The Best One Yet - 🎢 “Daycare for Teenagers” — Six Flags’ roller coaster. Gmail’s personal assistant. America’s factory gold rush.

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

Six Flags just had its best quarter ever, but the CEO thinks the theme parks have become “daycare for teenagers.” The most practical use of AI is about to hit your Gmail: A personal assistant to write your emails. And there’s a new gold rush in America — A gold rush to build factories.Play this week’s pop-biz pop-quiz: go.tboypod.com$SIX $DIS $CAT $GOOGWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeLearn 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 Friday, the real Friday, May 12th. And today's pod is the best one yet. It is a T-Boy Jack. Breaking news as we hit the record button. Yeti's Elon Musk is stepping down as Twitter CEO in six weeks. He hasn't named who his successor will be, but he did refer to that successor as she.

She will start in six weeks, Jack. You know what we're thinking here? What are we thinking? I don't know. What are we thinking? Elon Musk just did a gender review. She is going to be the new CEO. First story, what do we got, Jack?

The most valuable artificial intelligence may not be chat GPT. Yet he's the most valuable AI to you right now may be in your Gmail. For our second story, the biggest surprise in this economy right now is factories. Brand new factories. So Jack and I found the one winner in America's Factory Gold Rush. And our third and final story is Six Flags. Those theme parks just had their best. first quarter of revenues ever. Because six flags is going through some corporate puberty. But

Yeties, before we hit that fantastic mix. What a mix to go into our buddy Timmy's wedding with Jack? Love this mix. This Sunday, we will all be celebrating all the mothers. But Yeties, when you look at the numbers, Mother's Day is the mother of all holidays. Mother's Day isn't just a day. Mother's Day is its own economy. Get this. More phone calls are made on Mother's Day than any other day. of the year. Everyone calls their mom and everyone's mom butt dials them back by mistake. Oh great. It's a seven minute voicemail of a pocket. That's a pocket, Jack. But phone calls are free. You know what's not free, Nick? Talk to me, Jack. Mother's Day brunch. Mother's Day brunch. It's the brunch. The mom brunch we've all been there. It's the brunch of all brunches. It turns out Mother's Day

is the biggest day of the year in America for eating out at restaurants. When you go to that buffet, you better bring your own Hollande sauce, Jack. Valentine's Day is a close number two, but Mother's Day gets the most restaurant activity. Like we said, Mother's Day, it's the mother of all holidays. And we all know that that brunch, it's 40 bucks a plate, so get ready. Oh, it is. Mama, she's going to eat a mimosa. Now, 100% of moms will tell you, they don't care where they take you on Sunday, as long as you're there with them. But 100% of moms also do care where you take them on Sunday.

So yet he's paused the pod. You got two days to make that reservation. Six people 1 p.m. Siddles, make it happen. She gave you life, so give her some bagels. She deserves everything bagels. Everything bagels. Everything bagels. Happy Mother's Day, Yetis. 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 an 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. You know you know because we're ready to go.

We can't wait no more. So just start the show. Start the show. For our first story, the first big opportunity in artificial intelligence for the masses, what is it, Jack? It's the personal assistant in your email. Specifically in your Gmail. This is a Gmail story, Yeti's.

Yeah, but Jack, before we jump in T-boys, now, can we talk about, like, the paradox that's in all of our lives? You know what it is. Gmail is your most used app. probably. And yet it's the one you think about the least. Like if Jack and I ask you which app are you using the most, you'd probably say, I don't know, you'd probably say like TikTok or something or maybe Instagram. You might say I message, but then it's Gmail. It's Gmail. The reality is, it's probably Gmail. It's on your laptop. It's on your phone. It's probably on one of your smart devices. I'm on Gmail right now, Jack. It's a fun time. It's a laugh riot. Nick and I use Gmail too much.

Full disclosure. Well, the only way Jack and I could spend less time on Gmail is if we had a personal assistant and we do not have a personal assistant. Well, Google just kind of offered an artificial intelligence version of a personal assistant. Yes, they did. It's called help me write. It's three words. It's a work in title, but it's called help me right. It's not Siri. It's not Alexa. It's help me right. Now, we know what you're thinking. Google already has that feature in your Gmail called Smart Reply. You get an email from somebody and they have like three choices to quickly reply. Like, okay, thanks. Actually, that doesn't work for me. Best wishes.

Sincerely, three exclamation bullets. Well, help me write. Is that smart reply feature, but on steroids? This AI assistant in your Gmail can write an entire email. Just like a personal assistant would. Now, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. No matter how much money or how little money you have, all of us feel time poor. We all wish we had more time, and we all wish we could save time by not.

not doing things we don't want to do. There's like an epidemic of time poverty among millennials. We're all facing it. So an AI personal assistant in Gmail may be the most practical use case for time poor millennials of AI. Jack, how about we whip up an example over here? What do you think? All right. Let's say Delta canceled your flight.

