The Best One Yet - 🎩 “Cheat on Anything” — Cluely’s cheating app. Home Depot’s secret garden. The Fed’s Batman independence.

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

Cluely’s founders got suspended for building an AI cheating app… but now it’s venture backed.Home Depot’s biggest division will shock you… it’s their $20B/year secret garden.President Trump tanked markets Monday for threatening to fire the Fed… so we explained central bank’s independence with a superhero.Plus, using “please” and “thank you” in ChatGPT is costing the company tens-of-millions of dollars…$HD $SPY $CMGWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… The Ninja Turtles 🐢Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, so be J Wednesday. April 23rd. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, yesterday's breaking news, um, news was broken on our podcast. If you haven't listened to our exclusive interview yet with Duolingo CEO, you got it. Yeah, it dropped yesterday on our feed. They announced chess. That's right. A language app is launching chess. But there's so much more in that interview. Did you hear when he said that Duolingo is addictive and he loves it that way? He argued why his addictive app is a good thing. I hope he was happy. He also described that hilarious Super Bowl commercial where the owl's butt kept getting bigger. That was hysterical.

It's got quite a crazy butt. So besties, check out that episode. In the meantime, Jack and I have an infinite streak of the best podcast yet. So Jack, what are the three stories on today's team? For our first story, two Columbia University students got suspended for creating an app to help students cheat. So they launched that app to the public, and they call it the cheat on everything app. For our second story, President Trump wants to fire the Fed for not cutting interest rates. And this is universally considered a terrible idea.

So we'll tell you why the Federal Reserve is actually our fourth branch of government. And our third and final story. Home Depot has a little secret. Yeah, actually a big secret. It's huge. A $20 billion a year secret garden. That's right. Home Depot's flowers and shrubs are shockingly,

it's biggest business. But, Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories to come back to. Love the mix, Jack. Feels weird saying this, but, Jack? Stop being polite. I'm sorry, Jack, but can you please be more specific? Stop saying please and thank you to chat GPT

because those words are costing them millions. Thank you, Jack. Get this, Yeties. Sam Alman. is losing tens of millions of dollars just by processing your politeness. We treat ChachyPT like it was our sixth grade teacher. Even though it's a robot, your mama still taught you manners. So we say things like ChachyPT.

Could you please tell me all the emperors of Rome? Thanks. Or wow, chat chvety, thank you for listing all those emperors. Can you give me all of the gladiators of Rome, please? Not, Nick, like 20% of those two sentences from you and me were just pleasantries. But they require the same energy to process as the root quix. question did. What we are saying, besties, is that your politeness, it is expensive. And AI actually uses nearly 2% of global electricity. So every extra word in our query has an impact on the grid. Your

politeness is adding to your carbon footprint. Now, we ask chat GPT, what if all 400 million of your users typed please just once per day? And what did chat CPT tell us, Jack? It would result in $80,000 of extra processing costs. That means one please per user per day, they lose 30 million bucks a year. It's the most expensive etiquette ever. So besties, instead of chat cheap, T, could you please tell me all the emperors of Rome? Thanks. Simply say, all emperors of Rome. Those pleases, they are profitable. So mom, earmuffs if you're listening. But not saying please and thank you is actually the polite thing to do. Sam Alman made us do it. Jack, let's sit our three stars.

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. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. T-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, this one's wild. The most viral app right now is designed to help you cheat. or as they put it, cheat on everything.

Because using AI when you're not supposed to is cheating. For now. All right, let's start with some context, Jack. Yeties, a little storytelling for you. Last week, the Columbia University student newspaper confirmed that two students had dropped out after facing suspensions. Those two students were Roy Lee and Neil Shanmugam. Not in trouble for protests or anything political, though.

