Spring Mar/Apr 2020

Fast Company

Fast Company is the world’s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, world changing ideas, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company i

Fast Company2 min read
Learn From the Innovators
This edition of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies may be our most diverse and surprising yet. Our signature list, featuring the top 50 businesses pushing boundaries today, includes an entertainment company in Seoul; an arts collective in Santa
Fast Company6 min read
The Cash Trap
Qwatasia has a full-time job as a fraud analyst in Dallas, where she works the third shift—5 p.m. to 2 a.m.—Monday through Friday. But she finds it difficult to live on her salary. Sometimes, she’s short on rent as she waits for her next paycheck to
Fast Company1 min read
A Versatile Vase
A three-dimensional homage to Dutch artist Piet Mondrian’s simple and iconic geometric canvases, the Mondri vase can be flipped and turned to hold flowers in three different ways and accommodate various plant sizes. The minimalist vessel’s colorful,
Fast Company1 min read
My Daily Media Diet
@ABSTRACTSUNDAY Christoph Niemann is an artist who does work for The New Yorker. He takes dayto-day subjects and makes them into something clever. THE CROWN I like watching how the Windsor family continues to maintain their dynastic rule, funded by t
Fast Company1 min read
Music for Every Moment
FROZEN’S “LET IT GO” OR “WHAT’S UP DANGER,” BLACK-WAY, BLACK CAVIAR My son loves both: We play them in the morning while we brush our teeth, get dressed, and dance. “HYPNOTIZE,” THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. My driver’s license lapsed over 10 years ago, but w
Fast Company2 min read
My Operating System.
The fitness-guru streaming pioneer takes our career questionnaire. What is your best habit, and what is your worst? My best is being super consistent with my workouts, being present for my children, showing up for my family, making good food choices.
Fast Company1 min read
The Books That Inspire Me
C.L.R. JAMES The 1937 classic book on the Haitian Revolution provides an incredible story of leadership and how to change a culture. SHAKA SENGHOR The memoir of a man who went to prison for 19 years, then became an author and MIT fellow. VICTOR SEBES
Fast Company1 min read
The Words 50 Most Innovatives Companies
It’s 2020, and we don’t have flying cars (yet), but think about the cool things that we do have: Augmented reality that brings joy into the daily lives of more than 163 million people. Drones that deliver vital medicine. An effective treatment for po
Fast Company13 min read
For Setting The Social Agenda
I WAS TOLD EVAN SPIEGEL WAS REALLY SICK. THE 29-YEAR-OLD CEO OF SNAP, SNAPCHAT’S PARENT COMPANY, WAS BATTLING A COLD OF MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS. HIS VOICE, I WAS TOLD, WOULD BARELY REGISTER ABOVE A WHISPER. ¶ WE’D BE MEETING ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE MAIN
Fast Company1 min read
Snap Takes TV
First Move Eighteen shows have debuted since fall 2018—a mix of fiction and reality—all targeting Snap’s addesirable 13-to-24-year-old audience. Breakout Hit The Dead Girls Detective Agency (1), about a group of ghosts solving murder mysteries, is on
Fast Company1 min read
02 For Coalescing Teams
Microsoft’s messaging platform, known as Teams, became the top workplace messaging app in 2019—beating out competitor Slack—when it crossed more than 13 million daily users in July. By January, it surpassed 20 million, with 91 of the U.S.’s 100 large
Fast Company1 min readAutomotive
03 For Earning The Pole Position In The U.s. Ev Sales Race
After estimating it would deliver at least 360,000 vehicles last year, Tesla delivered 367,500. That’s double the number of cars it sold in the previous two years combined. And with that, a company built on a batterypowered wing and a billionaire’s p
Fast Company1 min read
04 For Mobilizing (and Monetizing) Music Fans
Seoul’s Olympic Stadium was packed during pop band BTS’s three soldout shows last October, but some fans bypassed long merch lines by preordering items via the e-commerce app Weply, which offers exclusive band-related products. Others checked wait ti
Fast Company1 min readSecurity
05 For Putting Hackers To Work
When Capital One discovered a data breach in July 2019 that exposed credit card and application data of more than 100 million people, the revelation came courtesy of a hacker—a benevolent one. He was working on behalf of HackerOne, a company that con
Fast Company2 min read
The Company That’s Dreaming the World Better
The first thing you see when you walk into Omaze is a wall of employees’ childhood photos. The photos act as a reminder to employees of the Los Angeles-based company, which raises money for charity by offering chances to win once-in-a-lifetime experi
Fast Company1 min read
06 For Brewing A Gender-neutral Phenomenon
As the market for hard seltzer spiked last year—up more than 200% with more than $1.2 billion in sales—memefriendly, millennialsavvy White Claw emerged as the life of the party. Launched by Mike’s Hard Lemonade manufacturer Mark Anthony Brands in 201
