The Best One Yet - 🤳 “500 Followers = $500” — Min-fluencers’ big moment. iPhone’s $18/mo lease. Spidey’s power couple. +KFC’s secret recipe

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

“Apple Upgrade” is a iPhone lease as low as $18/mo… it’s an Android-killer and Apple’s post-Mag-7 strategy.Tom Holland & Zendaya are the Gen Z Power Couple saving hollywood… but run 2 totally different businesses.Do you have 500 followers?... You could be a Mini Influencer (we’ll tell ya how to monetize it).Plus, KFC’s secret spice recipe just went up for auction… So we found the list of capitalism’s top secret recipes.$YUM $AAPL $METAGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingSan Francisco 9/23: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C0064AFB5F688BDBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-ticketsNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, so VJ Wednesday, July 29th. That's an ease pod. It's the best one yet. This is the T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. We got a meat-a-potto-earningsday, baby. Stocks popping in anticipation. Meta and Microsoft announced today. Apple and Amazon in us tomorrow. That's $10 trillion of value. We'll get it all in the pot. But in the meantime, if you thought yesterday's show was the best one yet, which we did. This show, even better. Jack, what do we got on the T-boy? Our first story, Apple's newest product isn't the product. It's how you buy it. It's a lease. A lease, the $18 a month iPhone. It ain't an iPhone killer. That's an Android killer. For our second story, do you have less than 1,000 followers on Instagram? You could be a minfluencer. Congrats! And we'll tell you how you can turn your mini influencer, minfluencer everyday lifestyle into money. Well, let's be honest, you're probably a nano influencer. You idiot, bitty influencer. And our third and final story, no one is having a better year than Tom Holland and Z.

Zendaya, Gen Z's power couple. Those two have uncorked Hollywood's best year since 2019 in two different ways. But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix on the pod. Love the mix. No one else is doing that mix, Jack. The greatest business secret in history, what is it, Nick? It's got to be the TikTok algorithm.

But much more interesting than the TikTok Algo is KFC's fried chicken recipe. Ah, 11 herbs and spices, but no idea what amount. No idea what order. Colonel Sanders invented this recipe 86 years ago. in Kentucky, but it's been top secret classified corporate information since. I'm sorry, pause the paw jack, because not for long. That's right. The original KFC corporate headquarters just went up for auction, which includes the colonel's diary with the OG recipe.

So some fried chicken superfan will soon get their hands on KFC's secret sauce. They stole our recipe, Jack. Well, they've posted to wikilinks for all of us to see. Or are they going to sell it to New York Times cooking for a pretty penny? We'll see. But KFC is not the only. Highly protected business recipe. Jack and I naturally whipped up a list for you.

First, you got Coca-Cola. Same secret soda recipe since 1886. Although they did remove cocaine in 1903, true story. True story. Or WD-40. They're the best-selling industrial lubricant in human history. But the formula is entrusted to just one person at corporate headquarters. Oh, Jack, I'm sorry.

You smell that? Chanel number five. Most famous fragrance in humanity. 80 expensive ingredients. They're all locked in a vault in France. You want to get him? Not possible. But the biggest secret in business history, it's got to be that TikTok algorithm.

Yeah, I think it's a TikTok algorithm. Even Zuck doesn't know what's in that thing. Yeah, at least that's what he told Congress, Jack. Yetis, let us know if we miss the top business, corporate classified secret in business history. Let us know in the comment. Don't tell the lawyers. Just drop the answer in the comments.

And please include the measurements, the grocery list, and whether we should pre-thaw anything the day before. Your secret safe with us. Jack, let's sit at our three stores. years before this song. Two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show.

Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Apple just unveiled the first ever iPhone lease for just $17.99 cents a month. It's a potential Android killer, and it shows the key strategy of Apple in the post-Mag 7 era. Yeah, but the plumbers do the plumbing. Now, Yetis, think back a couple decades ago. Your first iPhone, it felt like a luxury splurge. You probably still have that fancy box you opened it up in, up in a shelf or in a drawer somewhere. You got engaged by putting the ring in the iPhone box, didn't you, buddy?

But your next iPhone might feel like an email. And why is that, Jack? Because it's just a $17.99 a month subscription. The same price as a sweet green salad, baby. Apple just announced the lowest price ever to join Club Apple, a $17.99 a month iPhone lease. Do you want a harvest bowl or do you want the best smartphone out there? We're talking about a lease, just like the way you lease a car.