No, no, no, no, no. Jack, they were in trouble for cheating. More specifically, they were in trouble for building the AI cheating tool and urging their classmates to use it. You see, besties, Roy Neal created this cheating tool to help them ace their internship interviews. They were coding interviews with, like, all of tech. They had interviews with Amazon, meta, TikTok, Capital One. They were looking for internships. And Jack, how did it work when they did those interviews and they used their cheating tool?

Oh, it worked. Those two students got offers from all those tech companies we just mentioned. And then they shared their wild stories of getting those job offers on X and LinkedIn, and that kind of went viral. And that's when they got an email from the student disciplinary board about that cheating app. Barely Columbia University. Not a fan of cheating, Jack. So after getting suspended, both of these students pulled to Zuckerberg. Yes, they did.

They quit school, moved to Silicon Valley, and raised venture money. In fact, get this. Their cheating app isn't just a fun campus hack anymore. It's a for-profit company. And they're making $3 million a year in annualized revenue. Nick, imagine being their parents. They're like, wait, you're not at Columbia anymore? What do you mean?

You got suspended? But you're a millionaire? The most bizarre combination of confusion, disappointment, and excitement. How besties, as you can imagine, Jack and I got curious. And here's what we found fascinating about this story. The name of the app is cluely, but the description of the app is way more compelling. On the website, the app store, and all the articles we've read about it, it says that this app is to help you cheat on anything.

Yeah, it's the rare case where the brand cuts to the chase more than any brand we've ever seen, Jack. This AI assistant is not about productivity. It's about helping you cheat. We should explain how exactly does this thing work, Jack? Well, basically, an invisible window opens up on your computer with an AI assistant who is watching and listening to everything that's happening and giving you the information you need at the right moment. It's basically an AI wingman, like Gary from Veep, but less creepy. It's like if Socrates had a burner phone and could call you during the SATs. It gives you the information you need in real time. to ace that job interview, ace the sales call, or ace your take-home exam. Now, the key,

their kind of AI competitive advantage is the invisibility. It is undetectable to the job interviewer or the company or the school where you're cheating. And here's the business model, 20 bucks a month for unlimited usage of this powerful cheating tool. Who knew cheating could become a subscription, Jack? In fact, they just published a marketing video that was pretty slick, and it went viral on Twitter this week. In the video, Lee uses Cluelly the app to ace a first date, like to cheat on romance, basically. It's the CEO

of the company, and he's at a restaurant on a date, and the AI is listening to his date's questions, and then flashing to him the answers to her questions. Yeah, like, what kind of questions, Jack? What does he sing? Well, he knows that she loves tulips because the app tells him

that her Instagram is filled with pictures of tulips. Basically, he cheated. He can talk about a fake job that he doesn't actually have, because the app keeps feeding him with information to make him sound smart. Yeah, he's acing the date, but he's also cheating the date. Add it all up for 20 bucks a month, this AI app will help you cheat on everything. And that made us think about everything. So Jack, what is the takeaway for our buddies over in AI?

AI has blurred the line between cheating and advantage. Yet is, we know what you're thinking. Cheating is lying. So this is wrong. But if you think about it for a second, doesn't all innovation actually start as cheating? When calculators were invented, they were considered cheating. So was spell check and so was Google. Like Googling for information.

All once considered cheating. That's right. The final determination of cheating is not the thing itself, but the rules around the thing. The rules change to make the cheating act a perfectly legitimate activity. We think it's probably going to be the same with AI. AI right now feels like cheating, but not necessarily. in the future. In the future, it'll be like, yeah, of course you used AI to nail that interview. And yet, artificial intelligence also blurs the line of cheating to an even further degree. Like,

how about this one? Is chat chip BT cheating when it turns your family photograph into a Pixar-style image, but without paying Disney for it? Kind of a gray area right now. So the Cooley app to cheat on everything is this existential question in a nutshell. Do you think using AI is cheating, or is it just optimizing? And Vestis, if you have an ethical, questionable case of using AI, we want to hear it, drop it in the comments on Spotify or YouTube. Because AI has blurred the line between cheating and trying. For our second story, markets have had a wild week and it's not just the trade war. It's because Trump said he wants to fire the Fed.

