how much do you hate your job?
i made a gen z career survey
Good morning and welcome back to as seen on.
Today’s newsletter is mostly about what’s happening in the social landscape: a Reels standalone app, LTK’s evolution, a new beauty and fashion hype house, and some hot takes on “community.”
Also, a new celebrity-founded tech company, why Karolína Kurková and her husband are suing the Fisher Island Club, and my theory about zines and failing digital media companies.
ENJOY!
I’m working on a Gen Z career report with because I think most of these publications don’t know what they’re talking about. If you’re Gen Z and reading this, fill out this survey and let me know how you’re feeling about your life and career. Especially if you hate your job. Or your boss.
The Brutalist won Best Actor despite all that AI drama. And Mikey Madison is the second youngest actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Love her, but I can’t believe Zoe Saldana got on that stage.
Citigroup mistakenly credited a customer account with $81 trillion instead of $280 last year. It was reversed two weeks later and reported to the Federal Reserve as a “near miss.” I’m choosing to see this as a liquidity flex.
Tech companies are delaying or scrapping their IPO plans in response to the market volatility caused by the Trump administration. We’re talking tariffs, regulatory changes, and inflation concerns. Instead of going public, companies like Databricks and Veeam are securing billions in funding from private investors. Others, like Stripe, are using tender offers to sell their shares without an IPO. In 2024, companies conducted 77 tender offers, raising $3.5 billion—more than double the $1.7 billion raised in 2023. Bankers are also pushing tech companies, which are often unprofitable, to find a way to make money—at least $200 million in annual revenue. If a company is smaller or losing money, investors want to see high revenue growth. To be honest, this is very much a pre-Trump trend. In fact, IPO activity is up 14% from last year. What’s most interesting is how the pro-business, anti-regulation “IPO wave” investors expected Trump to usher in simply isn’t happening. At least not yet. In a similar vein, Semafor reported last week that business leaders were “turning on Trump—fast.” The market is rife with uncertainty, and uncertainty is bad for business.
