The Best One Yet - ⚡ “Big Drink Energy” — Celsius’ Pepsi deal. Bird’s Millennial scooter. GM’s White House meeting.

Episode Date: August 2, 2022

Bird Scooters has become a penny stock because VCs aren’t paying for half your ride anymore. Pepsi is investing $550M into Celsius Energy Drinks, and it’s getting the friends & family discount. And one company visited the White House more than any other in the last year: General Motors. And it just might pay off with a huge climate deal.$BRDS $UBER $CELH $PEP $GMFollow The Best One Yet 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.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy Tuesday, August 2nd, and today's pod is the best one yet. It's a T-boy, Nick. It's a T-boy. It's a T-boy, Jack. What's our first story for the best one yet? We should be having an e-scooter renaissance right now, scooting here, scooting there,

scooting everywhere. Instead, bird scooters just became a penny stock. For our second story, one company visited the White House more than any other in this administration. It's General Motors. General Motors. and it's paying off with the newest bill in Congress. Our third and final story is Pepsi Co. Pepsi just invested half a billion dollars into a company that makes water with benefits.

Jack, we got to talk about the friends and family discount. You love that discount. But before we hit that wonderful mix, Nick. I love this mix. This is a great mix. Since it's August, you're probably powering through a waffle cone right now. Jack, you're mid-use resolution, right? You're only eating an ice cream out of a cone.

Somebody sent me a box of 48 cones. did send you a box 48 cones, and I expect them to be done when I see you next. Yeties, here's the issue that. You can taste ice cream, and with that cone, you can hear the cone crunch. You can't. But can you smell it? Oh, Yeties, one problem has persisted throughout ice cream history, and it is scent. Because ice cream is so frozen, Yeties, ice cream is odorless. Yeah, it's a scientific pickle that Ben and Jerry could literally never figure out. You can taste ice cream, but you can't smell ice cream. It's a fact.

Go ahead. Pesties, go ahead. Stick your face into a pint of mint chocolate chip. You're going to get a mouth full of mint, but a nasal whiff of nothing. Which leads to the new Salt and Straw Ice Cream Company just invented the first ever ice cream perfume. That's right. A fragrance for your frouye. It's an aroma for the vanilla.

Cologne for cookies and cream. Jack, it's the first new ice cream condiment since the rainbow sprinkle. It's unprecedented, baby. It's the greatest ice cream invention since the bubble. Water scotch breakthrough of 1968. What about the hot fudge quantum leap of the post-Victorian era? Just don't bring up the Dewey Dumdrop debacle of 76, Jack. Now, thanks to this perfume, there can be a scent on that scoop.

You give each scoop a spray like it's Chanel 5, and you can smell that scream. Toffee twist used to only hit your taste buds. Now Nutella swirl is wafting into your nostrils. Ice cream, you scream, we all scream. For I smell something. What is that? What is that smell? Let's hear our three stories.

style is over and birds wings have been clipped. Before we hit this, can you share your number one fear about scooting jack? The e-scooters that you stand on, you know, well, first of all, the wheels are so small. If there's a rut in the road, I'm going to head over handlebars. You feel very vulnerable. I feel very vulnerable. Then what are you afraid of falling into, by the way?

Street juice. A puddle of street juice in New York City. The nastiest substance on the planet. Street juice, it's kind of nasty. It also helps you lose five pounds, but it's scary. Yeties, five years ago. So Bird, the e-scooter company, launched. Finally, a scooter for adults.

You can scoot to the office and not be embarrassed that you're on a raise. And then four years ago, Bird surged. It was the fastest ever startup to hit a $1 billion unicorn valuation. And then two years ago, Bird hit a $3 billion valuation. It was worth half a lift. And then one year ago, it went public. It couldn't use the ticker symbol, Bird, because all birds had just gone public and snag that ticker symbol from under them. And today, what is Bird, the e-scooter company stock doing, Jack? The stock is down

95% from when they spacked onto market. Uh, get this, bird stock is now a penny stock. It is trading at 54 cents a share. Valuation was $3 billion at the peak. Today, it's $150 million. Now, we know what you're thinking? Street juice concerns aside, what is the main problem that has destroyed the e-scooter industry more than like any other consumer tech? The answer? It no longer has VC to get a bailout from. For years, electric scooters attracted us with extremely cheap scooter rides to go from point A to point B. They opened up in like 2018 with a dollar per ride and 15 cents per mile.