The Fed is actually the fourth independent branch of our government the way we see it. And we'll tell you why it needs to stay that way. Yeties, let's do a little calendar play-by-play. Here, on Friday and Monday, President Trump targeted the chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell. He went with some of his usual insults. He called Powell a major loser, but he also said that he's bad at his job. Honestly, it's shocking Trump hasn't come up with like a nickname for Powell at this point. Ironic side note, Powell was actually appointed by President Trump back in 2018.

And Jack, can you please share a legal side note as well? Most legal scholars agree the president cannot fire the chairman of the Fed. That would be unconstitutional. Jack, why don't you throw in a financial side note while we're at it? Nick and I can tell you that Jerome Powell is one of the most respected financiers across the entire world. And besties, if you want proof of all the above side notes, you simply have to look at the market. Trump's threat to fire Jerome Powell sent the NASDAQ back into a bear market on Monday. And it's not just stocks.

The whole world sold America on Monday as well. U.S. stocks, U.S. bonds, and the U.S. dollar all got pummeled on Monday. Now, we should point out, investors did a little BTD buying the dip on Tuesday, but still, Jack and I want to take this moment to clarify some very important things about the Federal Reserve. Because the Fed is unlike any other U.S. government agency. Now I'm thinking about Jack, it reminds me a Batman, and I'll get to that in a bit. But unlike the Treasury, unlike the Department of Justice, unlike the Department of Education, the Federal Reserve Bank is not in the executive branch.

So it doesn't take orders from the president who leads the executive branch. And, unlike the House or the Senate, the leaders of the Federal Reserve are not elected officials. So the Fed is most similar in government to the Supreme Court. Yeah, it is. It's intentionally designed to be separate from politics. And it's because of this truth that every time a central bank has lost independence somewhere on earth, it has led to financial disaster in whatever country that is. Nick and I jumped into the economic history textbooks for you.

Oh, let's hit them, Jack. What do we got? Zimbabwe, Argentina, Argentina, and Turkey. are just a few examples of leaders who forced their central bank to make politically driven moves. And Jack, what were the results in all of those countries, please? Each resulted in hyperinflation. Prices rose like 10 times faster than they've ever risen in the United States. Because investors know if a politician controls the central bank, like we saw the peso and Argentina pop, they like to give the economy a couple cookies, Jack.

A short-term sugar high. Basically, it's like politicians get control of the candy jar. they can control their central bank. It feels good for a minute. Like, cutting interest rates feels good for a minute, but it's really harmful long term if it makes inflation even worse. The capitalist cavities are not fun.

And that's kind of what Trump wants, it seems. Well, breaking news, as Jack and I are literally recording this story right now. You see this, Jack? Trump just said, and I quote, he has no intention of firing Jerome Powell. Okay, so that is a huge switch from what was being said on Monday,

and that's a great thing. And it's also good news. great thing, Jack, because of our takeaway. Perfect timing. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over there in the Fed? Sometimes the popular thing is the worst thing. Now, yet is we covered the Fed last year. And in that story, we said it was the only part of our government willing to do the unpopular thing. Our presidents, our senators, our mayors, our governors, they all pledge to do popular things if they get elected. Tax got stimulus checks. Hey! Loan forgiveness over there!

It all sounds great, but the result is unbelievable amounts of debt. And another result? Inflation. Like eggflation, prices were popping. But the Fed is our one institution that doesn't care about popularity. They care about the long-term health of the economy. And the only reason why the Fed can do the unpopular thing, Jack? It's because they're independent of politics. Now, the popular thing to do during inflation is to cut interest rates. But that would make the problem of inflation even worse,

which is the reason we need an independent Fed. They're the only ones who can give us Tuflo. Or, Jack, the more I think about it, the more it is like Batman. Do you know the final lines in the dark night? I think you're about to tell me. He can take it because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. He's a watchful protector.

