The Best One Yet - 💦 “Big Bottled Bros” — Poland Spring’s water merger. Fisker’s bankrupt electric car. Home-Swapping vs Airbnb.

Episode Date: June 20, 2024

Big Bottled Water is merging with Big Water Jug in a $7B deal… say hello to PolandSpringMountain, Inc.Electric car company Fisker just filed for bankruptcy… and you can blame it on 1 YouTube video.And “Home-swapping” is the hot new startup trend in travel… because Airbnb has a blindspot.Plus, the newest summer camp for kids in America… is Chick-fil-A.$PRMW $ABNB $FSRNSubscribe to our Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Watch us on YouTubeSubmit Facts & Shoutouts Socials: Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn (Nick) & LinkedIn (Jack)About Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, June 20th. And today's pod is the best one yet. It's a T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Boom, Yiddies. We got a special episode dropping tomorrow. Tea Boy Hotline episode number three. Nick and I are publishing a full episode dedicated to wedding finances. Plus, Jack and I brought on a special guest for the show. But first, we have three fantastic stories. for today's show. Yeah, these stories have never looked better. Jack, three stories for today's pod. What do we got on the T-Boy? For our first story, big bottled water just merged with big jugged water to create a $7 billion water giant. It's a big

bottled water deal, yet he's porous, a cool glass of Poland Spring Mountain Park Athena. For our second story, it's Fisker. The electric car company just filed for bankruptcy. And you can blame it all on one wild YouTube video. And our third and final story

is about a hot new trend in travel this summer. What is it, Jack? Home swapping. Home swapping. Yetis, swapping homes is the new Airbnb. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, fantastic mix of stories. No one else is doing this mix.

Love the mix, Jack. School's out. So parents are itching to drop their kids off next week at summer camp. Oh, but pause the pod. Yeties, do not drop those kids off with the counselors just quite yet. Because the newest summer camp in America is actually run by Chick-fil-A. Get this, the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A is hosting a fast-food summer camp in lovely Louisiana.

There are 3,000 Chick-fil-A locations in America, but only one of them will take your kiddo for half the day this summer. The way we see it, this is the highest calorie child care in the history of kids, Jack. Instead of canoeing, at this camp, they have Cobb Salad. Instead of arts and crafts, it's fries and ketchup. And they're not roasting marshmallows around the fire. They're roasting chicken thighs on the friar. Sack Jack, I gotta go see the nurse. I ate too many biscuits. Yet is camp Chick-fil-A. It's a real thing, and it costs $35 for the half day of camp council.

And those happy campers are going to get a name tag, a T-shirt, and one free spicy deluxe sandwich. Plus, they get to go behind the scenes with the whole Chick-fil-A team. Jack, maybe you could sprinkle on a little seasoning and some context for us over there. Chick-fil-A is a summer camp that brings kids behind the counter to experience how the chicken sausage is made. Literally, a half-day of shadowing the employees for a real-life learning opportunity. Now look, they're not frying nuggets for customers. This isn't child labor. We should point that out. The labor department of the United States does not have to get involved here, Jack. This is a camp to teach kids about cooking creativity and courtesy and customer friendliness. And you know what, Yetis, the more Jack and I thought about this, the more we wish other fast food brands ran summer camps too. How about Camp Tripoli? I know you'd sign up, Nick. I mean, Jack, it'd be great to learn how to wrap a burrito on a zip line. So, yeties, grab a buddy, because of course we follow the buddy system at this game. And besties, salute your shorts. But we should point out, Tony Perkis is no fan of Camp Chick-Fal Act.

Attention Campers, lunch has been canceled due to lack of hustle. Step on the scale, Jimmy. Step off the scale, Jimmy. Attention Campers. Lunch has been canceled today due to lack of hustle. Deal with it. Jack and I just signed up. In the meantime, let's hear it 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. the best one yet but the best is an 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 story, just in time for the first summer heat wave, we're about to get one big water. Big bottled water is merging with big water jug to create what we can only call Poseidon Industries. But first, glasso, pariet, veal. Yeties, if you don't sound like a French spa, you can't be in the bottled water brand.

