The Best One Yet - 💉 “Corporate Botox” — Block’s 40% layoff. Netflix’s wedding crashed. Coach Handbags’ anthropologist. +Burger King’s AI

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Jack Dorsey is replacing 40% of Block’s employees with AI… and the Wall Street reward was huge. Coach is selling 3 million Gen Z women its $350 handbag… thanks to an anthropologist.Wedding Crashers explains how Netflix losing Warner Bros to Paramount… is actually a win.Plus, Burger King’s new AI counts your “Please” and “Thank Yous”... (sorry).$NFLX $TPR $XYZ $QSRBuy tickets to The IPO Tour (our In-Person Offering) TODAYArlington, VA (3/11): https://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com/shows/341317 New York, NY (4/8): https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000637AE43ED0C2Los Angeles, CA (6/3): SOLD OUTNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yadis, Nick and Jack here with you from the T-Boy Studio. Before we hit our usual show, we wanted to acknowledge the news from over the weekend in Iran. The U.S. and Israeli militaries attacked over 2,000 targets in Iran with missile strikes. Iran confirmed that their supreme leader was killed in the attacks, and the Islamic nation of 92 million people has not yet named a new leader. As of this update Sunday evening, three American troops have sadly been confirmed killed. Wall Street is already bracing for the conflict. Airplane stocks are already down. Oil prices is already up, and so are defense stocks. It's a scary moment, though, for the country and the world.

A mass shooting happened in Austin yesterday, not far from where we were last week, with three dead and 14 wounded, and that is being investigated by the FBI as a potential act of terrorism linked to what's happening in Iran. Now, Bessies, Jack and I recorded the rest of this show before the attacks happened on Saturday, but we will be following the situation all week long and cover how it affects the world of business, economics, and finance in our own unique way, just like we always do. So let's hit the show.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, March 2nd. 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. Oh, boy, I had won too many tacos last week, Jack.

So, Nick, my aunt and uncle who are at the live show in Austin. Yeah? They said, Jack, your fans adore you. It was amazing. True. And I love that. But the real truth, I adore them. Oh, my God.

Jack, I ran into a Yeti on the flight home. I didn't even tell you. We were hugging in the aisle of the plane, both wearing the merch. People didn't know what was going on. I haven't given out so many hugs since college, Nick. Oh, it was absolutely amazing. Interpret that how you see fit. You were looking fantastic.

What a show. We can't wait for the next one. But Jack, we've got three fantastic stories to catch up on today, my friend. For our first story, Jack Dorsey of Block, announced he's letting go nearly half the company. So here's the question. Is AI corporate OZempic, corporate liposuction, or corporate Botox? For our second story, it's the hottest brand in fashion right now. Coach, their $350 tabby bag is Gen Z's fire.

And Coach knows because it put an anthropologist in charge of marketing. And our third and final story, the Netflix Paramount Warner Brothers Love Triangle is over. Oh boy. Netflix's lost and is alone. But we think Netflix's loss is really a win, and we're going to break down the impact on Wall Street, Hollywood, society, even on TMZ.

But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Oh, what a minute. to come back to, Jack. I love the mix, man. If you don't say please and thank you, watch out. Yeah, because Burger King's line manager is going to come and spank you. Get this, yadies. Burger King's newest product isn't a nugget, a burger, or a whopper. No, no, no, no, no, it is a surveillance technology to ensure that workers mine their peas and their cues. That's right. Burger King collaborated with OpenAI on a new chat bot that they call Patty. And Patty's got one job and one job only, and what is that, Jack? Ensure friendliness from the staff.

No, no, Jack, I think it's insure friendliness from the staff. Yeah, you have to say it while you're smiling or else it doesn't count. Now, Burger King calls this an AI coach. We call it an AI snitch. Because it's basically a manners micromanager. Here's the story. Patty lives in the Burger Flippers' headsets and listens for specific polite words from the staff. So this AI, it's enforcing your welcomes.

If you don't say pardon, you don't get promotion. Oh, and if you forget that the customer is always right? Then Burger King's AI will rat you out. Besties, this is just. like Emily Post's famous 1922 book, The Rules of Atticate. Except it's 2026. Yeah. So it's not for tea parties.

