The Best One Yet - 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 “9pm Mystery” — Date Drop’s college takeover. MrBeast’s teen bank. Eddie Bauer’s crapitalism. +Google’s 100-Year Bond.

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, Saviche, Wednesday, February 11th. 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. All right here, Jack. I'm P-to-P. I'm P-to-P. I'm pumped-a-P. What's R-2P? Ready to Pod? Okay, Pump to Pod, ready-to-pod. Wait, the show, get three fantastic stories, my friend. For our first story, one dating app is spreading across Stanford just like Facebook, spread across Harvard. Date drop, it's used by 75% of Stanford students, and it chose the model for 2026 dating. For our second story, 106-year-old Eddie Bauer just filed for bankruptcy. Pour one out for your down jacket.

Starting point is 00:00:39 If you want to know what killed Eddie Bauer, it wasn't capitalism, it was capitalism. And our third and final story, Mr. Beast acquired Step, a teen finance app, the bank of Mr. Beast is now a real thing. And with it, Mr. Beast now has 7 million teens hooked up for 19 years, and we got the data to back that up. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, like we said, P to P R to P, love the pod jack. We just saw the craziest signal yet of froth in artificial intelligence. Because get this, investors are now offering AI companies 100-year loans. To sprinkle on some context, Google is investing $185 billion this year on AI and data centers.

Starting point is 00:01:21 But not even Google is profitable enough to pay for all that, man. So now Google is launching their first ever century. bond. I'm sorry, century bond, Jack? An I owe you that's not to be paid back for 100 years. A full century. If you buy this bond from Google, you'll see your money again in the year 2126. We repeat, you get paid back in the 22nd century. In 2126, your great, great grandkids will be doing spring break on like Venus. Jack, in 20206, our hands will have evolved without pinky fingers. But 2026, McDonald's soft serve machines will actually be fixed. will be free because there won't be any avocados.

Starting point is 00:02:00 Besties, most investors don't even know what they're doing this Friday night. And yet they're okay making a date with Google for 100 years for now. Artificial intelligence. Investors wanted so badly, they're basically just giving their money away. So besties, if you're still looking for a Valentine's Day gift, fire a Google Century Bond. Because nothing says forever quite like a ridiculous 100-year financial product. It says our love will outlast Big Tech.

Starting point is 00:02:24 I don't know why she walked away. I got two of them. our three stories. 15 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 an norm. Jack Nick, that's it.

Starting point is 00:02:39 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. Our first story.

Starting point is 00:03:08 The fastest growing dating app in America started at Stanford and has expanded to all the ivies. It's day drop. Why are two-thirds of Stanford undergrads using this dating app? Because Tuesday at 9 p.m. is drop time. Mark your calendars. Yeties, this story really begins with one single graduate student named Henry Wang, who built a survey last semester. 66 questions about your values, your lifestyle, and your politics. You fill out the survey and then he feeds the results into an algorithm.

Starting point is 00:03:37 And what's the goal, Jack? find someone compatible for you to date. Complicated survey, simple formula, you and that cutie have a 99% compatibility. You plus me equals us. But here's the key. The app only matches you with one person per week. Okay, but Jack, here's the bigger key.

Starting point is 00:03:52 All the matches on the Date Drop app are revealed at the same time, Tuesday, 9 p.m. That's why it's called Date Drop. Exactly. Most dating apps, they are a never-ending scroll of Tinder fatigue sadness out there. Date Drop, on the other hand, has created a weekly event that you get together with your friends for to see who your matches this week.