You could get there for three bucks when an Uber would have cost you 15. And that ride was so cheap. Bird actually lost money every time you wrote a scooter. But Venture Capital was fine with it because Bird was growing. So they wrote a check and bailed Bird out. Capital was always there to bail him out. But now Bird is a publicly traded company. They can't turn to venture capital to plug their losses anymore.

Because Bird doesn't have that support system there anymore, they've had to change their prices. Yeah, big time. Those $3.00 rides, that's in the history. Today, the equivalent ride is double that, like $6. Maybe taking a scooter to go in a date, it used to cost you a chicken nugget. Now it costs you a chicken dinner. And those price increases, it's not an inflation thing. it's because venture capital isn't paying for half of your ride anymore.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies scooting along over at Bird? The era of the millennial subsidized lifestyle is over. Yeties, Jack and I were telling you a month ago, it was time to say goodbye to the free DoorDash delivery codes and those lovely lift discounts. Man, it was a great decade. For a decade. I had a blast. For a decade, if you lived in the city, you could download an app and get incredible

convenience for incredibly low prices. Put in discount code podcast to get $5 off your third order every fourth day of the month. But that era is over. And Bird is a painful example of that. The unit economics on every bird ride show that Bird's growth wasn't driven by a fantastic business model. You tried out Bird because venture capital made the price artificially cheap. Yes. Now that a 20-minute scooter ride is like $6,000, that's barely less than a taxi.

It's less compelling. And now that Byrd is publicly traded, public investors, they don't want to pay for our millennial subsidized lifestyle. We've told you how the end of that millennial subsidy hurts us consumers. Well, now we're seeing how it hurts the companies like Bird, too. For our second story, we may be getting a second huge economic bill this summer, and it all comes down to some very simple now. One plus one plus one equals somehow less inflation. Well, last week, actually, Jack and I were telling you about the, uh, the, the, kumbaya moment of the Senate, right, Jack?

Lion King 2, Return of Rafiki. Well, that kumbaya moment was the Senate passing the Chips and Science Act. It was a bipartisan opportunity. Boom. Nick, before the ink is dry on that bill for Made in USA computer chips, we have another huge economic bill coming through the pipeline. Behold, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Still a working title.

Not exactly bipartisan. No, no, it's not. This bill is going to require every day. Democratic vote in the Senate because not a single Republican is supporting it. So it's not a kumbaya kind of a bill, but it looks like it might pass anyway. Now, this bill is actually huge. So we boiled it down to a simple one plus one plus one because we all know math. The first thing this bill added, the first one was the biggest gift to the electric car industry

in years. Funny thing. When you look at the, what's it called the logs? The logs. The logs of the White House. Who is the top CEO to visit the White House this administration? The top CEO visiting the White House so far in this administration? It's General Motors, GM.

That's because GM has a goal, they've stated publicly, to be a 100% electric car company by 2035. And it looks like whatever quesants they were bringing to those monthly visits to the White House, looks like they're paying off. Because with this bill, if it passes, every new electric car made in North America is going to get a coupon from the federal government for $7,500 off. We repeat, every electric car is getting $7,500 off. This is like a Oprah deal. And this bill would also make Tesla eligible again for federal subsidies for EVs. And that's not all. It also includes an unprecedented subsidy for the first time ever for use electric cars. That 2006 Priusnik? It's a classic. It's now $4,000 off if this bill gets passed.

