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November 14, 2021 | View Online | Sign Up
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IN THIS ISSUE

The rise of ultrafast delivery

WFH in Portugal

Coffee first or brush first?

 
 

Editor's Note

 
 

Good morning. A popular piece of advice is to stop caring about what other people think because "no one is thinking about you." Sounds great in theory, but...the truth is, everyone is thinking about you.

New research shows that people consistently underestimate how much others think about them following conversations. The study's authors call this the "thought gap"—we are so consumed by our own reflections that we fail to consider that our conversation partners are doing the same thing.

These results jibe with another study about how people fail to recognize the extent to which others observe them in public. In other words, when it comes to people-watching, you are the people being watched. Someone on a park bench has almost certainly crafted an intricate backstory for you.

Freaked out a little? Don't be. The final thing people underestimate, research shows, is how much others like them (aka the "liking gap"). So, if we were to tweak the advice at the top a bit, we should probably still not care what people think, and instead take comfort in knowing that people are actually thinking about us, most often in a positive light. Which is nice to know.

—Neal Freyman

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CULTURE

 
 

Q&A

 

Icebreakers With...YouTube Dentist Anthony Baroud

A young man sits in a room full of dental chairs

Anthony Baroud

Anthony Baroud has plenty to smile about. The third-year dental student, known for his YouTube Shorts where he experiments with "fat globs" of toothpaste and all sorts of dental products, has had quite the year. In September 2020, Baroud had 100 YouTube subscribers. At the time of this writing, he's a bristle-length away from reaching 6 million.

Morning Brew caught up with Anthony for our 6-month check up.

In regards to toothpaste, are you a squeezer or a roller?

[Laughs] Okay, I'm kind of privileged in the sense that I have so much toothpaste that I never have to roll anymore. I used to be like, so efficient with getting every single last drop. I would strategically squeeze it out and then slide two fingers back, but I didn't want to crinkle the tube. And then at the end I would roll it—at the very end.

What's a toothpaste substitute somebody could use if they ran out and they're in a pinch?

A great option to reach for is baking soda. The reason for that is the properties of it help neutralize tooth decay, which is usually caused by acidic bacteria in your mouth.

Sometimes it feels like dentists purposefully ask a personal question right as they put a machine in your mouth. Is that taught in school? Is that in a manual?

[Laughs] They're probably just messing with you. I hear so many stories about that. But I'll make sure I won't continue that, and that the future generation of dentists are informed to avoid that because that is annoying—that happened to me several times growing up.

Coffee first or brush first?

The first thing I have to do is brush, because I wake up like eugh, gross morning mouth. I would say you should for sure brush right when you wake up, but if you are going to brush again after you drink coffee, ideally you should wait 30 minutes to an hour. Coffee's acidic, and if you were to immediately brush after drinking it, you could potentially damage your teeth if you do that every day. What I do after I drink coffee is just swish around some water in my mouth and then go forth with the day.

Your videos hit that "satisfying" threshold for a lot of viewers. What's your favorite "satisfying" content?

I really enjoy hydraulic press videos. There's satisfaction in something getting crushed. There's also this really cool account that I recently discovered, and they've been cranking out Shorts. They basically do super zoomed-in ASMR videos—they'll zoom in on a wooden pencil, grab it with some pliers, and they'll crush the pencil and it'll snap. But they add in so many sound-effect layers, it makes the video really interesting.

Say "ahhhh"!

Let's take a look. I'll see how well you've been brushing.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

     
 
Braun

 

WORK LIFE

 

How Do I Become Less Intimidating?

Make it work image

Each week, our workplace whisperer Shane Loughnane answers a reader-submitted question about work in 2021. Anything bothering you at work? Ask Shane here.

I'm intimidating to work with, how do I change that?—Vinny from Denver

Intimidation, like most things in life, has its time and place. After all, Tony Soprano didn't pull us in for six seasons by leading with grace and humility.

But intimidation is typically a less welcome addition to the workplace. Sometimes it's introduced by design, more commonly it's unintentional. Rarely is it self-identified, and so the fact that you're asking this question signifies an important first step. This article from the Harvard Business Review highlights the mismatch between self-perception and reality—it also recommends additional strategies to the ones that I'll preview here.

A common phrase I hear about colleagues who are perceived as intimidating is that their "bark is worse than their bite." While I suppose that's comforting, most of us aren't out there trying to get barked at constantly, either. Consider how you react when challenged and how that may or may not be inviting honest feedback and opposing points of view.

Pay attention to these cues and focus on creating more time and space for low-risk interactions. By making a genuine effort to engage your colleagues on a regular basis, you'll help to lessen the intimidation factor when it comes time to address those higher-stakes issues.

Tips & Dips

Believe it or not, we're only 11 days out from Thanksgiving.

And I do have a favor to ask: Rather than writing in with your questions this week, I'd love for you to respond with any advice you've received that you're grateful for, and how it's made a difference in your work life. Share it here and we'll highlight some notable responses next week.

