Munch.
Hey team! We’ve got a doozy of a newsletter today. Saddle up 🏇
I’m Jeremy, your Cereal Intern. Not yet subscribed? Come and join the movement 🙏
Biiiig two days in tech and business. Here we go!
🥄 Today's Spoonful
Trump looking at Twitter fact-check his tweets like:
Yesterday morning, ol’ Donny signed an executive order on preventing online censorship. Jim Acosta say whaaat? The order, which has received strong backlash from the likes of the ACLU, targets the legal shield that internet companies use to protect themselves from liability for creator content. Without the law, known as Section 230, in place, social media companies run the risk of being sued for the content their users publish. (BAD) 🙅
It’s a massive punch in the face for Twitter which was labeling the president’s tweets as potentially misleading just a few days prior. Luckily, while this is certainly an intimidating move on the White House’s part, it’s unclear whether they’ll be able to legally enforce the order.
Meanwhile, I’m still on a quest to find the world’s best Tiger King meme (send recs pls). 🐯
YouTube introduces Video Chapters for navigating long videos.
As the world turns to short videos, YouTube (or, as my grandma says, TubeTok) is here to remind us that it’s still kicking.
And by kicking, I mean it’s the second most-visited site in the world after Google. 🤯
YouTube’s new feature should certainly help its case. As viewers grow more and more obsessed with instant gratification, these Chapters will make it easier to navigate long-form content through timestamps creators put in their videos.
Someone make Video Chapters for this ASAP. 🙏
Scott Kubly launches Cabana to merge #vanlife and hotels.
“The way I would describe it is vanlife meets car sharing meets a boutique hotel. It’s a hotel room packed into the back of a van.” Intriguing! And how much does it cost, you ask? About $200 bucks per-night, and the company is already booking rides (stays? trips?) in Seattle.
Scott, a former Lime exec 🍋, says that he thinks there’s around $15 billion (!) spent on travel that he’s trying to target with Cabana. A bunch of other companies are already on the chase, and with his $3.5 million raised, Kubly’s onto something.
Last but not least, mindfulness apps are on the rise. 📈
I love a good meditation sesh with Matthew McConaughey just as much as the next guy, so I was pleased to see that mindfulness apps were downloaded more than 700,000 times in the week of March 29th.
Calm and Headspace, 1A and 1B in the mindfulness space, combined for nearly 5 million 🔥 downloads in April alone.
Kudos to Headspace for offering free memberships to front-line medics and professionals. Calm took a slightly different approach, focusing on corporate and celebrity partnerships (as it has in the past) to reach more users.
It’s a good reminder that many businesses are continuing to function as usual.
🥣 Cereal of the Day
I already talked about Cabana, so I guess this is our second Cereal of the Day? Lucky you! 🍀
Introducing BeeHero!
BeeHero is founded by a team of ‘your friendly neighborhood pollinators’ and they’re working to provide precision pollination services and create smart hives. They’ve already generated a ton of buzz (I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it 🐝) with their product and just raised $4 million in a seed round.
The data tracked by BeeHero’s smart device enables apiaries and other beekeepers to track and monitor important trends in pollination and hive health. Or, in the team’s words, their company provides ‘pollination-as-a-service’ to help maximize potential yield.
Also a shameless and super irrelevant plug for my pals over at The Buzz.
Check BeeHero out here!
Coolness meter: click me. Do it.
🍳 A Healthy Serving of...
When I was first starting out in tech, I remember I always felt like I had to solidify my seat at the table. That meant constant chatter — comments, questions, and even the occasional nervous greeting that would go 20 seconds a liiiiittle too long.
But trust me. There’s a place in tech for that energy. So, here’s a tip and lesson #6: over-communicate to build connections.
I’m a firm believer that you’re only as strong, intelligent, and empowered as the community around you. Now that COVID-19 has me typing this newsletter in mismatched socks and smiley-face boxers, I can’t reiterate enough just how important it is to build connections.
Working from home means that it’s certainly not as easy as it once was to visit your coworker’s desk. But, with all that said, think of all the possibilities at your virtual fingertips! Coffee chats over Zoom, party parrot bonding in Slack, mutual hatred of Typeform…
In the remote workplace, over-communication is a skill. Not a weakness. Cue party parrot.
So, go out there, over-communicate your brains out, and start developing your network of virtual pals. And maybe buy some new boxers.
No? Just me?
Aaaaand we’re out. Thanks for checking in on this issue of The Cereal Intern!
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Munch.
The Cereal Intern.006