Why Is Everyone Hoarding Ketchup? 🍅

Biz Analyst Club Newsletter

by The Business Model Analyst

Hello, Biz Enthusiasts!
This week, your fridge is probably packed with more sauces than sense, OpenAI is going all-in on AMD chips (RIP Nvidia’s monopoly), and a self-taught engineer is throwing rockets at Musk’s ego. Meanwhile, Dave’s Hot Chicken is flying through the skies (literally) and plush toys are outperforming your 401(k).
Let’s dive in before ketchup becomes its own asset class.

Hot Takes 🚀

1. Why America’s Fridges Are Drowning in Fancy Ketchup 🍔🌶️
From chili crisp mayo to Moroccan garlic-everything sauce, condiments have become the new collectibles. Post-pandemic pantry inflation is real — and apparently flavor-fueled.
👉 See why your fridge has more sauce than sense

2. OpenAI Buys 10% of AMD, Shocks Wall Street 🤯💻
OpenAI is deploying 6 gigawatts worth of AMD GPUs — and just snagged a warrant for 160M AMD shares. Nvidia? Slightly sweating.
👉 Get the juicy chip-deal details

3. Drone Chicken Is Now a Thing 🍗🚁
Dave’s Hot Chicken is testing drone delivery in L.A., with chicken going from fryer to flight to front door in minutes. Hot, fast, and zero traffic — can your Uber Eats do that?
👉 See how your next wing order could fly in

4. Rocket Lab vs. SpaceX: A DIYer Takes on the Giants 🚀🧠
Peter Beck built rockets in his garage — now his $4.8B company is racing Musk and Bezos with its reusability-focused Neutron rocket. Blue-collar rocket science is here.
👉 Meet the self-taught Kiwi giving Bezos a headache

5. Plush Toys Are the New Luxury Assets 🧸💸
Grown-ups are dropping big bucks on Squishmallows and Jellycats (some over $1,400 😳). Kids may have iPads, but adults have emotional support plushies.
👉 See how stuffed toys are printing money

Strategy Deep Dive

Quick Hits 📰

• Shein's Brick-and-Mortar Drama: Shein’s opening stores in France, sparking political and retail backlash.
  👉 Why even Galeries Lafayette is fuming

• Startups Are Eating Big Food's Lunch: Small brands like Chomps are stealing growth from Kraft and General Mills — and doing it with jerky.
  👉 See why Big Food is sweating the small stuff

• AI Helps Small Biz Compete Big: One Aussie hammock brand is using AI to manage stock, analyze reviews, and crush logistics.
  👉 Read how AI is the new MVP for SMEs

• Bezos Wants Data Centers in Space: Earth getting too hot for GPUs? Bezos says we’ll build gigawatt-scale AI data centers in orbit.
  👉 Space clouds are coming

• Craft Beer’s Hangover Hits Hard: Small breweries are shutting down as sales fizz out. The IPA bubble has popped.
  👉 See why the tap is running dry

• India’s Not a Fan of China’s New Tech Visa: China rolled out a new visa for foreign tech workers — and sparked a social media storm in India.
  👉 Why a visa is triggering job market fear

• Bluesky’s Waffle Meltdown: A meme war over waffles turned into a platform-wide identity crisis. (Yes, really.)
  👉 Inside the weirdest tech meltdown of the week

• California’s $2B Solar Plant Is Shutting Down: Ivanpah’s “sci-fi” solar system is being sunset — not enough watts per dollar.
  👉 How solar innovation left this plant behind

• Wall Street’s Next Gen Is Here: BI just dropped its “Rising Stars” list of 2025. Think: 25 future Finks and mini-Musks.
  👉 Meet the dealmakers reshaping finance

• Taylor Swift Is Too Big to Fail (Again): Mixed reviews? Doesn’t matter. Her new album is already breaking records and bank accounts.
  👉 Why the Swift economy is still booming

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