Interesting Reads. Industry news that you may have missed.
Inside the Mating Rituals of Brands and Online Stars – The New York Times
Speed dating in the realm of YouTube is far from love. A new speed dating event held outside VidCon last month helped match brands and YouTubers for advertising opportunities. For 20 minutes, YouTubers changed from table to table and exchanged conversation with marketing executives from companies like Uber and Amazon.
Uber’s brilliant new Spotlight tool makes pickups easier – Fast Company
Uber recently updated its app to be even easier for pickup with its new feature called Spotlight. It works by turning on the display on your phone, which activates a particular color when your driver is near. Users then hold up their phone so the driver can easily find them. In addition to the new update, Uber added two more features to make pickup easier: Pickup Messages and On-time scheduled pickups, guaranteed.
A goofy new ‘Stranger Things’ mall teaser might have a very serious clue about season 3 hiding in plain sight – Business Insider
To create buzz for the return of “Stranger Things,” Netflix created a fake mall commercial set in ‘80s town of Hawkins, Indiana. Even though the third season won’t air until 2019, the streaming service is getting fans ready by dropping some hints about what’s in store for Eleven and her trusted team.
Inside Silicon Valley’s beauty-tech accelerator – Glossy
Silicon Valley expert, Tim Draper, is a key player in Silicon Valley’s first independent beauty-focused accelerator SVBeautyTech. The program is designed to help beauty founders grow their businesses through technology and venture capital. Draper’s support of SVBeautyTech shows an effort to include more women in entrepreneurship.