The Best One Yet - 🇮🇹 “Bezos Da Vinci” — Venice’s Amazonian history. Nike’s Snoafer bet. NYC’s Socialist (Maybe) Mayor.

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

Jeff Bezos is getting married in Venice… but did ya know Venice was the Amazon of the Old World?Nike is pinning its turnaround on a snoafer (a sneaker/loafer)… it’s not a throwback, it’s a flowforward.NYC democrats just nominated a socialist mayoral candidate… because Wall Street has changed.Plus, the hottest new $1 unicorn startup… is a tech company for cows.$AMZNWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Dr Pepper 🥤Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Our 2nd show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday the real Friday. June 27th. And today's pod is the best one yet. And this is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. All right, let me get this straight, Jack. We're still in a trade war. We're kind of in a real war. Yeah. And yet stocks are near all-time highs. We'll make sense at the historic Wall Street bull market on Monday's pod. But in the meantime, we got three fantastic stories that I'll make you the most interesting person in the room. Jack, what are we got on today's tea? For our first story, Jeff Bezos is getting married this weekend in Venice, Italy, and we've got an angle you won't hear anywhere else. Because 500 years ago, Venice was the Amazon.com of the world. For our second story, New York City Democrats just dominated a self-proclaimed socialist for mayor. The most capitalist place in the country could be led by a socialist. We had the jump in T-boy style to this. And our third and final story, Nike just reported earnings. But all eyes are on one thing.

The snowfer. Can you please repeat that word, Jack? The snowfer. Ah, snow fur. Can Nike's sneakerlofer save Nike? But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Oh, what? A fantastic mix before the weekend, Jack.

Love a mix. The hottest new startup right now is a tech wearable for cows. Excuse me? What was that, Jack? Literally a wearable that cows wear. Yeah, a whoop for your wag you. Yeah, get this. The company.

is called Halter, and it just hit a $1 billion valuation for a new thing that we're calling cow tech. So ironically, this cow company is now a unicorn. Can you toss on some chaps, Nick, and sprinkle on some context for us? I already had them on, Jack. The one of the costliest parts of running a ranch is hurting the cattle. Yeah, Bessie's eating over there. Buttercup is grazing over here. Oh, hey, honey, Angus, the calf just escaped from the bar in one second. So Halter created a smart caller that geo-fenses cows to where they're supposed to be with vibrations and noises. Ipso facto, a rancher can move the cows with an iPhone app swipe. No need to jump on a horse and lasso those cattle like a cowboy.

Okay, pretty cool. Kind of eliminates the need for fences too, right, man? Yeah, that's a big deal. Ranchers have to rotate fields so that the grass doesn't all die. But now they can rotate where the cattle graze without building new fences. Just by opening an app and telling the collar where to tend the cattle. Since America is the biggest producer and consumer of beef, Silicon Valley thinks this cow startup is worth $1 billion. But Jack, I got some sad news to sprinkle on here.

Because this cow collar deal, it's going to put some shepherds out of work. Shepherd dogs, that is. Yeah, because for herding cattle, farm dogs are the ones who help with that. Sorry, lassie, don't bark at us. Uh-huh. Bark at VC. Welcome, besties, to the age of cow deck. Now, if I only get one of these collars for my kids,

Keep them in the playpen. Keep them in the backyard. Open up my iPhone, get them inside for dinner. Sounds like the kind of product extension that gets a visit from social services, Jack. Let's in our three stories. Fifteen 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.

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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, this weekend, Jeff Bezos is getting married in Venice, Italy, and everyone is talking about the drama. But we think Venice as the venue is perfectly poetic.

Yes, we do. Because 500 years ago, Venice was the Amazon.com of the world. Now, Yeties, remember when we told you we got that leaked copy of Jeff Bezos' wedding vows? The only one of them? We posted a video of those vows on our Instagram. I solemnly swear to love you in sickness and in telehealth, in bull markets and in bear in Prime Dewas part. I don't just love you.

I subscribe to you. The Bezos wedding. It's Davos for hot people. Yeah, there's more security right now in Venice than the G7 summit. Yeah, and the private jets. They're all landing today for the festivities. Guess who's on the invite list? Talk to me, Jack.

