Loud, Cruelty-Free Fur Coat Company Raises $3M | Beating Workplace Ennui

Plus: The Inside Story Of The First (Legal) Native American Distillery

Socially conscious consumerism is not just about eating vegan burgers—it’s about wearing vegan clothing. That’s the thesis for loud, cruelty-free fur coat company Apparis, which just raised $3 million to expand its vegan clothes online within the U.S. and internationally. Funders include supermodel-entrepreneur Karlie Kloss and notable vegan New England Patriots MVP quarterback Cam Newton, as well as Third Kind Venture Capital and Exor Seeds. 

“In the food industry there was a big movement, then it moved to beauty,” said Apparis cofounder Lauren Nouchi when she landed on the Forbes Under 30 2020 list after clocking $7.3 million in 2019 revenue. “I really think vegan fashion will be the next thing.”

Must Read Stories For Young Innovators

Nearly a decade ago, Zuck’s college roommate became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire by moving fast and breaking things. Now Dustin Moskovitz is set to take his radically chiller cloud standout Asana—a software success story powered by patience and the pandemic—public.

Another day, another transportation-related company is going public via a special purpose acquisition company deal. Forbes Under 30 founded Luminar, a fast-growing maker of laser lidar sensors that help self-driving cars see the world, intends to list shares on Nasdaq by merging with a SPAC that raises cash and boosts the startup’s market cap to an estimated $3.4 billion.

The world's richest person, Jeff Bezos, is wealthier than he's ever been. Early Wednesday he crossed a milestone previously unseen in the nearly four decades Forbes has been tracking net worths: With Amazon stock edging up 2% as of Wednesday afternoon, Bezos' net worth is up by $4.9 billion, making the 56-year-old the world's first-ever person to amass a $200 billion fortune.

Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons invested in FaZe Clan, becoming the fourth NBA player after Josh Hart, Meyers Leonard and Jamal Murray to put money into the esports organization. Simmons plans to help promote FaZe's gaming culture in Australia and to kids.

Crypto-convert: When printing paper money is your core business, hyperinflation is your best friend and digital transactions are your worst enemy. Here's how Germany’s 168-year-old Giesecke & Devrient has learned to thrive in a low-inflation, electronic payments world.

The Pursuit

This week's collection of expert tips from Forbes contributors around the world for those building and running a business. Click to sign up instantly for The Pursuit, a biweekly essential briefing by Senior Entrepreneurs Editor Maneet Ahuja.

Because Lindsay Kohler’s story on beating workplace ennui was a top pick in the ForbesWomen newsletter last week, this week's advice is about how to improve workplace communication during the pandemic: “Figure out what the problem is, what the barriers are, and deploy solutions that fit the barriers.” 

Storytelling can strengthen our social connections and a simple leadership exercise, especially if we are helping others find their own stories. Here's how.

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