Venezuela’s regime change has pushed one of the world’s messiest debt situations back into focus. The country defaulted in 2017, but unpaid bonds, arbitration awards, and oil company liabilities have ballooned total external debt to roughly $150–170 billion, nearly twice its GDP. Distressed debt investors, expropriation claimants like ConocoPhillips, and China and Russia are all lining up. Bonds have rallied, but any restructuring would likely mean deep haircuts, long timelines, and a fight over Citgo. (Reuters)

California just flipped the switch on a long-promised privacy power move. A new state-run tool lets residents submit one request to tell hundreds of registered data brokers to delete their personal data, instead of opting out company by company. The platform covers brokers that buy and sell info like emails, phone numbers, and browsing history, though public records and first-party data are exempt. Brokers must begin processing requests in August 2026 or face daily fines. Translation: less spam, lower fraud risk, and more leverage for consumers. (TechCrunch)

Saks Global’s CEO is stepping aside just as the luxury retailer prepares for a likely Chapter 11 filing. Marc Metrick, who led Saks’ merger with Neiman Marcus, resigned days after the company missed a $100M+ interest payment. The combined retailer has struggled under heavy debt, weakening luxury demand, and growing vendor tensions. Creditors are now negotiating financing for bankruptcy, which could mark the biggest department-store collapse since the pandemic. (Wall Street Journal)

Meta just acquired chatbot company Manus as part of its push toward “superintelligence.” Manus builds autonomous AI agents that can handle tasks like research, coding, and data analysis, and already serves millions of users. Meta plans to keep the Manus product live while integrating its tech across Meta AI. Meta is placing its bets on business-focused AI being where the real money is, and it’s buying competitors before regulation catches up. (Social Media Today)

Japan rang in 2026 by dropping serious cash on seafood. A popular sushi chain, Sushizanmai, paid a record 510 million yen (about $3.2 million) for a single 243-kg bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s famous New Year auction. The buyer, nicknamed the “Tuna King,” said the splashy bid was meant to boost morale and signal confidence in the economy. Customers will get slices of the record-setting fish at regular menu prices. (Reuters)

They say “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Turns out, it’s also a pretty solid growth strategy.

Recently, Meta’s Reels business reportedly crossed $50BN in annualized revenue.

And, Reels wasn’t exactly a groundbreaking invention. It was a TikTok clone that launched late, received a ton of criticism, but managed to turn into a multibillion-dollar business. 

The lesson isn’t “go copy your competitors line by line.” 

It’s this: pay attention to what’s working, understand why it works, then apply it in your own context.

Here’s the 3-step playbook I’ve used across multiple businesses, and the same one Meta just ran at global scale.

Meta didn’t copy TikTok’s brand, culture, or audience.
They copied the format + behavior loop:

Then they dropped it into their business for their specific audiences. 

The smart play is to look outside your industry for formats and systems that are already driving action.

I learned this early by running multiple businesses at once. Starting from scratch every time is exhausting and unnecessary. If something works in one venture, I adapt it and run it elsewhere. 

Edit and repeat, I mean, if it’s working, it’s working, why try to reinvent the wheel? 

How I do it:

Same mechanism. Different market.

A TikTok-style feed wouldn’t work if Meta just pasted it into Facebook unchanged. What works for the 18-20 Gen-Z crowd isn’t going to do it for the middle-aged mums on Facebook. 

So Meta adapted:

Ask yourself: “What would this look like if it were built for my buyer?”

Great ideas travel well if you can translate them.

Meta didn’t make $50BN because Reels was “better.”
They won because they:

Now I’m going to say something a little controversial here… original ideas are overrated, fast execution on proven ideas is not.

If something is already working elsewhere, your edge is speed:

Originality is great.

But billion-dollar outcomes usually come from spotting patterns and executing them better than everyone else.

If it works in:

Meta didn’t invent short-form video, but they sure as heck profited from it.