Munch.
You ever tried microwaving a bowl of Frosted Flakes? Can’t say I would recommend.
I’m Jeremy, your Cereal Intern. Not yet subscribed? Come and join the movement 🙏
Black lives matter. Check out this page for more ideas on how to help. I will share this link prior to Today’s Spoonful in every issue for the foreseeable future. Don’t let this be a moment.
🥄 Today's Spoonful
Alexis Ohanian has stepped down from the Reddit board…
… and asked for his spot to be given to a black board member. Talk about real, actionable change. 👏 If you’ve been following responses from VC firms and companies all across tech, you’ll know that many have received flak for talking the talk rather than walking the walk. This move from Alexis is a step in the right direction.
Ohanian, founder and former CEO of Reddit, also announced that future gains of his stock would be re-invested in the black community. The man is setting a fine example to help usher tech into a new age of diversity 🔥
Twitter’s numbers are soaring (flying) 🎶
Honestly? Kinda surprised Trump hasn’t made the Twitter Bird the new national mascot. In all fairness though, the President has been going back and forth with social media and Twitter may not exactly be in his good graces.
^The Twitter Gods snickering after fact-checking Mr. Prez.
But despite Trump’s targeted campaign against Section 230, Twitter had a record number of installs over the past week, including just over 1 million downloads this past Monday. This is due in no small part to COVID-19 and the protests happening all across the world. In a world of instant gratification, turns out news-sharing immediacy is pretty on-demand.
Sounds like there’s not a star in heaven that Twitter can’t reach.. if they’re trying. 🎶
Uber’s got some competition in the Grubhub chase 👀
Looks like that uber-big (had to) acquisition might have to wait. TechCrunch reports that Uber’s got competition from Delivery Hero and Just Eat Takeaway (the ingenious name for the merger of the two companies, Just Eat and Takeaway). The acquisition would be immense for Uber, whose Uber Eats platform is a top Grubhub competitor. But both Delivery Hero and Just Eat Takeaway are funded handsomely 💸, and a bidding war will only drive prices up.
Buckle up, foodies 🤤
Developers rush to push tools to protect protesters in the streets 👊
This past week has seen an overwhelming response in the community to protest racism, injustice, and the wrongful deaths of innocent Black lives. The responses to these protests, on the other hand, haven’t been as collaborative or open. Many police officers have responded to the protests with more violence, and the DEA has even been given authority to investigate those protesting George Floyd’s death.
In fact, the Justice Department granted the org the temporary power “to enforce any federal crime committed as a result of the protests over the death of George Floyd.”
While these moves all put protesters at risk, developers have jumped to provide tools for protection. Some have even developed blurring/anonymizing software to combat facial recognition tech! 💪😶
Read more about some of the tools here.
🥣 Cereal of the Day
This pandemic has certainly disrupted face-to-face interaction as we know it. I love what this next company is doing in the face of uncertainty. Meet Mayo!
Help your community. Feel happier. Mayo enables people to help others nearby in the moment.
I think we all often get caught up in the grander scheme of things, focusing on macro movement and systemic change.
No doubt that’s important - but we often forget that positive action, no matter how small, can truly make a difference (*ahem* vote local). That’s why I love Mayo! It focuses on the little tasks and creates a community of ❤️. I mean, look at this:
Ugh, I feel all butterfly inside. 🦋
For real though, Mayo is free to use and doesn’t require a profile. It’s all about spreading kindness as far as possible and making community-building as accessible as a downloadable app.
Mayo’s mission is simple but powerful: to help people help each other.
‘Nuff said.
Check Mayo out here!
Coolness meter: Soarin’. Flyin’. Also talk about branding. Sheesh. Beautiful design.
🍳 A Healthy Serving of...
I’m not someone who gets stressed easily. I enjoy taking on challenges. I like being busy and having projects to occupy my time (i.e. The Cereal Intern). I love grinding to a deadline and hustling under pressure.
But, of course, I’d be lying if I said I never got stressed. So, here’s lesson #9: You create the majority of your own stress.
Yep - surprise! It can be easy to forget that when you have deadlines or nagging bosses, but the truth is that stress is oftentimes a self-created demon.
That also means that it’s within your control, for the most part.
If I’m stressed, it’s usually because I’ve procrastinated on a project and a deadline has caught me by surprise. In that moment, I’m often quick to blame the deadline for my stress. However, we both know that the real cause of my troubles is that new Netflix show or the YouTube spiral.
You are your own worst critic. It’s important to recognize that you’re not perfect and that you won’t meet every deadline. Now, that doesn’t mean you can slack off and use that as an excuse. In fact, I use a planner, a reminders app, and some app restrictions to make sure I minimize lallygagging 🤪 as much as possible.
Just recognize that your stress level is within your control! That should help you breathe easy.
That’s all we got, folks. Love and good vibes always — keep riding those waves 🏄♂️
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Munch.
The Cereal Intern.009