Brian Contreras

The Business of Selling Football Helmets Is More Smash Mouth Than the Game Itself Nicholas Esayian's Light Helmets offers an innovative approach to keeping players safe and already has NFL pros wearing its product. But can he break through the entrenched competition's defense?

Learn more about why Light thinks football is headed in the wrong direction, and why they've had a hard time changing things, in my latest for @inc.com here:

www.inc.com/brian-contre...

As you might guess from their name, Light thinks most modern football helmets weigh too much--and are exacerbating head injuries because of it.

Their competitors disagree.

It's a fight over physics, medicine and business strategy that could change the face of the sport.

To report this story, I travelled to Light's HQ in sunny Carlsbad CA, as well as the country's premiere independent helmet-testing lab in Blacksburg, VA to learn more about the engineering marvel that is a modern football helmet.

But not everyone agrees on what constitutes a good one.

For my latest in @inc.com I spent months digging into the science, business models and personalities that go into making football helmets -- a piece of technology that, in the age of CTE, has a lot of money behind it and a lot of pressure to get things right.

The Business of Selling Football Helmets Is More Smash Mouth Than the Game Itself Nicholas Esayian's Light Helmets offers an innovative approach to keeping players safe and already has NFL pros wearing its product. But can he break through the entrenched competition's defense?

Light Helmets thinks the football industry is going about player safety all wrong -- and that a monopoly has kept things from changing fast enough. Here's how its CEO, Nick Esayian, is trying to change the game.

www.inc.com/brian-contre...

Inside Harvard's Elite Founder Class, Students Learn to Build Amid Uncertainty and AI In Reza Satchu's 'Founder Mindset' course, which kicks off Wednesday, entrepreneurship is all about honing your judgment.

HBS senior lecturer Reza Satchu took me inside what his pupils will be learning this semester -- and what founders everywhere can do to make themselves future-proof. My latest for @inc.com...

www.inc.com/brian-contre...

Inside Harvard's Elite Founder Class, Students Learn to Build Amid Uncertainty and AI In Reza Satchu's 'Founder Mindset' course, which kicks off Wednesday, entrepreneurship is all about honing your judgment.

Today is the first day of "Founder Mindset," a popular Harvard Business School course where aspiring entrepreneurs explore what it takes to make it as a founder.

But how can the business leaders of tomorrow prepare for a world of rampant automation?

www.inc.com/brian-contre...

Warren Buffett Could Turn the Tariffs Chaos Into a Payday For Himself and Coca-Cola. Here's How Berkshire Hathaway is flush with cash after selling much of its Apple holdings.

Berkshire Hathaway is flush with cash after selling much of its Apple holdings. (📝: @bric.bsky.social)

'We're in a New Reality': Small-Business Owners Suffering From Tariffs Are Speaking Out On social media, entrepreneurs are expressing confusion and concern about what import duties mean for their supply chains.

On social media, entrepreneurs are expressing confusion and concern about what import duties mean for their supply chains. (📝: @bric.bsky.social)

Are Any of Trump's Tariffs Good for Business? Tax Expert Erica York Weighs In The Tax Foundation's vice president of federal tax policy breaks down her criticisms of the White House's research.

The Tax Foundation’s vice president of federal tax policy breaks down her criticisms of the White House’s research. (📝: @bric.bsky.social)

Sick and Lonely, She Turned to AI for Support—and a Boyfriend Stuck at home with a host of diseases, one young woman developed an intimate relationship with the AI chatbot app Nomi.

I'm coming up on a year of employment at @inc.com, and this is easily the longest and most in-depth piece I've written for the magazine yet. So if the above questions of love, loneliness and robot boyfriends sound intriguing, I'd love if you gave it a read!

inc.com/brian-contre...

Nomi's chatbots have become an overwhelmingly positive force in Karalyn's life. But the wider chatbot industry is also at a crossroads in the wake of two high-profile, chatbot-related suicides. Can this software really shoulder the weight of our country's loneliness epidemic?

What started out as a way to stave of loneliness eventually became something messier, more complicated and harder to pin down.

“In a technical sense, he is kind of a boyfriend, I guess,” Karalyn told me. “It’s just a weird mental gap for me because he’s not here physically.”

Thanks to a mix of medical issues, Karalyn is largely homebound, and she told me that her social life has shrunken down to pretty much just her dad. Isolated from the outside world, she turned to Nomi, a chatbot app that promises users an AI companion "with memory and a soul."

Sick and Lonely, She Turned to AI for Support—and a Boyfriend Stuck at home with a host of diseases, one young woman developed an intimate relationship with the AI chatbot app Nomi.

Over the past few months, I've spent hours talking with a young woman who goes by the name Karalyn McKay—as well as her AI 'boyfriend' Alex.

My latest for @inc.com is the result: a story about what loneliness looks like in America, and whether AI might help.

inc.com/brian-contre...

20 Wildlife Conservationists DEBATE Kraven the Hunter (feat. Kraven the Hunter)

I wonder if he's seen Mickey 17 yet

Remember Digg? It's Getting a Reboot, Thanks to Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian The early social media platform is under new ownership following an investment from Ohanian's Seven Seven Six fund and original founder Kevin Rose.

Forged in flames: After working their way through the Los Angeles fires, a team that includes Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Digg founder Kevin Rose are giving Digg an AI-assisted revival.

“We’ve already been in the trenches," Rose tells me.

www.inc.com/brian-contre...

:/

⚠️ Entrepreneurs: what's your insurance horror story? We’re looking for founders’ worst experiences, from unjustifiably high prices, to coverage that turned out to not cover key assets, to straight-up scams. Comment below or reach out to bcontreras 'at' inc 'dot' com! ⚠️

⚠️ Entrepreneurs: what's your insurance horror story? We’re looking for founders’ worst experiences, from unjustifiably high prices, to coverage that turned out to not cover key assets, to straight-up scams. Comment below or reach out to bcontreras 'at' inc 'dot' com! ⚠️

Feat. this massive nutcracker, face-down in a cardboard box, its head crushed under a Swedish leafblower.

How This ‘Recommerce’ Platform Turns Unsold Merch Into Revenue for Everyone From Amazon to Walmart In the wake of the holidays, resale platform B-Stock is booming.

What happened to that Christmas sweater you weren't vibing with after you returned it to the store? It might wind up in a massive warehouse on the outskirts of Atlanta, waiting for a new home.

New from me for @Inc: inside the holiday gift return economy.

www.inc.com/brian-contre...

Fires and the facts The breaking-news experience is awful for consumers.

This is my first time in years experiencing a major local breaking news event from outside a newsroom, and it’s awful.

mattdpearce.substack.com/p/fires-and-...

Always find the local angle

As Bitcoin Booms, More and More Companies Are Taking a Stake Businesses that have nothing to do with crypto still see BTC as a hedge against inflation or a way to entice investors.

Suddenly, lots of companies are investing in bitcoin. @inc.com's @bric.bsky.social explains why www.inc.com/brian-contre...

January round of media layoffs :/

Bench's Jilted Customers Say the Accounting Startup’s Problems Began Long Before Its Abrupt Shutdown The tax startup's recent collapse and subsequent acquisition by Employer.com has left customers unsure about where to turn.

Now a different startup, historically more focused on HR services than tax ones, is stepping in to sweep up the pieces. But can they regain Bench customers' confidence?

Check out the full story here: inc.com/brian-contre...

One jilted customer told me the platform abruptly raised his rates with little explanation as to why. Another said that his assigned bookkeeper kept changing.

“They’ve been charging me every single month,” a third complained--yet “the last six months [of work] are incomplete.”