The Best One Yet - 👨‍🎤👨‍🎤👨‍🎤 “A Jonas Bro texted me nbd” — Jonas Brothers’ superfan startup. Top Gun’s popcorn payoff. Roomba’s brain strategy.

Episode Date: June 1, 2022

Instead of posting to Instagram, the Jonas Brothers will now text you their best pics and vids (for a price), because creators want to go direct-to-consumer, too. Top Gun went full Maverik and destroyed box office records because viewers decided it was worth going to theater for. And iRobot just unveiled new features for its Roomba vacuum, but it’s all about the brain, not the body.$IRBT $FB $PARAFollow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dude, there's nothing like the crescendo. I was getting through an entire. The crescendo. It's not a podcast. It's a symphony. All right, here we go. Three, two. This is Nick.

This is Jack. It's Wednesday. June 1st and Teddy's Pod is the best one. Yeah. Tb. OI. Tbio why. Because goodbye May.

Hello, June. Oh, Jack. Is Mercury still in retrograde? Adam. Let's round up. We'll say it is. First story, what do we got? The Jonas Brothers just launched a new startup.

Text message is the new Instagram. For our second story, I Robot just unveiled enough new cleaning features to the Rumba robot vacuum to actually impress your cat. It's about the Rumba Brain, not the Rumba Body. For our third and final story, Top Gun. Traffic. Top Gun. Just destroyed Memorial Day weekend box office records like a MIG 20A. We got a new thing.

We got a new thing. The Big Screen Business Model. Welcome to the danger zone. Oh, yeah, it's not welcome. Yeah, it's that. Before we hit that wonderful mix on it. Just a perfect mix for a new month. Let's roll with it.

Your classic family vacation. Classic family vacation. Jack, you go to Paris. You're visiting the Louvre Museum. It seems beautiful. I've never done it, but it's on my bucket list because I want to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. You want to see the Mona Lisa and maybe you did this weekend until boom. What happened?

Someone threw a cake onto the Mona Lisa. Okay, we repeat. Someone just pied the most famous painting on plans. planet earth. It's like an extreme episode of Great British Baking Show live in Paris. Yeah, it's like Mary Barry went ballistic. Someone tried to turn a masterpiece into a magnolia cupcake. For a moment, Leonardo's great work was actually cake. It's like Mrs. Doubtfire. She dumps her face into Limeon and meringue. He goes, hello. Hello. Now, apparently, this was an attempt by an activist to raise awareness for climate change. But done with an absolutely horrible plan and execution.

Fortunately, Mona Lisa is protected. She's behind glass. The frosting didn't fudge the paint. And now the culprit's behind bars. But besties and yeties, Jack and I jumped in, T-Boy style. Turns out, the Mona Lisa isn't just a painting. It's a target. The Mona Lisa has been attacked more than any canvas on Earth's history.

Jack, let's go back to 1911. Some Italian dude who worked at the museum stole the painting. In 1956, a tourist tossed acid on it. A year later, someone threw a rock at the Mona Lisa. In 74, a lady tried to spray paint that painting. And 10 years ago, someone threw coffee on the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa's been plunked more times than A-Raw. She's like a Vanderholyfield, but she's up against the museum ropes.

But that's why the Mona Lisa is still smiling next. Oh, yeah, she's still standing. She's invincible. She's cake-proof. Let's not vandalize our three stories. Let's go, baby. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm.

It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. 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. For our first story, making a debut on the podcast,

the Jonas brothers are tired of Apple and Instagram owning their relationships. So their new startup, it's going to text you directly. Jack, greatest products ever produced by the state of New Jersey. Nick, Joe, and Ken, Many would say it's Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen and John Bon Jo. No, they wouldn't. No, they wouldn't.

They're wrong. I have an answer right here for you. What about Snooky, the fade haircut, and Taylor Hammond. Okay, there isn't going to be a competition. We have about the besties and the Yeti settle this one out. They have to settle this one out, Jack. Yet he's the Jonas brothers. They've won like 75 major musical awards.

Yeah, Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. Most of them are teen choice. Zero of them are Grammys. Still working on that one. They started out on the Disney Channel. And now this tripod of brothers is merging Hollywood with Silicon Valley by launching a startup called Scriber. Scriber, new Jonas Brothers startup.

Here's the deal. Celebs will charge fans for exclusive content, not that original. But that exclusive content, which is premium, you have to pay for it. It's not accessible on like an app or a website that usually is. This is what's different. It's accessible only by text message. Only by text. And here's how this goes down.

