📎 Hot perk: Basic office supplies

As a potential TikTok ban looms, Fanfix is successfully courting Gen Z creators looking to monetize their fan bases.

Fanfix was founded by Harry Gestetner, Simon Pompan, and influencer Cameron Dallas in 2021, and acquired by SuperOrdinary — which connects brands, creators, and buyers — in 2022 for $65m.

Creators who already have 10k+ followers can apply and, if accepted, charge fans $5-$50/mo. for paywalled content, or up to $500 for private DMs. Creators keep 80%, per TechCrunch.

Fanfix is akin to Patreon or OnlyFans, except it targets fans 13-24, so there’s absolutely no nudity allowed and moderators review DMs.

Do people really pay up?

It’s hard for me — a cranky millennial — to see why anyone would pay to watch strangers — even hot strangers — go to Starbucks. But Gestetner told Forbes that Gen Z has grown up with a deluge of free content and now craves exclusivity. 

Creator Savannah Demers (who tells good dad jokes, btw) told TechCrunch her ~2.1k fans have earned her ~$13.5k per month at $8/mo. — not including tips or messages. Netflix starts at $6.99/mo.

Fanflix also claims:

• It has 10m+ users, including 3k creators
• Creators average ~200 fans and an annual income of $70k
• It’s paid out $11m to creators this year so far and expects to pay $50m by year end

The SuperOrdinary acquisition didn’t hurt either

SuperOrdinary partners with 140+ brands and has an influencer-curated ecommerce platform, GalaGala.

Basically, they’re going all-in on the Gen Z creator economy — and it appears to be working.

The Dot-Com Bubble. The Housing Bubble. The… Bubble Bubble?

Bubble tea, or boba, has been the hottest tea trend in America over the last decade, and though the tapioca treats have been expanding across the nation at a rapid rate, this is one craze that doesn’t appear to be at risk of popping anytime soon.

Steeped in success

Americans’ interest in bubble tea, originally concocted in Taiwan in the 1980s, has gotten steamy hot in recent years, according to Bloomberg. In 2023, the US market for the drink — uh, food, uh, drink, uh… — is estimated to be worth $640m. A decade from now, estimates rise to $2.2B.

In 2022, with some 30.5m kilograms in the trunk, tapioca-based foods beat out frozen tilapia and sugar confectioneries as the most-valued US food import from Taiwan, rising to ~$50m from less than ~$15m in 2020.

Globally, Taiwan’s tapioca export value passed the $100m mark in 2021, up 23%.

Really milking it

Bubble tea franchises are growing quickly:

• This year, Queens-based Kung Fu Tea and its 350 locations are hoping to steep in $240m of sales.
• In recent years, Taipei-based CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice has expanded its North American footprint 77%.
• In 2019, Taiwan’s Gong Cha was acquired by Boston-based TA Associates for $270m.

Think they threw a tea party to celebrate?

Time to add another workplace acronym to your glossary: BYOS — Bring Your Own Stapler.

Cost-cutting efforts are continuing at Alphabet after Google’s parent company eliminated 12k jobs in January, and per CNBC, austerity measures include saving on staplers and tape dispensers.

Internal memos warn basic supplies will no longer be provided at print stations, with San Francisco employees directed to borrow them from the receptionist desk as needed.

Saving on office supplies is a familiar tune in budget-conscious offices worldwide. So if this weren’t Google, it wouldn’t feel surprising…

… but it is Google.

They have long been a standard bearer for benefits and office perks. (Though, in fairness to Alphabet, operating efficiently with ~175k employees is a tall task.)

Other ongoing efforts to rein in costs:

• Pausing laptop refreshes — MacBooks will be harder to come by; non-engineers will default to Chromebooks.
• Food, fitness, massage, and transportation programs are all being reevaluated. Cafe consolidation is expected; the company already let 20+ massage therapists go earlier this year.

Prompting internal outcry, Google also did not pay out remaining time for employees laid off while on maternity and medical leave.

Perks and raises were already in trouble

Employees at one of the world’s most valuable companies struggling to find staplers is… well, it’s sobering.

A recent executive survey shows 47% of companies are planning to trim benefits this year, per Fortune. Commuter benefits and adoption and fertility assistance are common targets.

• Even cash-rich Apple has curtailed travel spending, cut bonuses, and stopped backfilling positions.

But if we’re looking for a positive here, at least this viral PSA about tape dispensers can claim another moment in the sun?