Oprah, Bill Gates, Ivanka, Tom Brady, and half a dozen Kardashians. Okay, but Jack, get this. They kicked off the way. wedding celebrations with a foam party on Jeff's $500 million yacht. I think Jeff hired the paparazzi to take more pictures of his packs. Apparently the theme is spring break and yes, we are referring to him as first name Jeff. Now there are protests across the canals because a billionaire basically rented the entire city for a day. But here's what Jack and I found fascinating.

While Venice is the controversial choice, we actually think it's the perfect choice. Because Venice is the OG Amazon. Follow us on this one, besties. 500 years ago, Venice was the trade capital of the world. Venice was the Amazon.com of the Renaissance. Exactly. In the old world, Venice represented the same values and structure that we see today in the e-commerce giant Amazon. To sprinkle on some context. Please, Jack.

Italy only became a country in the 1870s. Before that, it was a collection of separate kingdoms. Good point. Venice was one of the oldest. It was a republic, actually, and it was built for shipping and trade. And think about it. What are Venice's 150 canals? Well, Jack, I'm thinking about it. And they're basically a fulfillment network for the distribution of goods. Not basically.

That's what they are. In fact, get this. 500 years before Henry Ford, Venice pioneered an assembly line for manufacturing. At its peak, the Venice Arsenal built one ship per day with 16,000 workers. Eat your heart out, Andy, Jassy. How about next day delivery? Yeah, Venice didn't do next day delivery, but kind of. But they kind of got close because Venice operated a shipping system that they called the Mude.

It was a merchant fleet on a fixed schedule. Four times per year, it would travel from Venice to Constantinople and to London. But Jack, what about credit cards? No way Venice was doing credit cards back in the Renaissance, right? Venice established one of the world's first banks with lending accounts. That's right. When you were in Venice hanging out with Marco Polo, you could be buying Venetian glass on credit. And if you're an accountant, thank Venice for inventing double-entry bookkeeping, too.

The result, besties, just like Amazon, Venice got a monopoly. The state of Venice controlled 80% of European spice trade. Okay, but it wasn't just coconut and nutmeg commodities. Venice also controlled luxury goods, too. Half of the silk and carpets coming from Asia entered Europe through Amazon, I mean, Venice. So yet he's added all up And just like Amazon shareholders today, Venice got rich. By 1500, Venice was the wealthiest city in Europe. Holy gondola.

So Jack, can you tell us, please, what's the takeaway for our buddies partying for the Bezos wedding over in Venice? The most important product traded and controlled by old Venice was salt. Salt. Amazon, pay attention to this one. salt had universal value in the pre-refrigeration days. Salt was the key to preserving food. So a block of salt 500 years ago was like a block of gold today.

Yeah, Jack, having a salt shaker was like an OG status symbol in the Renaissance days. In fact, Jack, do you know where the word salary comes from? From the word salt? Salary comes from salt. You were worth your weight in salt. By the way, yeah, does Nick read a book called salt? Yeah, that's why he knows all of this. That's why I was deep on the salt.

So, to bring it back to our Amazon store, the state of Venice created a salt office to control the salt supply. And at one point, 15% of all of Venice's revenue came from the salt trade and the associated salt tax. Jack and I were thinking about it. Salt was basically Venice's Amazon Web Services. Not flashy, but essential and highly profitable. So, Basties, this weekend, you're going to see Jeff partying in a gilded marble palace over in Venice. And from our perspective, it actually makes a lot of sense.

Because 500 years ago, the city of Venice was the Amazon.com of the world. For our second story, Zoran Mamdani's victory in New York City is the biggest win ever by a self-proclaimed socialist in America. So what would happen if a socialist runs America's capital of capitalism? Well, you haddies, every headline on Wednesday morning was this. Mumdani stuns New York with a primary win. But we weren't stunned at all. No, we weren't. And why is that, Jack? Because the number one thing Mumdani talked about on the campaign was the A word, affordability.