No, you cannot. Because water is the essence of moisture, and moisture is the essence of wetness, Jack. Yeties, we hope you're staying cool because it's like a thousand degrees outside, wherever you are. But in the meantime, wherever you are and wherever you're getting hydrated, you should know that the two biggest water brands in America,

what are they, Jack? They're Aquafina and Desani, which are owned by Coca-Cola and Pepsi. they sell a billion dollars of bottled water every year. But Jack, the two biggest water companies in America? What are those? That'd be Blue Triton and Prima, which own more water bottle brands than Aquarius. Jack wanted to say Poseidon again, but we decided to use the Greek god for water instead.

We're flexing that level I'd just agree right now. Yet he's Blue Trident is actually a private equity-backed big water bottle company. They own Deer Park. They own the Poland Springs up in Maine. They own Arrowhead, wherever that is. If you've been to a lacrosse tournament for youths, you've probably indulged in one of these water bottles. They own 13 brands that do the same thing. Fill up plastic bottles with water. But Primo is a different kind of water company, and what are they exactly, Jack?

They're a $4 billion publicly traded company whose stock is shockingly up 70% in the last year. But here's the news. Those two big water companies are now merging into a $7 billion dollar tidal wave water giant. This is the biggest deal in water since two hydrogen atoms merged with an oxygen. Jack, this was such a hydrated merger that the bankers were peeing clear the entire time. That's a sign of good hydration. Your coach would be proud. But yet he's here with Jack and I have found fascinating about this story.

The pandemic actually changed the entire water industry. Specifically, work from home rerouted the water industry. And all the dollars of that transformation flowed to the company, Primo I. Primo is the second company we're telling you about. The publicly traded Canadian water company. But get this, nearly 90% of Primo's water bottle business now is refilled jugs delivered to offices. Yeah, Primo is big water jug.

They sell three and five gallon jugs that you buy and then drop into your water dispenser to push the button and either get cold or hot water, however you want it. I still don't really know how you do that, Jack. Do you flip the machine or do you flip the water bottle? I feel like I would get messy in there. No, I think you put the bottle in upside down. and somehow the green cover just goes away.

Either way, you lift with your legs, not with your back yetties. Now, historically, Primo just did business with office buildings. They invented, in fact, that big water cooler. Yeah, they literally invented the water cooler. The office water cooler? That was these guys. But with the rise of work from home, Americans are getting office-sized water dispensers right for home in their living room.

And that's why Primo's water delivery business is also surgeon. Primo delivers refillable jugs for when your five-gallon jugs runs out. And they're doing 50% more deliveries to homes than they did before the pandemic. Because you're staying hydrated while you're doing those spreadsheets from your bed. Pour that in your Stanley mug. Add it all up yeties and this big water company plans to find P&L out of H2O ASAP. I-YK-I-K. If you know, you know. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies gargling water over at Big Water? The bottled water industry follows the same megatrend as air conditioning.

Yeties, most of us know single-use plastics are one of the toughest things on the entire environment. And yet, single-use plastic water bottles are the top-selling beverage in America and expected to double in the next five years. Now, ironically, a key reason for the tech-like surging growth of bottled water is actually climate change.

Because of climate change, we have more natural disasters, hurricanes, floods, and water systems that can't handle all that, and that drives sales of bottled water. Now, the reason that's ironic is because single-use plastic is one of the contributors of climate change. And we've seen this exact same pattern play out in another industry. Yes, we have air conditioning. ACs, because Yeti's both of these businesses contribute to climate change,

but then they also both benefit from climate change. Now, Yeties, there's a lot of businesses profiting on climate change solutions, but there's just as many profiting on climate change's impacts. And bottled water is one of them, because the bottled water industry follows the same megatrend as the air conditioner industry. For our second story, the electric car company Fisker just filed for bankruptcy. A key reason for Fisker's downfall? One single YouTube video. One single video.