Starting point is 00:04:12 No joke, there are date drop tailgating parties. Jack, what has been the result of this 9 p.m. Tuesday moment? Super Bowl level insanity on Tuesday across campus at 9 p.m. Two-thirds of undergrads are using this app. Jack and I dove in T-boy style. The way we see it, this is the Labu-Boo effect in action. It's like a mystery box, but for matching dates. Just like Supreme Drop sneakers,

Starting point is 00:04:36 they're dropping your future Mr. or Mrs. right. And we think this is a huge moment because, like Zuckerberg's Facebook escapes the Harvard campus, date drop has hit Escape Velocity 2. That's right. DateDrop is now at all the ivies at MIT. It is scaling across those schools faster than a nice clean pair of Bochus and Chinos. Soon you can probably sign up even without a dot-EDU address. Jack, how are MIT engineers hooking up this Valentine's Day? With the date that dropped last night at 9 p.m. on the date drop app. And here's the news, Yetis, this isn't just the most viral dating app in America, day drop. This one-man startup just raised $2.1 million in venture capital funding. Yeah, the smart money is on the smart date matching. Maybe

Starting point is 00:05:17 an AI-Cupid can solve the Tinder fatigue that's been dropping the dating app stocks. But this isn't the first academic love algorithm, is it, Nick? Good point, Jack. Harvard's had their data match since 1994. Same concept, but that was all on paper with human beings doing like the manual matching for that thing. Speaking of Harvard. Yes, Jack. We're Facebook was born in 2004, DateDrop has another wild similarity with Facebook. Jack, are you thinking about accusations of stealing? Because in 2017, the Marriage Pact was also founded at Stanford, used a very similar questionnaire to do the same thing. Find you a date.

Starting point is 00:05:53 In fact, the Marriage Pact just sent a cease and desist letter over to Date Drop. But like Zuckerberg said to the Winklevoss twins, date drop is saying, talk to my lawyers. I'm not quitting this. This is my billion dollar idea. But Besties, Jack and I. We're curious still, why has this become the fastest growing dating app in America? And the answer, it matches with our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Datrop?

Starting point is 00:06:16 The biggest value isn't the product. It's the anticipation. Oh, Yeties. There are just like so many cool forces behind Datrop. We've told you about some of them. Like how in a world of infinite options, there is power in curation. There's also the Labubu effect. The mystery boxed concept that Labubu pioneered, that can apply to anything.

Starting point is 00:06:32 But fundamental to DateDrop success is the idea of having to wait an entire week for your first date. That's right. The real value of day drop is not the reveal. It's the seven days leading up to it. Just like HBO stole the zeitgeist for eight weeks with weekly drops of Game of Thrones. Date Drop dominates the zeitgeist on each campus it expands to with Tuesday night date drops.

Starting point is 00:06:53 So what we're saying is that HBO owns Sundays, date drop owns Tuesdays. The date drop product may or may not have been copied by someone else's idea. But it doesn't matter because the biggest value isn't the product. It's the anticipation. For our second story, Eddie Bauer went from the outdoor luxury chic of the 90s to bankrupt today. Pour one out for Eddie Bauer, which rose thanks to capitalism, but fell thanks to capitalism.

Starting point is 00:07:21 Eddie Bauer, I mean, Jack, if we're going to build a Mount Rushmore of outdoor brands based in the Pacific Northwest, they got to be up. They got to be one of the favorites, right? Yeah, pretty sure they're on there. REI, Columbia, Arcteric, Eddie Bauer, all Pacific Northwest, all punching above their park. Are you kidding? Philson got snubbed on your list. Oh, boy. True. Philson did get snuffed. They were ensconced in flannel. Besties to research this story, Jack and I went to the About page on Eddie Bauer.com. And sadly, it still says, we're just getting started. Sadly, because actually, the business is over. True. The brand founded by the man of the same name, Eddie Bauer, in 1923, just declared bankruptcy.

Starting point is 00:08:02 Thank you for clarifying his name, Jack. Eddie Bauer founded that company in 1923 after he contracted. hypothermia on a winter fishing trip up in the state of Washington. He nearly died, so he created technical outdoor apparel to help future fishermen and outdoorsmen. Then he got life insurance, and then Eddie Bauer patented the first ever down jacket, hence their logo being a goose. Eddie Bauer also outfitted the first American to ever climb Mount Everest. And outfitted the U.S. Army for their first Air Force bomber jackets during World War II. But the symbolic summit of their business was in the year 2002, when they had 500 stores.