Okay, so all the electric cars are scooting around happy. Jack, what's the second thing that this big bill adds? The biggest tax increase in years via a minimum corporate tax rate. So even if Corporation Inc. manages to jump through a few tax loopholes, that company still has to pay at least 15% in taxes. And the third thing this bill would add to the economy is it would let Medicare negotiate for prescription drugs. Which is bad for the pharmaceutical industry if your thytastrasol costs less, but it's great for tax. taxpayers who may have that thing on their thigh. One plus one plus one, three huge things added to this economy. But also one thing didn't quite add up here.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are this big inflation bill? This bill is a branding exercise. Yeah, it is the biggest electric vehicle subsidy. The biggest corporate tax increase. The biggest cut in prescription drug prices. That's a lot of biggest. That's why it's a head scratcher that this bill's title is the inflation reduction. Act. Technically, this bill is anti-inflation. It reduces prices because it pulls more money out of the

economy than it puts into the economy. That's right. This isn't a spending bill, like the ones that got us in trouble. This bill takes in more money through taxes and savings than it spends. Wait, we should back up. Why is it really called the inflation bill, Jack? It's really called the Inflation Reduction Act because of politics. Because of politics. Inflation is the number one concern on people's minds, according to every poll everywhere. The reality is, Jack and I can tell you, this isn't going to reduce prices meaningfully. Like your $9 latte, it's still going to be $9. But the Senate knows that stopping inflation is great branding as they approach the midterm elections. One plus one plus one equals something we need to rebrand. And now worried about our sponsor, Robin Hood. We see ads all the time.

All over the place, 10 bucks off this $5 promo code for that, Jack. You can buy three suits. You can get one free. But something we always thought was cool about Robin Hood, the free stock promo. Yeah, this was wild. The promo isn't like some X amount of dollars. It's one stock. If you signed up for Robin Hood, they'd thank you with a single share in a publicly traded company on the house. And that free stock promo, it actually helped drive Robin Hood's growth and got new users in the stock market right away. One of the most creative moves in promotional history. So when Robin Hood became our sponsor, naturally Jack and I said, we got to do the free stock giveaway. If you're not on Robin Hood yet, You want to get started, go to robin hood.com slash tiboy and get cash to select your free stock.

That's robin hood.com slash TBOY. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or the podcast. For our third and final story, completely unrelated to street juice, I should point out, Jack. Pepsi just invested in the booming zero calorie drink company Celsius. To make sure it doesn't get LaCroid, Celsius offered Pepsi a friends and family discount. Okay, Jack, let's set the scene here. You're using the Com app. You're meditating.

You have a transcendentalist moment after a chavasana and maybe a little ASMR. And yet the fastest growing non-alcoholic beverage segment. What is it, Jack? Is energy. Oh, yeah. What kind of a cocktail you whip it up? Get me a Red Bull rock star monster stat. Because that's the new camo meal.

Yeah, it is that? Energy drink phenomenon. That is why Pepsi just dropped a whopping $550 million into Celsius, the essential functional energy drink company. Full disclosure, Nick and I have never tried the product. Full disclosure. But the can looks like a classic spike seltzer can. It does, Jack.

It's got like the skinny can with like the clean branding and like the image of some very dewy fruits, like they're sweating. But where it's different, it's not spiked with alcohol. It's spiked with seven essential vitamins. Jack, you ever heard of vitamin G? They found it, didn't that? Doesn't exist? but Celsius found it.

They put it in the can. Well, now PepsiCo owns 8.5% of Celsius, the $6 billion publicly traded energy drink company. Now, Yetis, this is what Jack and I found fascinating about the story. The energy drink market is setting sales records. But the one thing the energy drink market really loves, asterisks. Yeah, they do. Because Nick and I noticed that Celsius, it is an energy drink, but it's way healthier than the other energy drinks you see at the gas station. We jumped in tea boy style. Monster energy drinks. They got 27 grams of sugar in a can. Celsius, they got zero.

Now, for me, that would have been enough. Like, I would try Celsius just because it's that much less sugary than Monster. But then Celsius did more. Celsius says right on their can that the product accelerates your metabolism and burns body fat. Extremely bold, confident statements. But we should point out, there are a couple asterisks on those. Yeah, both of those statements, both have two asterisks. The first says these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The second says Celsius alone does not produce weight loss. You can almost hear them saying the fine print in really, really quick words. Here's the great thing though about asterisks when it comes to marketing.

Lawyers read them, consumers don't. And that is why Celsius sales have more than doubled in the last year to over $300 million. Get this, Celsius stock has risen by 10x since the pandemic began. We would do a joke about the energy stock and like it being so. We're not even going to go there. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Celsius? Celsius doesn't want to get LaCroyd. Yeties, we're talking about a Florida-based water company whose sales are doubling every year.

