Monday Morning Brief

(Est. read time without clicking the links, 8 minutes, 48 seconds.)

Why read the Monday Morning Brief? We don't bring you the news. You can get that anywhere. We bring you the small-print, overlooked stories that make you think about your small business in a different way. Little things outside your own industry that can have a big impact often get lost because, well, they're not in your industry. The Brief helps take the blinders off to give you a new perspective.

You won't leap tall buildings in a single bound or fly faster than a speeding bullet, but you'll be able to see through walls just like Superman. Applied Electrodynamics' new product, WaveSight, "sees" through walls and other solid surfaces to create a high-resolution image of what's on the other side. WaveSight sends out low-power radio waves that pass right through brick, tile, insulation, and drywall and bounce off whatever's behind to create clear, to-scale images or 3D maps. The waves are about the same strength as your WiFi router, so they're safe for all day/everyday use. This is an exciting technology for small businesses to keep an eye on. Applications include:

• Construction and renovation: No more tearing open finished walls just to find a pipe or a wire. The company estimates this could cut into more than $20 billion a year in avoidable rework and costly mistakes.
• Security and screening: Imagine scanning bags, packages, or deliveries for hidden objects, both metal and non-metal, without ever having to open them up (we're looking at you, TSA!)
• Home inspection and maintenance: Think about spotting a hidden leak, a structural problem, or faulty wiring behind a wall before it turns into an expensive disaster down the road.
• Manufacturing and quality assurance: Factories could scan finished products to catch hidden flaws before they ever ship, which means you as the buyer end up with fewer defective items.

WaveSight could also be used as a solution for what my wife calls "Man Looking" - glancing at a closet or drawer and not finding an object she KNOWS is in there.

They are Borgroaches. Lower your shields. Resistance is futile. No one wants cockroaches in their house, but the good folks on Mythbusters told us they could survive a nuclear apocalypse, so I guess we're stuck with them. They're tough, but they can drown, so researchers have built special diving suits to turn cockroaches into cyborgs. They're nasty in the cupboard, but these researchers are turning them into ugly little heroes. The Borgroaches (my word, not theirs) are fitted with infrared cameras and sensors that can locate survivors after an earthquake, inspect flooded areas, rescue Timmy from the well, and get into other places humans and machines won't fit. And they're not the only game in town. Other wild developments include:

• Germans are developing biorobotic insects for defense, surveillance, and rescue.
• Scientists are also exploring bionic jellyfish, robots controlled by king oyster mushrooms, and muscle-powered robots

If you ever find yourself under a pile of rubble, that cockroach you see might just be there to rescue you!

Searching for what's eating all your Google storage? Don't use Google Maps to find it, because it might just be the culprit. Downloading offline maps is an obvious storage hog, but it's not the only one. Google recently moved your entire location history from cloud storage directly onto your phone. This means years of historical travel data now lives on your device. Depending on how frequently you move around, this archive can quietly grow to hundreds of megabytes or more. Cache data is the final storage buster. Google Maps constantly stores searches, navigation routes, map tiles, and page content. Over time, this background cache fails to clear itself properly and balloons into a significant storage hog. So what do you do about it?

1. Open Google Maps & select your profile icon at the top right.
2. Select Offline Maps & delete maps you no longer need.
3. While you're still in the Offline Maps menu, turn off "Auto-update offline maps" and "Auto-download recommended maps" to prevent automatically downloading more data.
4. Still in your profile, select "Your Timeline" to see how long it's been tracking you.
5. You can back up this data by touching the cloud icon, or you can just delete it all if you think you'll no longer need it.
6. Again, still in your profile, go to Settings, About & Terms, and select "Clear Application Data." If you're using an Android, go to your phone's Settings app, find Google Maps, tap Storage, then tap "Clear Cache." A "Clear Data" button is also available.
7. Restart your phone and check to see how much storage Maps is now using. The difference may surprise you!

No regerts? Start-up founders can be, let's say, overenthusiastic about their companies. It's easy to forget that, while the venture is your baby, it's just a paycheck to most of your employees. They'll never love it like you do. AI startup LemonLime is facing backlash after promising instant job interviews to people who got tattoos of the startup’s logo at a company event. Seven attendees got inked, and LemonLime’s founder publicly apologized with a LinkedIn post, saying he “messed up” and that the company would cover any tattoo removal costs for those waking up with regerts regrets.

Trying to be an "influencer?" People probably don't trust you. Influencers who openly discuss what they're being paid for, especially with some humor, come across as more trustworthy than ones who stay quiet about it. The same holds for disclosing AI use in content creation. Authenticity is about being upfront about what's really going on behind your post.

