Morning Brew - 📖 An open book

Time-saving tools and products we’re really into rn.

Ah, the humble desk sweater: that cozy companion on the back of your chair, ready to fend off fluctuating office temperatures. As we RTO, invest in this Euro chic fashionista fav by Babaà, or snag the (way more affordable) Quince dupe.

Never get caught in a storm without an umbrella again. Dark Sky is a hyperlocal weather app that gives you real-time forecasts along with maps and useful notifications and alerts.

Goodbye micromanaging, hello microunderstanding. A new study finds that remote employees are looking for their managers to be hands-on and present without being intrusive, be able to clearly communicate team priorities, be available for problem solving, and lead with compassion.

“My book club is one of my favorite groups of people in the world. I just love reading—I love talking about books. And I think it really shines through.”

Amelia Goodman is the (*deep breath*) founder, CEO, developer, designer, and social media intern behind Bookworm Reads. Outside of work, she’s an avid reader, artist, coder, and…gardener (seriously, we’re so impressed)! In 2021, Goodman left San Francisco (and the US) behind to set down new roots in Mexico City, so if you want to track what she’s currently into, add her on Bookworm @meelworm.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kickoff: “I am a late sleeper and a night owl. So I wake up when I wake up, and then always have some tea and walk my dog. And then I open my laptop, and then it starts…I’m constantly working on new features [for Bookworm] because that’s actually my favorite part: building the app. But then there’s so much social media stuff, like making Instagram posts, making TikToks…there [are] so many things throughout the day.”

Starting Bookworm: “I used Goodreads for a really long time, and I’ve never really liked it… It’s hard to use, it’s impossible to find your friends on it, and it’s owned by Amazon—[and] I’m a big anti-Amazon gal. So for a while, I was like, ‘Oh, I wish that there was something better.’ Then I was like, ‘I guess I could build one.’ And then things at my last job were kind of quickly exploding. I found out that my male coworker made $50,000 more than me. And so I was kind of thinking about what I would do next. I started playing with the idea of building [Bookworm]. And then I started building it. It just was so fun and joyful. And then I released it pretty quickly, within a couple of months.”

The building process: “I was really intentional to not let this consume me. I was just following the joy of building it. I was working on it almost every day, but it wasn’t a grind. I wanted to have fun building this, and I knew how to develop apps from years of [working as a software engineer]. But it was fun to learn all these different parts that I didn’t know before. I’ve never done anything like this by myself. It was a lot of fun, and I tried to just go slowly to not, like, put pressure on myself.”

Moving to Mexico City: “I think one of the things that I love is that the culture here is so much less about work. For many months, I didn’t know what any of my friends here did for their jobs, and they didn’t know what I did. Whereas in New York and San Francisco it’s one of the first questions. And I just love that attitude. And it took off so much pressure of [saying] ‘I’m building a startup.’”

Challenges: “Becoming a businessperson has been the most challenging. I don’t have any [business] background. And in fact, I never would have been interested in running a business if it didn’t kind of just fall into my lap…But learning about what fundraising looks like and having to incorporate just all of this stuff that I never thought I would ever even look at [has been challenging].”

Currently on her bookshelf: “My nonfiction pick [I’m going] very slowly through is Braiding Sweetgrass, [which] everyone has been talking about. I’m reading What We Fed to the Manticore, which has a gorgeous cover, and it’s by this debut author, and it’s a short story collection told from animal perspectives. And then…I’ve been putting this one off for a long time because I have intense climate anxiety, but I finally started Parable of the Sower.”—MW

We’ve made it to the end of our Solo List series. Our featured founders walked us through inception to next stages in their businesses, so we asked them to help send Sidekickers off on their own entrepreneurial journeys with the best pieces of advice. Read on to get their valuable takeaways—from finding your “why” to preparing yourself to take the leap. You’ll definitely wanna take these gems with you.

Your punch list for when you punch out.

Read: Nathan Munn writes about the short time in his 20s when he and two friends lived in a haunted apartment in Montreal. Evil little girls, flickering lights, and a palpable dark energy had them fleeing just a few months into the lease. This spooky and somehow nostalgic read will have you reevaluating your saved Zillow searches.

Watch: Now streaming on Prime Video and based on the novel of the same name by William Gibson, The Peripheral is a story about the effect of future technology on a bleak present—and the deeply personal quest of one woman chosen to make it right.

Drink: This is the week to get out your cauldron and mix up a batch of this berry eyeball punch. With lychees, blackberries, acai juice, and (optional) gin, this recipe will be the hit of any Halloween party.

Learn: Offering to help your boss build the 2023 budget without even being asked? Their dream. Amp up your financial knowledge and become the well-rounded employee who is bound to get that upcoming promotion. Morning Brew’s latest course, Financial Forecasting, is built to teach you the ins and outs of business financial forecasting no matter your title. Reserve your spot today!

Chills and thrills: Guarantee a killer game night with Hunt A Killer’s murder mystery gaming experiences. Choose single-part stories or multichapter mysteries, sort through evidence, piece together clues, and crack the case—if you can. Muahaha. Start here…if you dare.*

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Burning questions of our time.

Leading the mandated PTO charge:

Unlimited PTO is quickly becoming the industry standard in big tech and start-up spaces. While it has drawbacks—like not getting a payout for unused vacation time when you leave the company—research also shows that employees with unlimited PTO typically take less time off than their limited PTO counterparts.

The landscape is very different in other countries: Austria provides workers with a whopping 38 days off a year (that includes public holidays), and other countries like France, Spain, and South Korea all grant 25+ days off annually.

When one small US-based strategy firm mandated scheduled vacations, it found that employee performance increased. Seems like a strong case for other companies to follow suit, doesn’t it? So, should employers enforce the amount of PTO employees need to take each year? Or should companies continue to allow workers to use PTO at their own discretion? Would you take more vacation time than you do now if your PTO was mandated? Share your thoughts in the inbox by Replying to this email!—MW

And now, your thoughts on remote exceptions:

“Yes, offer exemptions to on-site work for those who are able to successfully WFH and want to. Not everyone wants to WFH, but for those who were successful at it during the pandemic, provide them with the option to continue to do so. If some face time is needed, perhaps one day a week in the office and four at home.”—Tracie

“Rather than mandating in-person work, employers should leave the decision up to their employees if their jobs can be accomplished remotely. Some individuals work better on site, while others are more productive when they work remotely. Don’t get me wrong, socializing is a necessary aspect of our well-being (with breaks for us introverts to recharge), but working remotely can free up sufficient time to socialize (including with one’s family) and rejuvenate before working again (sufficient time to rest = sufficient time to reenergize = better productivity).”—Charles