The CQ: Gen Z's surprising Optimism for the Tuture, and Moms-For-Hire
The Forerunner Team's Must-Reads of the Week
The CQ is Forerunner’s weekly newsletter rounding up the most pressing consumer news and analysis, plus some bonus musings from our investment team. Subscribe now to get the latest edition in your inbox every Saturday.
What We’re Talking About on Slack:
Fast Company wonders why so many new products for adults look like they were made for little kids. This ranges from Character, which sells tool boxes that come in preschool hues (and lists Away luggage as creative inspiration) to Our Place’s Wonder Oven, an Easy-Bake Oven doppelgänger. These “juvenile design” products not only delight young homeowners craving personality in often-boring spaces like storage and appliances, but resonate with consumers on nostalgic level. “During COVID and all that, we were experiencing during those times — the economic unrest, and everything that’s happening to our planet, global warming—people are looking for a time when life was simpler, [to] products that just kind of bring back joy and happiness.”
Moms-for-hire are helping college students living away from home by providing, well, motherly help. These businesses offer services like rides to the airport, furniture assembly, advice on picking classes, even a bowl of chicken soup when illness strikes. Says one professional mom, “I can do locally what a mom in Michigan can’t. Some things are possible from afar, some aren’t.” Jury is still out on whether this is ends up proving to be an interesting resource for adolescents at a formative time, or just coddling.
Plot twist: Gen Z is surprisingly optimistic about the future. For a generation known for social strife and widespread mental health struggles, Gen Z’s bullishness about what’s ahead for them isn’t what most might expect. “Why it matters: Gen Z's view of itself couldn't be more different than everyone else's view of Gen Z.”
A tale as old as time: Super-wealthy parents are hiring high-end consultants to get kids into Ivy leagues. But now we’re talking up to $750,000 for white-glove concierge service that includes 24/7 mentoring, personal debate coaches, seven hours of tutoring a day, and fine-tuning extracurriculars to give their child an edge at landing a spot at Yale or Harvard. Often kids kick-off their college prep before they even enter high school (one firm offers a program that starts in kindergarten). A reminder that pre-college prep is a massive, often fragmented and opaque industry.
Every app wants to be a shopping app. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Google have all tried their hand at e-commerce, and now it’s TikTok’s turn. Americans, as a whole, haven’t been wildly interested in shopping on social media apps based on the traction of most of those earlier attempts — and The Atlantic isn’t entirely convinced that TikTok will fare differently. “Although [TikTok]’s culture of authenticity may help some users sell things, ‘you could see shopping being a bit of an odd fit: This app was supposed to be where I watched relatable videos from everyday people, and now they’re trying to make money off of me?’”
Still, TikTok is determined to win the hearts and wallets of U.S. shoppers: TikTok Shop will fund up-to-50% discounts on Black Friday deals in order to compete with the likes of Amazon and Walmart this holiday season.
The new GRWM? Gen Z is obsessed with shower routines, and brands are riding the wave. It’s part of the larger Gen Z trend of romanticizing mundane tasks. According to Vogue Business, #showerroutine was a top trending hashtag of June 2023 and #bodywash topped July, while #everythingshower averages 7 million views on TikTok in the U.S.
This week in “LinkedIn suddenly became cool,” Slate notes that from 2020 to 2023, LinkedIn experienced a 41% growth in content, which reflects not just growth in number of users but growth in behavior. “Thinkfluencing” — people posting what’s on their mind and then tying it back to work — has been a big (and polarizing) contributor to that. Factors like the pandemic, which merged people’s personal and professional lives, as well as the recent string of layoffs and strikes have all sparked more people to post about how their work-life affects them. The struggles of Twitter (or rather, X) and constant changes across other social platforms’ algorithms are also contributors.
Remote work is thriving in the fastest-growing and biggest parts of the U.S. Topping the list is Boulder, CO at 32%, while the Washington D.C. metro area came in at #6 with 25% of remote workers — which is actually higher than any state. Tech hubs San Francisco, San Jose and Austin all made the top 10. How does this bode for the downtown economies of these big cities that are reliant on their office buildings being full? “The solution in these cities is more likely to come from ambitious redevelopment projects — converting office towers into residential buildings and mixed-use neighborhoods.”
FOBO, a.k.a. “Fear of Becoming Obsolete,” is growing among college-educated workers. A new Gallup poll shows the percentage of college graduates who are worried about technology stealing their jobs has jumped from 8% in 2021 to 20%. Workers who make under $100,000 also saw a significant 10-point increase to 27%. And young people between the ages of 18 and 34 are also more anxious about it than older folks. As for those workers without a college degree, their level of concern about being replaced by technology has remained the same at 24%.
Portfolio Highlights:
Axios reports that Ampla has raised $258 million from Goldman Sachs and Atalaya Capital Management.
Catch is featured in Business Insider’s story on software startups that help customers get cash back for shopping with a quote from CEO Nico Perdomo.
The Economist outlines the results of a sleep habits study of more than 220,000 people across 35 countries that was conducted by researchers from the National University of Singapore in collaboration with Oura.
Ritual’s new sleep supplement, along with quotes from CEO and founder Katerina Schneider, are featured in WWD.
Oura is included in The Wall Street Journal’s feature on hard-core sleepers who obsess over their sleep stats.
Beauty Independent reports that Ritual is the first supplement brand to share its products’ carbon emissions with consumers, with quotes from Lindsay Dahl, the brand’s chief impact officer.
Forerunner Highlights:
Kirsten Green and Duckbill CEO & Co-founder Meghan Joyce join Bloomberg TV to discuss Duckbill’s series A and how AI impacts productivity and search.
Eurie Kim is quoted in Business of Fashion’s feature on the longevity economy alongside features of Tally Health and Oura.
Work at a Portfolio Company:
VP of Marketing | Sunday: Sunday is on a mission to empower people to take better care of their land, and currently offers 100,000+ homeowners a more sustainable, safer, and tailored experience in backyards across America. This role will spearhead marketing and brand initiatives, enhancing subscription models and harnessing the power of data analytics to optimize marketing efforts.
Senior Acquisition Associate, Affiliate Marketing | The Farmer’s Dog: The Farmer’s Dog is the fastest growing pet health service company in the US, born from a mission to change the landscape of pet health through honest, smart food products. This role will be crucial to refining and scaling affiliate program, managing existing partnerships and forging new relationships that align with the mission.
HR Business Partner Lead, Sales & Corporate | Faire: Faire is an online wholesale marketplace built on the belief that the future is local — independent retailers around the globe are doing more revenue than Walmart and Amazon combined. This role will partner closely with senior leaders, managers and individual contributors on employee relations, performance, and engagement, to develop a deep focus on org health.
There are ~484 other openings on our jobs site. Check ‘em out.