Buff Briefs

Your quick scroll of what mattered last week, before the morning beverage kicks in.

😮 LinkedIn’s Natural-Language People Search: Premium U.S. users can now type natural-language queries like “find me investors in healthcare with FDA experience.”B2B prospecting just turned into prompt engineering.

🦄 Sakana AI Becomes Japan’s Most Valuable Unicorn: Raised $135M Series B at a $2.6B valuation, fueled by breakthroughs in “continuous thought machines” and inference time scaling. Asia’s AI ecosystem is building new reasoning paradigms.

📊 Google Ads - PMax Budgets & AI Mode Default: Performance Max now supports total campaign budgets (finally). Google is also exploring AI Mode as the default for Search. SEO will shift from keywords → AI citations → paid visibility inside generative answers.

🤯 DBS Bets Big on AI: Southeast Asia’s largest bank expects AI to bring in $768 M this year (up from $563 M in 2024) across 370 use cases, a signal that AI’s no longer just a cost saver, it’s a revenue engine. Finance is now leading AI adoption by ROI, not risk.

🙋‍♀️ LinkedIn’s Enhanced Discovery for Thought Leader Ads: You can now surface and sponsor organic posts from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd+ degree connections, including posts mentioning your brand.

Buff Takeaway: Starbucks’ Bearista Masterclass

Starbucks’ $30 Bearista Cup sold out in hours and created a $200 resale economy overnight. The hype wasn’t an accident, it was excellent product instinct meeting imperfect infrastructure.

Using the 4 images below, here’s what this drop really teaches Brand and Product Leaders:

Demand Wasn’t the Problem. Prediction Was.

Scarcity Works… Until It Breaks Trust

The Drop Optimization Playbook (If Starbucks Had It)

This playbook is only half the story.
For the full download, metrics, fairness scoring, LTV impact, and the exact KPIs that determine whether your drop compounds value or erodes trust, check out the full carousel on LinkedIn OR Instagram.

Stay Curious, Stay Ahead!

"Make the first 30 seconds magical, and you earn the next 30." - Grant Lee, Founder - Gamma

Until next Monday Morning, Buffs!