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June 19, 2026

Hello, GrowthHackers!

Welcome to your daily unfair advantage.

Every morning, we cut through the noise to bring you sharp insights, fast news, and fresh sparks to light up your brain and fuel your hustle. From scrappy hacks to big tech moves, AI shifts to culture flips this is your intel to stay ahead, move fast, and break boring.

Think of it as your growth-fueled espresso shot.
Short. Smart. Addictive.

Let’s dive in.👇

Quick Hits

Meta updates its livestream shopping tools
(Meta keeps betting on livestream shopping like it's the future of retail )
Mivo’s new app takes a mindful approach to managing screen time
(An app helping you use your phone less is peak 2026 irony 💀)
Spotify’s reserved ticket sales to music superfans are now going live
(Spotify knows superfans will do anything except miss a ticket drop)

The Growth joke of the day

The future isn't human vs AI.
It's figuring out which AI you're supposed to use today. 😭**

What's New in Growth Hacking/Growth Marketing?

Strategies

Google, Microsoft Back Draft AI Agent Discovery Spec
Eleven companies, including Google, Microsoft, GitHub, and Hugging Face, have published Agentic Resource Discovery (ARD). The open specification sets out how AI agents find and verify tools, skills, and other agents across the web.
Meta adds expanded analytics and AI restyle options to Edits
Meta announced another round of updates for Edits, its standalone video editing app, including new sound effects, visual controls and artificial intelligence-powered restyle options.
Google Exposes The Fundamental Flaw Of LLMs.txt
Google’s John Mueller and Martin Splitt talked about LLMs.txt and markdown, with Mueller offering a surprising fact about the original purpose of LLMs.txt and also explaining why the proposed standards are have severe shortcomings.
We Need To Change Our Approach To AI Prompt Tracking
A lot of tools have evolved in a short space of time, approaching the problem in the same way we have rank tracking. Rank tracking has always had some level of variance, but the levels of personalization have been tolerable, and enough to build a narrative of “this is what success looks like” from.
General Intuition in talks to raise $300M at around $2B valuation
The raise comes eight months after General Intuition spun out of Medal, a platform for uploading and sharing video game clips, with a $134 million seed round. The fresh funds would bring the startup’s valuation up to just over $2 billion, sources say.
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People

The CEO of Allbirds’ new AI biz has a plan, but no employees
When Allbirds pivoted to AI in April, it felt like a joke from Silicon Valley breaking free of the TV: The direct-to-consumer shoe purveyor whose flimsy kicks helped define what we’ll loosely call Silicon Valley style had discovered a new trend to chase.

What's New in Artificial Intelligence (AI)

OpenAI is bringing on some big guns in the lead-up to its IPO
OpenAI is bringing on some big names to the team in the lead-up to its public debut: Google DeepMind AI legend Noam Shazeer and former Trump White House AI policy official Dean Ball.
Snap spins off AI video team into new company, Dotmo, due to costs
While technically a separate company, Dotmo will retain its close ties to the Snapchat creator. For one thing, Snap will provide Dotmo with a license to adapt its technology for gaming and interactive entertainment platforms. At the same time, the initial Dotmo team will consist of a group of current Snap staff who are leaving Snap to launch the new venture.

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The Iran Deal Wobbles, Obama's Library Opens, OMG The Reflecting Pool, Inspiration From Juneteenth, And Slava Ukraini!!!!!!!

The US Men's soccer team plays Australia at 3pm ET today - be sure to watch and cheer them on!

Simon Rosenberg

Jun 19

READ IN APP

Greetings all. The big blubbery baby man’s rollicking shambolic sh-tshow rollicks on this morning…..

Let’s start with some breaking news - the ridiculous “peace deal” is already falling apart:

This ridiculous deal is also already running into intense opposition on the Hill. Here’s a new report from the Washington Post. These are very, very strong condemnations of the deal:

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was concerned that “certain aspects of this deal are a step in the wrong direction.”

Cotton criticized lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, which he estimated would allow the country to bring in between $4.5 billion and $6 billion a month.

“That’s a lot of money,” Cotton said Thursday on Fox News. “And we know that this terrorist revolutionary regime is not going to spend that money on day care or on hospitals. They’re going to use it to rebuild their drone stockpiles, their missiles, to fund Hamas and fund Hezbollah.”

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, lambasted the $300 billion fund. While the administration has said it will be funded by other countries in the region rather than the United States, Wicker said it makes the $1.7 billion that the Obama administration sent to Iran as part of a 2015 nuclear deal “look like a pittance by comparison.”

Wicker also raised concerns about the agreement’s declaration that all military operations would cease in Lebanon, which Israel has occupied as part of its campaign against Hezbollah, the militant group allied with Iran. Israel was not involved in negotiating the agreement, and many Israelis have denounced it.

“I also oppose the U.S. lifting any sanctions on Iran, or unfreezing Iranian funds, in exchange for Iran’s mere agreement to negotiate for another 60 days,” Wicker said in a statement. “The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel.’ The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”

The pushback was notable because neither Cotton nor Wicker are frequent critics of the administration.

After looking like an addled, sundowning fool at the G7 Trump has now further embarrassed and weakened himself on the global stage today. From The Guardian:

Meanwhile, a new transatlantic drama is emerging in Italy, after US president Donald Trump told an Italian broadcaster that prime minister Giorgia Meloni “begged” him for a picture on the sidelines of the G7 summit earlier this week.

