Only a couple of years ago, WeightWatchers was on a mission to transform itself from a weight-loss company centered on in-person meetings to a digital-first service with online support groups and a robust app. In 2022, it hired Houseparty cofounder Sima Sistani as CEO to lead the effort.
But as weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy began taking over, Sistani seemed to toss WeightWatchers’ talking points about moderation and self-control out the window and launched WeightWatchers Clinic, a telehealth provider that connects members with physicians who can prescribe weight-loss drugs.
It’s been a rocky pivot.
Read more: https://bit.ly/403LSLJ
And listen to the full modern history of WeightWatchers on this week's Most Innovative Companies: https://bit.ly/3UfspCn
“Science should be for a social purpose.”
In honor of the first 2024 Nobel Prize being announced today, we’re highlighting a recent speech from 2020 Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna at Fast Company Innovation Festival.
Doudna won the Nobel Prize, and was recently named to Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative People of the Last 10 Years, for her pioneering work in CRISPR gene editing.
Read her full profile at the link in bio.
"Science should be for a social purpose."
In honor of the first 2024 Nobel Prize being announced today, we're highlighting a recent speech from 2020 Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna at Fast Company Innovation Festival.
Doudna was named to Fast Company's 10 Most Innovative People of the Last 10 Years for her pioneering work in CRISPR gene editing.
Read her full profile: https://bit.ly/3Nebdem
What’s it like to be fully immersed in the @sephora experience?
5,000 fans flocked to”beauty funhouse” event SEPHORiA in Atlanta last week—even as Hurricane Helene hit the city.
These fans were there to both meet old favorites and, at SEPHORiA’s Next Big Thing section, discover new ones. Being featured by Sephora, @lizsegran writes, can often be a breakthrough for young, diverse beauty startups that would otherwise have a difficult time taking hold in the industry.
Read more about the SEPHORiA experience at the link in bio.
If you were on YouTube in the Golden Age of BuzzFeed videos, you probably remember the Try Guys, who hosted a hugely popular series about trying new experiences.
Like many BuzzFeed creators, the four @tryguys eventually left to start their own production company, 2nd Try Entertainment, which still runs strong today.
On this week’s Most Innovative Companies, we talk with two of the original guys, Zach Kornfeld (@korndiddy) and Keith Habersberger (@keithhabs), about navigating upheaval, YouTube, and 2nd Try’s new streaming platform.
Listen now at the link in bio.
Even Ryan Reynolds knows how hard B2B marketing can be.
At Fast Company’s 10th Annual Innovation Festival, Reynolds — who headlined the event as one of our Top 10 Innovators of the Last 10 Years — shared why “access and accountability” matters most when building a brand.
Watch his full panel at the link in bio.
@wearemntn @maximumeffort
#RyanReynolds #MNTN #MaximumEffort #FCFestival #FCIF10
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati said Wednesday that she is leaving the high-profile AI company after six and a half years.
“There’s never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right,” Murati wrote in a statement she shared on X.
Murati has been a key player at OpenAI, which captured the attention of the world in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, and served as temporary chief executive of the company after its board of directors temporarily ousted CEO Sam Altman last year.
In the spring of 2023, Fast Company named OpenAI as its Most Innovative Company of the Year, featuring Murati on the cover of the magazine. Watch Murati discuss the limits of ChatGPT on a panel with Fast Company’s Ainsley Harris from April 2023.
Read the full story about her departure: https://bit.ly/3MY5Uj1
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati said Wednesday that she is leaving the high-profile artificial intelligence company after six and a half years.
“There’s never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right,” Murati wrote in a statement she posted to X.
Murati has been a key player at OpenAI, which captured the attention of the world in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, and served as temporary chief executive of the company after its board of directors temporarily ousted CEO Sam Altman last year.
In the spring of 2023, Fast Company named OpenAI as its Most Innovative Company of the Year, featuring Murati on the cover of the magazine. Watch Murati discuss the limits of ChatGPT on a panel with Fast Company’s Ainsley Harris from April 2023.
Read more about Murati’s departure at the link in bio.