It's for our dystopian fast feud. Not future, present, apparently. Yeah, well, you should point out, 75% of American companies do some sort of employee monitoring these days. But this is the first time they're using AI to make pleas a KPI. So yet is, if you are at a Burger King drive-thru right now, you know what we're thinking. Say really loudly, thank you for being so wonderfully friendly, Tiffany. So that Tiffany's AI.

tells Tiffany's boss to make Tiffany the new boss. To give Tiffany a promotion. Tiffany, you nailed it. Best burger I've ever had, Jack. Let's hit 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. That's it. 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, Jack Dorsey became the grim reaper of AI last week, laying off 4,000 workers with one single tweet. But the doomsday narrative on AI could be wrong. So here's a more optimistic case, and it involves plastic surgery. Yeties, five years ago, Jack Dorsey, not best friend co-host Jack over here, was one of the three most powerful people in the technology industry. First of all, he had the username Jack on Twitter.

He was also, though, the CEO and co-founder of both Twitter and Square. Yeah, it's right. Under Jack Dorsey, Twitter was a boom and king of culture, and Square was the FinTech Queen. Five years ago, Square stock 5xed and hit a $100 billion valuation. But today, it's a different story for Jack Dorsey's companies. Twitter is basically Elon's AI toy, and Square got renamed to Block. It's now worth one quarter as much as it was five years ago. And since selling Twitter to Elon, Jack Dorsey's beard has only gotten longer,

while his silence has only gotten longer as well. Until last week, he broke his silence. In one tweet, Jack Dorsey fired 4,000 people. Wow. That's 40% of Block's workforce. And this tweet, it didn't even have any capital letters in it. He fired 4,000 people all in lower case. It was like the Avengers Infinity Wars.

Snap. Half of the workforce of Block was gone. It's like a freaky superhero plot twist. But it wasn't Thanos, though. Jack Dorsey explicitly said that he's replacing these 4,000 workers with one very specific employee. A.I. And yet, you know what this is about. It's the same thing that that Doomsday essay was about last week from Citrini Research.

So it is easy to reach the conclusion that this is the start of a trend, an AI job apocalypse. But there's a couple of reasons to believe maybe this isn't a trend. Maybe what Jack Dorsey did at Block is just a one-off. Maybe this is mojo and ego. Mojo and Eco, Jack, take it away. Block's stock has lost all its mojo. It's down 75% from its all-time high. Again, just like Jack Dorsey's beard. So maybe this mass layoff is because Block's lost its business mojo. But maybe instead, it's because of Jack Dorsey's ego. The founder of Block, Jack Dorsey, he has super shares of the company. So he can't be fired by the board.

So instead, Jack just fired 4,000 workers. Maybe this is an attention-seeking move. to become relevant again as one of the big three dudes of tech. After all, his 4,000 fire tweet, it got a lot of attention on Twitter, his favorite platform. But besties, whether or not it's mojo or ego, this worked, it worked really well for block shareholders. Block stock had its best day in years.

It searched 25% on Friday. So clearly Wall Street approves of CEOs replacing humans with way cheaper AI instead. And many are speculating that Jack's block layoffs give cover for other CEOs to make similar moves. We're talking mass layoffs. But besties, Jack and I think there is a way that AI could play out in completely different. In fact, completely opposite way of that job apocalypse scenario.

The answer is a takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies worried about AI? Here's a theory. AI is like corporate Botox. It doesn't cut workers, it enhances them. Now, Yeties, remember last year we talked about that theory that AI is like corporate Ozempic? It cuts size but increases the output of a company. Well, what Jack Dorsey just did last week is much more extreme than Ozemic.

It's like corporate liposuction or corporate amputation. Like cutting off a limb. But also last week, Citadel securities suggested something different. That AI, as Jack and I would put it, it's more like corporate Botox. Last week, Citadel wanted to change the narrative because that Wall Street firm doesn't think that AI will eliminate jobs. No, they've got three ideas why. First, adoption of AI will be slow.