You'll text the word go to the Jonas Brothers phone number. And then you'll end up paying them five bucks a month. Totally fair. And for that five bucks a month, out of nowhere, in the middle of the day, there you go. Your phone gets a text message and it's from the cuter Jonas Brothers. Jack, I'm looking right now. I have an a cappella version of Leave Before You Love Me

sung in the Jonas Brothers living room. That's the kind of premium content. You'll get directly from the Jonas Brothers via text message like you're the fourth Jonas Brother. Oh, one more, Jack. They're selling an exclusive promise ring for $50, but only to the same. the fans on text. Now, Scriber's not the first to do this, by the way. Good point, Jack. Other startups, subtext and community, they let creators text fans directly too.

But out of all the forms of media, Nick, text messages have been the most intimate one. Bessies, Yetis, text is the most direct digital communication out of everything in media. And it's the one that you happen to check the most frequently. And text or SMS technology, it's evolved. It's not just letters and emoji anymore. You can watch videos, stream, music, all within a text chain. Except for that one buddy who's the green guy on your iPhone text chain, except for him. He's a nice guy. And now Scriber plans to tap this intimate, dynamic communication channel, the text message,

to connect directly with super fans. Now, there is one issue here, and it's that text is starting to feel a little spammy. I checked my text this weekend. I had like 17 unread texts. They were all robotexts. Mr. Popular over there with a lot of robot friends. Half of them are asking me to donate money. The other half is asking me to enter the six-digit security code so that they know it's made.

Wells Fargo will never ask you to text us your password or social security number. That's the other half of the text messages I have. But the core idea of Scriber is that it's targeting super fans. It's not targeting everything. It's targeting the super fans who are cool with the Jonas brothers entering your fiercely protected text message inbox. They're focusing on the 5% of Joe Bros who are willing to sing burning up every single day when they wake up. They think this premium product will resonate with the 5% of genetics that want to be texted every day by Nick Joe and Kevin.

And get this, if just 1% of those 50 million Instagram followers of the Jonas Brothers pay this $5 a month subscription, Jack, what kind of numbers we're talking? Big money. That would be 30 million a year. And that's why they want to expand this to be used by any creator. We repeat, that would be 30 million bucks a year to be split between the Joan eyes. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Jones? Jonas brothers. First brands went direct to consumer. Now celebrities are. Fasties, Nettis, Jack and I have seen this pattern before. We've seen it in retail because consumer

goods were always sold by a middleman. The middleman was the physical store that controlled where the product was placed, where customers would find it, what the price would be, and then the physical store took a big cut of the deal. Well, the Jonas brothers are applying the same concept but to digitally connecting with fans. Why let Instagram's algorithm deterred? if that beautiful acapella post gets seen by all the fans or not. Jack, why let Apple take 30% cut of your superfan subscriptions? Celebrities want to own the relationships directly, not let Instagram handle it. And text messages and phone numbers, that lets them do that.

So the Jonas Brothers, the way we see it, they're pioneering a new form of DTC. Not direct to consumer, direct to creator. For our second story, I Robot, they just admitted that their Rumba vacuums can't get any stronger. Because the second half of innovation is always soft. High robot, not just a great name, not just a Will Smith classic, also founded on a college campus, MIT 1990. Yes, there's some concern about robots taking our jobs, Nick. There's no concerns about robots taking this job. Our robot, they ended into the Roomba. They have disrupted the dustpan. Yeah, and there's no vacuumers guild that's like really angry about this development. And this robot vacuum company, their stock,

sword 250% during the stay-at-home pandemic era. I bought a Roomba. I brought my brother a Roomba. You didn't buy me a Roomba? Very interesting to have that revealed on the podcast, Live, Jack. You've always been... No, it's okay. It's fine. It's fine. Okay. The last two quarters, though, for Our Roomba, it felt like my soul right now. They've been losing money and sales are shrinking. Nick, you've always been a DIY kind of guy. Actually, no, you're not.

No, I'm not. In the meantime, Jack and I thought this change. this pivot from iRobot was kind of fascinating. To restart growth at iRobot, they're not improving the Rumba's body. They're improving the Rumba's brain. Exactly. They have announced a new software update that's going to solve consumer problems that the low-priced Rumba knockoffs can't handle. Problem number one, my Rumba spread dog poop all over the floor. It was a nightmare. There are some YouTube videos of this. It's not a pretty situation, but it's more common than you'd

think. So the new Rumba operating system, which just requires this, software update can identify and avoid solid pet waste. It's a problem. They need it to fix. But problem number two, you have to clean up your home before you can let the Roomba clean up your home. It's so annoying because you know that if there's cords on the floor or like the rug ruffles are out, then those are going to get tangled up in the Roomba and it's going to cause

a problem. So basically you need to clean up the floor so that your Roomba can clean up the floor. It's annoying from what I hear. It's really frustrating. But with the new Rumba operating system, it'll creep around the baby toys and go past the cords instead of getting stuck on like a Lego. But then there's problem number three, Jack. Problem number three is when there's just one messy area. Just that one messy area has to get cleaned, not the entire first floor.

