Most of us were told the same thing at the start. Don’t go too niche, you’ll cut down your market. Sell to more people and you’ll get more sales. Sounds logical. But real life is starting to look different, maybe a lot. Shopify surveyed 18,000 shoppers across nine countries for its holiday report, and 65% said they’re likely to use AI for at least one shopping task this season. That’s not Google, not scrolling Amazon for an hour. They just describe what they need to ChatGPT or whatever they...

There’s a salt works in Malden, West Virginia. Population about 3,000 and surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains, sitting on top of an ancient ocean buried underground for hundreds of millions of years. A sister and brother revived their family’s salt business there in 2013. Everything is done by hand, brine pumped up from 350 feet below, dried in sun houses, raked, packaged, shipped right from the farm. A staff of fewer than a dozen people. Their salt ships to high-end restaurants in Tokyo...

You know how everyone starting an online business tries to appeal to everyone? Their about page says they help teens, parents, office workers, and retirees. Their product does five things. Their content covers whatever felt interesting that week. And I get it. Saying no to a type of customer feels like leaving money on the table. Thing is, Coca-Cola just proved the opposite. Mr. Pibb, a soda that has existed since 1972, became the fastest-growing brand of 2026. Not a new product, not a viral...