And the slower the adoption, the easier it is for works to adjust. Second, they think AI will boost entrepreneurship, and it already is. New company formation hit records in 2024 and 2025. And finally, they think the government will act. If AI booms profits and crushes workers and AI tax will we distribute the cash. So instead of a doomsday scenario, Citadel thinks AI will simply boost each worker's productivity, a lot like Microsoft Office did 20 years ago. Besties last week, all that talk was that AI will eviscerate white-collar jobs,

but honestly, no one really knows what it's going to do. So Citadel has a more optimistic take that we wanted to share with you. Or as Jack and I would put it, maybe AI will be like corporate Botox, not cutting workers, but enhancing them. For our second story, thanks to Coach's handbag sales, its stock has quadrupled since 2024. Coach is the only company that can sell handbags to Gen Z because they hired an anthropologist. They hired an anthropologist. But Basties, before you dive in this story, Jack, can I do a little O-O-T-D, a little outfit of the day for you over here. Let's do it. Okay, okay. So I've got a Kate Spade wallet. I'm wearing

the Stuart Whiteman boots, and I've got a coach handbag. What do you think? Okay, good for you, but that's not just an outfit. That's an entire company. Yeah, it is, and I'm not wearing that. Because Tapestry owns all three of those brands. It's a $30 billion luxury giant. And besties, this tapestry stock, the owner of coach, is the invidia of New York Fashion Week. The stock is up 22% so far this year. It's up 85% in the last 12 months. And it's, It's quadrupled since 2024. Coach, their stock is at Anointur highs right now, all-time highs. Now, you might think luxury brands catered just to the wealthy few. But get this. Coach alone sold to 3 million new customers last quarter, a record high for the brand.

Even Tyra Banks would be impressed by that. And the reason is Val Luxury. It's luxury brand, but focused on a value price. For instance, the top-selling coach bag, it's called the Tabby, and it's just $350. Yeah, they flex the name at one-tenth the cost of the Chanel. But besties the real reason Coach is crushing it right now. What is it, Jack?

An anthropologist is the head of Coach's marketing. This is what Jack and I find fascinating yetis. The Wall Street Journal interviewed the chief marketing officer of Coach, June Silverstein. So Jack and I naturally soft-stocked her on LinkedIn. And before Harvard Business School, she was at Columbia University. Her major was anthropology.

The scientific study of humans. In fact, June went on to a Fulbright scholarship studying second generation North African women over in France. Yeah, she's hardcore anthro. Just like National Geographic analyzes flora and fauna, anthropologists like June analyze us humans, which has led to a unique approach over a coach. Not customer surveys and customer focus groups. What is it, Jack? Joan Silverstein goes into people's homes and studies our lives.

That's right. Every quarter, June visits the homes of women 18-19. to 30 years old, the target customer of coach handbags. I assume she's been invited, but she will literally pop into somebody's apartment, hang out in their closet, look around, and then chat at their kitchen table about how they spend their day. For example, do you notice that Gen Z likes to express themselves in multiple identities, like, you know, how young people put gibbets on their crocs when they go out wearing them? So coach launched charms for their handbags, cute little carrots, fun little bows, even miniaturized novels that you can clip to the handle of your handbag. Which she,

observed was that the desire to personalize was so deep that consumers would even accessorize an accessory like a handbag. Basically, handbag charms. Maybe you're going to say handbag inception. Well, either way, Coach Sales are crushing it right now because their chief marketing officer spends afternoons opening up 23-year-old's dressers. Not creepy. No. It's marketing. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Coach? To understand the customer, act like Jane Goodall. Ah, Jane Goodall. Yeah, he had. she's the late great anthropologist who studied chimpanzees and people.

She spent her life in the force of Africa, observing primates. She was the first to document chimpanzees using tools, which made us realize, wow, they're not as different from humans as we thought. Well, June took Jane's science into marketing, an ethnographic approach, as the scientist would call it, proving more effective than traditional marketing. June realized that brands mistake data for insight. Such a good quote.

Basically, you can learn something about customers from the data, just like you can learn something about apes by reading zoo books. But observing customers reveals insights that they don't even know themselves or can't yet articulate about themselves. You learn who they really are besties, what they really want, by opening up the sock drawer and watching their daily routines. So you don't need more data, you need more Jane Goodalls. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

For our third and final story, with Paramount increasing its bid to buy Warner Brothers, Netflix is walking away, and we'll explain all the drama through Wedding Crashers. We'll also assess the impact on Wall Street, Hollywood, and on our American society. But also, Vince Vaughn and Wedding Crashers. Bestie is the biggest love triangle in Hollywood. It isn't a movie.

It's Hollywood itself these days. December 8th was the last time that we covered Warner Brothers Discovery, Netflix, and Paramount's awkward thruple situation. Now, back then, Netflix had offered $83 billion to buy Warner Brothers, and until last week was presumed to be the winner of the bidding war for the famous Hollywood studio in HBO Max. But since then, the corporate M&A drama has played out like wedding crashers. Now follow us on this one. Here's the cast.

