The Best One Yet - ⛰️ “51st State” — USA’s Greenland deal. Starface’s pimple patch. John Deere’s robo-tractor.

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

Trump proposed buying Greenland… so we looked into how/if/when it’s possible.John Deere’s big tech update at CES?... a robo-self-driving tractor to cut your grocery bill.Starface has become a $100M startup… by putting star stickers on pimples.Plus, we’re living in the Panda-conomy… because when Pandas are out, sales surge.$DEER $NVDA $SPYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: “The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly. Subscribe here Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. January 9th, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Yeties, it's a strange day. First, markets are closed today to honor former president Jimmy Carter,

who has a funeral in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. And the city of Los Angeles is experiencing horrible wildfires. A thousand structures have been destroyed. 23,000 acres have been destroyed. burned, and as of this recording, the fires are zero percent contained. Honestly, we cannot imagine what our Angelinos are going through right now, so Jack and I are going to make this the best possible tea boy. Jack, three stories for today's pod. What do we got on the show? For our first story, it's Donald Trump's latest idea. He wants America to buy Greenland. So Jack and I got the

economic case on how Greenland could become the 51st state. For our second story, it's the biggest tech update at the Consumer Electronics Show. And guess what? It's from John Deere. Yeah, that John Deere. John Deere is solving food prices with a self-driving robotractor. And our third and final story, I wish I had in middle school. It's so good. Starface has become a $100 million skin care startup because Starface is putting stars on pimples. Pimple patches. They're pimple patches. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix today. Love the mix, Jack. Nick, what are the three most powerful forces in economics. Ah, the three most powerful forces in economics. That would be supply, demand,

and pandas. That's right. Few factors can move the markets like a black and white panda bear. Besties, here's the news. Starting this week, two new pandas are being unveiled at our national zoo down in D.C. Their names are Bao Lee and King Bao. And they're the biggest celebrities in America right now. And guess what? They're gifts from China. They're basically the Olson twins of panda bears. Now, I'm going to sprinkle on some context here. I would love for you to do so, Jack. It's wild. If you look at the map of where panda bears are native to, it's just a tiny strip of forest over in China. So these pandas are actually on loan to us all the way over from China. But the pandemonium is now an economic force in our nation's capital.

Because there's a new panda-themed cocktail bar down in D.C. There are panda-themed hotel packages for visitors. Get this. One restaurant, redesigned the entire interior with bamboo to honor Bao Lee and King Bao. The pandas. Have you ever seen a panda bear? The closest I ever came was that scene in Anchorman. Honestly, they're so cute, I don't even believe they exist, Jack. But for businesses located near the zoo,

revenues actually triple during panda unveils. We repeat, sales triple when the panda exhibit is open in a zoo. One bakery in Washington, D.C., described their two most profitable weeks in the bakery's history. One was when the pandas first came, and the other was right before the pandas left. If you want to boost the economy, we don't need a stimulus package. No, we need more pandas. Supply and demand and pandas. Let's hit our three stories.

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. 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. For our first stories. Donald Trump wants Greenland to become part of the United States. And we actually think there's a potential win-win-win outcome for the United States, Denmark, and Greenland. Now, yet he's Donald Trump doesn't become president for two more weeks.

But already, he's whipped out a pencil, a compass, and an eraser, and he's trying to redraw America's map. In a press conference on Tuesday, Donald Trump said he wants to grow the American Empire by force, if necessary. Or as the Wall Street Journal put it, in... Polly side terms, Donald Trump imagines a new sphere of American influence from South America to the Arctic. Here are some of the ideas that he floated in a press conference on Tuesday, like a rambling Carmen San Diego. Okay, first, the idea was to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Side note, that would require a bill from Congress to make official. Okay, second, he wants to take back the Panama Canal for national security reasons. And he didn't rule out using economic or military

force to do so. And then he threw this one out there. Canada should become the 50 first state right up north. Look, Trump's not afraid to insult or offend people and to use America's strength to try to get what he wants, even if it's from allies. Although that made for an extremely stressful week for cartologists out who are just trying to figure out where to draw the lines, man. All right. So those three ideas was a bunch of brouhaha, bunch of headlines, bunch of tweets, bunch of reactions. But pause the pod for a second, because Jack and I actually think one of these geographic ideas could actually be a good idea. And by a good idea, we mean a consensual deal where both sides walk away happen. And we're not talking about violating a foreign country's sovereignty, a military invasion,

or, you know, any other moves that could start. A war. We're talking about the idea that the United States could acquire Greenland. Buying Greenland, the world's biggest island, sounds kind of wild, but actually makes economic sense. All right, yet is Nick and I jumped into the CIA World Fact Book so we could sprinkle on some context for you. Greenland is an autonomous part of the kingdom of Denmark.