But first, Jack, let's kick it off with a little trivia. In 1999, James Bond, Pierce Brosnan is playing the lead, 007. Do you remember the car he was driving? I mean, Aston Martin's his go-to. I think he's driven some Porsches and some Mercedes, maybe a BMW. Oh, not too shaggy. I'm not going to lie. It felt like you were skirting around the question there for a little bit,

buying a little bit of time. I was going to catch on to you. Is it BMW? Ding, ding, ding, we've got a winner yet. He's James Bond, 1999, drove a BMW Z-8 car, and why is that important, Jack? It was designed by a man named Henrik Fisker. Henrik Fisker, a man who also designed an Aston-Martin V8

and a Tesla Model S. Henry Fisker. He was like Coco Chanel of car design. Yeah, it was. 15 years ago, this man was an early electric vehicle pioneer. He worked at Tesla, as we mentioned earlier, but he also started his own electric car company

that went out of business. Yeah, it did go out of business. But then two years after that, this man, Fisker launched a second electric car company, which he called Fisker. He actually called the Fisker again. Interesting decision there, brand strategy. Yeah.

The latter Fisker launched a car called the Ocean just last year. The Ocean Electric car. It's got 300-mile range, $40,000 price tag. It was a compact SUV targeting the dinks of the world. Yeah, you might have seen one. There's only like 5,000 that ever saw the road. I saw one jack. I had to do a double-take, and then I had to call someone to double-check.

That's what I saw. Yeah. But you know when you see it, because it's a unique-looking car. Oh, it is. Yet is this electric vehicle made by Fisker. Kind of looks like a sneaker, I want to say. it kind of looks like an Adida sneaker, Jack. And it's got a solar panel roof, which is pretty cool.

The only electric car with a solar panel roof. So I think, Jack, if you live in Arizona, you could theoretically drive around forever and not have to charge. No, it actually charges three to six miles worth of range each day. So if you drive around really slowly, you could drive around forever. Exactly what I were saying. But Redis, here's the news. After just one year since launching their first ever electric car, Fisker just filed for bankruptcy.

They made 10,000 of these ocean SUVs, but they only managed to sell half of them. Which means we can now park the Fisker Ocean car in the electric cemetery. But Yeties. The biggest blow to Fisker wasn't the weak sales we just mentioned. It was one single YouTube video. And that one video was from a man named Marquez Brownlee, the YouTube influencer with 20 million followers. Marquez Brownlee is revered in the tech industry because of his product reviews that everyone pays attention to.

When a new tech comes out, Marquez buys it. He tries it. And then he tosses all that on YouTube. But this product review was dramatic. Yes, it was. And why was this Fisker car product review dramatic? Because it was hard for him to get a hold of this Fisker Ocean. The car company didn't want him to have it.

He didn't want him to do a review on the car. No, they didn't. And then Jack, once he did find out how to get this car and then did do a review, what did he title this review? This is the worst car I've ever reviewed. That was the name of the YouTube video. That was the name of the video, and it got six, million views. In the 20-minute review video, he tells you that the buttons in the Bluetooth didn't work.

There's no glove compartment in the cars. He can't stash anything anywhere. And he said that the solar roof wasn't charged in the battery. So if you're in Arizona, you definitely can't even use this car to recharge itself in the sun. And it wasn't just those minor tech issues. There was like, meaningful stop-and-go issues, too. Yeties, what this review ended up doing was turning into the burn book of car reviews. Regina George would have been nicer, wouldn't she? Now, we should point out this YouTube video didn't cause the fall of 50s. Fisker and its final bankruptcy. Clearly the Fisker car had problems.

But this YouTube burn book, it did accelerate that demise. Because the stock fell after its publication, and it just kept falling and falling and falling until he hit zero on Tuesday. And there was no Pierce Brosnan to save it. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at Fisker? The road of innovation ends in consolidation. Yeah, it is interesting thing.

A hundred years ago, there were over 100 car companies in Detroit, but today there are just three. Can I repeat that? A hundred years ago, there weren't four GM and Chrysler in Detroit. There were 100 different car companies competing in Detroit. Well, 50 years ago, there were 15 airlines in America, but today, there are only three airlines.

Throughout history, the birth of a new industry spurs a surge of new companies trying to get ahead. But that competition drives them to merge, to acquire, and to go out of business, and today, it's the same that we're seeing in electric vehicles. Yeah, in the past day, as EVs took off, a bunch of electric car companies launched or went public in the last few years. But just so far in 2024, Lordstown, arrival, and now Fisker, have all fallen and filed for bankruptcy.