More on that in a minute. Zohan Mamdani is 33 years old. He's a Muslim, and he immigrated to the U.S. at the age of seven, and became a citizen after graduating from Bowden. And he's been endorsed by Bernie Sanders, and like Bernie, is a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist. And on Tuesday, he defeated Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who resigned a few years ago after sexual harassment allegations. Now, Yetis, keep this in mind. Mamdani won the primary to be the Democrat nominee, but that doesn't mean he's going to win the November general election.

No, in November, he'll have to face a Republican nominee, of course. And he's going to face the current mayor, Eric Adams, who's running as an independent. Plus, he might have to face Andrew Cuomo again, who could run as another independent. But in the meantime, Yetis, this primary win is shaking the most capitalist city in the world to its core. But first, here's the theme of politics right now. now. In the presidential election, Trump focused on inflation. Mumdani similarly focused on affordability. Mumdani's website leads with this simple sentence. New York is too expensive. Hard to argue with that. He's talking about the rent, by the way. He's not talking about your

sweet green salad. No, although I bet you he doesn't go to sweet green. But there were three policy proposals to lower costs for New Yorkers that he focused on. Zoran's number one policy was to freeze rents for all New York City's rent-stabilized tenants, which is two million New Yorkers. the economic textbooks we've read say this kind of thing doesn't work. You need to incentivize construction of new apartments instead of capping how much you can make as a landlord. But Nick, the status quo in New York isn't working either. That's true. After all, the average Manhattan rent is $5,000 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. Honestly, we wish we could just build baby build more because there's also just worldwide demand to own a piettaire in the west

village of Manhattan. New York is truly a one-of-a-kind city. There's a lot of demand. Now, policies number two and number three, for Zoran are free childcare and free buses for all New Yorkers. Because like most of the country, most New Yorkers actually live paycheck to paycheck. It was these policies to lower the cost of living that resonated on Tuesday. That's the winning political formula for both parties right now. But we know what you're thinking, Yetis. Who's going to pay for all this? Well, it would be paid for by the wealthy and corporations, and this is what leads to our takeaway. For the wealthy and corporations, these policies won't lower costs. They'll raise costs. So Jack, what's the

Takeaway for all our buddies who are looking at the New York mayoral primary with a socialist. What happens when you make the rich and corporations who already pay the most pay even more? Yeti's some critical context to sprinkle onto this story. Florida and Texas are booming right now because of low taxes. It's politically popular to cut taxes, but Zoran wants to raise taxes on the rich and on corporations. Now remember, New York already has the highest taxes in the country. We got a state and a city income tax in New York City. Dallas and Miami have neither a state nor a city income tax.

We just did a whole story in how Florida is winning Stanley Cups and hockey because they don't have a state income tax. They're getting free agents. And sorry, Nick, but the Rangers haven't won since 94. Well, hedge funder Bill Hackman tweeted, Good luck, New York City, Florida is about to experience a population boom. And he's got a point. During the pandemic, New York already experienced an exodus

of wealthy and conservative New Yorkers who moved to Florida and to Texas. Now, since the pandemic, New York City has bounced back more than any other city, and the proof is right there in the record high rents and the real estate prices. But another tax hike, that's a test of New York's resilience even further. Will more people leave resulting in a net negative for the city with a smaller tax base? Or will the benefits of all those progressive policies be a net positive and counteract any wealth exodus? So, Basties, when you add it all up, here's what we're thinking. What this election really sets up is an economic experiment we rarely see in modern times. What happens when you make the rich in corporations who already pay the most pay even more?

Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story before the weekend, Nike is hoping for a turnaround, and it's betting it all on one concept, the snowfer. Can a hybrid sneaker loafer save the biggest shoe brand on earth? It's come down to this, call the trainer jack. Nike stock, it's still on the disabled list. It's down 65% from its all-time high. The swoosh is slipping because Nike is facing competition from above.

Adidas. And from below. On. And from your dad. New balance. First, Nike made the strategic mistakes. Nike pulled out of full locker, so Hoka swooped on in. Then they made design mistakes.