Warner Brothers is playing The Bride. Netflix is playing the steady fiancé. And Jack, who would you say is playing Paramount in this case? Oh, he's the rich ex who's constantly DMing the bride telling her to reconsider and even showing up at the rehearsal dinner. Will that make you love me dead? Well, we're not even exaggerating besties. to hear this. The CEOs of Netflix and Warner Brothers did a real photo shoot, basically the equivalent of engagement picks. I think there was a hug. I think there was a hug I saw in there, Jack.

Which leads to the news, you already know it. After Paramount up their offer to buy Warner Brothers last week, Netflix decided to walk away. Paramount is the winner. Or in wedding crashers terms, Netflix was at the altar, but then Paramount burst in with a huge ring and the bride just said, yeah, I'll take it. Yeah, it might have been the stiff mattress or the gay New Dark Show or maybe the midnight rate. Either way, Netflix is single again. But besties, before you cry for Netflix, Netflix's loss is actually, in our opinion, a pretty big win for Netflix. Get this. In the two and a half months after Netflix bid $83 billion to buy Warner Brothers, Netflix stock fell 31%. Investors very much disapproved of the acquisition. Investors disapproved like

an angry father-in-law. If anyone believed Netflix and Warner Brothers should not be wed, Wall Street would have stood up. Yeah, because Warner Brothers simply isn't worth anything close to what Netflix was offering to buy it for. Or what it's now selling for. Paramount is paying $31 a share. For Warner Brothers, a company whose stock was just eight bucks before this bidding war began. But David Allison, the owner of Paramount, the new Nepo mogul of Hollywood, was willing to pay anything for the power of Warner Brothers assets, which we'll get to in the takeaway. And get this, Netflix still receives a two-point, $8 billion breakup fee as part of this deal. Not too shabby. It's as if Paramount bought Netflix's a huge

diamond as well. And on top of it, Netflix's stock rocking it up 20% in the last week since it got left at the altar. That's 70 billion bucks in value. So it's not just better for Netflix financially, not to buy Warner Brothers. It's better strategically too. You're right, Jack, because Netflix's top competition is now basically broke. Paramount took out a $60 billion loan to beat Netflix and buy Warner Brothers. Yeah, they put that big ring on the old credit card. And Larry Allison even had to sell his $45 million $San Francisco mansion to pay for his son's new toy. True story. Most expensive home sale in San Francisco in the last year. And it's not just the money. For the next 12 months,

Paramount and Warner Brothers will have to stay in the good graces of the Trump administration to actually get this deal approved. I'm sorry, Jack, but that is just not happily ever after for those two. That's the worst like engagement to wedding 12 months you could imagine. So let me just add it up for you over here, Jack. Netflix lost the bride, but Netflix still gets paid. Its investor buddies in the bridal party are pumped, and its rival just overspent on a ring. Basically, Netflix is like, yeah, we're Uncle Ned's kids. So, Jack, rule number three of party crash and never leave a fellow crashing. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at Netflix? No family has ever had a tighter grip on American media than the Ellison's now do. Yeties. Jack and I have mentioned the power of the assets of Warner Brothers,

before, and we are not just talking about the superheroes. Although Superman, Sever Snape, and Succession are very powerful. Yes, they are, Jack. What we were talking about right now, though, is the TV networks. You see, Paramount already owns CBS, and now they're getting CNN. The Ellison's longtime Trump super donors also now own two of the biggest movie studios, and don't forget, a huge chunk of TikTok. Now, the mainstream media has been perceived to have a liberal bias,

but it is now controlled by conservative mega donors. This acquisition doesn't just transform Hollywood. It has the potential to transform culture and politics. Because Besties, the Allison family, now controls an unbelievable amount of American media. Which means the mainstream media, it's undergone a complete and utter 180. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Jack Dorsey laid out 4,000 workers in a tweet because of AI. But maybe that's a one-off driven by his ego and his lack of mojo.

Maybe AI is really like Botox. It doesn't replace workers. It enhances them. For our second story, Coach sold to 3 million new customers last quarter. A lot of them were Gen Z women buying $350 handbags. Because Coach's marketing is led by an anthropologist. They got a Jane Goodall.

And finally, wedding crashers, but in real life. Yeah. Paramount winning Warner Brothers is a blessing for Netflix, financially and strategically. And it caps off the Ellison's swift and expensive takeover of American media. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. Okay, first, I've been saving the Cheching button for this, Jack.