     
 

ANALYSIS

 

Instant Delivery Coming to a City Near You

Jokr Grocery Delivery Bike Courier

Jokr

A new wave of delivery startups is hoping to put Uber Eats and DoorDash into a retirement home. Ultrafast grocery delivery companies like Buyk, Jokr, Gorillas, 1520, Fridge No More, and the OG instant-need company GoPuff have all popped up across New York City within the last year, offering low fees and delivery in 15 minutes or less.

And investors are foaming at the mouth. Jokr launched in June and has already raised at least $170 million, Gorillas hit unicorn status in March and snagged almost $1 billion in funding in October, and GoPuff reached a $15 billion valuation in July.

So how do they do it?

Dark Stores. Instant commerce companies don't rely on traditional grocery stores for products. Instead, they build microfulfillment centers that aren't accessible to the public and are strategically placed within key delivery areas. This way couriers can quickly deliver your ice cream by bike or even foot.

  • These dark stores are stocked with only the most in-demand inventory. They carry about 1,500–5,000 SKUs, compared to around 35,000 items that can be found in your typical grocery store.

Full-time employees. Instead of leaning into the gig economy like their cousins at Uber, most (but not all) of the ultrafast delivery services hire couriers as full-time employees, which allows them to make hourly wages, keep tips, and get benefits. And while that may cost more upfront, companies could benefit from the arrangement when they scale up and already have workers on hand to fill shift schedules.

  • However, delivery riders for Gorillas in Germany did protest over insufficient safety gear and pay discrepancies over the last year.

Zero or extremely low delivery fees. Jokr has no delivery fee and no minimum order, so you could simply order a single kombucha to your apartment. That's MoviePass-level unit economics. Jokr lost $13.6 million on just $1.7 million in revenue as of the end of July.

  • Jokr says it'll worry about profitability later. Zachary Dennett, who oversaw the US expansion of the company, told Grocery Dive in June: "We're building the business for the customers, and then we need to solve for the economics." But he also said most customers end up ordering more than just a single item.

Zoom out: Receiving a spontaneous grocery order is a pleasant experience, but ultrafast delivery has plenty of skeptics. Dark stores have some local-first advocates nervous about whether thousands of microfulfillment centers, which aren't open to foot traffic, will eventually displace neighborhood grocery stores and beloved bodegas.

Plus, expansion could be tough. These startups' hyperlocal models could be difficult to implement in smaller cities that are less dense than NYC...or places that just aren't perceived as lucrative.

  • GoPuff has been in Chicago since 2016 and has yet to expand into the South Side of the city, an area riddled with food deserts.

Bottom line: Will everyone jump on the instant grocery delivery game? They'll definitely try. Under threat by ultrafast services, Uber recently said it would offer 15-minute grocery delivery in France by partnering with a dark store operator there.—MM

     
 
Hilton

 

REAL ESTATE

 

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that's going full Ferdinand Magellan. We'll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom Lisbon Penthouse

Portugal Homes

To find today's listing, let's head to what was once believed to be the farthest edge of the known world: Lisbon, Portugal. This week, in a bid to attract more remote workers, Portugal passed a law that barred companies from contacting employees outside of normal work hours. Let this luxury fifth-floor penthouse be the final kick you need to book a one-way ticket to a WFH paradise. Amenities include:

  • 1 bed, 1 bath
  • Main-character view from your two terraces
  • Panoramic elevator
  • 15-minute walk to the city center (which we assume is good, sorry never been!)

How much to run away from all your US problems?

     
 

RECS

 

Just Click It

1. Elon Musk sold some stock. (Money Stuff)
2. Inside the clandestine rebellion against Myanmar's junta. (Reuters)
3. The commute: A four-day paddle to work. (Beau Miles)
4. What if cemeteries played an essential role for the living? (Beside)
5. Our worst idea about "safety." (Slate)
6. How I grew up in the coldest town on Earth. (Kiun B)
7. Why American and Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights. (Texas Monthly)
8. How spammy sites that rip off obits end up running ads from major brands. (Marketing Brew)
9. How imaginary numbers were invented. (Veritasium)
10. The metaverse and near-infinite economic growth. (Noahopinion)

*All the noms for fall. HelloFresh now has a Market, where you can add fall treats like pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pecan pie bits, and more to any order. And psst: you can even add a Thanksgiving box for no-fuss feasting this season. Sign up today.*

*This is sponsored advertising content

 

CONTEST

 

Meme Battle

Welcome back to Morning Brew's Meme Battle, where we crown a single memelord every Sunday.

Today's winner: Taylor in York, PA

A meme from Squid Game

This week's challenge: You can find the new meme template here for next Sunday. Once you're done making your meme, submit it at this link for consideration.

 

ANSWER

 

$588,600

         

Written by Neal Freyman, Shane Loughnane, Max Knoblauch, and Matty Merritt

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