Starting point is 00:08:35 It's all been downhill from there. Since then, because on Tuesday, Eddie Bauer announced bankruptcy. They're closing their Seattle headquarters and 200 stores unless they can get a buyer, ASAP. R-I-P, Eddie Bauer. But we're going to relive their glory days. Yeah, Jack, take us back to the 90s when we were growing up, man. Eddie Bauer pioneered a concept that has inspired Kim Kardashian today. The collab.

Starting point is 00:08:57 The collab. It begins with Eddie Bauer. You see, Eddie Bauer, his son, and later General Mills and a company called Spiegel, all owned the business in the 20th century. All of those Eddie Bauer owners invested money, took risks, innovated the brand and product, and launched and delivered profits, including the first collapse. Like in 1984, they launched the Eddie Bauer edition Ford Bronco,

Starting point is 00:09:19 Ford Explorer, and later Ford Expedition cars. From 1984 to 2010, high-end Eddie Bauer edition Ford's turned heads in the ski mountain drop-off zone. I mean, Jack, nothing pairs better with a third home at Stowe than an Eddie Bauer Ford vehicle. The two-tone color on the outside, the leather interior on the inside. But they didn't stop there.

Starting point is 00:09:40 Eddie Bauer launched Eddie Bauer Home, a warm and cozy home goods business through a partnership with lane furniture. They also launched Eddie Bauer optics, collab sunglasses in partnership with Oakley. And they launched Eddie Bauer Mountain Bikes in partnership with giant mountain bike company. Today, it's Skims partnering with everybody. 25 years ago, it was Eddie Bauer partnering with everybody. But, Jack, we should point out, starting in 2003, Eddie Bauer kind of became, well, it became a corporate orphan.

Starting point is 00:10:04 Because its owner at the time, Spiegel, declared bankruptcy due to an unrelated credit card business that was poorly managed. What was the result, Jack? For the last 23 years, Eddie Bauer's owners were focused on cutting instead of adding. Basically corporate hypothermia. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Eddie Bauer? New term, capitalism. When P.E. sucks away all the value from a business. Yet he's from 2003 to 2009, Eddie Bauer,

Starting point is 00:10:31 was owned by Wall Street banks who they just wanted to get their money back. And after that, it was owned by a PE company and what's essentially another PE company. Now, the interesting thing about private equity is their business model is kind of like house flippers. They buy a bad company, they make it good, and then they sell it as a profit. Yeah, sometimes they do that, Nick. But other times they buy a good house, they don't give it the upgrades it needs, they neglect it, they extract all the value from it, like the copper pipes inside, and leave the house for dead. Well, that's the position Eddie Bauer found itself in. It had become a brand, of suburban malls. It wasn't cool, it wasn't trendyly, it was simply mad when private equity took

Starting point is 00:11:05 over. So did those P.E. owners invest in e-commerce to revive the brand's growth? No, they didn't. Nope, they set up an Amazon page and visits to Eddie Bauer.com fell and flatlined for 10 years. Did they invest in fulfillment to meet the higher expectations of consumers in the e-commerce era? No, they didn't. Nope, according to the Trust Pilot, bad customer service gave Eddie Bauer just 1.3 stars out of five stars. Did they sign Bear Grills as a sponsorship dude to try to bring some coolback to the brand? Obvious move. I love your call, Jack. No, they didn't.

Starting point is 00:11:35 Eddie Bauer became not cool with bad customer service and the result was bankruptcy. What Eddie Bauer needed was capitalism. Investments into the business for long-term growth. But what it got was capitalism. Private equity hollowed out the brand like a carcass in the woods. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Mr. Beast just acquired a teen finance app, Step.