I mean, Jack, could I go into full car salesman mode here? You ready for this? Okay. All right, activate it. No money down, $17.99 for the cheapest 17 E-Iphone. But if you're a fancy car buyer, you're going to be paying $3199 for the iPhone 17 Pro lease. Added up, besties, this is just like lease and Alexis. You don't actually own the phone from Apple.

Yes, the Apple lease offers one or two-year contracts, and at the end of the term, you either buy the rest of the phone out or you get a new lease with a new phone. And Jack, what if you miss the payments on this car lease? I mean iPhone lease? They're not going to send a repo guy to come take your phone. It's not going to happen. It's not worth it, like it's worth it with a car. Not exactly. But we did see reports that Apple can remotely turn your smartphone into a dumb phone if you miss

enough payments. If you don't pay, you can't scroll. Now, this whole lease program is called Apple Upgrade, and it's not just for iPhones. You can lease an Apple Watch or a MacBook 2. The Apple lease, it feels like another step in the ongoing subscription of everything. But Yeties, for years, on this podcast, we've been wondering who's going to make the iPhone killing new device. Okay, but this is what we find fascinating.

This new device, this lease, it's an Android killer. Because, reminder, 70% of the world doesn't use iPhones. They use smartphones running on Android, mainly because it's cheaper. For most people in the world, price beats products. Now, an iPhone, it's a can I afford phone. But $17.99 a month with no money down. iPhone kills Android's cost advantage with this. Jack, this is competitive with the cheapest Samsung, the cheapest Motorola,

the cheapest pixel phones out there. It's competitive with your lunch bowl. And the financing partner that Apple's using, it signals the target customer of this iPhone lease. Who is it, Jack? Klarna. Klarna, Apple is going after the lowest income and youngest customers with buy now, pay later financing. Basically, Gen Z, Z, Amex. So Klarna's stock rose 6% in the last five days as this news leaked and eventually was announced yesterday.

Now, Bessies, we know what you're asking, because we were asking the same thing at first. How can Apple make profits pricing a phone for less than a Netflix subscription? What is the answer, Jack? Services. Yeah, Apple, they're taking a 50. 15 to 30% fee on the entire app economy on your phone. So the more people holding an iPhone, the more app taxes Apple can take. Oh, and those app tax fees, they got a 90% juicy profit margin.

So Apple can just break even on the phone and profit off the ecosystem. Because you're going to be a member of Club Apple for life. Yeah, it's the profit puppy. Besties, what we're saying here is your Ted Lasso binging on Apple TV? That's subsidizing the new iPhone lease. And your $10 a month subscription to save your photos in the cloud, that's funding this affordable iPhone lease. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at the $17 a month iPhone?

When you're Apple, you leave the dirty work to someone else. Yet he's, after 15 years of tech and Wall Street dominance, Apple, they're not going to do the grunt work anymore. They're done doing the dirty work. So building out AI, they're going to leave that $1 trillion job to Amazon, Google, Open AI, Anthropic, who will all happily power Siri afterwards. Similarly, chasing down customers for this $18-month lease payment on an iPhone, Apple's going to leave that. business to Klarna. Going down market has credit risks. So Klarna's going to be the one who knocks on doors for payments and is at risk if people don't pay. Now, besties, for the last couple of years, Apple has been

the butt of jokes for falling behind in artificial intelligence. Yes, they are, Nick, because on Tuesday, Apple hit a $5 trillion valuation for the first time. Only Nvidia has ever done that before. But with Apple up 25% this year, and Nvidia only up 6% Apple, they're now number one again. Just like it has been for most of the last 15 years of the iPhone era. So besties, Apple's post-Mag 7 strategy, here it is. Leave the dirty work to someone else. For our second story. Are you a min-fluencer?

A mini-influencer? Because the numbers are showing, yeah, you could be. The fastest growing marketing channel is going to people with under 1,000 followers. Oh, my head is before we start. I got to ask a question, Jack. Why did you buy that Bluetooth-connected lipstick-compatible mango-scented 5-speed backless air-friar blender the other day? What was the reason? Because I needed it, Nick?

