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Welcome back to GenZtea's Newsletter, where I break down trends, industries, and tech with a Gen Z lens. I'm Natalie Neptune and I'm so happy you're here.

But first, let’s dive into the events that are coming up….

Upcoming GenZtea IRL Events

I've spent months mapping the underground – tracking down the founders, infiltrating the group chats, attending the invite-only events. The result? The first-ever comprehensive database of Gen Z IRL communities.

Check it Out Here

Early bird supporters can access this for just $8 (seriously, less than a single NYC coffee) for the 50 communities added. This price is only for our first 100 members and will increase significantly as I add more communities to the database.

Why so cheap? Because I believe information should be accessible to the Gen Z builders who need it most. But as this resource grows and becomes the go-to industry standard, pricing will reflect its true value.

The Pinterest effect: how men are quietly redefining masculinity

Pinterest just dropped their first-ever men's trends report, and the data tells a story that's way more nuanced than anyone expected. More than one-third of Pinterest's global audience are now men, with Gen Z guys joining in record numbers. But here's what's really interesting: they're not just passive consumers—they're actively reshaping what modern masculinity looks like.

The platform has become something of a digital sanctuary for men who are tired of the toxicity that dominates other social spaces. According to audience insights platform GWI, nearly half of men in the US believe social media contributes to poor mental health, yet 65% of men globally still want to express their authentic selves online. Pinterest seems to have cracked the code on creating that safe space.

What makes this particularly fascinating is how Pinterest has managed to attract a different type of male user than you'd find elsewhere. According to GWI, almost half identify as risk-takers and first adopters, nearly half are loyal to brands they love and research purchases thoroughly, and they're more likely to describe themselves as "tech confident" than the average man.

The platform is doubling down on this opportunity by launching a dedicated

Pinterest Man profile and partnering with Patrick Schwarzenegger, who puts it perfectly: "Pinterest is my secret weapon. Whether I'm creating a new MOSH flavor or preparing for a film role, I always start with a board." That's exactly the kind of intentional, creative masculinity that's emerging.

The generational split is telling too. Gen Z men are twice as likely to identify as gamers (league of legends character searches up 590%), while Millennial men are focused on creating inspired home lives, with 41% searching for home decor in the past month. Fatherhood content is exploding, with searches for milestone pictures up 415% and smart parenting up 125%.

Here's the commercial reality: brands have a massive opportunity here that most are still sleeping on. When Rhode named Harris Dickinson as their first male ambassador, they were reading the room correctly. Men are actively seeking products and inspiration that align with this evolved version of masculinity, and they're willing to spend money on it.

The signal couldn't be clearer—men want a version of masculinity that actually reflects how they want to live today, not outdated stereotypes. The question is whether brands will move fast enough to meet them there.

The Jobs of the Future: Designing Peace in a Noisy World

Remember when apps used to scream at you?

Endless push notifications. Badge counters ticking up like slot machines. "Ping!" sounds every five minutes.

We're collectively exhausted by it. And the shift toward silence is already happening.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: → Takes 23 minutes to refocus after each distraction → 71% of users delete apps because of annoying notifications
→ Our brains are fried from digital noise

𝗕𝘆 2050: → "Calm mode" becomes the default setting → Apps that whisper instead of shout → Technology that helps instead of harasses

𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿

Part UX designer. Part behavioral psychologist. Part digital zen master.

What they're building right now:

Apple's "Liquid Glass" — transparent layers, soft gradients, ambient themes that don't assault your eyeballs

Samsung's mood lighting — your phone's colors change with the sun (actually genius)

One Sec app — adds a one-second delay before you open Instagram. That tiny pause makes you think twice about doom-scrolling

Smart notification batching — instead of 47 pings per hour, you get one thoughtful summary

The skills:

• Color psychology (purple calms your brain)

• "Silent UX" — design that works so well you don't notice it

• Generous white space (your eyes need to breathe)

• Environmental adaptation (your smartwatch gets quieter when you're in a library)

Why this matters: Users don't want to be wowed anymore. They want to be respected.

The market reality: Google created "Digital Wellbeing." Microsoft built the "Inclusivity Toolkit." Apple keeps adding focus features.

Big Tech gets it: calm design = competitive advantage.

The bottom line: We're moving toward a future where the best user experience is the one that doesn't exhaust you.

Silent UX won't win design awards. But it builds trust, loyalty, and flow.

The Silence Experience Designer doesn't just reduce noise — they architect digital spaces that feel like breathing.

The question isn't whether this job will exist. It's whether you'll be ready when everyone realizes they're tired of being digitally yelled at.

The New Sign of Ultra Wealth: The Offline Elite

That should tell you everything.

The people who built these devices won't let their own children touch them. Steve Jobs famously said his kids "haven't used" the iPad. Bill Gates didn't give his children cellphones until they were 14. Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya admits his own children "aren't allowed to use that s***."