Their stock is 10xing and they've got asterisk marketing. Sounds familiar? Well, that is Celsius today, but it's also LaCroi from five years ago. We're talking about publicly traded LaCroi, which has dominated the canned seltzer market for years. And then competition came for LaCroy in the form of Pepsi and Coke. And LaCroix's sales and stock price both hit the brakes big time. And that is why Celsius wants Pepsi on its side so badly that it just gave Pepsi the friends and family discount.

It actually let Pepsi buy stock of the company at a 25% lower price than today's stock price. We repeat, Celsius just gave Pepsi the friends and family discount because it wants them on its team. Yeah, that bad. Celsius doesn't want to get. LeCroyd. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over there? Bird stock is down 95% because venture capital isn't bailing out their losses anymore.

Yeah, our urban millennial subsidy is over. For a second story, the Senate's proposed reconciliation bill would add three huge things to the economy. But it's branded the Inflation Reduction Act because politics. Our third and final story is Celsius. They just let Pepsi buy 8.5% of the company and it gave them the friends and family discount. Yeah, because Celsius, they don't want to get Lecroyd. No, they don't. No.

Vitamin G. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Erica Unger from lovely Palm Beach, Florida. You can't see your bones. No, no, no, no. Unless you're Superman. In which case, you never would get an extraid. But trust us on this fact.

Yeah, your bones are not evenly distributed. It turns out more than half of the bones in our body are in our hands and our feet. Yeah, you got 206 bones throughout your body, but check, how many in your hands? How many in your feet? 54 are in your hands and 52 are in your feet. Okay, is this making you feel, how's your foot? More than half of my body's bone portfolio is concentrated in my hands and feet. The real question here, how's your foot injury doing?

Thanks for asking, spraying legament. I know, I hear it. I'm not fully recovered. I'm at physical therapy. Did they give you little rubber things? They gave me the rubber bands. I do homework every night. You and I can only afford to have like lower body injuries on this podcast.

Anything above the waist is a threat to the product. Workouts, homework. Exercise, Yetis, you look fantastic today. And remember, if you know the best fact yet, we want to get your voice on this podcast. We got a link in the episode description. Just fill out the form. You'll be on the pod.

Leave us a voicemail. We'll hit you up on the pod. Nick and I, meantime, we'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, congrats to Yeti, George, in California, who's training for a half marathon. He's on a treadmill on mile four right now at Planet Fitness. We see you, George. We see you.

And congrats to Mo Ramirez, who just became a little. nationally certified paramedic in Orlando, Florida. And Alex Guo got a new job in Saratoga, California. And happy birthday to George Jetson, the cartoon character who 50 years ago was fictually born today. And a happy birthday to Ryan Green in Little Rock, Arkansas. And happy 39th to Rich Pole in Portland, Maine. And happy birthday to Philip Green in Washington, D.C.

And Peter Backoff in Washington, D.C. Happy birthday. And a happy birthday to Jimmy Tess and Apple, who are Annie's three foster cats, all of whom are named after stocks. GM Jenny, Tesla Tess, and Apple Apple. And now we'll disclose we own shares of Apple. This is Jack, Nick and I both on stock of Apple and Robin Hood.

And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. The first time we swiped up to buy a stock on Robin Hood, whoa. Yeah, Jack, you get like that, like little vibration, boom, you've done a trade. It wasn't just an incredible app. Robin Hood added incredible resources too. It started with the Help Center. Everyone has that.

Then came Robin and Snacks, Digestable Financial news. Then came the news feed, providing free third-party news from trusted sources. And then came Robin Hood Learn. A huge trove of articles explaining what the heck in ETF is. Yeah, spoiler. It's like a stock smoothie. Jack and I actually wrote the article in that way. If you're not on Robin Hood yet, want to get started, go to robinood.com slash T-boy and choose a free stock. It's robin hood.com T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. And by the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or the podcast.

Now here's the great thing when it comes to askris. Asterisk is a really hard word to say. It is so hard to say. Asterisk. Asterisks. Asterisks.