FedEx just announced they planned to refund customers who paid tariffs. When the Supreme Court ruled that Trump's tariffs were illegal, the question of refunds was not answered. More than 900 companies have now sued the United States for their tariff refunds. A lot of companies passed on those tariffs to consumers. They should pass on the refunds too. And now FedEx puts pressure on everybody to do that. And I, we'll be waiting. We can give you our addresses. And second, Warby Parker had a 2020

earnings. It was that good. Their first ever annual net profit, they announced AI initiatives, and they're tripling the number of eyeglass stores. The stock jumped 26% on Friday, the best day in years. Yeah, Warby Parker thinks it can use AI to sell more glasses, so they're adding three times as many stores. And don't forget, Warby was invested in by Google last year. Are AI Google Glasses coming? We think so. And finally, Besties, we've got to say goodbye to our buddy, Mr. Clean, everyone's favorite bald dude and a tight white t-shirt. Mr. Clean was either your nightmare or your fantasy. Yeah, yeah.

He's retiring. Kind of like the Quaker Oats dude. The household cleaning brand, Mr. Clean, though, they created the character 68 years ago. He's losing his job not because of AI just because the brand thinks he's outdated. Okay, but Jack's in my bet, we think he's going to be back in five years because every brand always brings back the old mascots eventually, right? Jack. When the marketing teams run out of ideas, just bring back the old ideas. Now time for the best fact yet, this one is T-Boy Trivia to kick off the week.

Now, Yeti's Netflix started as a DVD company, and they mailed their final DVD only three years ago. Right. But the question is this. What was Netflix's most popular DVD of all time? I think I might actually know this one. What movie was ordered more than any other in DVD form from Netflix, Jack? What are you thinking? Okay, before we get a way, give me a hint of what you think it is.

I think when was peak DVD. I think that helps. I like your strategy. And I'm pretty sure Peak DVD was like the year 2004, 2005, like right before streaming. I didn't know his podcasting was Sherlock Holmes over here. Okay, so Peak DVD, 2004, 2005. You know, I have three sons under five right now. Okay, talk to me.

Which means we like Disney's Pixar. I see where you're going. And so I'm pretty sure the top selling DVD of all time was finding Nemo. Oh, so it goes, logic goes to say it would also be the top rented DVD of all time. I may have given you the Sherlock Holmes compliment. a little too early. It's not finding Nemo, but drop your answer to the comments. And Jack and I will reveal it on tomorrow's spot.

Yiddies, you're looking fantastic to kick off the week. And Jack and I, we want to see you look fantastic in person. So snag some tickets to our Washington, D.C. or New York show. They're on March 11th and April 8th. We got links to the episode description. It's like a rock show of business news. We call it the IPO tour. It's our in-person offering, and we're going to ring a bell for it.

And you might walk home with that bell if you're lucky. Oh, spoiler. Jack and I will see you at tomorrow's pot. If you know, you know. And before we go, well, happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Emmanuel Cuame, from Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire, running a 5K on her birthday.

And happy birthday to Akshad Kishan from Palo Alto, who, get this, was one of the live living human being bushes from the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show. Amazing. Oh, you did great money. And Anna Harrison, enjoy that. birthday in Lakewood, Colorado. Happy birthday to Bernard O'Sallis in San Antonio, who's listening

with his two lovely daughters. Johnny Wynn, had the best birthday yet doing logistics in Illinois. Happy birthday to Benny Lopez from Lamont, Illinois, just outside Chicago. And Hannah Thornburg has got the golden birthday turning 28 on the 28th over in Kansas. Happy birthday to Dario, a leap year, baby. We'll never forget you, Dario. And Ted Stoves, congratulations on retiring from the Army after 26 years. Thank you for over two decades of service. Congratulations on the IBO to Jesse and Megan in Atlanta, they're turning the T-Boy jingle into a nursery song as they welcome that baby into the world. And Miles Caines is fresh out of college, but got a new job at an AI startup down and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Big shout out to Laura Adams Hoppy from El Dorado Hills, California.

She's a hockey player turned oral surgeon who shared that great fact about the 1980s Olympic team getting into dentistry. And LJ. Eve is an operations manager for the Navy race organization. And over the weekend, launched the Navy 10-Miler in San Diego. Congrats on the big win for the Armed Forces, LJ. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix, Kroc, and Disney. Nick own stock and block.