By 2050, the biggest inequality won't be money. It'll be silence.

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲

The ultra-rich are already building an educational apartheid:

The Sanctuary Schools (Tech Elite Only):

• Waldorf School of the Peninsula charges $25,000/year where three quarters of students are sons and daughters of tech executives

• The Nueva School costs $53,350-$63,720/year for "gifted learners" where creativity trumps screens

• Brightworks runs a progressive K-12 program where kids "climb redwood trees" and build with "found objects"

• Montessori Schools charge $12,000-$18,000/year for hands-on learning with minimal tech

• BASIS Independent Silicon Valley costs $39,795/year for traditional academics with selective admissions

The Digital Factories (Everyone Else):

• Meanwhile, state-funded online-only preschools are launching in Utah, Wyoming, and North Dakota

• Public schools are rolling out 1:1 laptop programs for every student

• AI tutors are replacing human teachers in classrooms

• Screen-based "personalized learning" is becoming the standard curriculum

• Kids spend 7.5 hours daily on screens for entertainment alone

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱.

Their playground: "Blackboards with colorful chalk, bookshelves with encyclopedias, wooden desks"
Their luxury: Boredom and deep thinking time
Their advantage: Focus and human interaction
Their inheritance: Imagination uncorrupted by algorithms

Maybe the future isn't about who can access the most tech. It's about who can afford to escape it.

The data doesn't lie: The Information survey found that "Silicon Valley's children spend far less time on screens than the average American kid." Meanwhile, ordinary families are drowning—46% of US teens on the internet "almost constantly," kids use devices twice as much since the pandemic.

What $60,000/year buys: At elite schools like Avenues, kids get project-based learning designed to "save the world." At Nueva, students "drive their own learning journeys" with 7:1 student-teacher ratios.

What everyone else gets: Children 8-18 spending 7.5 hours daily on screens for entertainment, going "straight to the pleasure centers of the developing brain."

Because here's what tech billionaires already know:

→ "On the scale between candy and crack cocaine, it's closer to crack cocaine" — Chris Anderson, former Wired editor
→ "I am convinced the devil lives in our phones" — Athena Chavarria, Mark Zuckerberg's former executive assistant
→ Deep thinking needs silence → Leadership needs vision and focus → Creativity emerges from boredom

And all of those are becoming luxury goods.

Tech executives are "following a pattern seen in industries like Big Tobacco, whose executives, in congressional testimony 25 years ago, conceded that they didn't want their children to smoke."

As one tech exec putting his kids in a no-screens school said: "I just wanted our kids to have a technology-free start, so that they would be playing and running around and picking up leaves and getting dirty."

The question: Is this what we want to be doing?

The rich will manufacture boredom for their children. The poor will be entertained to death.

Event Performance Comparison: Intern Event vs. Creator/Founder Event

We ran two events for Gen Z with Pitara Co. as a sponsor and discovered something powerful about Gen-Z diversity: different segments, different strategies.

I hosted 4 NYC Intern events for this summer.

the.genztea

311 followers

View more on Instagram

And I host monthly Gen Z founder + creator mixers

the.genztea

311 followers

View more on Instagram

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮:

Intern Event Results: → 70 new Instagram followers
→ 20 TikTok followers → 5 LinkedIn connections → High energy, lots of questions → Strong brand awareness generation

Creator/Founder Event Results: → 28 Instagram followers → 0 TikTok followers
→ 8 LinkedIn connections → Deeper conversations → Strategic partnership opportunities

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Both events succeeded—they just served different Gen-Z segments with different needs.

1. Two Types of Gen-Z Engagement

Intern Audience: Enthusiastic early adopters who love discovering new brands. Highly social, quick to engage, great at spreading awareness. Perfect for viral moments and community building.

Creator Audience: Strategic thinkers who evaluate brand fit carefully. More measured in their social behavior (mindful of follower ratios), but deeper in their brand relationships. Ideal for authentic partnerships.

2. Different Network Values

Intern Event: Excellent for seeding and awareness. These connections help brands understand emerging trends and build grassroots buzz.

Creator Event: Powerful for amplification and credibility. Connected us with podcasters, event organizers, small business owners ready to collaborate on content and joint ventures.

3. Audience Fit Insights

Intern segment strengths: → High social engagement and sharing → Trendsetting and early adoption → Authentic enthusiasm for new discoveries → Strong word-of-mouth potential

Creator segment strengths: → Purchasing power and lifestyle alignment → Platform reach with engaged audiences → Brand storytelling capabilities → Long-term partnership potential

Shared Gen-Z values: Both segments care deeply about ethics, origin stories, and authentic brand narratives.

4. ROI by Audience Type

Intern Event: Strong for brand awareness and community seeding. Builds recognition and creates early market buzz.

Creator Event: Powerful for business development and strategic partnerships. One authentic creator endorsement can drive sustained growth.

