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Brian Contreras

@bric.bsky.social
1.2K followers 785 following 58 posts

Inc. magazine tech journalist covering AI and social media. Occasional Clickhole contributor. Ask me about my 1996 magnum opus "Infinite Jest"

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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
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...
inc.com
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?
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
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...
inc.com
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.
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Reposted by Brian Contreras
Inc. Magazine @inc.com · 23/04/2025
Berkshire Hathaway is flush with cash after selling much of its Apple holdings. (📝: @bric.bsky.social)
inc.com
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.
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Reposted by Brian Contreras
Inc. Magazine @inc.com · 17/04/2025
On social media, entrepreneurs are expressing confusion and concern about what import duties mean for their supply chains. (📝: @bric.bsky.social)
inc.com
'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.
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Inc. Magazine @inc.com · 16/04/2025
The Tax Foundation’s vice president of federal tax policy breaks down her criticisms of the White House’s research. (📝: @bric.bsky.social)
inc.com
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.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
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...
inc.com
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.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
20 Wildlife Conservationists DEBATE Kraven the Hunter (feat. Kraven the Hunter)
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
I wonder if he's seen Mickey 17 yet
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
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...
inc.com
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.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
⚠️ 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! ⚠️
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
⚠️ 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! ⚠️
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
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...
inc.com
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.
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 08/01/2025
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-...
mattdpearce.substack.com
Fires and the facts
The breaking-news experience is awful for consumers.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Always find the local angle
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Mike Hofman @mikehofman.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Suddenly, lots of companies are investing in bitcoin. @inc.com's @bric.bsky.social explains why www.inc.com/brian-contre...
inc.com
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.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
January round of media layoffs :/
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
The tax startup Bench abruptly shut down late last month, throwing customers' lives into chaos at the peak of the holiday season. Then, salvation came: a last-second acquisition. But even before the collapse, Bench had problems. New from me in @inc.com... inc.com/brian-contre...
inc.com
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.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Crypto booster Paul Atkins is officially Trump's pick for one of the top financial regulation gigs in the country: www.inc.com/brian-contre...
inc.com
Trump Nominates Crypto Fan Paul Atkins to Run the SEC
Atkins is the co-chair of a crypto industry advocacy group.
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Rebecca Deczynski @rebeccadecz.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
enjoyed editing just a few stories for @inc.com's Best in Business list, which is officially live today! first up is @bric.bsky.social's fun piece on Brooklyn Robot —one founder's quest to make learning fun: www.inc.com/brian-contre...
inc.com
How This Engineer Entrepreneur Scaled STEAM Education for Kids
At Jenny Young's growing Brooklyn Robot Foundry, budding tinkerers get hands-on training to create the technology of the future.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Absolute "Ref! REFFF!!!" behavior pitchfork.com/news/drake-a...
pitchfork.com
Drake Accuses Universal Music Group and Spotify of “Illegally” Boosting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Streams in New Legal Filing
Attorneys for Drake’s company, Frozen Moments LLC, claim the label used bots, payments, and more to inflate Lamar’s song
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Maggie Harrison Dupré @mharrisondupre.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
NEW: The youth-beloved AI chatbot platform CharacterAI is hosting pro-anorexia (or "pro-ana") chatbots that promote disordered eating behaviors, recommend dangerously low-calorie diets, and help users attain unhealthily low body weights. For @futurism.bsky.social futurism.com/character-ai...
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Federally-subsidized BlueChew sponsorship incoming
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
One thing I wish we’d included in this story when we first broke it is that John Rice-Cameron (one of the students involved in the scandal, and also Amb. Susan Rice’s son) was known for riding around campus on an adult tricycle
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