Fast Company3 min read
07 For Enabling The Shopkeeper Of The Future
When Kylie Jenner sold a controlling stake in her four-year-old makeup startup to French beauty conglomerate Coty in November for $600 million at a $1.2 billion valuation, the 22-year-old CEO emerged a billionaire. The sale of Kylie Cosmetics was an
Fast Company1 min read
Retail Stories
The shoe startup has used Shopify’s website translation and currency conversion services to handle transactions as it has expanded internationally. The bedding startup’s founders credit Shopify with helping create a sleek online store that highlights
Fast Company1 min readComputers
08 For Unleashing Corporate Creativity
Canva’s graphic-design templates help people create everything from posters and invites to business cards and web ads. The company’s core product is the increasingly flexible slideshow-maker Presentations, which now lets users edit slide decks on mob
Fast Company1 min readInternet & Web
09 For Gamifying Gaming
Every month, over 100 million global active users spend more than 1 billion hours on Roblox, an online gaming platform where users can play games such as Jailbreak and MeepCity, and develop their own. For cofounder and CEO David Baszucki, it’s all ab
Fast Company2 min read
10 For Delivering The Most Important Goods—fast
It took drone delivery pioneer Zipline, which specializes in sending medical supplies autonomously over long distances, nearly three years to create its first countrywide network. Launched in Rwanda in 2016, the San Francisco–based company now transp
Fast Company1 min readTelecommunications
11 For Outsmarting The Smartphone Market
KaiOS is the most popular mobile operating system you probably haven’t heard of. Instead of designing software for full-blown smartphones, Hong Kong–based KaiOS Technologies (pronounced ky-O-S) has exceeded 150 million global users by powering what i
Fast Company1 min read
12 For Popularizing Meat Alternatives
As interest in plant-based meats surges, Beyond Meat is leading the way, expanding to 67,000 restaurant locations globally, including more than 9,000 Dunkin’s, which began serving Beyond Breakfast Sausage in November. Beyond also launched tests of a
Fast Company1 min read
13 For Turning Bands Into Brands
After Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? debuted, in March 2019, hordes of Gen Z fans purchased hoodies, shorts, and shoelaces that came with a digital album, boosting the album’s sales and helping it top the Billboard Hot 200 l
Fast Company1 min read
14 For Adding Shopping Carts To Social Posts
In a country where e-commerce remains relatively nascent (despite more than 450 million internet users) and delivery logistics imposingly difficult, Bengaluru, India–based social commerce platform Meesho has managed to turn more than 2 million people
Fast Company1 min read
15 For Becoming A Podcasting Powerhouse
With the acquisitions of Gimlet Media (producer of Homecoming), Anchor (a popular creation app), and The Ringer (Bill Simmons’s website), Spotify is turning its data analytics prowess toward podcasting. “We’re bringing more discovery-focused offering
Fast Company1 min read
16 For Flipping A New Page In Entertainment
Female protagonists are proliferating across big and small screens, in shows such as the forth coming Daisy Jones & the Six, a 13-episode series for Amazon, and films like the upcoming Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Legally Blonde 3. These p
Fast Company1 min read
17 For Caffeinating The Data-driven Chain Restaurant
In just two and a half years since its launch, Luckin Coffee has become the largest coffee chain in China, surpassing Starbucks, which took more than two decades to achieve that status. Data informs virtually every decision Luckin makes, from store p
Fast Company1 min readMedical
18 For Vaccinating Against Ebola
After receiving FDA approval for the Ebola vaccine Ervebo in 2019, Merck is poised to eradicate the deadly virus. The process began six years ago, when Merck licensed the treatment from New Link Genetics and set to work developing it and“showing that
Fast Company1 min read
19 For Bringing Pro-level Science To Everyday Athletes
The Whoop fitness band, which measures a user’s heart rate variability and offers insights into everything from workout intensity and recovery to sleep performance, was initially designed for elite athletes. It’s now going mainstream. Last May, the c
Fast Company1 min read
20 For Streamlining Delivery
The fast-casual salad chain opened only 11 freestanding restaurants in 2019 (for a total of 102 nationwide), but it has grown nonetheless, thanks to the lunch-pickup stations it has established in nearly 1,000 locations in 9 cities. The company’s 18-
Fast Company1 min read
21 For Treating Postpartum Depression Quickly
For the 400,000 women who suffer from postpartum depression (PPD) each year, treatment has been limited to psychotherapy and antidepressants that can take weeks to begin working. In March, Sage Therapeutics received FDA approval for Zulresso, the fir
Fast Company1 min read