Nike stopped innovating, so run clubs switched over to Brooks. Just look at the NBA right now. Yeah. I think the MVP is wearing Converse, and the number one draft pick Cooper Flag is wearing new balance. Trigger warning, Michael Jordan, sorry. Now, Nike does own Converse, but still, the swoosh just isn't doing it. And here's the latest. Nike just announced earnings, but all eyes were not on their sales.

Which fell 12% by the way. The eyes were on the snowfer. Or at least our eyes. We're on the snowfer. We may have been the only ones, but our eyes were on the snowfer. Because snowfer. At first, I thought this was a snow loafer, and I was really excited. Lofer's for the snow.

But then we realized it's a real thing. It is. Half sneaker, half loafer. Man bear pig. Exactly, Jack. Now, earlier this week, perfect timing, we told you Yetis about the turducken fashion styles out there. It's when two clothings get combined into one. You got jorts. You got jocytes. You got jocytes. The snowfer is the same kind of idea but for footwear.

And guess what? It could actually save Nike. You know what, Jack, for something as ridiculous as a snowfer, can you please sprinkle on some visual context for us over there? All right. It looks like a loafer on it. top, but it's got a swoosh logo. Instead of the little spot, you put a penny in the penny loafers. But then on the bottom, it's not a loafer. It's like a full athletic tread with visible air bubbles. Okay, Jack, let me sum this up. It's Brooks Brothers on the top and then LeBron on the bottom. Exactly. It's Frankenstein on your feet. From the bottom, it looks like a basketball court.

From the top, it looks like a boardroom. Interestingly, yet, is snowfers were invented a year ago by New Balance and Puma, and now about every single brand out there has one. So Nike is actually late to the snowboard. for game. But they've got a big flashy name to compensate for their tardiness. Nike calls their snowfer the air max phenomena. Which is hilarious. It's a ridiculous name for a ridiculous shoe. Now, technically the shoe drops today, but leaked photos already have people bidding up on the potential shoes to $500, three times the retail price. Now, who is this snow for targeting, Nick? It's for the pro bros, Jack.

Right. The guys that have already been wearing Lulu Lam and casual khakis to the office for years, but I've had nothing to pair them with. But Jack, I guess snowfers could also be targeting women too, right? Yeah. When I was working at a bank, women kept sneakers under their desk for their commute home in a ludicrously capacious handbag. So, Besty's Nike is now betting its entire turnaround on a sneaker style that did not even exist a year ago. Yeah, Michael Jordan's rolling over on his basketball court. I said Jack. What's the takeaway for our buddies with Nike's snowfer? This isn't a throwback. It's a flow forward. And we're for it. Yeties. Nostalgia dominates right now. McDonald's brought Grimmis back from the 1980s and Y2K it is trending these days.

Look at the movie theater. Every blockbuster this summer is a 20-year-old sequel. Nostalgia is so reliable that every company did it to avoid risk. But for Nike, recycling old styles just became a crutch. Yeah, it's like, I'm not impressed. your Nike Airmax Dunk 17. So Jack, this enthusiasm for a silly sounding, unprecedented style of shoe? A concept of footwear that's only a year old? It is a refreshing pivot to see from Nike.

It's nice to see Nike try something new. A heads up that, you know, to remix Glenn and Doyle, we can do new things. You can't just rely on throwbacks. Take a risk on a flow forward. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday? The Bezos wedding is happening this weekend in Venice, which is the Amazon of the old world. And the most important product traded and controlled by old Venice was salt. For our second story, Zoran Mamdani's victory in New York has progressives excited, Wall Street concerned.

What happens when you make the rich in corporations who already pay the most pay more? And our third and final story is Nike's earnings highlight. It was their new snow fur. Funny looking, even funnier to say. The snow fur. It ain't a throwback. flow forward and we're for the flow forward. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. First, Jack, can we call up Zuck? Because the social network, the movie, is getting a sequel. Yeah, we're going to poke Zuck because it's been 15 years since Jesse Eisenberg portrayed Zuckerberg's dark origin story. I think he's going to poke us, actually. But now director Aaron Sorkin is working on another, the social network part two. Actually, his lawyers are probably going to poke us.

