17 For ’17: Here’s What We Learned This Year
2017 moved pretty fast. If you didn’t stop and look around once in awhile, you might’ve missed it. If you still write 2016 in the ‘Date’ box sometimes…we feel you. Now’s the time to sit back, relax, and get ready to start writing 2018.
17 things we learned in 2017:
1. Growing this B means moving our sh*t
We moved to the fourth Skimm HQ. We have more space. And more snacks. The rooms are still Law & Order themed.
2. Half-decade crises are not a thing
Turning five means high-fives all around. You gave us the best birthday present by sharing the Daily Skimm more than any day all year. Or any day ever for that matter. Thank you.
3. Just press play
We launched Skimm Studios. Our first video series includes “Get off the Couch,” “Sip ‘n Skimm,” and “Skimm’d With.” We talked to entrepreneurs in an elevator, had a beer with Justin Trudeau, and got intimate in a bathtub with celebs like Chelsea Handler and Hank Azaria.
4. How to talk the talk
After learning that more than 80% of our audience commutes, we launched our first audio product, Skimm Notes. It goes deep on the biggest topics in the world (including bitcoin, Jeff Bezos, and the royal family), in 10 minutes or less. Female millennials who listened to Notes are 68% more likely to understand the topic. Try it out in our app.
5. There are still No Excuses
No Excuses — which we launched in 2016 to get people to register to vote — got even bigger. We covered health care and immigration this year. theSkimm’s version of the Citizenship Test was completed more than 500,000 times. Our app users downloaded a calendar to remind them to set up doc appointments. And we hosted Skimm’bassador dinners across the country to discuss the issues on the table, and saw SBs reach across the aisle to form meaningful connections.
6. B-Lists are accomplished by an A-team
We started the year off by asking Skimm’bassadors to tell us about one goal they wanted to accomplish in 2017. We compiled all of their submissions into one big bucket list: “The B List.” Over the course of the year, SBs used The B List to connect with one another and hold themselves accountable in order to reach their goals. 364 SBs crossed their name off the list and were supported as they lost 100 pounds, became an egg donor, donated a kidney, came out to their parents, ran marathons, and much more.
7. Everyday we’re side hustling
More people in HQ means more hidden talents. We encouraged the team to embrace their side hustles. A very talented HQ’er decorated our office. A very patient HQ’er taught us coding basics. There will be more where that came from in 2018.
8. There is No ‘I’ in team
But there are a lot of Kates and Andrews. Skimm HQ has so many that we started nicknaming them. We went from 38 to 63 employees in a year. Want to become an HQ’er? Check our job openings here.
9. HQ can hack, hack, hack it up
Talking Hackathon. Twice this year, all normal work stopped for 48 hours. We split up into teams to create new products. We can’t reveal the secret sauce. But the team blew us away with their creativity and talent.
10. Don’t leave food out because of Stuart Little
We had a mouse. He’s gone, unharmed. We can now sleep at night.
11. Socializing means business
As in social media. We grew our channels by 40% overall and launched series like Skimm’torials — where we explain things like how to properly load a dishwasher and how to format a resume. Back to (adulting) school. We also used a chalkboard to make people smarter about everything from North Korea to the supermoon. Click that fancy Instagram Follow button over here.
12. There are no stupid questions
But there are some questions that work better than others in interviews. Expanding the team means lots of interviews. We figured out what Qs work and why.
13. HR is not always scary
They even send good GIFs. We hired an HR team to keep us in line, help our team keep growing, and send us a lot of emails.
14. Our audience reads good
We are one of the top ways to sell books in the country. We even got Skimm approved books into Target. And sent selfies from the store to our moms. We also got you to send us thousands of children’s books to give to kids in need.
15. Happy days include happy hours
It’s 5 O’Clock somewhere. Somewhere is our office every other Thursday. We decided to start bi-weekly happy hours. Cheers.
16. It’s OK to fail so hard
So hard that we needed a hard hat. We started encouraging HQ to take more risks and to make mistakes. And wear the below yellow hat to commemorate F-ups.
17. Everyone should wear shower shoes
Or else risk losing their jobs. That’s all.
Time to put 2017 on ice and pop some bubbly for 2018. Thanks for being a part of it.
Cheers,
Skimm HQ