Talking to the La7 broadcaster, Trump reportedly said:

“She begged me to take a picture with her! She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”

Extraordinarily, Meloni immediately took to social media to respond, posting a short video clip and saying “neither I nor Italy ever beg” anyone for anything.

The Italian PM said she was “astonished” by “completely made up” claims by Trump.

“I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: it is not the first time. I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the ⁠West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence.”

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani also cancelled his planned trip to the US in response.

“The serious and offensive words of president Trump towards prime minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy. For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June,” he said on X.

The algae filled Reflecting Pool has now turned into an international symbol of Trump’s corruption, incompetence and vainglory. For the fun never stops in DC these days yesterday the new blue bottom started coming apart. Here’s an underwater video from DC freelance photographer Andrew Leyden showing the shocking deterioration:

The NYT has a story this morning about the contractor who got the no-bid contract for turning the Reflecting Pool blue and shocking! - he has a home right next to Mar-a-Lago and is a long time Trump supporter. Here he is, John J. Cafaro. This ain’t a joke:

A man with dark hair and a mustache and wearing a gray herringbone overcoat stands in front of a microphone.

Yes, this has really happened:

From the NYT:

A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials said.

The outbreak at the base in San Antonio raced through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables.

A trainee in his sixth week of basic training died after falling ill on Friday and being taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, the Air Force said in a news release. It was not immediately clear whether the death of the trainee, Keon McDaniel, was related to the flu outbreak.

As our addled, sundowning ridiculous leader retreats, stumbles, and surrenders Zelenskyy and Ukraine continue to show strength, ingenuity, and unceasing courage. Yesterday Ukraine successfully executed a major attack on Moscow’s largest oil facility. Watch these videos to get a sense of the shock Russians must have felt:

Speaking of strong and inspiring leaders here is former President Barack Obama’s speech at the opening of his Obama Presidential Center yesterday. Be sure to get to it this weekend!

And yes let us close out this post today with a moment to reflect on the deep sense of pain, of suffering, of resilience, of triumph, of inspiration, and of the reminder of the work yet to be done that this national holiday brings……

Robert Reid holds a flag with the words "Juneteenth Freedom Day" and "break every chain" on it.

Now, Let’s Get To Work, People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Things To Call Congress About This Week

Yes to making American oligarchs pay for Trump’s failed Iran war - not every day Americans
Yes to the Ukraine Support Act, get it passed through the Senate and to the President’s desk
No to the ballroom, the Arch, the gilded statues, the slush fund, the corruption, self-enrichment……
hell no to Todd Blanche as Attorney General, and yes to very tough questioning of the new DNI nominee, Jay Clayton
Hell hell no to the new OMB regs that will destroy government-funded science in America. Join the new Stand Up For Science campaign to Stop Vought. Save Science today.

Help Make Hopium Stronger, Bigger, Better

A big thank you to everyone who has become a paid subscriber in recent days. We’ve signed up 131 new people, strong progress towards our goal of 500 by July 4th. Take 10% off a paid annual Hopium subscription today and help make our Independence Day membership sale and drive a success. Follow the link for group and gift subscriptions too!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

(Please be patient as we overhaul and update this section)

Supporting Battleground Candidates For The House and Senate

Caitlin Conley For NY-17 - We’ve launched a special campaign to help Cait Conley win her primary next Tuesday in one of the most flippable House seats in the country. Donate here, and watch my interview with Cait - West Point grad, special ops leader, 3 times Bronze Star recipient. We’ve already blown past our initial goal of $10,000 as of this morning, as we are already over $15,000 now. Can we get to $25,000 by Monday?

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign - $783,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with a single contribution split twelve ways | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Jonathan Nez (AZ-02), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.

Friends if these twelve win, the House will flip, no matter redistricting madness the Rs execute in the coming days. So eyes on the prize here everyone!

Hopium’s Winning The House - Second Wave - $83,100 raised, $250,000 goal - We’ve launched a second House fund, one targeting candidates who’ve recently emerged from primaries or have to run in new districts. Our initial crew is Rebecca Bennett (NJ-07), Bob Brooks (PA-07), Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Bob Harvie (PA-01), Denise Powell (NE-02), and Bobby Pulido (TX-15).

A donation to the Second Wave Fund is split evenly among these six, and more as other worthy candidates emerge for their primaries. We are off to a great start here people!

Josh Turek For Iowa Senate - $19,700 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more and volunteer | Watch my wonderful new interview with Josh Turek

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $105,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

James Talarico For Texas - $87,700 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Learn more from my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Graham Platner For Maine Senate - $2,600 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more and volunteer

Jon Ossoff GA Senate - $188,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my uplifting conversation with Senator Ossoff

Roy Cooper for NC Senate - $124,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my new discussion with Gov. Cooper

Expanding The Map - Investing And Winning In Key Expansion States (we will filling out this section in coming days)

Winning Iowa - $7,200 raised, $100,000 goal - We’ve also set up a new Winning Iowa campaign that splits a contribution three ways - to Turek, to Gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, and to the Iowa Democratic Party and its great chair, Rita Hart | Watch my new interview with our great gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand

Winning Ohio - $162,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $599,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! and use the link to make contributions to any of the state parties directly | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five critical battlegrounds.

Please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and elections all across this great country to win, together! - Simon

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Friday, June 19, 2026

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