So the new Rumba software update means you can voice command your I-Robot vacuum. Hey, Rumba, clean up just the cookie crisp crumbs, which are just around the breakfast. Jack, it's like Alexa and Alfred the Butler had a baby. baby and that baby is this new iRobot software updates. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at iRobot? The second half of innovation is always software. Besties, Yeties, remember when phones were getting bigger and bigger and bigger? Every new iPhone had like two more cameras and two more square inches of screen. These were getting huge. The first decade of smartphone innovation was all about the hardware, bigger, stronger, bigger and bigger. But the hardware

plateaued. Like the phone shape is optimal now. And every phone has a similar battery, similar camera, similar chip, similar screens. So what we're noticing is that the pendulum is swung. Now it's all about the software, not the hardware. Better software is why Apple charges more for the iPhone than Google does for Android phones. Yeah. Well, I-Robot thinks it's the same when it comes to vacuums. The CEO of I-Robot told the verge, the intelligence of our robots are going to be the primary differentiator of robots in the hole. For any tech gadget, the second half of innovation is always the software. And now a word about our sponsor, Robin Hood. So for the last three and a half years, Jack and I were running a startup within a startup, basically. We turned our company market snacks into

Robin Hood Snacks, the news arm of Robin Hood. And in Robin Hood, we co-hosted the Snacks daily pod that you got to know and love. At Robin Hood, we also got to hire an awesome team of news people who run the Robin Hood Snacks newsletter. Wild fact here. The biggest newsletter in America. Robin Hood Snacks. A key detail vote, not many are aware of, is the editorial independence. So Jack and I set it up so that we could independently cover the most interesting and most important news stories of the day. Robin Hood's commitment to free, digestible news snack style was an awesome differentiator. Yeah, if you're not investing in Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robin hood.com slash t-boy and choose a free stock. That's robinood.com slash

T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. By the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or the podcast. For our third and final story, Viper, Top Gun, just confirmed that big budget blockbusters can still put butts in seats. But before you go to the theater, make sure to calculate your popcorn payoffs. Jack, if you give $11,000 to the U.S. Navy, what is that going to get you? That's going to get you an hour in a fighter jet.

A fighter jet. That's what Tom Cruise literally did. We told you. Tom Cruise paid like $11,000 an hour to be in a fighter jet with the U.S. Navy. And it looks like it was worth it. And so was the two-year delay of premiering this movie. The movie's been ready for two years. And this is all worth it because Top Gun Maverick just went full Iceman on the U.S.

Box Office. Top Gun Maverick brought in 165 million in box office sales over the opening weekend. Not too shabby. It's a record for Memorial Day weekend. Oh, and that's despite zero. sales over in China because Jack how was Top Gun received in China? It was banned there because this movie makes the U.S. military look pretty awesome. But it thrived in the United States all thanks to Gen X and boomers who just came out in droves, junior men's. Apparently it was older viewers who came back to

watch the second telling of Top Gun. The first one was 1986. You're going to see Tom Cruise do a beach volleyball scene Topless for a montage. We'll take it. Now what makes Top Guns box office success even more impressive is the intense competition over the weekend from streaming. All right, Jack, you want to share with me the decision anxiety you went through this weekend? Hardest what-to-watch decision ever this past weekend. Jack, on the one hand, you had Netflix, Stranger Things Season 4 premiered. You also had Disney Plus premiering the Obi-Wan Kenobish movie. Oh, wait, let me mess with your head a little more.

You also had HBO Max with the new secrets of Dumbledore. Stranger Things, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. Oh, wait. No, no, no, no, no. How about the NBA and NHL playoffs, too? How about you throw theirs in, Jack? How about the Indy 500? How about 200 miles per hour now?

