It turns out your parents may actually have been right: Thank-you notes do matter. Even if you didn’t see the benefit of sending your aunt a thank-you for the bedazzled reading light at the time, the act of expressing thanks goes a lot further than you might think.

And in a business context, thank-you notes are your secret weapon.

• Want to remind someone of the meeting you just had? Follow up with a thank-you note.
• Want to add an additional answer to the one you flubbed in an interview? Follow up with a thank-you note. [Editor’s note: This is how Charlotte got the job a whole two years ago!]
• Want to reiterate how happy you are about the promo your boss just announced? Thank-you note!

We’ve all dragged our feet on enough of these as kids to know the basics here. But in the biz world, it’s helpful to keep in mind a few other things. Here’s how to optimize your notes to strengthen relationships and build buy-in:

What even merits thanks? The big stuff like bonuses and job offers are fair game, but no need to go crazy. Avoid Slacking poetic to your coworker about how life-affirming the coffee they made was.

• The middle-of-the-road situations are where you can really stand out with a thank-you note.
• So the next time you have a long talk with your mentor or a teammate stays online after hours to help you wrap a project, send them a dedicated note expressing your appreciation.

Choose your paper stock. If you want your note to feel unique (and you have time to wait for USPS), whip out your inkwell and blotting paper. Handwritten notes go the extra mile, so save them for the important occasions.

• From there, the loose order of specialness goes: email → text or Slack → LinkedIn message → Twitter DM.
• A sticky note on someone’s desk is another quick alternative.

Do the math. The sooner you write the note, the less writing you have to do, so a bias to action is your best friend here.

• For example: If a teammate treated you to lunch and let you vent about a new client, send them a thank-you email the next morning. Three sentences should do the trick.

Thank-you notes are a relatively painless way to make someone else feel appreciated (and make you look good in the process). But they can pile up quickly if you’re not careful. Our rule of thumb: If writing notes starts to feel overwhelming, you’re writing too many.—CS

Last week, Birkenstock filed to go public, the latest company to take the polar plunge into an icy IPO market. It didn’t go great, which is the same story for the other few brave souls this year, like Arm and Instacart, which both went public in September.

Don’t worry, we’re not about to suggest you get your company to gear up for an IPO. On an individual level, though, putting yourself out there at work can feel just as bold as coming up with a NYSE ticker symbol. You might be:

• Hitting the job market after years in one place
• Pivoting to a different role at your current co
• Or even jumping into a new industry entirely.

The next time you’re stepping outside your comfort zone into a new position, here are a few tips:

Connect the dots. Try to ensure the least resistance possible between applying for a role and the “you’re hired” phone call. Typically this means writing a cover letter that explains your career choices and illustrates why you and only you would be the best fit for the role.

Walk the walk. Talking about how great you are only gets you so far—even if you’re a great BSer. Companies know this too, and often you’ll have to work on an assessment to show you really do know your stuff.

• Even if it isn’t required, go the extra mile and offer a sample of your work. Bonus points if the team can actually put it to good use while you’re still being vetted.

Do your own due diligence. This is a partnership, after all, so make sure you know what the new team or company is all about. What are their mission and values? And what’s the internal tea on vibes and culture?

Moving into new roles, companies, or industries isn’t for the faint of heart—but neither is wearing open-toed Birks in New York City, where every day is trash day. So consider yourself in good company.

How many times will you make your friends listen to your app idea at happy hour? At some point, they might stop inviting you at all.

The solution: Keep talking about your app BUT start building it too.

Apps Without Code founder Tara Reed is partnering with Morning Brew to host a free “How to build your own app” workshop.

You’ll learn how to:

• Use drag & drop no-code tools
• Structure a business model around your app idea
• Get tons of people to use your new app

The free workshop is tomorrow, Wednesday, October 18.

Add to your cal and register here.

All your friends are finally back from Europe, but don’t schedule brunch plans just yet. We’re going global again.

We’ll give you a company name (with a clue or two), and you guess where its headquarters are located.

Last time we ran this we made it easy and stayed domestic. But now that we’re jet-setting around the world, you’ll get half credit if you guess the country and full points if you identify the city too.

• Dessert is spelled with two S’s but creme is spelled the weird way when we’re talking about Cadbury’s classic egg.
• We sure as hell hope Red Bull gives us wings if we’re going to need to jet over the Alps just to drink from the source.
• It feels super impressive that employees at Canva HQ get anything done since everything is upside-down and the toilets flush in reverse.
• One of Stripe’s two headquarters is in San Francisco, which is probably equally as rainy as its other HQ.
• Even though FTX declared bankruptcy last year, it still technically has headquarters. Hopefully the beachy vibe doesn’t rub New Yorkers the wrong way in this month’s court proceedings.