Starting point is 00:12:02 The Bank of Mr. Beast is now official. a thing. By switching to teen bank accounts, Mr. Beast is pivoting from attention to retention. Yeties, last year, Jack and I dove in T-boy style to the old U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. And what have we noticed about a curious Mr. Beast trademark application? Mr. Beast Financial. The man with 500 million followers had the intention to enter, quote, banking, investment, and crypto services. I just dropped a golden ticket in a room full of scorpions. If you find it first, you get a high-yield savings account. Is that the business model? one to tackle Jamie Diamond wins a billion dollars! I'm going to bury myself alive. But now we're

Starting point is 00:12:40 seeing why. Because the world's most popular YouTuber acquired Step this week, a teen finance app with seven million users. I'm sorry, Jack, pause the pod. Beast Industries' other ventures include Feastables, a snack brand, Beast philanthropy, its nonprofit arm, Beast games, a reality competition series on Amazon Prime video. Plus the profit puppy, the YouTube channel. Next up, Mr. Beast plans to launch a wireless service. viral version of Verizon. Mr. Beast is becoming the unilever of Gen Z. But Step is the first business he's acquired instead of building from scratch. And since Jack and I sold a business to Robin Hood and we're there for three years, we know a thing or two about fintech apps. So we're jumping in

Starting point is 00:13:20 T-boy style to this latest Mr. Beast. You see, Besties, there's an ironic plot twist here about the financial technology app, Step. It's funded by the new money. Step is backed by celebrities who got rich young, but were never taught how to manage their money. Alex Rodriguez, Steph Curry, Jared Leto. Will Smith, the chain smokers, Charlie Demilio. Each of whom wishes they could have taught their younger selves what to do with money. Step tries to do that for them. Or improve the financial future of the next generation, as they put it.

Starting point is 00:13:48 Yeah, it's Mr. Beast lined. But funny thing Jack and I have noticed over the years about fintech apps. To understand the target of a fintech app, look at the iPhone sample mockup on their website. You see, every fintech company, from Robin Hood to Coinbase to Brex to Ramp, They show a mock-up of the user account and how it looks on an iPhone on the website. And whatever balance they show on that sample picture of the app on an iPhone on their website, that's the signal. That tells you who they're really targeting.

Starting point is 00:14:17 Does the mock-up show an account balance of $1,000? $100,000, a million? Well, on Steps website, its sample user has an account with $50? Yes, because this is for teens. They have 7 million teens signed up. That's a lot. But Hedrus will point out that the typical user has just $50. So the big question, how will Step and Mr. Beast make money off of a 15-year-old who only has

Starting point is 00:14:40 allowance money? Like, can Mr. Beast build a business based on Girl Scout cookie sales? Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy, Mr. Beast? Teen bank accounts are forever bank accounts, and the data proves it. Yeties, Jack and I have shared with you the window of loyalty. We know you love that takeaway. Basically, brands want to win the love of young people because that love lasts a lifetime. Nobody loves their bank. To be clear, but bank relationships laughed a lifetime, too. According to a recent survey of a thousand Americans, 50% of people considered switching banks in the last year. But the majority of those people opted not to because it was way too much of a hassle to switch your primary bank. Didn't you consider doing this the other day and then after six hours gave up?

Starting point is 00:15:21 I was tempted by a bank that would give me 3% interest, even on my checking account. But Nick, I have 30 automatic payments going in or out every given month. That's the Hotel California situation. You can check out any time you like. but you can never leave. The result, according to bank rate, the average checking account in America is held for 19 years. Years, besties, Mr. Beast will try to boost the 7 million users of step to 70 million

Starting point is 00:15:46 by promoting it across his social channels and investing in new features. J.P. Morgan and Charles Schwab, they don't care about $50 bank accounts. No, they don't, but teen bank accounts are often forever bank accounts, and the data proves it. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us

Starting point is 00:16:03 for Saviche Wednesday? Date drop is used by 5,000 of Stanford's 7,000 undergraduate students. Basically, the entire single population on Gabbas. The product didn't make it go viral. It's the seven days of anticipation that did. For our second story, Eddie Bauer was the epitome of outdoor luxury chic in the 1990s, but today it's bankrupt. Capitalism powered its rise, but capitalism powered its fault. And our third and final story, Beast Industries now owns Step, the FinTech app targeting people in their teens and 20s.

Starting point is 00:16:33 And those same teen users today will be tight in users in 20 years. And then Mr. Beast will add this to every app. Exactly. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, a happy heavy earnings week to all those who celebrate.