The Fed is like Batman. So, Basties, the Fed should remain independent. Because, like Batman and Gotham, sometimes they're the only one who can do. the unpopular thing. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Home Depot has a secret garden.

Literally. Home Depot's biggest division is shockingly, it's flowers. Because every rose needs an Amazon thorn. Now, Yeti's before we start this story, Jack, I feel like I should point out that this is a little bit of your own little secret side hustle, right?

Like when I visited you a few weeks ago, I noticed you were growing carnations like a young Claude Monet in that little garden ears. We have three big garden boxes and we're getting ready to plant a whole bunch of veggies. I better get some tomatoes. No way. I'm keeping them, dude.

All right, this is a story for another pot. In the meantime, yeah, it is the way to Jack's heart is apparently a good rhododendron. But the Home Depot garden section is the back of the store that's like a Coachella for suburban moms and dads. There's a redonculus number of renonculus. But according to the Wall Street Journal,

Home Depot's most important business is in Hammers and nails. Perry Winkles are the real profit puppy. Get this, Garden is Home Depot's biggest division by sales. That's right. $20 billion a year in revenue. FYI, garden includes flowers, shrubs, hoses, outdoor furniture, and those adorable, creepy little gnomes. Which makes Home Depot's garden section not just huge,

twice as big as their paint section, three times bigger than kitchen, and four times bigger than the bath section. Jack, let's sprinkle on more context. Home Depot's garden section is even bigger than entire companies you know and love. H&M, Black Rock, Home Depot's garden section is bigger.

That's right. They're selling more garden stuff at Home Depot than Armaze is selling of luxury goods. It is possible. So gardening is Home Depot's secret financial garden, literally. And it's also resilient to recessions. That's right.

If 40% tariffs tank your 401K, you don't do the new addition, but you will buy seeds for your home garden. But Home Depot face is an interesting problem. Garden shoppers are ironically like flowers themselves. Because some garden shoppers at Home Depot are perennials. They come back every year. But most garden shoppers at Home Depot are annuals.

They're one and done. They don't come back next year. That's right. You typically don't return for flowers because one of two things happens. First, you buy flowers at Home Depot, but you can't maintain them. They all die. The other outcome is that you're so successful as a plant daddy that you move on to a local plant specialist. Jack got his latest fig tree from some exporter over in Holland, I believe. So here's the challenge for Home Depot. How do you keep customers confidently coming back to purchase more peonies? Well, the Wall Street Journal dove into Home Depot sourcing,

and the answer seems to be that they look for plants that won't die. Their stores belong in nine different climate zones, and they supply specially bred plants that will survive your overwatering or the lack of sun that you're exposing them to. The idea is that you cannot possibly kill that wisteria. It's kind of like gardens for dummies. Like you can't go wrong. Yeah, just give it sun and a whole lot of water.

Now, if they can turn your annual customer into a perennial customer, then that Home Depot investment in flower breeding is worth it. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Home Depot? Every business needs an anti-Amazon Thorn. Now, Yeties, the real reason why Home Depot's garden center is its biggest division? It's not just your passion for copies. It's that Amazon can't do it. Apparently, horticulture is Amazon proof.

It just doesn't happen through e-commerce. Now, buying flowers, plants, or seedlings, it's a purchase we prefer to make in person. Oh, and logistically, the 650-pound bags of mulch, that can't be shipped on Amazon. Have you seen that shipping price? You also want an experienced human, who's local so you can come back to them

to give you advice on the overseeding and the over-watering. You're not trusted in red, edit on anything like, you know, an orchid. Now, the best part for Home Depot, you come in for the pansies, you'll leave with the pressure washer too. And that is why, like Home Depot, every business rose needs an anti-Amazon thorn. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Two Columbia students created an app to help you secretly cheat, and now they're venture-backed

because AI has blurred the line between cheating and advantage. For our second story, President Trump's threat to fire the Fed caused markets to tank. But now, he says he won't. The Fed's independence, it lets it do the unpopular thing we actually need. And our third and final story. The Home Depot's biggest division, it's shockingly the garden section, which brings in $20 billion a year. Because every rose needs an anti-Amazon thorn. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. Ding, ding, ding, ding. the most anticipated name of earning season just dropped. That's right, we got Tesla earnings hot off the rack. Tesla's car revenues fell by 20% compared to last year. Their worst drop ever. But big update that made the stock actually rise, despite the bad result?