It's because I got influenced by Alex Errol and Kaisenak in a joint collab IG post. You see, Vesties, six years ago, Oxford added social media influencer to the dictionary. But right now, they need to update the definition. Because size doesn't matter. Soul cycle, Abercrombie, Tarje, they're all shifting their big budgets from A-list influencers with a million followers to minfluencers with under 20,000. Even nanofluencers, Jack, those with under 5,000 followers. It's not Bella Thorne promoting Dove Soap.

That's your buddy Timmy. And what's the reason our buddy Timmy is getting a Dove Soap one-off video social media deal, Jack? Because the For You page has usured us into what marketers call the post-follow era. See, Eddie's because of Zuck's algorithms, when Kim Kardashian posts, her followers, they don't necessarily see that post. Your feed is full of people you don't follow. So the follower account you have is less important. And that is why your mother-in-law, with 150 followers, heard this story on this podcast today and just tag Sephora in her morning makeup video.

No, she's like, my followers don't matter, Jimmy. My spunkiness does. And you know what? She's right. Because the result of this phenomenon has been democratization of influencing, Jack. From the D'emillo sisters to duress of us. Yeah, because Bessie's luck, we all know a friend of a friend of a friend who quit Morgan Stanley in order to make Get Ready With Me Protein Shake videos full time.

We all got that buddy. But there's an emerging class of people who don't quit their day jobs, but still influence on the side to make money. Because brands have pivoted to these min influencers and you can follow the money on it. There's better marketing ROI for minfluencers than macrofluensers. Jack, can you whip up the numbers for us over there, please? People with followings under 20,000 have a 3.2% engagement rate on their posts on average, which is three times higher than macro influencers with huge followings over a million.

saying is that, yeah, Addison Ray's cool new sunscreen is cool, but you're more likely to comment, share, and buy the sunscreen from your buddy Timmy. You may even be more likely to be influenced by Timmy. And the result, well, 45% of total U.S. influencer marketing spend is going toward those with a following less than 20,000 so far this year. That's up more than double since 2021, according to e-marketer. So, Bessies, if you have got a normal number of followers, here's where you can actually make DeMilio money. Well, only 20% of that money is going to come from brand deals. All right, like the one-off, check out this chapstick video that you did one deal with and one video with. That's it. 10% of minfluencer revenue comes from TikTok and meta's

creator programs. Yeah, you know, the slush fund to keep you posting on TikTok and meta. They don't want you ghosting to YouTube where they have a revenue share. So every now and then, meta and TikTok send creators some cash. But Jack, where does the vast majority of your revenue come from if you are a min influencer getting deals? Amazon's affiliate influencer program. That's right. Push an Amazon products, you get credit. If the person clicks your link and buys, that is the majority of your money. Amazon's made it super easy for regular people to get a unique affiliate link. So the biggest cash, it's in push and clothes, cosmetics, and cooking machines from Amazon with a unique link.

Which is why someone listening just became a Bluetooth-connected lipstick and have a mango-scented five-speed bagless air dryer blender, salesman. Was it mango scented or mango flavor, Jack? It smells like mango. I forgot the model. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies with 500 followers? Your followers are an asset on your personal balance sheet. Yeties, the new American dream, it's passive income. Make money passively off your assets.

You know, do not disturb dividends. Stock market returns, rental income, vending machine money, earn without the burn. But here's the challenge to passive income. You got to own something in order to make money off it. And stuff is expensive. To host on Airbnb, you need to own a condo. To collect dividends, you got to own. stocks. So the middle class influencer economy is showing a new form of passive income. One that doesn't

require you buy something because you can monetize your following. Your social media account is a digital asset. Jack, we should point out this is not totally passive. Like you got to post content worth engaging with and good content. It is hard to create. And it requires you open the video with some kind of like camera turning thing to stop your scroll. Yeah, it's hard. We're in this business. We do it every day, honestly. But when it comes to influencing, We now know that you only need 500 followers. So Besties, hold on to your digital assets, and we'll see you after the break. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

For our third and final story, Spider-Man, brand new day. It broke every trailer record in history, and it premieres tomorrow. But the real story is Gen Z's first power couple. Tom Dea is having a historic 2026. But Bestie is the most anticipated movie of all time. what is it by the numbers? According to trailer views, it's Spider-Man 9. Spidey, you see, Toby McGuire, he did three Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield, he did two. But this will be Tom Holland's fourth Spider-Man. Spider-Man 9 is actually called Spider-Man Brand New Day, and it premieres tomorrow

night, Thursday. But here's what we find fascinating. Back in March, when the trailer dropped, it got 719 million views in 24 hours. That is an all-time record, Jack. And Spider-Man Brand-New Day is the first and only trailer ever to cross one billion views. It took him just four days to hit a belly. But that was in March. On Monday, critics got a sneak peek of this movie at the Los Angeles premiere, and they say it's as good as the first Spider-Man with Toby McGuire in 2002. Okay, but Jack, pause the pod, because yesterday we told the Yetis that Disney was taking another swing at the Marvel Magic, right, man? Several of you asked us, Assemble!