Yes, it is. But Greenland is physically closer to North America than it is to Denmark. Also, let's talk emotionally closer because 50,000 Greenlanders are already moving toward independence which they could vote to make happen. And when it comes to the United States

doing a deal with Denmark, we've actually done a land deal with Denmark before. Get this back in, 17, Denmark sold us a few Virgin Islands, which became the U.S. Virgin Islands. A lot of the United States came from purchasing land. Yeah, those Virgin Islands, they were 25 million bucks. Oh, and the Louisiana purchase, which basically got us everything in the Western United States, that was a purchase from France, which was nearly as big as Greenland. But the best analogy to think of when you think about the United States potentially acquiring Greenland is Alaska.

It's Alaska, because 158 years ago, we acquired Alaska from Russia for the equivalent of 150 million bucks today. What a deal. And back then, it was actually considered a mistake. Today, though, it's considered one of the best bargains of all time. Also, funny detail we also discovered, the United States almost acquired Greenland back then, too. That was also on the negotiating block. Now, economically, Greenland is also kind of like Alaska. Because Greenland is 80% ice, but there's potentially serious untapped natural resource. is under the ice, which would be huge if climate change melts that ice. Basically, Greenland is the Arctic's version of Wakanda. It's filled with rare earth metals, there's oil and gas, there is melting ice that's also opening up new sea routes, also an economic opportunity. And finally, geopolitically. Yep. Land on this earth is a zero-sum game. So basically, if the United States doesn't own Greenland, then Russia or China could potentially own Greenland. Now, Denmark concedes that Greenlanders are likely to live. vote to become independence soon. So this strategically important, huge island in the North Atlantic,

it could soon become a free agent geopolitical. Which has led to this new idea. And here's how the deal could work out. Denmark could get a boatload of money for the United States in exchange for Greenland. Okay. Greenlanders could get the security, trade, and immigration advantages of being part of the United States. Check. And the United States would get the geopolitically strategic Eugenic Island of Greenland. Add it all up, and Jack, that's a potential win, win, win. Not necessarily a 51st state, but Greenland could become Alaska 2.0. Worst case, you could compromise and just buy part of Greenland. And then that also kind of works. Unless Thor throws his hammer and blocks a potential deal, then the whole thing could be

off. Don't mess with the Vikings. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Greenland? We're entering a new world order. The old rules are becoming the new rules. Yet is, before World War II, countries buying land from other countries, that was actually somewhat common. It was called the sovereign territory market. Real thing. Nations exchanged real estate, whether the people living on that land consented or not.

Well, post-World War II, and actually, especially post-Cold War, a new world order crystallized with maps and alliances that have pretty much stayed the same over the last century. The U.S. was the world's superpower, and most countries respected borders and international law. Well, in just the last few years, that's already fallen apart with Russia invading Ukraine, uh, disruption in the Middle East, and now Trump intending to challenge the status quo as well. You thought the map was done. Thought it was done. You thought the borders were set.

Thought they were set. But the world is going back in some respects to the pre-United Nations era. And that era is if a big country wants something from a small country, they may ask for it, they may take it, or they may even offer to buy it. are entering a new world order. The old rules are the new rules. For our second story, John Deere, a tractor company, says they're now a tech company. Introducing self-driving robotractors and the AI of everything trend. Yo, Yetties, we all know that buddy.

Your buddy who bought the first ever Palm Pilot and still thinks the Applevision Pro is going to happen. If you're in San Francisco, you know that buddy. If you're in Vermont, you're like, what is Applevision Pro? Well, that buddy, she is at the CES Consumer Electronics Show over in Las Vegas happening right now this week. Since 1967, this conference has showed off the cutting edge consumer electronics. Okay, Jack, take us back to 2005. What was the theme of CES that year? 20 years ago at CES, we got the Xbox 360, DVD recorders, and a whole bunch of iPod knockoffs.

Okay, 2015. What was the theme 10 years? years ago. Smart TV, smart watches, and 3D printers. Wait, but 2025, this year, theme of the epic electronics technology show. What was it, man? Artificial intelligence. Classic AI. Nothing surprising there. However, the one shocking highlight that we thought was the biggest of all was John Deere. John Deere at the Consumer Electronics Show. Is that a tractor or is that a giant computer? Well, Jack, actually, it's both. Because John Deere introduced their second generation autonomous vehicles this week at the

the tech show. John Deere, the 188-year-old agriculture equipment company. John Deere is born in Vermont, by the way. It's worth $100 billion, but the stock's been pretty much flat for the last four years. And yet, at the world's biggest tech event, John Deere just unveiled self-driving robotractors. Now, here's the key. It's easier to deploy self-driving vehicles in hayfields than it is on highways. No one's going to freak out if he had a cornstock. A cornstock, it's a perfectly acceptable casualty. And since they're fully autonomous, self-driving tractors could solve the labor shortage that's coming to farming, landscaping, and construction. And why is that big, Jack? Because Trump's deportation plans are going to impact those immigrant-dependent industries the most. And on top of that,