22 For Fighting Climate Change With Farmland
Known for developing a biocoating for seeds that reduces the need for environmentally taxing fertilizers, agtech startup Indigo is on a mission to entice the world’s farmers to shift to more sustainable growing techniques. In June 2019, the company l
Fast Company1 min read
23 For Successfully Pivoting To Enterprise Video
Once a YouTube also-ran, Vimeo is now a content-creation facilitator that distributes videos on the web, social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In), connected TVs (Apple TV, Roku), and—yes—even YouTube. “Your audience is everywhere,” says CEO An
Fast Company4 min read
For Weaving The Clothing Industry Into The Circular Economy
For decades, Americans have had an insatiable appetite for new cloth ing, spurred on by the fast-fashion industry, which cranked out cheap, disposable garments that helped global clothing production double from 50 billion items a year in 2000 to more
Fast Company1 min readSmall Business & Entrepreneurs
27 For Giving Startups Access To Credit
Half of all startups end in failure, so not many people want to lend to them. But where traditional banks see risk, Brex cofounder and co-CEO Henrique Dubugras sees opportunity. Two years ago, the Brazilian-born entre-preneur launched a corporate cre
Fast Company1 min read
28 For Eliminating Decision Fatigue In Travel
Known for creating a flight-booking tool that leverages AI to predict airfares and alert travelers to price drops, Hopper developed into a customer-centric travel marketplace this past year. Its hotel-booking tool, which mines partner apps and websit
Fast Company1 min read
29 For Using Data To Put Athletes First
With more than 50 million users and another 1 million joining each month, fitness social network Strava—which allows runners, cyclists, and other athletes to upload and share workout stats and routes—knows all the best trails and circuits. But instea
Fast Company1 min read
30 For Helping Companies Comply With Evolving Data-privacy Rules
Big companies often maintain huge troves of customer data, and small mistakes can jeopardize privacy and legal compliance. Immuta builds software to help businesses govern, share, and work with data while adhering to privacy laws, such as the EU’s Ge
Fast Company1 min read
32 For Packing Warehouses (and Boxes) More Efficiently
Automation company Attabotics shrinks the typical sprawling warehouse into compact, vertical units, using robots to ferry items from shelves to box packers. “I asked myself, What [layout] would be ideal for a robot, not a person?” says cofounder and
Fast Company1 min read
31 For Mainstreaming Niche Stories
If your literary tastes run toward lesbian hockey romances, zombie shark mysteries, or futuristic werewolf dramas, Wattpad has a title for you. The digital platform directs its 80 million monthly readers to stories from its 4 million self-published a
Fast Company1 min read
33 For Building A Direct-to-consumer Brand That Stands Apart
If you’ve passed through an airport recently, there’s a strong chance you’ve spotted at least one woman sporting a pair of distinctive-looking ballet flats in a stretchy woven fabric. In 2016, San Francisco–based Rothy’s debuted its signature flats,
Fast Company1 min read
34 For Coaching Your Brain
The Calm app was downloaded 60 million times last year, with two new users joining almost every second. Despite this rapid growth, the company is staying Zen. After noticing in 2016 that many customers were listening to Calm in order to fall asleep,
Fast Company1 min read
35 For Upgrading Kenya’s Informal Market Economy
Launched in 2014 to help urban retailers source produce such as bananas and tomatoes from small-scale Kenyan farmers, Twiga spent 2019 expanding its mobile ordering platform to encompass nonperishable goods and developing its delivery capabilities. I
Fast Company1 min readSocial Science
36 For Taking The Law Into Its Hands
Last year’s Netflix miniseries When They See Us wasn’t simply a dramatization of the Central Park Five trial. It was a rallying cry to transform the criminal justice system by looking more closely at the district attorneys who prosecute people of col
Fast Company1 min readInvestments & Securities
37 For Facilitating The Rise Of Equitable Private Markets
When WeWork CEO Adam Neumann was forced to resign last year, he sold around $1 billion worth of his stock on his way out the door. Many of Neumann’s employees, in contrast, have seen the value of their WeWork options go up in smoke. In the murky worl
Fast Company3 min read
How A Cardboard Box Became Marketing Magic
One of the paradoxes of our high-tech world is the humble cardboard box. Most end their life being dutifully placed in the recycling bin. But savvy mass-market brands (Apple, Target, Beats head-phones) have turned the boxes that contain their product
Fast Company8 min read
38 For Leading Business Toward Plastic Alternatives, At Scale
Few things make America’s plastic addiction seem as urgent as walking through a Phoenix-area Sprouts Farmers Market with Troy Swope, cofounder and CEO of Footprint, a plant-based packaging company using technology to wean corporations off single-use