Now, we don't think this is a sign of the electric car industry's decline. In fact, this is just totally natural for an industry at this phase. And the reason we think it's so natural is because the road of innovation ends in consolidation. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story. As Airbnb and Verbo become ubiquitous, a new alternative is emerging. And that alternative is the home swapping club. Oh, and the venture capital industry, they're moving in on it. Oh, yes, they are. But yet is the way Jack and I see it, Airbnb isn't a company. Airbnb is an entire chunk of the economy. That's how they think of it too. Because Airbnb published a blog post, they say that their business adds $85 billion to America's GDP each year,

creating a million dollars of jobs from all those travelers. Yeah, you know what they say in Silicon Valley? You can't spell GDP without Brian Chesky. They actually don't say that. I actually just said that. But let's just roll with it, check. If he listens, he's going to start saying that. Brian, if you're out there, we already copyrighted it.

Sorry, buddy. But yet he's, whenever something gets a little too mainstream, some consumers seek a niche alternative to it. A niche alternative. And if Airbnb is home sharing, then the niche alternative to Airbnb has become home swapping. Specifically, we're seeing a bunch of home swapping clubs

sprouting up in America. Home swapping clubs, we're talking networks of thousands of homes that you can stay at for free but on one single condition. As long as you let someone stay at your place while you're gone. You show me your pantry, I'll show you mine. Bloomberg spoke to four leading home swap startups across the world, and each of the platforms they spoke to grew double or triple digits in

2023. Double or triple digits, yeties, the home swapping industry is enjoying a home swap and search. And if you're trying to figure out, like, what we mean by home swapping? Yes, Jack, what would you suggest? Just rewatch the movie The Holiday. By the way, Jack said rewatch, because we assume you already watched it like us. I've seen it about eight times. Cameron Diaz swaps homes with Britain's Kate Winslet for a lovely Christmas getaway.

Yeah, Cameron got robbed at the Oscars. In time, that plot line of that movie is actually this business model for this industry. Yeah, this is that, but with a corporate platform funded by venture capital in the middle. Because Home Exchange was the Home Swap and Pioneer founded in 1992, and yet they are just hitting their prime in 2024. Home Exchange enjoyed a 53% jump in Homeswomen Swaps in 2023 from the year before. That's fast growth. Oh, and it's not just Home Exchange, because third home, B-Home, and Kindred are all competitors also enjoying a rental. And all of these businesses operate on a membership business model. Yes, they do. 200 to a thousand

bucks a year, that membership gets you access to other people's places that you can stay at. If you host a member at your home, that earns you a credit that you can cash in on later by staying at someone else's home. And that's the key to how they've monetized this system. So if timing like doesn't work out one for one like it did for Cameron and Kate, then you can still benefit by swapping out homes at another time. And if you end up hosting the same amount as you're a guest, then you break even on this home swapping deal. You can take a whole bunch of trips across the world and only end up paying an annual membership fee

for the place that you stay at. Although there is some random dude from Milan living in your pantry for a couple months. Don't mind after you're at rule number one of renting out your place? Yeah. They're going to check everything that's not locked. You need to lock up the cookies. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over

in the home swapping industry? Building comfort can be building an entire business. Yeties, the home swapping industry is new, but the home swapping activity is not. It's actually been around for centuries. I'll stay at your place while you stay at mine. There's actually entire Facebook groups dedicated to this. I'm a member of a couple, Randall? Jack's like double-checking the sheet counts.

Actually, Jack, I'm pretty sure the ancient Egyptian pharaohs were really into home swapping, too. Is that right? That's why they built the pyramids. We may want to fact-check that. In the meantime, Yetis, the home-swapping industry actually had a reputational problem that stopped it from growing. If you tell somebody you're swapping homes, they might think,

oh, you must be short on cash. It's seen as a budget option that's rife with risk. But these platforms have solved that problem by vetting members, verifying properties, and providing insurance

on all the deals. And all those things make you less concerned that there's a stranger in your pantry. That's what we found fascinating about this industry. Companies have inserted themselves

into the existing habit. They didn't build home swapping. They just built legitimacy, safety, and security around home swap. And for that comfort, people are willing to pay an annual membership fee, and that fee, that is a profit puppy. It all proves that an entire

business can be built on simply comfort. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Big bottled water is merging with big water jug. We're talking Blue Triton, merging with Primo, in a $7 billion water deal. The water bottle

industry is following the same trend as air conditioning, benefiting and contributing to climate change. For our second story, just four months after Marquez Brownlee's burning product review, Fisker declared bankruptcy on Tuesday. Because the road of innovation ends in consolidation. And our third and final story. As Airbnb goes mainstream, home swapping startups are offering an alternative.