Several of you commented, assemble, so yeah, we're following up on that story. Yeah, because Avengers comes out in December. That movie, it has the second-most 24-hour trailer views in history. by the way. Disney thinks they can defy fatigue partially by bringing back Robert Downey Jr., although not for Iron Man. But besties, this is the story. Sony, which owns Spider-Man,

they know they can bring you back into theaters, and why do they know that, Jack? They know they can defy franchise fatigue because they've got Gen Z's mega-power super couple. See, Yetis. Gen X, you guys have Brangelina. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They were a tabloid supernova.

Elder millennials, you've had the Beyonce and Jay-Z relationship. Hang on. Are we elder millennials? I think we're in the middle on this one because Jack Cusper millennials have the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey relationship. Now, the heiress tour in the NFL both benefited from Taylor and Travis's union. But besties, Tom Daya, 2026, is better than anything the swellsies have ever put out there. Tom Holland and Zendaya. Tom Daya. They're having a hell of a year. And we got the receipts. The Odyssey, Tom and Zendaya, both co-star on pace for a billion. bucks at the box office. Spider-Man, Tom and Zadea also co-starred. That's also expected to hit a billion dollars. But then in December, you got two more blockbusters with these two coming out easily expecting to hit a billion bucks each. Dune Part 3. Zendaya's in it, but she did replace Tom with Timishi Shalameh. Oh, plus, Zendaya is the highest paid actor in this final season of Euphoria, making one million bucks per episode. But don't forget Tom, because the Avengers Doomsday

comes out in December, same time as Dune Part 3, by the way. Tom is not in the official cast of this Marvel movie, likely due to scheduling conflicts filming Spider-Man in The Odyssey. But he is expected to make a surprise cameo with this other $1 billion movie. Sorry for spoiling the likely cameo that Spider-Man is going to make in the Avengers movie. But besties, this is where we're diving in T-boy style. Interestingly, as a couple, Tom and Zendaya each have pursued different business models. You see, Tom has gone new school Hollywood. He's gone the entrepreneurial route.

Like he's got a film production company and a non-alcoholic beer brand called Biro. Bureau's got $30 million in sales, $100 million valuation. They're catching up to athletic brewing. Oh, and full disclosure, Biro's non-alc beer, they also sponsored our live show in Los Angeles, so they also got a T-boy boost to those revenue numbers. While Zendaya has gone the old-school Hollywood route. Now what does that mean, Jack?

She's doing traditional brand deals across 11 different industries. We counted 15 of those brand deals. We're talking Zendaya being the face of Bulgari jewelry, Lancombe Lepstic beats by Dr. Dre. On running, attributed their recent sales surge to the Zendaya effect. They said this last week. So best he's out all up in, Branjolina, cute couple.

Tom and Zendaya are doing epic numbers that Achilles can't touch. And thanks to that one couple, Hollywood is on track for its first $10 billion year since 2019. So Jack, Tom and Zendaya, what's the takeaway for all our buddies looking at Tom Dea?

It's not the Battle of the Sexes. It's the union of them. Yet he's one billion people have watched this Spider-Man trailer because they're not watching a movie they're watching a couple. Tom Holland as Spidey and Zendaya as MJ grew up on screen together

and got secretly married this year. And that's important because in sports, the best matches are when the storylines off the field to drive the drama on the field. England versus Argentina in the World Cup, that matchup had war history. Yankees versus Red Sox in the 2000s, that had the curse of the Bambino.

Tom and Zendaya's movies, they have that kind of lore off the film thanks to their IRL relationship. And is the Spider-Man franchise? It brings the boomers. but the Gen Z romance brings the grandkids. But this movie also brings together the two biggest demographics on earth.