The sequel is based on the Facebook files. when the Wall Street Journal uncovered a bunch of shadiness. Yeah, it's going to be a dark one. Unless we poke their lawyers first. And second, here's the headline we couldn't have predicted. Two prediction companies just raised money at the same time. Kalshi and Polly Market both let you bet on pretty much anything in the world. From elections to stocks to sports.

Well, Kalshian Polly Market both just raised venture capital money at a $2 billion valuation and $1 billion valuation respectively. Both announced the news one day after another. What are the odds of that now? What are the odds, Jack? And finally, we might as well call up Mugatu as well, because Anna Wintour is stepping down from her role at Vogue. For 37 years, Anna Wintor has determined fashion as the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. Now, Anna will stay on at the magazine, owned by Condé Nast, but she will no longer be the editor-in-chief.

What do you call her haircut? You call it fantastic, Jack. You just call it fantastic and you walk away. It's fantastic. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Stephen Bessett from the great state of Connecticut. Last week we did a story on how income tax-free states attract top pro athletes. Well, the jock tax is a little nuance here.

Pro athletes don't just pay taxes where they live. They pay taxes wherever they play based on the number of days they played in those states. So even if an NBA player lives in a no-tax state like Florida, they probably play like 30 games in states that do have. income tax. But again, it's only for the days they're playing away games in those states. The big winner here is H&R block. Because they have to file like 30 tax returns. Yaddies, you'll look fantastic today. And if you haven't yet, check out our episode this weekend on The Best Idea Yet about the Origin Story of Dr. Pepper. Pepper's not one of the 23 ingredients,

is it? I don't think pepper dissolves in liquid. So I'm going to say no. Not yet, Jack. Not yet. But Jack, before we go, by the way, let's celebrate the wins over here. We interviewed the co-founder of Poppy this week. We got to drop the episode pretty soon. Yeah, why are we going to drop that? Okay, we haven't decided yet. But yet, he's thanks for sending us your questions. It's an amazing interview.

Allison was fantastic. It was the best one yet. So celebrate the wins this weekend. Tell a buddy, H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y, drop and give us five stars, and Jack and I will see you on Monday. And before we go, a happy birthday, to my fantastic dad, Michael Martel, from Schenectady, New York, legendary city, and living in the great New York City. And a big happy birthday to Meg Dwyer, who just finished a knee surgery. Nick, I hear she's trotting already.

Jack, half marathon. I think she just did a half marathon. And our buddy, Nick Marino, happy birthday, the jouster of Jeopardy, Nick. You got this, buddy. Don't tell the IRS, but Nick Marino got a meal paid for with the T-Boy Company card. I don't know how that worked out. It worked out well. And Paula Howard in Grafton, Wisconsin.

Happy birthday up in the Midwest. Happy 36 birthday to Andrew Zamski in Waltham. And Hugo von der Walt from Columbus, Ohio. Happy birthday, Hugo. Happy 18th birthday to Lola Ray Ben Shahar Pike in New York City. And Tegan Canudson is turning 32 years old in towns in Montana. Happy birthday, Tegan. And happy birthday to Jennifer Wang in New Jersey.

Who we hear is simply the cutest girlfriend ever. And a happy 23rd anniversary to Kennan Land. Wow, more than two decades. Congratulations, guys. Congratulations to Cedric Fen and Abby Johnson in Louisville, Kentucky, who are getting married. Let's see some pigs, and Paul Raymond Dubois is graduating with a PhD in math in Toulouse, France. Possible.

Happy anniversary to Matt and Aaron, aka Marin, in Arlington Heights, Illinois. And Shannon Cushing has got a promotion from partial to full product manager over in Chicago. By the way, Matt, Aaron, and Shannon, you got to come to our Chicago show on July 23rd. Oh, we better see you guys there. Oh, and the offbeat collective team is relaunching the business in Dallas, Texas. Congratulations, guys. And a happy birthday to Jim Smart in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His bestie Brittany has a special request.

So Jack, here's her request. Would you sprinkle on some happy birthday sprinkles? This is the best birthday yet. If you know, you know. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Nick own stock of Nike.