October update: Robots, fries, and Spinach

A robot named Flippy automates the process of making french fries. Like Flippy, Spinach helps you automate the process of running an awesome standup. We started this monthly update to highlight new features, give a preview of what's coming, and share how we make Spinach. 

What's New 📦​

1. Run live or async standup

For busy or meeting-free days, go async. Write your check-ins, skip the live meeting, and Spinach will post a summary in Slack (and the app) at whatever time you specify. 

🎬 Watch: Josh show you how it works

2. Use Spinach directly in Google Meet

If you use Google Meet for your daily standup, you can now open Spinach directly in Google Meet through our Chrome Extension beta. It’s easier to look at and one less tab to open.

🎬 Watch: Yoav show you how it works
🧩 Get the Chrome Extension

3. Customize your standup structure

You wanted more control over standup structure, so we built it! Turn off any default YTB category. Or create your own custom category like “Appreciations 💚” or “Announcements 📢”

🎬 Watch: Yoav show you how it works

And more goodness:

• Fall-breakers. Seasonal icebreakers and emojis for the basic in all of us.

• Team Topics. Focus on one topic at a time and document notes.

• Reminders. Set reminders to prep your live or async check-in.

• Async Check-In. Add a check-in to standup, even if you're not there.

• Sub-bullets. Add sub-bullets to any update (⌨️ shift + enter).

• Live Summary. See everyone’s check-ins in real-time, anytime.

• Change Your Name. Click your initials in the Dashboard to change.

What’s Next? 🔮

1. Jira search and suggest

Spinach has an existing integration with Jira that allows you to attach Jira tickets to your check-in. We're working on a deeper integration that makes it super easy to find, attach, reference and update your Jira tickets during standup, without opening Jira. 

2. In-meeting reactions 

The Spinach team loves celebrating (and trolling) each other during standup meetings. We're leaning into this and cooking up some fun wordless ways to share your feelings in standup. 

PS: Want to be a beta tester?

We have a Slack channel full of people who like trying new stuff. We'd love you to join us. Contact us for an invite!

#1 on Hacker News 🥇

Thanks to everyone who upvoted and commented on our Hacker News launch. We made it to #1! But even better, we got tons of feedback and ideas from the community. 

The humans of Spinach.

Left to right, we are: Coburn, Lucas, Emily, Yoav, Josh, Matan, Heather, Derek, Karin. We believe building things together should be flexible and fun. We'll keep sharing what we're building and learning every month. If you have feedback or suggestions, we want to hear from you.

Header image courtesy of DALL-E2, which we enjoy way too much.