Elon announced he's winding down his work at Doge starting next month. So less politics, more CEOing the company. And second, Chipotle is expanding for the first time to Mexico. Now, we should point out, Taco Bell failed in Mexico. And Domino's failed in Italy. Yes, we should point that out, Jack. So Chipotle is hoping to break the curse of American brands failing in the country they're supposed to be from. Or as one Mexican politician put it years ago,

American fast food bringing Mexican food to Mexico is like trying to sell ice in the Arctic. And finally, an update on anyone snacking on flaming hot Cheetos right now with the side of Skittles. The FDA is phasing out the use of dyes in snacks and candies by the end of next year. Now, we should point out, this is purely cosmetic. The food is still going to taste the same. It'll still have the same nutrition ingredients, too. Okay, but you're going to handle those skittles like you always did, Jack? I think I'm going to have to close my eyes if I'm eating brown skittles.

It's a little different, Jack. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Sergey and Larry from California. 20 years ago, on this day, April 23rd, 2005, the first YouTube video ever was uploaded. That's right. The first YouTube video just turned 20 years old. And Jack, what was in that original tape? The video was called Me at the Zoo. It's simply 19 seconds of a guy named At Jodd, chilling at the San Diego Zoo in front of some elephants. That's right. In the 20 years, we've had digital videos online. They've evolved zero. Well, that 19 second video of guys standing in front of elephants has 355 million views today.

And he probably has a podcast. Yeties, you look fantastic for Cevice Wednesday. And if you haven't yet, drop down to please give us five stars. We would thank you for leaving a review. And we deeply appreciate all of your support of the show sharing it with buddies. But all those pleasantries Nick just flooded us with, don't do them when you're talking to AI. Because that's going to cost AI. In the meantime, it costs you nothing to HYH, H, T, B, IY.

Have you had the best one yet? If you know. And before we go, a happy birthday to the last. The legendary Eddie. Brian Katz in New York City, who has never missed a day of this episode. That's right, he's on a 2000 episode streak, baby. Happy birthday to Margarita Romana in Mora, Portugal.

Much de braggado and Emily Harrison in White Plains, New York. Happy birthday in Westchester. Happy birthday to Gwen Ryan in Shippinsburg, Pennsylvania. And Jake Dwyer down in Charlottesville, Virginia is set in records at the Face Off X and the best birthday yet, baby. Happy birthday to Judy Slavins and Best Teen Tatooine. Yeah, she eats Chef Boyardee fresh out of the can. Double check that passport, but Eva Perez is turning 20 years old and celebrated in a lovely Madison, Wisconsin.

Happy birthday to Alina from Milpitas, California, who's listening with her 10 and 7-year-old. And Daniel La Javee in Denver, Colorado is a hiking pro, five-year loyal bestie and a legendary listener celebrating a fantastic birthday. Happy 10th birthday to Aria Vasquez. from Irvine, California. This is their fifth year of T-boy birthday shoutouts. Jack, I remember Aria's fifth birthday shout-out like it was yesterday. Happy birthday, Aria. And congratulations to Nikita Rajput and Eric Burkart, who are getting engaged in Europe.

Congratulations, send us some ring picks guys. And Diane and Robert Binns have got their third anniversary, which is their best anniversary yet in Perlin, Texas. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Amazon, and Nick and I both on stock of Chipotle.