Men and women. You see, both sexes wrapped in one celebrity union amplifies superstardom like a Laboo-Boo on a Birkenbag. Not battle of the sexes, the union of them. Tom Holland and Zendaya, they're a match-made in marketing heaven. Jack, and you'll whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday. Apple's $17.99 a month,

no money down iPhone lease? Yeah, baby. That reveals Apple's post-Mag 7 strategy of outsourcing. Leave the dirty work like the data centers and the financing to somebody else. For our second story, the big trend in marketing, influencers with many followers because we're in the post-f follower era. The 80s, regardless of your follower count, that's an asset on your personal balance sheet. And Tom Holland and Zendaya continue their hot streak with Spider-Man 9, premiering tomorrow.

It's not the battle of sexes. This is the union of them. But besties, this is the union of them. pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. Whoa, we got a bunch of airline drama at 30,000 feet. Airlines and airplane makers, yeah, there's some stuff going down. Boeing lost money last quarter because they're two years behind on the new Air Force One, and yet they still need more time. What is it, a wrench? Do you guys need an wrench? Like, we can just send you guys a wrench. And then word leaked that United Airlines and Delta Airlines

discussed merging last year, which would be absurd. Barely the United CEO called up the Delta CEO, but then they never hooked up. He got ghosted. Didn't end up happening. Hey, airline industry, how about you just like work harder to give us a better flight? Is that an option? Jack's a peanut guy. Bring back the peanuts, we'll be happy. And second, remember, we said to never forget about memory chips? Well, we hope you didn't forget about memory chips.

Because the biggest IPO pop of the year is China's Changjin memory tech company, up 470% on day one. This memory chip company went public in China and jumped 6x on its very first day of trading this week. It went from a nobody to the most valuable Chinese company. Although U.S. memory stocks have gotten burned for the last couple weeks. Forget it. And finally, did you stop eating your wedge salad this week? Because if so, it's not just you. You're not alone.

Full disclosure. On Newtucket, Nick and I got this delicious veggie sandwich a couple times. We did, we did. In both instances, I said, look, I'm sure your produce is fantastic, but just to be safe, no lettuce, please. Because of this Taco Bell diarrhea drama this month, 40% of Americans have changed their eating habits. Almost half of us are eating less produce because we're worried about cyclospora. And shocker, men are more likely to take the risk of eating lettuce right now despite the rise in cases.

Except apparently us. Now time for the best fact yet. This one's sent in by Carol in accounting. We have a fee update for you. Because remember, Jack and I told you, if you fee something, say something. I thought we said, if you see pricing, say pricing. We've now said both of those things, Jack. But DoorDash is changing the fee structure on their order.

So no more flat fee, you'll now pay a fee based on the size and the distance of your order. That makes sense. But here is today's fact. The biggest door-dash order ever, $3,335 bucks. Someone in Toronto ordered 30 different makeup and beauty products, and that haul cost over $3,000. And no, that didn't include the fees on the $3,335 door-dash order.

Yiddies, you looked fantastic today. Jack, you are glowing. And if you've got your hands on that secret KFC recipe, just drop the 11 ingredients in herbs in this. substance here, down here, right here in the comments. And seriously, if I need to thaw something that's frozen, tell me at least 72 hours in advance. Besties, best thing you can do for the pod, drop today's episode in your group chat, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. And the best thing you can do for your marriage is come up with a cute portmanteau like Zendaya. I mean Tom Dea. I mean Tom Daya. Jock and I,

we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, happy birthday to Legendary Yeti, Chris Chor, the hottest surfer over in Berkeley. And happy birthday to Kevin Brown of Connecticut, celebrating the big day outside the country. And Lally Galardo in Cathedral City, California, celebrating with a puppy and her son, Toby. Happy birthday, Lally. Happy birthday, and congratulations to Kristen Slosson, who just got a new job over in Michigan.

And Katie Borders, happy 23rd birthday in Key Largo, Florida. Happy birthday to Sam Serbug, yellow stoning it up right now, up in Montana. And Maureen McFadden and Suzanne Bartholome, two best buddies with the same birthday in San Francisco. And a congratulations to Johnny and Ben White, the father-son duo behind Taco, the pump juggernaida Rhode Island,

who just sold the 100-year-old family biz to Pentair for $1.4 billion. Rhode Island does pumps. Yeah, Taco, by the way, one of the surprise winners of AI, data centers, they need pumps. Congrats to everyone who works there. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon, nickel-owned stock of Airbnb. Yesterday, we forgot to mention nickel-and-stock in Nike, and we both own stock in Apple.