5HT #115: today’s biggest status symbol, the anti-wearable, and 3 more

My friend Dan Frommer just published The New Consumer’s 2026 Mid-Year Report, and one chart stopped me: more than a third of consumers describe themselves as in “optimization mode” now 👇:

I’ve been waiting (and fighting) for this for 15 years. The entire idea behind naming my first company Greatist was that a “greatist” is someone actively working to be a little bit better. (Yes, the exact same ethos behind being healthyish.)

This identity used to be niche. Now, it’s officially what people think is cool:

Flaunting wellness is replacing flaunting wealth (called it 😏). ŌURA is the new Rolex. Sweat is the new sexy. Strength is the new slender. Etc.

But here’s the operator read: an optimizer isn’t a dieter with better branding—it’s a totally different customer. Dieters buy transformation (“fix me”). Optimizers buy identity (“this is who I am”). That means community, streaks, and status they can display. It’s why WHOOP sells a membership, not a strap. And it’s why GLP-1s pour gas on all of it. 

So what does this mean?

Bottom line: If you're still selling before-and-afters, you're marketing to a customer who's disappearing. The growth opportunity is in affirmation, not aspiration.

There’s a big difference between optimization and -maxxing everything, though. 

While I’m very pro-wearable, a new Swedish-founded company called Pulse (yes, every great wearable comes from a Nordic country) just launched a smart ring that’s more like the anti-wearable. No sleep score. No readiness score. No fancy dashboard. Its main job is to remind you to take a 10-second pause by vibrating a few times a day. That’s it. 

Yes, I loveee health data and find it very useful. But not at the cost of self-awareness.

5HT readers know I’m awfully bullish about incentives. Which is why I was suuuper pumped to see the launch of Receipts, a rewards network (they call it a “commerce layer”) for the wellness industry.

While I’m skeptical something with NFC puck check-ins will win, even in NYC (sorry 😬), I nonetheless dig the name and couldn’t agree more with the mission. Plus, it’s hard not to have a little FOMO when I tried to build something like this with a credit card through my second startup, Ness, and ultimately failed ☹️. 

Stoked to see someone else doing it in a fresh way.

Disclaimer: I recently joined Morning Water as an advisor. I’ve been a big fan of the product since I wrote about them in January, and I’m pumped to be helping out the team. 🙌. I’d looove to promote them more, but they just sold out. 

How did a three-person company sell out of their product in a week?

Well, a clever 30-day challenge mechanic everyone should copy. When co-founder Blake Mycoskie (yes, of TOMS Shoes fame) announced their challenge recently, 1,000+ people signed up and took all their inventory. The setup for their challenge is super simple. For 30 days, just:

Do just that—and earn a free month of Morning Water. (Plus, get a chance to spend a morning with Blake). 

I guess the free month (and remote chance of meeting Blake) has some appeal… but, really, it’s that people are craving connection to others like them, looking for low-commitment and fun ways to improve their lives, and motivated by showing off their “health status” (see, er, everything I wrote about above). (Fwiw I’m in the Telegram group and it’s popping, full of optimizers sharing their health journey—and even their pet photos.)

That’s why challenges like this resonate big time. 

When they’re back in stock, Morning Water’s plan will obviously be to run 30-day challenges with more folks than just Blake moving forward (maybe with you?).

A month ago, I decided to level up my toothpaste. Because I’m bitter Davids Toothpaste stopped including their iconic metal key tube squeezer thing (just me??), I did my research for what’s new and next.

I’ve been trying two ✌️ brands:

Up first: Dr. Jen's Super Paste. I found this one thanks to Claude while looking for something that has both fluoride AND hydroxyapatite.

Most oral-care marketing forces a choice between fluoride, the proven cavity protector, and hydroxyapatite, the “natural” remineralizer the fluoride-skeptic crowd buys. A paste that uses both is the rare product that embraces the convincing science behind both.

Next up is Bastét, which was recently gifted to me by a long-time 5HT reader. Its play is that it includes 10% nano-hydroxyapatite to tackle the enamel and microbiome sides of oral health, a very compelling angle, imo. Also compelling: they recommend you “spit, don’t rinse” because rinsing washes away the n-HA before it can bond to your teeth.

Are my teeth tremendously shiny, bright, and healthy now? It’s hard to tell, tbh. But it feels good to invest in what’s new and next and to embrace the latest science (to be clear, despite the bone-headed decision to ditch the metal key thing, Davids is a fine choice for that, too).

👋 Who are you again? I’m Derek Flanzraich—founder of two venture-backed startups in Greatist (👍) and Ness (👎). I’ve worked with brands like GoodRx, Parsley, Midi, Ro, NOCD, and Peloton. I now run Healthyish Content, a premium health content & SEO agency (among other things).

Every Thursday, I share healthyish things I feel strongly about. (Disclaimer: I’m more your friend with health benefits. None of this is medical advice.) Also some links are affiliate links, but they influence my decisions zero.

Oh, you also feel strongly about some health things? Hit reply—I’d love to hear it.