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The drink of the summer is water, Drake's alleged business plan

Good afternoon everyone.

Before we get into it, some observations from last weekend, which included a 24 hour stopover in Montréal for the F1 Grand Prix. On Saturday afternoon, I landed in a suite hosted by Cadillac, the newest team on circuit: it took three years and a reported $1 billion to get to this point, with parent company General Motors and partner TWG Motorsports stepping up to help foot the bill.

Line items included a one-time payout of $450 million split across the other 10 teams, a reported $13 million a year paid to drivers Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas, the cars themselves, and the salaries of the more than 300 people actively working to improve their performance. Like other carmakers, the company says these engineering efforts will trickle down to consumer models.

This event was also the most outrageous display of corporate spending I’ve ever seen. Household names like RBC and Anthropic, all looking to impress clients and contacts, were dropping six- and seven-figure sums between Paddock Club passes, suite buyouts, private cars, hotels, and evening programming (I ran into three CEOs with tables at the Sports Illustrated party).

Back in Toronto, at an event hosted by Microsoft and LIO on Monday, a few founders asked me whether they should have made the effort to go. I’m not sure, but what I do know is that as the business landscape grows more competitive, companies are starting to behave like members’ clubs, where being a customer gives you access to more than the product or service itself.

The access can be to an experience, like an F1 race, a network, or a different perk—a box at the Jays game, invite-only panels (I went to a good one hosted by Cisco at Harbour 60 last week) and happy hours, or an early preview of a new collection. I mentioned this to the Cadillac team, and they asked if I knew about the perks their customers get at Fairmont properties. I did not.

Now that we’re in the midst of Toronto Tech Week, something similar is playing out across the city’s restaurants, rooftop bars, and members’ clubs: companies using access to splashy events to win favour from clients, investors, and media. This has always been a part of the game, but it’s never been more difficult to ignore—thank you, Instagram—and harder to get in.

(Speaking of which, come say hello if you’re at Homecoming today).

Milk Bag covers the business stories you won’t find on Apple News. If you have a story tip or want to work together, email me.

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Lululemon will appoint two of Chip Wilson’s three nominees to its board, pending shareholder approval. In exchange, the brand’s founder has reportedly agreed to cool his (increasingly public) attacks on leadership.

Robinhood will move forward with its acquisition of the Toronto-based cryptocurrency company WonderFi, after receiving the final regulatory approval from the CIRO. The deal is expected to close by next month.

Tim Hortons is hiring 10,000 workers as it prepares to open 80 locations across the country this year. The company says it will cut down its reliance on temporary foreign workers, which make up nearly 4% of its workforce.

• The drink of the summer might just be water. The internet, and specifically TikTok, is calling it ‘stacked water,’ which is just regular water with a mix of added health boosters, including kitchen staples lke lemon water, honey, flax and chia seeds, but also supplements like Vitamin C, creatine, and probiotics. There’s no shortage of companies working to help optimize your water, from Blume (electrolytes and probiotics), to Arrae (protein, electrolytes), to Athletic Greens (vitamins and minerals). I appreciate the ability of social media to reinvent even the most unexpected everyday things.

• Meta has launched a Reddit-like app for Facebook groups called Forum.

• Tonic Blooms told Milk Bag their peony subscription business has nearly doubled in the last year. Several florists in the city now offer subscriptions, starting in May, to take advantage of a short season.

• There’s still so much we don’t know about Drake’s business plan. Now that we’re no longer distracted by a stack of melting ice blocks, we can talk about the growing theory that his three album release was an attempt to end a $400 million contract with Universal Music Group, which he’s currently suing over promoting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.” Some people like the albums and justify the artistic direction, others think he’s “saving up all the good music for when he’s finally independent.”

• A former South Park writer is buying up Kevin O’Leary domains. Toby Morton has said he now owns several domains, which he has attributed to a personal branding oversight. I’m not sure what Morton has against O’Leary, but if I were to guess, it has something to do with his politics and wealth.

• This was the line to play tennis at Trinity Bellwoods on Monday night. If everyone’s keeping to the 30-minute cut-off, 22 rackets for four courts means a wait time of two hours, at which point I’d find a new hobby.

  

  Credit: u/sleepycity

• In a new reality show, Jen Agg will try to rescue struggling restaurants.

• The Logic launched a new subscription tier for executive readers. I agree that there’s an opportunity for more forward-looking business coverage for company leaders, since much of the news cycle focuses on what’s already happened—not always useful for people trying to shape those headlines. But I am a little concerned to read so many of them are saying they’re “walking into board meetings, investment calls and regulatory conversations without a clear read on what’s coming.” This also makes me wonder how well Semafor’s invite-only CEO Signal newsletter is doing, which just expanded into a podcast.