Humans seem to be universally good at one thing: breaking rules. Australia’s under-16 social media ban has been in place for three months. It’s great in theory, but in practice? A new survey found over 81% of kids still using at least one banned platform. So, are you still convinced your employees aren't watching YouTube at their desks just because you told them they couldn't?

Marmots are cute, but are they...sexy? If you're looking for something different, point your browser toward OnlyMarms, an OnlyFans account run by UCLA wildlife researchers, who’ve turned to the adult-content platform for funding following federal cuts to scientific research. Before you get too excited, know that you'll find only G-rated "uncensored marmot content." In other words, wild marmots - not Marmots Gone Wild. BTW, OnlyFans wasn't designed to be exclusively adult-only content. If you're feeling spry, you might still find creators who earn money by showing off their pottery, paintings, workout routines, nutritional regimens, and other non-nekkid content.

You know David Placek. You just don't know you know David Placek. Did you ever own a Blackberry? He came up with that name. Ever driven a Subaru Outback or owned an Apple PowerBook? Yep, he named those, too. If you've Swiffered your floor, you know David Placek. Sonos, Dasani, Febreze - also his. Placek works with linguists and other experts to devise names for companies willing to spend millions on the right moniker.

From the article: "A name isn’t just a word. To Lexicon’s team, it’s a poem, a series of sensations firing in a listener’s brain, unfurling stories, emotions, inferences, before a single dollar has been spent. 'It should act as your most original and distinctive piece of marketing,' he says."

The process is more than luck. “It’s a treasure hunt,” he says. “I don’t get frustrated. You have to break set. You can’t sit at your desk and just strain. Take a walk, get magazines, listen to a speech from someone, read something on Aristotle.” And the names he creates are memorable, sticky. These multimillion-dollar names generate billions for their owners. And you thought you were creative when you came up with "Pipes-R-Us" and a tag line of "Got Plumbing?"

The famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile turned 90 (yes, 90!) this year. The iconic marketing vehicle (both literally and figuratively) has seen several different chassis, lengths, and styles, and driving one (becoming a "Hotdogger") is one of the toughest gigs to land - only 12 are hired each year and have to meet strict criteria to qualify. If you know anyone who's turning 90 this year, you can enter to have the Wienermobile crash their birthday party.

Employers of future graduates, beware. Only 14% of US college students read at or below a fourth-grade level, nearly 2x above the average found across all surveyed countries. What’s behind the academic failings of the world’s wealthiest country? Several things, including pandemic-related learning gaps, lower college admission standards, slashed public school budgets, and (who’da thunk it?) AI. Apparently, there are consequences to relying on ChatGPT to “explain it like I’m 10.”

The lowly vending machine is enjoying a renaissance. (Adapted from a story by Hubspot Media's Danny Jensen.) They've been around a long time. The earliest vending "machine" dispensed holy water. Since then, we've crammed machines full of everything from stamps and gum to cigarettes and books, and even high-end sports cars. Entrepreneurs and artists are turning the machines into creative micro shops with unusual offerings to generate additional revenue with minimal overhead and time commitment. Today's vending machines dispense everything from yarn to bear spray to pizza and wine.

If you're looking to generate semi-passive income, vending machines offer significant curb appeal:

• New machines cost $3k-$8k+, but used machines can be found online for as little as $300 (consider spending more to avoid clunkers).
• Monthly revenue can range from $75 to $650 per machine.
• About 67% of the industry is dominated by small, independent operators.
• Newer tech like cashless payments and remote inventory monitoring simplify restocking.

To help entrepreneurial artists get in on the action, Chicago's Good Things Vending offers resources to create micro shops. On a recent trip to New Zealand, some of Sequoyah Fund's staff apparently joined a cult whose members were charged with finding and shopping at every Art-o-mat in the country. (JK. But no...seriously.)

• Traditional machines (i.e. old cigarette machines) are redesigned to sell local art, vintage toys, mystery packages, and more.
• Items range from free to $25, curated to fit the machine's location.
• There are 40-50 artists featured at any given time, and 500+ have participated.
• Offers one-on-one calls with aspiring vendors and an upcoming e-book guide to vending.

The Venderia supplies custom creative vending machines to businesses in Portland, Oregon and offers a course that covers everything from buying machines and securing locations, to customizing and managing inventory.

Other creative operators include Mystry Mart, Art-o-mat, Inciardi Prints, Moonlight Vending, and dozens of others.

So, while you might not find holy water these days, vending machines are blessing artists and entrepreneurs with much-needed income.

As if your social media marketing weren't complicated enough, MySpace is looking to make a comeback. For those not old enough to remember, MySpace was the OG social network, and it just felt more "human" than what we have today. People are craving more ownership and unpredictability. MySpace's return may be a reflection of demand for more self-made spaces and more genuine content.

