Startup Stash - Summer, Young Money & Burger Price 🚤

Did you used to scoop ice cream or work at grocery stores for minimum wage during your summers? If so, you may feel old to know that those kind of summer jobs are now passe. Today’s teens are diving into remote work and raking in impressive sums.

Air Mail News recently highlighted a 15-year-old Australian earning over $10,000 a month editing short-form videos and a 14-year-old French personal-brand developer who has already surpassed $100,000. Their drive? Many follow Young Wealth, a teen entrepreneur community founded by Maurits Neo. At 12, Maurits was running a candy empire in South African schools; now, at 18, he trades crypto and shares business advice with his 165,000+ TikTok followers.

These teens aren’t just scrolling aimlessly—they’re embracing disciplined routines like “Monk Mode,” waking up early and practicing habits that resemble those of Silicon Valley CEOs.

Is this unusual? In the grand scheme, it’s likely more productive, albeit hyper-focused on money.

Since 2014, prices at these 10 fast food chains have soared by an average of 63%. McDonald’s tops the list, with some menu items nearly doubling in cost. In response to customer complaints about rising prices, McDonald's plans to introduce a $5 combo meal deal this summer.

Interestingly, Subway and Starbucks are the exceptions, with price hikes of only 39%—below the average rate of inflation for dining out. As dining out becomes increasingly expensive, even fast food options are outpacing overall inflation, leaving consumers with fewer affordable choices for meals away from home.

This earnings season highlights the massive investments big tech is pouring into AI, with no signs of slowing down. But who is really reaping the rewards of these AI innovations?

Nvidia continues to dominate the industry by selling AI computing hardware, crucial for training increasingly complex models, ensuring ongoing demand for its products. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft is cashing in by reselling OpenAI’s tech via Azure, and its Q4 earnings reveal a boost in revenue from AI services. Microsoft's long-term plans include substantial investments in data centers and GPUs, with a 15-year strategy to meet rising demand. However, Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI is complex. Despite being on track to generate $1 billion annually, a significant chunk of that comes from just one client—TikTok—raising concerns about future stability. OpenAI, while generating revenue from subscriptions and API access, faces high operational costs and challenges in sustaining its expensive R&D endeavors.

Meta is also pouring billions into AI research, with plans to spend up to $40 billion on capital expenditures in 2024. The company has nearly 600,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. 

The Paris Olympics concluded on Sunday with a spectacular finale, featuring Tom Cruise abseiling into the Stade de France and speeding away on a motorcycle with the Olympic flag, setting the stage for Los Angeles in 2028.

The battle for the top spot on the medal table came down to the world's two largest economies, the United States and China. Both nations ended with 40 gold medals each, but the US claimed the top position thanks to a higher silver medal count. With 126 total medals, the US was the only country to surpass the century mark.

Here’s a quick graph to track the medals won by different countries. 

🩹 Cheaper, Faster Cure - New electric bandages could heal wounds 30% faster than traditional dressings.

👨‍🌾 Young Laborers - Teen labor force participation has been steadily rising since 2013 — when Gen Z began to turn 16 - with share of teens working or looking for work hitting a 14-year high in May.

🇨🇳 Cheap Goods Founder - Temu's founder is now the richest person in China. 

🥰 A Her-like situation - OpenAI claims GPT-4o users risk getting emotionally attached to its 'voice'.

🗼 Very Little Price- A 23-story, 920,000 sq ft office building in Midtown Manhattan sold at a 97.5% discount in an online auction, fetching just $8.5 million.

🪦 RIP Google legend - Susan Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube, employee number 16 at Google, died at 56 after living with lung cancer for 2 years, according to a Facebook post from her husband on Friday.