THE IMPOSSIBLE BURGER Is Revolutionizing Meatless Patties
Many vegetarians don’t miss their carnivorous days and avoid products that attempt to replicate the flavor and texture of meat. There are scores of eaters, however, who’d like to consume less meat but find they
can’t resist a good hamburger. Most veggie burgers that attempt to compete with real meat are pale imitations. Or at least they were, until Impossible Foods came along. The food company launched in 2011 but has experienced a surge in popularity over the past two years. Their signature item, the Impossible Burger, is an entirely new approach to plant-based meat alternatives. Rather than using items like beans and tofu to create a burger, they build their patties using specific compounds from plants and grains. The most important, “heme,” is what gives meat its unique umami component. Dr. Pat Brown, a biochemist and founder of Impossible Foods, uses heme found in plants to give his burgers a mouthfeel that’s eerily similar to ground beef. The Impossible Burger even “bleeds” like a traditional patty. There are all sorts of reasons to consume less meat, from nutrition to environmental impact and ethical concerns. All of these are for naught if you can’t tempt people away from their favorite foods. “The only way we win is by making foods that consumers prefer and choose over the food that we get from animals,” Dr. Brown says. So far, it’s working. The Impossible Burger has even been endorsed by world-class chef and ardent meat-lover David Chang. Giving up meat entirely will never be the norm for everybody. Eating fewer animal products, though, is a noble goal for many reasons. The Impossible Burger is here to help, one patty at a time.
PATREON IS CHANGING ENTERTAINMENT BY CONNECTING CREATORS AND THEIR FANS
Artists and creators getting paid for their work has always been a fraught process. Since the inception of mass
consumption, artists have almost always had to rely on a third-party distributor to spread their creations to a wide audience. That comes at a price, both monetarily and in terms of the artist’s creative freedom. You only have to take a look at contemporary Hollywood to see this process at work. Want to make a movie with any chance at being shown in theaters? You’ll need to play ball with a major studio. Technology, surprisingly, hasn’t always made this easier. Spotify is constantly under fire for paying artists tiny amounts per play. They argue that giving musicians exposure to millions upon millions of users offsets this pricing model. But one company, Patreon, offers a distinct alternative to this model by giving creators direct access to funding from their supporters. As their name suggests, Patreon updates the Renaissance concept of patronage for our crowd-sourced age. Instead of relying on one mega-patron like the Medici family, artists can solicit donations from as many supporters as they’d like. Creators create an account with Patreon at no upfront cost. Fans and supporters can donate directly to their favorite content providers at whatever amount is comfortable for them. Often, artists will provide bonus content and other perks to their highest-tier donors. For all of this, plus services to help creators grow their platform, Patreon only charges a 5 percent fee, which is taken out of wages before creators are paid each month. Creators like Patreon because it allows them to bypass traditional media companies and distributors. Fans like it because it ensures that their dollars go straight to the source of their favorite content. It also allows artists to make money without having to charge for access to their artwork, videos, or music, something which puts off curious potential consumers. Consider it the farmers market experience for content creators.
‘TURN THE SHIP AROUND!’ Leadership Lessons From a Naval Submarine If there’s one place where chain of command reigns supreme, it’s the Armed Forces. As retired U.S. Navy Captain L. David Marquet describes it in his book “Turn the Ship Around!” the culture is one that considers leaders to be “individual heroes.”
When Marquet took control of the USS Santa Fe, he realized that traditional leadership style wasn’t benefiting those under his command or the success of the sub as a whole. So he did something radical, bucking generations of conventional wisdom regarding what works in the military: he gave more power to his subordinates. “Control, we discovered, only works with a competent workforce that understands the organization’s purpose. Hence, as control is divested, both technical competence and organizational clarity need to be strengthened,” he writes. While the book focuses on Marquet’s personal experience, its lessons can be applied to all sorts of operations. Many business owners struggle with delegation, preferring to control as much of their company as humanly possible. “Turn the Ship Around!” is a real-life antidote to this type of thinking.
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