Jason Arasheben arrived at UCLA $28,000 in debt with $400 left. He spent it on wholesale accessories, borrowed a table and made $800 his first day on campus. By senior year he had expanded to six campuses and 250 nail salons across Southern California β earning more than a Harvard Law first-year salary. He skipped law school.
Spending nights in LA clubs gave him access to athletes wearing diamond jewelry. He decided to pivot toward luxury with zero industry experience, set a goal of meeting 10 new people every night and got rejected 70 to 100 times before basketball star Anthony Mason finally said yes. Jason showed up to that meeting with a handmade catalog and no actual jewelry. When Mason liked a bracelet, Jason quoted $40,000 on the spot β then spent the next day finding someone to manufacture it. He made $2,000 profit. Mason loved it.
Jason of Beverly Hills has since designed for Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Drake and crafted championship rings for the NBA and NFL. His advice: every person you meet and every experience you have could be the opportunity. Keep your eyes open for it.
Read more: https://t.co/iVE1VG8IFm
Gabriella Labi spent years studying nutrition and food after struggling with gut issues since she was 18 β Le Cordon Bleu, Pilates certification, integrative nutrition training. She started making her own good-for-you desserts at home, and one kept rising to the top: a Medjool date stuffed with walnuts and cashew butter, coated in dark chocolate and flaky sea salt. When Tonya Reznikovich β then leading go-to-market at an AI startup β tried one, she knew immediately it needed to exist in the world. No analysis, no spreadsheet. Pure instinct.
They skipped the months of pre-launch prep, made a batch in their kitchen, bought Amazon boxes and set up a farmers market booth in LA. They sold out in three hours, made $1,500 and got feedback from customers who are still buying today. They put in $50,000 between them in year one and paid themselves back within that same year. Production has since scaled to 220,000 dates a month, with international expansion planned for September. Six months into 2026, Gato is already on track to hit seven figures β with Q4 gifting formats and new retail partners still to come.
Their advice: don't wait for perfect. If you're 100% happy with version one, you launched too late.
Ready to just start? https://t.co/R20JLLITnn
The dustbin of history is about to get a lot shinier. Sony plans to stop releasing physical disc copies of PlayStation games starting in 2028. https://t.co/JGA1rsDgIw
Lara Balazs, CMO of Adobe, interviewed at the 2026 Cannes Lions, said CMOs need to disrupt themselves in response to constant change. https://t.co/tlLtiOLgoR