And they show us that startups don't have to build a new business. They can simply build comfort into an existing one. And yes, Jack did casually offer up his home for a home swap when we told that story a few minutes ago. I mean, I feel like you were like, hey, party in my pantry, come on over. I feel like it. No, I said that if you come to my house, I guarantee you snoop all of my drawers and all of my cabinets. Well, that's not very neighborly now, Jack, is it? No, I'm just pointing out a universal truth of travel.

Yeties, welcome to Jacks anytime. I'll see you there. In the meantime, what else we got going on today, Jack? This pod's not over, Yeties, yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Dolly Parton is expanding her business empire into alcohol. Alcohol. Dolly is launching a Chardonnay white wine inspired by peaches and cream.

Dolly Parton is worth $650 million after launching a whole bunch of products, but this is the only one with Hints of Jolene. Second, Netflix is opening two 100,000 square foot Netflix houses in Pennsylvania and Dallas, Texas. We repeat, Netflix has taken over former department stores at malls and turning them into Disney-like retail stores. You can spend a moment in the world of Bridgeton and Squidgin. game and then hopefully you buy a little something from the gift shop on the way out. And finally, Nvidia passed Apple on Tuesday and Microsoft to become the number one most valuable company in the world.

Sit down, stand up and plug me in again, Jack. This is an insane run for NVIDIA. Invideo has added like $2 trillion of value in just the past year. Your move, Tim Cook. And AI won't save you on this one because NVIDIA owns AI. Now time for the best fact yet, and this one, because it's the summer solstice and the unofficial start of wedding season, was whipped up by Jack and me. The first question people ask about wedding finances is what's your wedding budget? Ah, the wedding budget. And Jack, what is the average wedding budget in the United States of America?

$20,000 to $40,000. But Nick and I came up with a formula to steer you towards your wedding budget. Jack and I came up with the one budget rule to rule all the wedding rates. out there, Jack. And it's not just the rule to figure out your wedding budget. We came up with a bunch of tangible numerical guidance on wedding budgets, on wedding gifts, and much more. It's the besties if you're getting married, if you're going to a wedding, or if you already had a wedding, you're going to enjoy this formula. You got to listen to tomorrow's T-boy hotline, episode three, about wedding money. Or forever, hold your peace. We won't make you sign a pre-up, but we'll talk about pre-ups in this episode. Oh, the pre-dubop pop, it's going to be on there too.

Jeddies, congratulations for looking fantastic all week. Jack and I will see you at Camp Chick-Fle. I love that congratulations for looking fantastic all week. You're absolutely right. Own it, roll with it, run with it, baby. You're glowing over there, Jack. And Nick and I will see you tomorrow. At T-Boy Hotline number three, the wedding episode.

And before we go, a happy birthday to Maximus Martel, our one-year-old son, turning one, and Molly, huge congratulations on the first year. Little Maxie, the pod son. What a beautiful boy. He's made him so proud. He's almost kind of nearly round up baby, almost maybe walking. Maybe almost maybe he was. Every time I see Max Martel, it takes him a little while to warm to me.

He does, but he's excited to see it. He's just figuring out how to express a check. And Mrs. Taylor, Murray in Atlanta, Georgia. Happy birthday and happy wedding anniversary. Happy 24th birthday to Tori Gibson in Phoenix, Arizona, who's never missed an episode. of this show. And Ike Holt, the legendary volleyballer, is celebrating a birthday over in London, England. Happy 50th birthday to Tucker Williamson in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. And a belated

birthday to Summer Kelly, the legend to Shaq 15 in San Francisco. Congratulations to Matt Lowe and Jaron Lee in New Haven, Connecticut, who just got engaged. And Jack, speaking of weddings, Aria and Sierra are getting married in San Augustine, and it's going to look fantastic. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a tee boy. Celebrate the Wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Nick and I both own stock of Airbnb, Apple, and Chipotle.