Fast Company1 min read
Creating A More Sustainable Cup
This bioplastic container is made entirely of materials derived from plants and degrades in weeks, on land or in water, with no hazardous traces. It’s designed for cold beverages and can be discarded in food streams and used for compost. Plastic cups
Fast Company1 min read
39 For Changing The Games
Launched in September 2019, Apple Arcade is one of the freshest ideas in apps since the App Store debuted in 2008. The service offers unlimited access to more than 100 games for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, all blissfully devoid of ads and in
Fast Company1 min read
40 For Clearing The Air About Vaping
The 21-year-old nonprofit best known for its bold anti-smoking ads is rising to meet the vaping crisis. Truth Initiative’s “Tested on Humans” campaign last summer (in which anthropomorphized animals expressed concern that humans are being used as gui
Fast Company1 min readMedical
42 For Navigating Workers Toward Parental Leave—and Back
Maven Clinic, a telemedicine network focused on women’s health that is offered as an employee benefit at organizations including L’Oréal, BuzzFeed, and Snap (No. 1), more than tripled the number of companies it serves in 2019. Maven connects workers
Fast Company1 min read
44 For Getting An “A” In Instructor Support
Everyone’s an expert in something—hypnobirthing, Chinese metaphysics, you name it. But making money off this knowledge can be a different story. Online education platform Teachable allows subject experts to offer video courses to paying audiences. Th
Fast Company1 min read
46 For Selling Collectibles By The Share
Crafted from individually selected Nile crocodile scales in cream and gray, Hermès’s Himalaya Birkin is one of the world’s rarest handbags, fetching more than $100,000 at auction. Rally cofounder and CEO Chris Bruno wants you to own one—in part. Rall
Fast Company1 min read
47 For Incentivizing Giving
Omaze is an online global sweepstakes platform that puts together coveted experiences (lunch with Amal and George Clooney in Lake Como) and prizes (a Lamborghini signed by the Pope) to raise money for everything from Unicef to local homeless organiza
Fast Company22 min readRobotics
Top 10
1. Wieden+Kennedy For sending Bud Light to Westeros and dreaming further for Nike at the Women’s World Cup 2. McCann World-group For changing the game for over-looked communities 3. BBDO For partnering with Monica Lewinsky to tackle toxic online beha
Fast Company1 min readMedical
41 For Attacking The Underlying Cause Of Cystic Fibrosis
In October 2019, Vertex Pharmaceuticals received FDA approval for Trikafta, a cystic fibrosis treatment that could help 90% of patients with the deadly genetic disorder. Cystic fibrosis, which affects about 30,000 people in the U.S. (and has a life e
Fast Company1 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
43 For Processing Ai’s True Potential
Thanks to the pervasiveness of AI, the power required for tasks such as natural language comprehension is pushing conventional processors to their limits. Graphcore is a Bristol, England–based startup producing an Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) c
Fast Company1 min read
45 For Being Obsessed With Sports Culture
“We make it as easy as possible to be a sports fan,” says Howard Mittman, CEO of Bleacher Report, the Gen Z– and millennial-friendly sports media brand—78% of its audience is under 35—owned by WarnerMedia. Sports in the social media era have become a
Fast Company1 min read
Fast and Curious
In November 2019, nearly 5,000 attendees gathered in New York City for five days of purpose-driven inspiration and networking. Between a bustling festival hub, captivating main stage keynotes and panels, and more than 85 Fast Tracks, the festival ign
Fast Company1 min readMedical
48 For Diagnosing With Smartphones
Healthy.io leverages computer vision to turn smartphone cameras into diagnostics tools. Its app-based chronic kidney disease test, which analyzes users’ uploaded photos of urinalysis dipsticks, received FDA clearance last fall for clinical use in the
Fast Company1 min read
49 For Providing Fans The Thrill Of A Lifetime
For anyone who has ever dreamed of getting birthday wishes from Snoop Dogg, Gilbert Gottfried, or even Stormy Daniels, there’s Cameo. The three-year-old platform leverages fan culture and nostalgia to create a new kind of social experience: Users pur
Fast Company1 min read
50 For Captivating Audiences
Known for creating immersive art installations that layer trippy visuals with cosmic story-telling, the Santa Fe, New Mexico–based Meow Wolf evolved last year from an artist collective into the ur–experience economy company. It now has projects in th
Fast Company2 min read
Are You Ready for the Future?
A 5G quiz 1. Where do you live? [A] In a major metro area [B] At least 30 minutes from the nearest stoplight [C] In my mom’s basement 2. Which of the following connected devices do you own? [A] An Echo Dot [B] A Google Nest [C] A rotary phone with Ea

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