if used at scale, these self-driving robotractors would actually help lower food prices long term. Plus, the tractors, lawnmowers, and dump trucks that John Deere is making self-driving, they don't just drive themselves, they're also intelligent. Like intelligent as in they plant crops, they fertilize lawns, they apply pesticides, and they even ID weeds. Is that crabgrass? The machine knows. I know you hate crabgrass. There's a special place in hell for every crab grass seed. Trigger warning on the crabgrass. Well, apparently the tractors of John Deere can tell you if it's crabgrass. But all of those smart decisions that these self-driving vehicles can make, they all require onboard artificial intelligence chips. And guess who's providing?

those chips, Nick. Can I buy a vowel? It's not Tostitos. I don't think it's Tostitos, Jack. Who is it, man? It's NVIDIA. And it's our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in tech? The internet of things has been replaced by the AI of everything. Now, yet is this year's keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show. It was made by Jensen Wang, the CEO of NVIDIA. We all know that Nvidia chips are crucial to powering AI chatbots. in generative AI. So Jensen only mentioned the word chatbot once in the whole 90-minute speech. Because we didn't all know that NVIDIA chips are crucial for robots, too. Robots, physical machines that can operate without human supervision. And that is why Jensen said the word robot or robotics

61 times in that 90-minute speech. He named-dropped Uber and robotics. He named dropped Toyota and robotics, and he named drop John Deere. They all need NVIDIA chips for their robotics pros. And that is why just this week, NVIDIA's valuation passed Apple hitting $3.7 trillion to be the biggest company on Earth. Because NVIDIA's chips will be everywhere, digital and physical, for virtual agents and for robots. The Internet of Things. It's been replaced by the AI of everything. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Starface is making $100 million a year. are putting stickers on pimples.

Starface pimple patches have turned a bug into a feature. Now, Yeties, Jack and I would like to relive a little, little T trauma from middle school. Jack, this is a safe space. The floor is yours. I'm here for you. What do you want to say, man? What do you want to say? I had a gigantic zit right between my eyebrows where my unibrow is supposed to be.

I didn't know. I tried to pop the zit right before school. It went horribly wrong. Oh, no. And I had to go to school with this volcano. in the middle of my forehead. Jennifer wouldn't let you take a sick day? Well, I should have asked for one.

I bet you she would have let me. Your mom was a teacher. I feel like she wouldn't be down with that, Jack. It was so big. It looked like I was trying to make a fashion statement. A misguided fashion statement. It was right down the center. But yet there is nothing Jack and I could do back then.

You know, we were just using proactive and neutrogena. It didn't work. But the gen Alpha's in seventh grade today. There is something they can do. They have a solution. It's Starface. A beauty accessory. startup that has gone viral right now with cute pimple patches. They're not decorative, they're dermatology.

Good point, Jack, because these are star-shaped, they're colorful, but they're medicated. They're basically like a Lisa Frank Band-Aid. Before you head to school, you stick one of these medicated sticker shapes. It's like a rainbow. It's a star, and you stick it on your cheek. It looks really cute. It might be covering a pimple, or you might just be looking fabulous today. So you can strut confidently into that cafeteria, and you're basically looking like Ziggy Star Dast because you're wearing a Starface Pimple Pink. Starface sells these pimple patches for about 50 cents per sticker, but they're bringing in $90 million in annual sales.

90 million bucks in sales, more on that in a second. But in the meantime, let's talk about the whole Pimple Patch industry, Jack, because Pimple Patches, they aren't new. No, they're not, but cute pimple patches are new. Because Hero Cosmetics brought pimple patches into the mainstream. Back in 2017, after their founder noticed them in Korea. Their hero product is called The Mighty Patch. You can still buy them today at Alta Walgreens and Target.

Okay, but here's the distinction. Those pimple patches try to hide your acne issue with tiny skin-colored band-aids. There was a market for that product, but it meant that you were hoping nobody noticed the patches you were putting on your face. But on the other hand, Starface is doing the opposite. They're using colorful stars that are meant to be seen so that people hope you notice their pimple patches. Starface completely turned around the narrative.

on pimples. They did a 180 on the acne. And you can tell by looking at Starface's Instagram account. Because the number of people tagging Starface is insane. Starface has nearly a million followers right now. People are posting pictures of themselves on Instagram and they're so proud of the star on their forehead that they're tagging Starface to give them credit. Northwest, Justin Bieber, Ann Hathaway. They're all showing off their Starface pimple patches. So Starface is now selling about $90 million a year of these pimple patches, and yet they've only raised $6 million in venture capital fund. That is beautiful, ROI. And this whole rise reminds us of staley mugs.