I'm not even, Jack, I'm putting the microphone down. I'm not even going to watch. I'm just going home. I'm not going to watch. I'm reading a book. Top Gun faced blue chip-shmovie and live TV competition all weekend and still hit a home run. All that streaming material gave you a reason to stay home. And yet millions went to see Tom Cruise's.

timeless dimples in the theaters. The G-forces reverse the aging process next. So, Jack, what's the takeaway that's right in checks? Your body can't cash. Before going to the theater, you have to calculate your popcorn payoff. Besties, the Top Gun 2 success. It shows that Blockbusters still have a place in theaters. But overall, box office sales are still down 40% this year compared to pre-pandemic 2019.

Well, that's because consumers like you and us are making a new calculation. We only go to the theater if there's an experience. high payoff. You're not going to your local AMC 25 just because it's Friday night like maybe you used to. You're only going if you're very excited about a very specific movie. You're only going if it's a sure thing movie that's premiered. Anything else doesn't pass the popcorn payoff. If it doesn't have that Tom Cruise montage, then you're not dropping 17 bucks and 50 cents on junior minutes. It's the low risk high payoff movies that get you to the theater and it's the big name brands we're talking about. superstars. No superhero, no superstar, straight to streaming. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us

over there? The Jonas Brothers just launched Scriber, a platform for texting super fans. It's a new kind of DTC, direct to creator. For our second story, I robot thinks it's room by body. Is as good as it's going to get? Because the second half of innovation, it's always the software. The third and final story is Top Gun 2. It just broke box office records from Memorial Day weekend. Because if you're going, into a theater, you got to calculate the popcorn payoff. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one's sent in by Mark Garza from lovely Austin, Texas. Tornadoes aren't just a weather phenomenon. Tornadoes are an American weather phenomenon. Get this, 75% of the world's tornadoes occur in the United States. Yeah, Tornado Alley. There were like two movies from our childhood all about this.

Helen Hunt could tell you all about it. The twisters that develop outside the United States, they're also like smaller and weaker than the ones here in the U.S. The reason the U.S. has so many tornadoes, it actually all comes down to the Gulf of Mexico. It does. Yeah, like the winds and the storms that spawn in the Gulf, that leads to twisters up in the United States. By the way, later this week, we may do a story all about the weather channel. Yeah, the streaming weather channel. Which is the most opened app on my iPhone. Besties and Yates, if you have the best fact yet, actually, especially if you've got a Pride Month best fact yet,

Jack and I want to hear it. In fact, we want to get your voice on the pod. That's right. We got a link in the episode description. You can send us a voicemail. We would love to hear it on the pod. Your mom leaves your voicemails. You leave us a voicemail.

Even if your voicemail is just like, hey, Nick and Jack, I wanted to just say hi. We love your voice. You hear ours every day. Nick and I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, congratulations to Tim and Dana Maloney, who just had their first baby girl, Michaela June, over in San Francisco. And congrats to Nick Glover, who's graduating from his,

emergency medical residence. And Dr. Jack Jang just got a new job as chief medical officer also in San Francisco. All the best to Alejandra Monroy, who's recovering from COVID, feel better down in Atlanta. And Andres Gonzalez just got promoted over in Paris, France. Congrats to Haley-U, who just got a new job at Pinterest. And Brandon and Karina Griffith are moving from Utah to North Carolina. Congrats to Miles and Taylor. Moving to Denver. And mid-kid Kevin Naharo just got a new job in Salinas. Neves in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And David Horano, happy birthday down in Memphis, Tennessee. Get some BBQ. Happy birthday to Taye Just Nair in Kipps Bay, New York City. And Mike Garzade is happy birthday over in St. Louis also get some barbecue. Happy birthday to Anand Goyal in Santa Clara, California.

And to anyone else celebrate something today, make it a tea board. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Netflix, and Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Robin Hood. And now word about our exclusive sponsor, Robin Hood. Look, we're not tech guys. We're not engineers. Uh-uh. Nick, I'm no product manager. You look great, but we're not technically. When our computer's not working, Jack and I turn it off and then we turn it back on again.

But when we moved to California to join Robin Hood, we were in tech's mecca. So we were soaking up as much about the tech industry as we could. One thing we saw about the tech industry at Robin Hood was insane customer focus. Every product launched, every tweak made to the app was a laser focus. focused move on customers. Robin Hood would be interviewing hundreds of users to figure out of one tweak of one button in the app would improve the experience. Inside of Robin Hood, we saw that everything the company did was focused on the best outcome for you, the customer. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robinode.com slash t-boy and choose a stock.

That's robin hood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC member SIPC. By the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or this podcast. Remember when phones were getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger? Bigger? You're cute. I'm like, line. They're like, uh, Nick, just say bigger one more time.

Bigger!