The CQ | OURA's Big Mic Drop
Plus 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 weekend.
By Eurie Kim and Kirsten Green
OURA is a force. They have had a wildly impressive week, announcing that:
They’re on track to do $500m in annual revenue this year
They are growing 100%+ YoY, with cutting-edge hardware that has the margin profiles of a software company
Their much anticipated Gen 4 ring is now available, with improved features and accuracy across all fronts
The Department of Defense has contracted a $96M deal to bring the ring to service members
OURA continues to push the boundaries on what can be done with the best in biometric data capture. And in doing so, the company has redefined how consumers think about sleep, solidifying it as a key function of overall personal health with real, measurable outcomes. This is what category leadership looks like.
And speaking of category leadership, Glossier announced two new fragrances this week — Glossier You Rêve and Doux. A decade ago, it’d have been incomprehensible to think people would buy a fragrance online before trying it themselves…but Glossier’s lock-tight relationship with customers has flipped this on its head. So much so, that upon launching in retail at Sephora, You instantly became the #1 selling fragrance at the retail giant. Rêve and Doux expand the You universe with the same lovable base notes in distinct new scents.
More from our portfolio:
Duckbill, the AI-powered personal assistant service for outsourcing the most dreaded to-dos, celebrates its first year with notable highlights: nearly 150,000 tasks checked off lists, and more than 280,000 hours spent on hold. If you want to try Duckbill, the team is offering CQ readers their first three months 50% off — a steal!
Tally Health, a longevity company offering biological age tests and supplements, published a clinical study in Frontiers in Aging demonstrating that cheek swap tests predict mortality with accuracy that surpasses models based on blood data.
Joy, the parenting service providing 24/7 text support with feeding, sleep, and parenting experts, launched its app in the Apple Store and Google Play.
Dutch, the telehealth service for pets, announced a partnership with Ancestry that couples digital veterinary care with at-home DNA testing for understanding over 200 genetic conditions.
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What We’re Talking About on Slack:
There’s staggering new data in Axios on how young men and women are moving in opposite directions. The divide comes up across most major major socioeconomic dimensions:
Religion: young American men are more religious than women for the first time
Education: there are 2.4 million more women than men in U.S. colleges, leading to higher-paying job opportunities for women
The labor market: wages for college-educated women and working-class women have increased, while working-class men face stagnation and lower employment rates
Family life: men are more inclined to desire marriage and children than women, with a notable decrease in child-wanting among younger women
Politics: women are leaning left; men are leaning right
The polarization is especially pronounced among those under 25, potentially because of negative social media portrayals of the opposite gender. Says one expert, “This has tremendous implications for how men and women relate to one another in the dating space."
Finally some IPO news for the tech industry: there were two filings this week — one in healthtech, one in AI chips — after no tech IPO filings since Q1 this year. All eyes are now on Omada Health and Cerebras to see whether they inspire more.
The Wall Street Journal delves deeper into the topic of America’s young men falling behind. In addition to their declining employment rate, more young men (8.6%) than young women (7.8%) are falling into the NEET category (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). And more time spent alone during the pandemic has led to increased feelings of loneliness and isolation. Men ages 18 to 30 spent 18% more time alone last year than in 2019—22% more alone time than reported by women. Also alarming: the suicide rate for men aged 25 to 34 increased 30% between 2010 and 2023. “A lot of young men are not sure they are needed or that they are going to be needed by their families, communities, or society,” says the president of the American Institute for Boys and Men.
Are we passed peak obesity? For the first time in decades, the obesity rates are dropping. It might very well be the GLP-1 medicines, with 1 in 8 people having tried these drugs. The decline is also most steep in younger adults, the demographic using GLP-1s at the highest rate.
In August, U.S. job openings climbed to a three-month high of 8.04 million from 7.71 million in July, exceeding the forecast of 7.69 million by a Bloomberg survey of economists. This was driven mostly by significant increases in construction and state and local government positions. The hiring rate fell to 3.3%, the lowest since 2013 (aside from the early pandemic), with drops in the retail trade, transportation, and warehousing sectors. Layoff rates also remained low and quit rates decreased to 1.9%, the lowest since June 2020.
Vintage shopping is booming. Banana Republic and others get in on the action. According to Capital One data , there are more than 25,000 resale stores in the U.S., and secondhand apparel sales are up 11% from 2022. A recent ThredUp data found that US apparel resale grew 7x the rate of the broader retail industry in 2023, with the used clothing market reaching $43 billion, up from $23 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, brands like Banana Republic, REI, Madewell, and H&M have started collaborating with vintage stores, offering in-store resale of their own clothing. Says an H&M exec, “Young people see resale as a core part of what they believe in, not only from a self-expression perspective but the impact on the planet and climate. It makes sense to lean into this as a bigger focus.”
Bosses are firing Gen Z grads just months after hiring them. A new report reveals that six in 10 employers say they have terminated recent college grads earlier this year. One in six bosses say they’re hesitant to hire young people just out of college again and one in seven went a step further to say they may avoid hiring them next year. Half of them report that grads lack motivation or initiative and over 20% say their Gen Z hires can’t handle the workload. Some other reasons employers cited include unprofessionalism, lack of communication and organization skills, lateness, and inappropriate dress and language.
Influencers aren’t going anywhere, and their power is expanding. According to a new report, 88% of Gen Z adults say they follow at least one influencer and 22% follow more than 50. The shares of Gen Zers and millennials who trust social media influencers either “a lot” or “somewhat” increased from 51% in 2019 to 61% in 2023.
Portfolio Highlights:
Oura Chief Commercial Officer Dorothy Kilroy spoke on a panel about how AI can bring healthcare equality at the Time Women's Leadership Forum.
Longevity.Technology and MedicalDaily cover Tally Health’s study on its CheekAge swab test.
Business Insider reports that Pie raised $11.5 million with quotes from founder Andy Dunn on his goals for the app.
Cotopaxi is honored as one of the 44 companies on Fortune’s Change the World list.
CNN, Elle and Highsnobiety review Glossier’s new perfume launches.
Around the Web:
Job of the Week:
There are ~20 open roles at Fora, the three-sided marketplace reinventing the travel agency, including this Product Marketing Manager role.
There are ~545 other open roles at Foreunner portfolio companies — check ‘em out.
Athletic Greens rebrand was interesting!