The reason they've gone viral was simply adding nice colors to something that already existed. They added the color, they changed the shape, it was a innovation. So Jaggle, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Starface? Starface turned a bug into a feature. Yet is, Starface has helped flip the narrative on pimples from shame to shine. They changed a habit. No more covering up your pimple with makeup, you're wearing that pimple patch loud and proud into algebra class. Gen Z's like walking into the trading desk over a Goldman wearing

Star Shade pimple patches, they're proud of it. What Starface has achieved is like that scene in Billy Madison. Oh, totally. If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis. Starface's achievement is taking the shame out of pimples. And that is why the pimple patch market is expected to double to a billion bucks by 2033. The only thing we have, hate about Starface is that they didn't exist when I had that volcano on my face. I promise, no one noticed, Jack. Yeties! That's a false promise and you know it. I wasn't even there. Because Starface turned a bug into a feature. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Of Trump's crazy land ideas, acquiring Greenland is the one that actually makes economic

sense. We're in a new world order, Yeties. The old rules are becoming the new rules again. For our second story, it's John Deere. They showed off self-driving tractors, dump trucks, and lawnmowers at the CES event. Because the Internet of Things has been replaced by the AI of everything. And our third and final story is Starface. They took pimple patches, made them star-shaped, and added colors. And that was enough to change a bug into a feature. Actually, Jack, I saw a couple people wearing these in my flight back from Hawaii.

It was like, we got to do a story on this. This was our time. This was our time. And that's why you got to expense that. flight. It's a write-off. It's a write-off. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, J.P. Morgan has an update for all the analysts out there. They'll be seeing you in person at 270 Park Avenue. America's biggest bank is reportedly about to announce a five day a week in-office policy for all employees. J.P. Morgan already made this the case for client-face and roles and managers, but it's about to be a thing for everyone.

First it was Amazon, now it's J.P. Morgan. Two huge companies cabboshing work from home. And second, medical debt will soon be banned on your credit reports. Because the top cause of bankruptcy in America is medical debt. But experts say that having medical debt is not really an indicator of your creditworthiness, you know, because a hospital visit costs $10,000. So the Biden administration, in one of their final days, is helping people with medical debt get credit. And finally, pour one out for the scouts. The Girl Scouts are retiring two top cookie flavors this year.

Smoors and Toast Yeas have sold their final flavors. Man, no more s'mores. You're now going to see them join Raspberry Rally in the cookie retirement flavor community. Remember, Girl Scout cookies, it's a huge business. It's decentralized and the labor's free, but they're selling a billion dollars a year in those cookies. Just please keep the samos coming. And when your boss drops by your desk, buy six of them. Buy seven.

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one is actually a correction, a fact check, a community note to our story from yesterday about community notes. Sent in by anonymous. Yesterday, Jack and I covered Met his new policies, and we said that Elon Musk invented the community note. But that's not actually correct. The community note was developed by Twitter's team before Elon acquired the company,

and it was originally called Birdwatch. Now, this fact-checking concept of the community note, it's based on crowdsworth moderation ideas from academic research. expanded it, but it did predate his involvement in the original Twitter. The community note, invented by the OG Twitter. Thanks for the old school fact, Jack. Yiddies, you look fantastic today. And by the way, Jack, did you know what GDP really stands for?

Yeah, gross domestic product. Gross domestic panda. You didn't know that, man? That's what it stands for. Yeties, you all look fantastic today. And if you haven't yet, you got to check out the latest episode of our weekly show the best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with, we dropped a link in the episode description. This week's episode, it's on the Oregon Trail,

the video game that changed all video games. Trigger alert. A lot of nostalgia in that episode. And a whole lot of dysentery. Jack and I will see you there, and we'll see you right here tomorrow. And before we go, a happy birthday, to Yeti Jan Quilar over in Carretero, Mexico. And a happy 11th birthday to Kai Curley. In Alambatar Mongolia, this Lego-loving, this Lego-loving young chef is one year older. Love those international listeners. And Jeff Gregory is turning 30 years old down in lovely San Diego, California. Happy birthday to OG Snacker and Bestie Tammy Conquerette in Alpine Utah.

Legendary Yeti. And a shout out to Selvia. Jack, I just met at the Ferry Building. She launched a startup last March, probably going to be the next unicorn. And finally, shout out to us. Because our podcast was featured on LifeHackers' Top Ten MoneyPop. Not a bad listicle to be a part of. Thanks for the heads-up, Michael Molino.

Actually, Jack, my mom forwarded me a Google Alert this morning, saying that we got involved. Yeah, I know. Your mom has a Google Alert. I love that she's got a Google Alert out of us. All our PR updates, they come from my mom. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon, and Nick and I both own stock and Apple.