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Breaking News: CEO Demoted

2023-08-29 · announcement · John · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion

John announces that in a week his reluctant, temporary stint as DFTBA.com's CEO ends (Hank will not be CEO either; Laura 'LJ' Joukovski will lead), and promotes Sun Basin Soap through staffer Zoe Ryder's poetic descriptions.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — A magnificent bath; John recaps becoming DFTBA.com's reluctant temporary CEO; what DFTBA does and the clubs' $5 million for Sierra Leone

  • ★ John opens by saying he just took the most magnificent bath: a near-daily bath-taker and self-styled expert, he calls this the greatest soap he has ever encountered. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ John recalls that when Hank got cancer, he became the reluctant and temporary CEO of DFTBA.com. — 00:00:00 · Hank Green, DFTBA Records
  • ★★ John describes DFTBA.com as an e-commerce company connecting fans to creators like the McElroy Brothers or Kurzgesagt, which also makes the Awesome Socks and Coffee Clubs and Sun Basin Soap. — 00:00:00 · DFTBA Records, Awesome Socks Club, Awesome Coffee Club, Sun Basin Soap
  • ★★★ John says the clubs donate 100% of their profit to charity and have so far raised over $5 million for better child and maternal health in Sierra Leone. — 00:00:00 · Sierra Leone, maternal death, child mortality
  • ★★ John calls DFTBA just the best and says the people who work there are amazing. — 00:00:00 · DFTBA Records

00:00:45 — Sun Basin Soap: conveying smell and feel online; Zoe Ryder's descriptions of Enigma, Trailblazer and Forager

  • ★★ John says he did not necessarily want to be CEO and attend a lot of meetings, but is aware he was not the protagonist of the story. (playful) — 00:00:45 · Hank Green
  • ★★ Starting Sun Basin Soap posed a problem: how an internet company conveys how a soap smells and feels; there is a sample pack of all five soaps. — 00:00:45 · Sun Basin Soap
  • ★★ John credits DFTBA's Zoe Ryder with brilliant soap descriptions, e.g. unscented Enigma as the liminal air of a spring evening and tangerine-sage Trailblazer as an unseen curve in a winding trail. — 00:01:14 · DFTBA Records, Sun Basin Soap
  • ★★ John says Zoe's evocative description beats anything representational, and is the kind of work he means by an amazing group of people. — 00:01:14

00:01:57 — John will stop being CEO in a week, thanks the staff, and asks viewers to buy Sun Basin Soap

  • ★★ John asks whether nailing a soap's description that way is copywriting or poetry, and answers that it is both. (playful) — 00:01:57
  • ★★★ John announces that in one week (5 September 2023) he will no longer be the CEO of DFTBA.com. — 00:01:57 · DFTBA Records
  • ★★ John says he wasn't very good at the job and is thrilled to be demoted back to his natural role as unpaid social media intern making memes about the coffee. (playful) — 00:01:57 · Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★★ John says he will nonetheless miss the job, because it is a joy to be with people who care about their work and together make something special. — 00:01:57
  • ★★ In his last week John thanks DFTBA's warehouse, customer service, and projects and products teams for teaching him shipping, customer experience and making things responsibly. — 00:02:26 · DFTBA Records
  • ★★★ As his last act as CEO, John encourages viewers to buy Sun Basin Soap, which he calls truly the best soap. — 00:02:26 · Sun Basin Soap

00:02:55 — Navigator and Daydreamer soaps; Hank won't be CEO; new CEO LJ Joukovski; final ask and sign-off

  • ★ John presents two more soaps: lightly exfoliating Navigator with Japanese peppermint, and Daydreamer, which Zoe describes as settling ice clinking in a glass of lemonade. — 00:02:55 · Sun Basin Soap
  • ★★★ John tells Hank he is not going to be the CEO of DFTBA.com, though both brothers will remain deeply involved at DFTBA. — 00:02:55 · Hank Green, DFTBA Records
  • ★★★ They were months into finding a leader when Hank got sick, and found her: LJ Joukovski, a brilliant, experienced leader passionate about DFTBA's mission. — 00:03:24 · DFTBA Records
  • ★★★ For the last time as CEO, John asks viewers to buy the soap, coffee and socks, noting that 100% of the profit goes to charity. — 00:03:24 · Sun Basin Soap, Awesome Coffee Club, Awesome Socks Club
  • ★★ John declares he speed-ran being CEO and thanks Hank for trusting him with it. (playful) — 00:03:24 · Hank Green

In the description and comments

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: DFTBA Records · Sun Basin Soap · Zoe Rider

Also: People: Laura Joukovski

Projects: Awesome Coffee Club · Awesome Socks Club

Organizations: Kurzgesagt

Groups: McElroy brothers

Concepts: child mortality · maternal death · poetry (concept)

Places: Sierra Leone

Only in the description or credits: Good Store

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