Good Morning! Companies are having their best earnings season in nearly two years, pushing the S&P 500 back towards near-record highs. Elon Musk recommended Warren Buffett buy Tesla shares in “an obvious move." If you got the cash to throw around this summer, Equinox just dropped a $40k membership that will be live in NYC end of May. The SEC will sue Robinhood over its crypto business. ABC News’ president stepped down. And a record low of just 13.4% of renters believe they’ll be able to buy a home one day.

If you are interested in getting in front of a smart, young audience of business leaders, bankers, investment professionals, policy influencers of over 700,000 people, then fill out this form, we’ll be in touch.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Ex-CEO Gives New CEO Advice on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is known for its over-the-top cringe content, where influencers regularly draw parallels between becoming engaged and B2B SaaS.

Yesterday, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz took to LinkedIn to offer new CEO Laxman Narasimhan some advice after Starbucks disastrous earnings miss, which caused the stock to crash 17%.

Though no longer involved with Starbucks formally, Schultz emphasized his enduring love for the company, saying he believes the company will recover if it improves its U.S. stores.

Schultz, who turned Starbucks into the $80 billion company it is today, stepped down from his latest stint as CEO a little over a year ago.

His LinkedIn post included a detailed turnaround plan but more importantly some timeless wisdom for the new CEO:

“It’s not the miss that matters. It’s what comes next. What’s the diagnosis of the problem? What’s the impact on morale? And what’s the strategy to fix it?

There is a natural tendency to try to do too much too soon. Don’t try to do everything at once. Leaders must model both humility and confidence as they work to restore trust and increase performance across the organization.”

Takeaway: A year and a half ago, Schultz said that he has no plans to come back as Starbucks CEO, but it certainly looks like he is having some FOMO watching his baby and life savings in Starbucks stock nose-dive. Howard Schultz has had three tenures as Starbucks CEO and something tells us a fourth one may be on the cards if Starbucks is not able to solve its current challenges.

_{PRESENTED BY RYSE}

Invest in AI Applications that Make Smart Living Simple

We can add Real Estate to the long list of industries AI is disrupting, with the market worth a staggering $163 billion in 2022.

Companies that leverage AI to slash energy costs and make living simple have been acquired for billions of dollars. Yet one company in this industry has flown under the radar, until now. 

You’ve heard us talk about RYSE, but did you know that they're prepping for a brand-new product launch that’s already attracted attention from renowned real estate developers and big-box retail?

Their new SmartCurtain puts them a step closer to becoming the dominant brand in automated shades powered by AI and you can still reap the early rewards.

The window to invest is closing - learn more here.

_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Companies are having their best earnings season in nearly 2 years (YF)

• Elon tells Buffett to buy Tesla stock (IBD)

• Columbia University cancels its university-wise commencement ceremony (NBC)

• Equinox launches $40,000 membership to help you live longer (CNBC)

• SEC warns Robinhood that its crypto business faces lawsuit (YF) 

• ABC News president Kim Godwin steps down (Axios)

• Renters’ hopes of being able to buy a home have fallen to a record low (CNBC)

• Palantir raises 2024 forecast on robust AI demand (YF)

• Social Security now expected to run short on funds in 2035 (CNBC)

• Starbucks needs to revamp its stores after big earnings miss (CNBC)

• Does Sony's bid for Paramount have a private equity problem? (Axios)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks closed their 3rd-straight winning day, propelled by earnings and rate cut hopes.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Micron Technology ($MU) +5% after the computer memory and data company was upgraded by Baird.

• (+) Paramount ($PARA) +3% after beginning formal acquisition negotiations.

• (–) Spirit Airlines ($SAVE) -10% after the airline posted a larger loss than expected.

Private Dealmaking

• EQT Partners bought Perficient, a digital consultancy, for $3 billion

• KKR bought Healthium Medtech, a medical device maker, for $839 million

• Delphia Therapeutics, a cancer biotech, raised $67 million

• EnviroSpark, an EV charging company, raised $50 million

• PocketHealth, a medical records sharing startup, raised $33 million

• Finite State, a supply chain security solutions provider, raised $20 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Seeing Others

In this capstone work, Michèle Lamont unpacks the power of recognition—rendering others as visible and valued—by drawing on nearly forty years of research and new interviews with young adults and cultural icons—from Nikole Hannah Jones and Cornel West to Michael Schur and Roxane Gay.

By prioritizing material and professional success, we judge ourselves and others in terms of self-reliance, competition, and diplomas.

The solution, Lamont argues, is to shift our focus towards what we have in common while actively working to recognize the diverse ways one can live a life.

Building on Lamont’s lifetime of expertise and revelatory connections between broad-ranging issues, Seeing Others delivers realistic sources of hope: by reducing stigma, we put change within reach.

“A thoughtful recipe for building social justice."

_{DAILY VISUAL}

US and Europe Decoupling

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Perception

When it comes to our happiness and overall life satisfaction, what happens to us often seems crucial, but it's our reaction to these events that truly defines our experience.

While we tend to prioritize the events themselves, understanding and managing our expectations about these events can have a more profound impact. If an event meets, exceeds, or falls short of our expectations, it influences our emotional response.

Recognizing that things don't inherently go "right" or "wrong"—they just unfold differently than expected—can shift our perspective significantly. This realization encourages us to focus less on trying to control life's events and more on adjusting our mindset toward what happens.

By reevaluating how we perceive and react to the world around us, we can enhance our overall happiness and life satisfaction, fostering a more fulfilling and resilient approach to life's inevitable ups and downs.

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• How to stay on the fast track to the next level of leadership

• Strategies for introverts to succeed at work

• The best language tip to communicate over email

• 30 zero-effort ways to fill your life with joy

• Why the Eisenhower Matrix is a fantastic productivity hack

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day