Forbes - Think local 🎅

Every Saturday I send you a tight edit of Forbes’ future trends across tech, entrepreneurship, sustainability and more. Enjoy.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... 2020

I'm writing to you from London, where there's a clear sense of Déjà vu, with anxious masked faces and deserted streets.

Thanks to the new variant, it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas 2020.

Despite the anxieties you may feel, I encourage you to think about the local businesses around you. Restaurants and retailers have already faced a difficult year and now, more than ever, they need your support. Spend locally and support your community.

The Memo will take a break over the holiday season, returning on Saturday 8 January.

Thank you, as ever for your support and I wish you and your family a restful break and best wishes for the New Year.

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5 things we learned

The new ‘Sex and the City’ reboot is the least of Peloton’s worries. Shares in the cult home fitness brand have tanked 70% this year after people flocked back to real-life gyms. Things took a turn after a key character in the new reboot of SATC died after riding a Peloton exercise bike. Is all PR good PR?

A mental health startup valued at $4.8 billion took away employment benefits. Cerebral offers 'affordable’ virtual counselling services through a simple app. Its 200 workers could lose healthcare and regular stable pay.

Sustainability commitments aren’t just for COP26, they’re for life. With the dust settling after the UN’s Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, smart leaders need to refocus their efforts on building a more sustainable future for all. 

Chanel’s new CEO is a fashion outsider. After a 5 year long search, Chanel’s billionaire owners shocked the fashion world by appointing an HR chief from Unilever with no fashion background.

Norway won’t be replacing London’s ‘shoddy’ Christmas tree. An annual tradition dating back to 1947, commemorating British support during WW2, Norway’s tree for Trafalgar Square looks a little worse for wear this year. Local politicians said it wasn’t bare, but instead its branches were “socially distancing”.

The good

Super-rich tycoons are giving away most of their wealth. Started by Melinda and Bill Gates in 2010, the giving pledge has attracted 14 new members of the world’s wealthiest including the founders of Canva and DoorDash.

The bad

It’s been a bad week at Tesla. The electric car maker faced 6 more sexual harrassment claims in California, and then shares tumbled 12% after another poorly thought-through tweet by CEO Elon Musk. Despite all this, Time Magazine named Musk their Person of the Year.

Got an event coming up?

Know a great event our community should hear about? Let us know and we'll include it next week.

Do this

Virtual yoga for trying times. Find your calm in the chaos with some simple breathing exercises, gentle stretches and guided meditation. Your mental and physical well-being will thank you for it. December 19, 2021, 21:00 EST free to register.

Watch

Siri and Alexa are evolving. Watch customer experience professional Karen Lellouche give her prediction for what the next generation of virtual smart-assistants will look and sound like. TED, available to watch worldwide.

Listen

There’s a hog on the loose. Police in South Carolina are on the hunt for a runaway swine that's ‘wreaking havoc’ on local yards. That's kind of a pig deal. NPR, free to listen worldwide.

Read

Get a better night's sleep with this book. ABC news anchor and former insomniac Diana Macedo puts our sleep issues to bed with her practical and proven guide to beating insomnia. William Morrow, from $9.99.

Taste

A Christmas list for foodies. From classic panettone to sparkling brut rose and caviar. Spruce up your festive celebrations this year with these Christmas party essentials.

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