5. Strategic Learnings

For intern-focused events: → Lean into the energy with interactive experiences → Make sharing easy and rewarding → Focus on discovery and education

For creator-focused events: → Enable content creation opportunities → Provide multi-channel connection options → Emphasize collaboration over consumption

Universal improvements: → Email/SMS capture for long-term relationship building → Ice-breaker tools for enhanced networking → Post-event follow-up with exclusive offers

The bottom line: There's no single "Gen-Z strategy." Success comes from understanding which segment you're engaging and tailoring your approach accordingly.

Both audiences have immense value—interns for momentum, creators for sustainability.

Future opportunities: → Segment-specific activation strategies → Cross-pollination between communities
→ Tailored content for each audience type

Different doesn't mean better or worse. It means strategic.

I watched a bootstrapped community hit $6M ARR in year one.

Meanwhile, most entrepreneurs are stuck building audiences of followers who'll never pay them a dime.

Here's the math that's changing everything:

Chief (women executives) = $70M annual revenue Hampton (founders/CEOs) = $6M projected Y1 revenue
Swipe Files (marketers) = $200K with 400 members

Yet 99% of creators are chasing free followers while paid community goldmines scroll right past them.

The Hidden Revenue Stream Everyone's Missing:

I discovered this trend about 3 years ago while analyzing why some creators were making millions while others with bigger audiences stayed broke.

The difference? One group was building communities. The other was building content calendars.

Result? The community builders were generating recurring revenue at 10x the rate of traditional influencers.

Here's who's actually paying for communities RIGHT NOW:

• Executives seeking peer networks (paying $5,800+ annually)
• Entrepreneurs wanting accountability groups (paying $8,500+ yearly)
• Professionals needing skill development (paying $499+ per year)
• Creators building superfan experiences (charging $6+ monthly)

These aren't browsing for free content. They're investing in transformation and connection.

The $200K Pivot Most Creators Miss:

Your audience isn't your product. Your community access is.

The secret? Stop creating content for everyone. Start curating experiences for someone.

My 3-Step Paid Community Playbook:

Step 1: Pick Your Profit Lane 
Not: "Marketing tips for everyone" But: "Private community for B2B SaaS marketers making $100K+"

Step 2: Create Exclusivity Through Scarcity 
Hampton caps at 700 members and rejects 92% of applicants Chief has 60,000 people on their waitlist

Step 3: Price for Transformation, Not Information 
Information is free everywhere Transformation through vetted peer groups? That's $5K+ annually

Here's the kicker:

While you're grinding for likes and shares, there's someone with decision-making authority and budget searching for exactly the peer group you could create.

They don't need another newsletter. They need access to 200 other people just like them who understand their specific challenges.

But they can't find you because you're invisible to community buyers.

The Business Model That Actually Works:

Traditional Creator Math:

• 100K followers

• 2% conversion rate

• $47 course

• $94K total revenue (if you're lucky)

Community Creator Math:

• 400 members

• $499 annual membership

• $199K recurring revenue

• Higher retention, lower churn

Time to make the switch.

Announcements from GenZtea members

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Other Events + Resources I Found

Want to Go Deeper?

For those looking to dive deeper into Gen Z market trends, startup analysis, and exclusive community insights, we offer a premium subscription with an extra monthly newsletter with early access to our underground community database, and behind-the-scenes strategies that go beyond what you'll find anywhere else. Learn more about our premium tier here.

What Does GenZtea Actually Do?

We get this question a lot! While we're known for our exclusive IRL events and newsletter, GenZtea LLC offers a full range of services to help brands authentically connect with the Gen Z startup community.

GenZtea LLC Services

Gen Z Consulting & Advisory - Strategic consulting and ongoing advisory roles on reaching, engaging, and building authentic relationships with Gen Z consumers, employees, and entrepreneurs. From product development insights to workplace culture recommendations and long-term strategic guidance.

LinkedIn Influencer Marketing - Leverage Natalie’s personal LinkedIn network and authentic Gen Z voice to amplify your brand message to founders, creators, and investors in the startup ecosystem.

Sponsored LinkedIn Content - Strategic paid posts on our personal LinkedIn account to reach our engaged professional network with your brand messaging and thought leadership content.

Speaking Engagements - Book Natalie Neptune for keynote presentations and panel discussions on the future of work, Gen Z in the workplace, startup ecosystems, and community building at your corporate events or conferences.

LinkedIn Workshops - Custom workshops for your team on LinkedIn strategy, personal branding, and professional networking specifically tailored for reaching and engaging Gen Z professionals.

Tech Event Strategy & Execution - Full-service event planning and execution for tech networking events, panel discussions, and community gatherings that authentically connect with the Gen Z demographic.

GenZtea Event Sponsorship Opportunities - Partner with us through financial sponsorship, venue partnerships, or product gifting (CPG & food) for our exclusive networking events.

Ready to work together? Reach out to [email protected] to discuss how GenZtea can help amplify your brand in the Gen Z startup community.