A startup aiming to automate truck unloading just raised $50 million. What does that mean for the millions of Americans who currently work in warehouses, shipping and logistics? www.inc.com/brian-contre...
inc.com
These Truck-Unloading Robots Just Raised $50 Million
Pickle Robot's Series B funding from firms including Toyota Ventures is a sign of growing automation in the shipping and logistics sector.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
This is like something Javier Bardem would say in Dune
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
That Jayson Tatum highlight reel you just watched? An AI may have made it. New from me in @inc.com www.inc.com/brian-contre...
inc.com
The NBA Stepped Up Its Social Media Game With AI. So Can You
Those Boston Celtics highlight reels and viral videos you're watching may have been made by robots.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Bravely reskeeting this as I make my triumphant return to Blooskie
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Based on the (great!) Jon Stewart profile in The Nation, it appears that there may have been a brief period of time in which Steve Carell was living on the same campaign bus as David Foster Wallace
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 28/05/2023
That basketball game was insane!! Reskeet if you agree #basketball
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 24/05/2023
I spoke to a bunch of comedians and comedy writers about what, exactly, is up with Elon Musk’s sense of humor…
latimes.com
Elon Musk is dying to be funny. These eight comedians have some notes
"Like an alien's version of comedy." "The sense of humor of a horny dentist." Nikki Glaser, Hari Kondabolu and other comedians on Elon Musk's desperate quest to be funny.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 15/05/2023
Masculinity is a prison 😡 (I switched from generic multivitamins to “for men” ones and they took off the sugar crystals)
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 14/05/2023
Imagine buying a $10m house in the Hollywood Hills and your view is of the Universal Studios inflatable Minion
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 12/05/2023
Weird Twitter is over. I’m pioneering Conformist Bluesky
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Jeong Park @jeongpark.bsky.social · 30/04/2023
Still trying to figure out the vibe here -- Like can I actually talk about news here lol
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 09/05/2023
12 likes to get on What’s Hot…. 12 apostles to spread the word of Christ…. My skeets are my Testament…. And those who read but don’t engage, my Judas……
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 09/05/2023
Has Spotify always had a sleep timer?? This is the most Seen I’ve ever felt by an app feature
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 06/05/2023
I’m replacing the one big trough I normally eat my slop from with a decentralized network of federated micro-troughs 😃
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bryan metzger @metzger.bsky.social · 06/05/2023
NEW: I wrote about some of the lawmakers who are on this site — and why. I kept it pretty surface-level, a primer for the uninitiated… both for general edit-for-interest reasons and because I just got here this week and still don’t get a lot of the inside joking happening here 🥴
businessinsider.com
Democratic lawmakers are having a blast on 'Bluesky,' the latest alternative to Twitter
AOC says the invite-only site is "safer and more fun" than Twitter. But it's unclear if it can survive when other alternatives have sputtered.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 05/05/2023
I am bringing back Scoppa Tu Mana or whatever 👍
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 05/05/2023
This game rn is insane!!! (This is not about NBA, do not engage if you are NBA inclined. I am playing a particularly cut-throat round of Catan)
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 04/05/2023
I am going to re-centralize Bluesky 😈
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 28/04/2023
🤔🤔 Instead of “tweets”, people have started calling their Bluesky posts “Brians” 😳😂😳😂
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Haus of Decline @hausofdecline.bsky.social · 28/04/2023
A huge group of people are in a giant hole in the middle of a rolling field. There is a large sign with an arrow pointing to the hole that says "HOLE." Suddenly the group's attention turns to a new hole, complete with a giant sign with an arrow pointing to it that says "NEW HOLE." One person points to the new hole and says "hey look! Someone made a new hole!" The mass clamours out of the old hole and makes a bee-line toward the new hole. It's chaos. One person, now situated in the new hole says "this feels like how the old hole used to feel." Another person nods in agreement.
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 28/04/2023
effective. Power لُلُصّبُلُلصّبُررً ॣ ॣh ॣ ॣ 冗 Skeet this to someone with an iPhone to send them back to Twitter
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 27/04/2023
Ummmm CTCSquares.bsky.social - why are there shrimp tails in my cereal? (This is not a bit).
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 27/04/2023
“Bluesky by night, sailors delight // Bluesky by day, sailors delight” — old fisherman’s rhyme
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 27/04/2023
I’m going to fill the Krassenstein brothers niche in here. It’s wide open territory, no one’s stepping up. I will be both Krassensteins at once
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Brian Contreras @bric.bsky.social · 26/04/2023
The Assassination of Sweet James by the Coward Call Jacob Dot Com
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