overflow Survey, 80% of developers and programmers are unhappy with their jobs. One in three even actively hates their work, while nearly half are just getting by in survival mode. Despite good pay and remote work, only 20% report being somewhat happy.

Reasons? 

Technical debt is the primary source of frustration. Developers usually earn good salaries, but this year’s survey shows a decline. For instance, PHP developers now earn a median salary of $49,000 annually—a drop from previous years. Working with flawed financial and tech systems drains morale, making it hard to produce quality work. 

Then there’s the toxic hustle culture. The IT industry’s intense deadline pressure forces developers to rush tasks, leading to burnout and unrealistic expectations. Bureaucracy, especially in large tech firms, exacerbates the problem with endless meetings and unrealistic managerial demands.

Finally, intermittent layoffs seasons have been brutal for techies. Recent massive layoffs have added uncertainty and fear to career prospects for developers.

Being an entrepreneur is no easy feat. It requires guts, persistence, business acumen, and strategic thinking. Even possessing these qualities isn't always enough to keep a business afloat. Challenges often arise that are beyond an entrepreneur's control. HubSpot conducted research on the biggest pain points for small business owners. Here's a quick graphic to give you an overview of what bothers entrepreneurs the most.

🥜 Finding Allergy Cure - Australia has started the world's first peanut allergy treatment for babies. Here's hope for a solution for our future babies and grand-babies.

🍎 Apple's revenue from services (including the App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud) reached a record $24 billion in Q3 — a 14% YoY increase.

🤽 Throwing Money at AI - TikTok has been spending $20 million a month to purchase OpenAI models through Microsoft. The purchases make up about 25% of Microsoft's AI revenue.

🪵 Potential Anti-Climate Change Trees - Scientists have discovered a new type of wood - called “midwood” - found in tulip and Chinese tulip trees. It grows quickly and stores lots of carbon.

🗨️ The Slang Is Here To Stay - The Cambridge Dictionary added 3.2k+ new entries for 2024, including several youth- and internet-friendly terms, like “chef’s kiss,” “boop,” “IYKYK,” and “the ick”. 

🪙 Costly Grad Schools - Over one million Americans now owe $200k+ in federal student loan debt, up from 600k in 2017. Say thanks to the rising cost of education. 

📿 Friend - It's a $99 bulky AI wearable that listens in on your life and texts you thoughts and comments based on what it hears.

📖 The Trick of The Rich - The 5-hour rule teaches you how to turn a wasted day into a successful one.