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At the bottom of this email:

• Tip of the Week: Productive Friction - Find Your 40-Pound Spring
• AI Lesson of the Week: It's Here, So Get Used to It
• Bonus AI Tip: Adding instructional content boosts AI-driven search results

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Tip of the Week:

Productive Friction - Find Your 40-Pound Spring

This is part 2 of a 2-part series.

Last week, we looked at pilots who improve precision by making the controls harder to move.

That sounds backward until you see the results.

Businesses can benefit from the same idea. A little well-placed resistance can prevent expensive mistakes.

Communication

Speed is useful, but fast communication can create confusion.

Before sending an important email, require a second person to read it. Before announcing a major change, ask the person responsible for carrying it out to explain it back to you.

That extra step may feel unnecessary. It may also catch the sentence that sends everyone running in different directions.

Strategy

Ideas are easy to love when they are still ideas.

Before committing money or staff time, force the idea through a few hard questions.

• What problem are we solving?
• Who will own it?
• What will we stop doing to make room for it?
• How will we know whether it worked?

A good idea should survive some resistance. If a few questions kill it, the questions probably saved you money.

Cash Flow

Convenience can make spending too easy.

Require two approvals for purchases over a certain amount. Review recurring charges every quarter. Put a 24-hour waiting period on large discretionary expenses.

Sweeping profits and tax remittances into separate bank accounts adds a step or two, but it ensures those funds will be there when you need them (see Mike Michalowicz's Profit First).

Sweeping profits and taxes out of your operating account also creates an artificial scarcity that forces you to be more mindful about your expenses.

The goal is not to slow the business to a crawl. The goal is to keep small, careless movements from reaching the controls - like the Blue Angels from last week.

Client Intake

Making it harder for customers to access you might just give you better customers.

A brief survey instead of a simple "Contact Us" button will weed out the tire kickers from those who are more committed to learning more about you and how you can work together.

The Right Kind of Hard

Productive friction should improve judgment, consistency, or accountability. It should absorb accidental movement while allowing deliberate action.

Bad friction creates paperwork, delays decisions, and frustrates customers without improving the result.

Look around your operation.

Where are the controls too loose? Where can one careless movement create a costly change in direction?

That may be where you need your 40-pound spring.

AI Lesson of the Week:

It's Here, So Get Used to It

If you've decided AI isn't going to be part of your business, you may be cutting off some of the smartest applicants in the candidate pool.

A three-year Kogod School of Business survey found that more than 80% of students now use AI for coursework, with the share of students questioned about AI skills nearly quadrupling over the study period.

Here's how their use breaks down:

• Students using AI eight or more times a week rose from 13% to 39% over three years, with ChatGPT being the favorite, while those not using it at all fell to 4.3%.
• Brainstorming was the top use all three years (75.8%), followed by studying for exams (66.2%), summarizing (62.3%), and understanding concepts (58.5%).
• The usage growth comes as employers press harder for AI talent, with interview questions on AI skills surging from 11.6% to 42.6% since 2024.
• Concerns still linger, with “cognitive devaluation” being the top worry, as 43.5% of the students admitted using AI as a shortcut rather than a real aid.

Sure, it’s a small sample (483 students at one school), but the trend is real.

Students are pushing AI’s use in academics, and employers are now expecting that ability in the workplace. Many still want to be taught how to lean on it without dulling their own thinking (a harder ask for schools than a blanket ban or green light).

If you're open to AI use, chances are your applicants will only become more well-versed. If you're not open to it, chances are your competitor and their AI-savvy new hires will be eating your lunch.

BONUS AI Tip

Here's a lesson for improving your search-based results from the legal field.

Herringbone, a marketing firm specializing in the elective medical, legal, dental, and home services fields asked Google 1,000 legal questions.

Google AI Overviews recommend providers in most legal searches, so educational content now plays a central role in winning visibility.

AI named at least one provider in 59% of all answers and in 92% of commercial queries, yet those recommendations almost always appeared alongside legal guidance instead of as a simple list.

Google also ran an average of 6.4 hidden searches for every query, including informational research and reputation checks, so strong educational content and credible third-party signals both influence recommendations.

No firm dominates the results, which leaves significant opportunity for brands that publish useful content and build a strong reputation.

The bottom line: Teaching in addition to doing enhances your findability on Google, especially when a search asks a specific question or poses a specific problem.

If you're searching for "Plumbers in Cherokee," it's likely that Old Google will handle the query and spit out a list of options.

If you search for, "How can I replace my bathtub faucet?" Google's AI will take over and point you toward those plumbers with YouTube videos, TikTok how-to's, and other instructional content.

Adding customer reviews and testimonials to your website will also drive search results.

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The Sequoyah Fund, Inc. 828-359-5001 www.sequoyahfund.org