Starting point is 00:16:48 Spotify stock jumped 15% because users, we're just all ignoring that price hike, apparently. Robin Hood stock fell yesterday as the falling crypto prices has suppressed trading activity. And lift dropped. Lift is now worth just one lift because they did launch teen accounts, but that was two years later than their rival Uber.

Starting point is 00:17:08 Second, Hymns and Hers and Nova Nordisk stock have lost so much value you'd think they're on Ozempic. Yeah, get this. Both of these GLP-1 companies have GLP-1 miracle weight loss drugs, but both stocks are off 65% from their all-time highs. Why? The GLP-1 drugs that used to cost $1,000 a month, just like two years ago, are now available for as little as $50 a month. It's a weight-loss drug price war.

Starting point is 00:17:33 Great for consumers, but terrible for profits and shareholders. And finally, more Super Bowl drama. Oh, boy. Michael Bay is suing Cadillac, claiming that Cadillac stole his ideas for their Super Bowl commercial. You see, Cadillac is the new F-1 racing team with their first ever Grand Prix coming up this March 6th. And to get Americans hyped about it, they talked to Michael Bay, the famous director of all those Transformers movies. But then Cadillac didn't end up hiring Michael Bay to do their Super Bowl commercial. They allegedly stole his ideas and used them in the ad instead.

Starting point is 00:18:02 Not cool, Cadillac. Not cool. If true. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Savannah Westwood from lovely Orlando, Florida. And earlier this week, we told you it was the 100th birthday of Black History Month, so Savannah got us a good one. Savannah's fact is about Robert Smalls, who became the first black captain to command a U.S. naval vessel after he stole a Confederate ship during the Civil War. I mean, can we sprinkle on some context here? 1862, this enslaved man takes a Confederate ship and then delivers all its cargo up to the north, to the Union forces. And his bravery helped convince President Lincoln to allow black men to serve in the U.S. Navy and in the U.S. Army. But Robert Smalls didn't stop there. He eventually went on

Starting point is 00:18:48 to become a congressman for the state of South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives, and he did it for nine years. Small and last name, huge in accomplishments. Yetis, you are looking fantastic for Cevice. Wednesday, Jack, you are glowing over there too. And what is the best way to help grow the show? Share the show with your friend who would love the best one yet. H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. That's how we grow the show.

Starting point is 00:19:12 What does that stand for? Have you had the best one yet? Drop a link to today's episode in your group chat. Then, if you really want to nail Valentine's Day, buy that Google 100-year bond. Your great, great, great, great-great-great-great-grand children. We'll appreciate it. And that's where you put in the note.

Starting point is 00:19:26 You nailed it, Jack. That's what you put in the note. Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Before we go, a happy birthday, and congratulations to Yeti, Avery Walton in Kingwood, Texas. She's getting married next month to a dude named Nick, and she is on a role right now. Happy 48th birthday to Fred Valleys in California, who's listened to 500 episodes of this pod. And Josh Platt has a birthday and a new job over in Beaver, Pennsylvania. Happy birthday to Jessica Fishler, listening on her commute right now in Atlanta, Georgia.

Starting point is 00:19:59 And Dinesh Barvani and his mother-in-law are enjoying this. same best birthday in El Segundo, California. Happy birthday to Ryder Pang, turning a big eight years old in California. And Molly No Diff has got a great name and a great birthday celebrating in New York City. And happy birthday to Emily Brines, the best high school teacher at WHS, who's turned 30 in Westminster, Maryland. And a shout out to Terrell Caraman, who's driving their daughter to school and just got promoted in Fresno, California. Happy three-year wedding anniversary to Ryan and Rachel down in Atlanta.

Starting point is 00:20:29 And Caroline and Nick Alves just got engaged in December. Jack, they already chose the wedding venue. Congratulations. It's the hardest part. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Lyft and Nick and I both on stock, Robin Hood, and Spotify.

The Best One Yet - 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 “9pm Mystery” — Date Drop’s college takeover. MrBeast’s teen bank. Eddie Bauer’s crapitalism. +Google’s 100-Year Bond.

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