One week ago today....we're still reveling from celebrating 10 years of Fast Company's Innovation Festival.
This year’s event served as a celebration of sustained innovation and featured the magazine’s selection of the 10 most innovative people of the last decade – Issa Rae, Ryan Reynolds, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Nelson, Pat McGrath, José Andrés, Satya Nadella, Jennifer Doudna, Lina Khan, and Ted Sarandos. These leaders and doers left festivalgoers with many provocative ideas to ponder regarding pressing issues that range from sustainability to AI to the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Missed a panel or want to catch up? Read the recaps here: https://bit.ly/3XYWeLK
Dynamic pricing is the ability for a company to change the pricing of a product — that is, raise it — at a given moment.
As Lina Khan, @federaltradecommission chair, describes during her panel at Fast Company’s 10th annual Innovation Festival: “Imagine a family where a kid has a nut allergy being charged more for the granola bars without nuts.”
In her work as #FTC chair, Khan draws both fire and praise for her view that the harms induced by antitrust behavior can go beyond consumer prices.
Read more about Khan, one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Innovators of the Last 10 Years, at the link in bio. #FCFestival #FCIF10
“I’m not going to cook for you,” world-class chef and multiple-Michelin-star restaurateur José Andrés said as he took the stage at the 10th annual Fast Company Innovation Festival. “Don’t get too excited.”
But then, he cooked.
Figuratively, that is—Andrés roasted American politics for its mangled handling of immigration in the United States.
“Immigration reform has to happen,” Andrés said, citing 11 million “dreamers,” or children of undocumented immigrants. “Everybody is employing them everywhere, in blue and red states, and they are part of the economy.”
Read the full recap of Andrés panel at #FCFestival at the link in bio. #FCIF10
What do the world’s most innovative people wish they’d invented?
As part of Fast Company’s interviews with the 10 Most Innovative People of the Last 10 Years, we asked each cover star what invention they would want to claim as their own—if they’d only gotten there first.
Read the profiles for all 10 leaders at the link in bio.
Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative People of the last 10 years hardly need any introduction—but we’re excited to talk about them anyway!
On this week’s episode of “Most Innovative Companies,” Editor-in-Chief Brendan Vaughan dives into these icons ahead of the 10th anniversary Fast Company Innovation Festival, which begins Monday.
Listen at the link in bio. #FCFestival
Our sixth annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list recognizes more than 150 companies that understand vitally important breakthroughs can occur on the loading dock, not just in a corner office.
Likewise, no single country has a monopoly on innovation: Four of the top 10 companies on this year's list are based outside of the U.S., including PC manufacturer Lenovo (No. 1, with dual HQs in Beijing and North Carolina).
The top 10 also includes American Red Cross; AtriCure, Inc.; and Alphabet's experimental division X, the Moonshoot Factory.
And good news—we've also noted which of these inspiring companies are hiring.
Read more about the innovative cultures of our Best Workplaces for Innovators: https://bit.ly/4d1DUWz
#FCBestWorkplaces
These are the rule breakers, shot takers, and changemakers who have transformed their respective industries with consistent innovation across the last decade.
In celebration of our 10th annual Innovation Festival, Fast Company anchored our programming around our 10 Most Innovative People of the Last 10 Years.
Read their stories here: https://bit.ly/4dWuYCV
--
José Andrés: Founder, José Andrés Group, World Central Kitchen
Jennifer Doudna, professor at University of California: Founder and Nobel Laureate, Innovative Genomics Institute
Lina Khan: Chair, Federal Trade Commission
Pat McGrath: Founder, Chief Creative Officer, and CEO, PAT McGRATH LABS
Lin-Manuel Miranda: Award-winning songwriter, actor, producer and director
Satya Nadella: Chairman and CEO, Microsoft
Sara Nelson: International President, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA)
Issa Rae: Writer, Producer, Actress, and Founder, Hoorae (Issa Rae Presents)
Ryan Reynolds: Cofounder, Maximum Effort; Chief Creative Officer, MNTN
Ted Sarandos: Co-CEO, Netflix