We've all been there. Classic. Annoyingly, Delta makes you email to request a refund. It's like, come on. Just give me the refund. But with this new feature, you would just open your email and you would type in refund for my canceled flight. And then your AI personal assistant would take care of the rest. Get this. That Gmail AI, it's going to find your flight number and the price you paid and when the flight was

canceled. And that's not all. It can scan your emails. It can scan your Google Docs. It can scan your Google sheets. It's going to compose the entire email and all you have to do is push said. Next thing you know, there's an outbound email over to Edna, Delta complaining about what happened. mentioning the Biskopf cookies were a little too warm. Nick, ironically, it's AI that's probably reading the email on Delta side, and it's AI that's sent it on our side. And then your Gmail is going to demand a refund. Now, this is a big deal for all of us Gmail users,

because this is artificial intelligence in your most used app. Which we told you was Gmail. And that artificial intelligence saves you your most precious thing. Which we told you was time. But there's one key product, Nick and I noticed. Google doesn't. want to put AI into. Jack, it seems like Google is hesitating about putting AI into Google search.

Google will put AI in all its products except its main product. Google would put AI in a beanie baby. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Gmail? Google is facing the ultimate innovator's dilemma. Well, again, Google does a lot of things, but it has one ultimate business goal. And that goal is to get you to search for stuff. Every time you click one of Google's many search bars, Google is about to make money because the results of your search are going to have ads in it. And Google made $55 billion of money in just the past three months on all that Google search ad money.

But ChatGPT is a threat to that incredibly lucrative online search ad business. Because if AI can give you the information, then you don't have to search for the information. That's why Google is in the ultimate innovator's dilemma right now. Google knows that it has to have to. to add AI in order to stay ahead. But adding AI is a huge threat to how Google makes money. That's not just the innovator's dilemma. That is the ultimate innovator's dilemma. For our second story, there's one surprising area of the economy that is booming more than any other right now. And what is it, Jack? Factories. Factories, like classic factories. But in this factory boom,

we're not focused on the gold rush. We're focused on the shovels. Yetties, Jack and I have been talking to you about the Patagonia fleece recession going on. Yes. The media and tech industries are going through a recession. There's lots of layoffs and the companies are struggling. But you know who's doing really well right now is it's the factories. The factories are doing great. Big factories that make physical stuff. Jack, grab an Allen wrench in a box of wine. The factories are having fun. Box of wine. You're out of factory, Jack. You got to have some frenzy. I think you're drinking beer at a factory, Nick. I think you're having Chardonnay. In March, Yettys, there was a 5% jump in factory reconstruction from the year before. And they're not just refurbishing old factories.

It's not talking about the old factories. We're talking about brand new, huge buildings with huge machines to make big stuff. Because the pandemic taught us that we can't rely on imports from abroad for key industries. So these new factories are going to make key stuff here for us. We're talking computer chips, batteries, EVs, they're making all of it. And they're all supported by government incentives like the chips and clean energy acts that pass Congress. It's a factory. It's a factory fiesta. It is a plant party and every industry has been invited to come and make stuff.

But the best way to measure the size of this building bonanza, it's not by the number of lifts. No. We want to look at how many shovels worth of dirt. We're looking at the dirt. For example, Pac-Car makes big 12-wheel trucks that are

used in construction. And sales of those new trucks are up by 37% in the last quarter. Or look at new core, which makes the steel that's used in scaffolding in construction. Its steel sales are up 42% in the past quarter. Or look at the classic Caterpillar, which makes earth-moving excavators that everyone wants when they're six years old because they're fun to look at and play with. You played with the play version in the sandbox when you were a kid. The real version sales were up 32% last quarter. In fact, Caterpillar

is the only company Jack and I have heard of this year that thinks 2023 is going to be better than they expected. We have three heavy equipment companies. each growing over 30%. Over 30%. Jack, those don't sound like companies that move dirt. They sound like tech startups.

Take off that hard hat and fill it up with some champagne. This is the biggest jump of the construction industry since the wheel. So Jack, what's the takeaway

for our buddies over making factories? The best opportunity during a gold rush isn't finding the gold. It's selling the shovels. It is. Every U.S. company

is rushing to make things in America by building factories. The real winners are the ones selling shovels, literally. Because in a gold rush, there's no guarantee that the gold miner makes money. But there is a guarantee that the shovel seller will make money.

For example, Intel, they're building two factories in Ohio. And there's no guarantee that they're going to make a good return on those factories. But there is a guarantee that Caterpillar is making money by selling Intel shovels. Literally, like selling them actual shovels to build that factory. That's why the factory fiesta is the perfect example of this gold rush and shovels principle. Besties, the real value in a gold rush? It isn't in finding gold. It's in selling shovels.

In this case, literally. For our third and final story to end the week, Six Flags was the top performing stock last week. Not too shabby. Because Six Flags is moving up market. Six Flags is looking for some Mickey Magic. Before we jumped into this story, T-boy style, Jack admitted that he did the Superman ride out of pure peer pressure from a girlfriend at the time.

The Superman ride is steel. I'm not going to say no. not going to go on the biggest roller coaster at this amusement park. Early takeaway here, you go on roller coasters mainly out of peer pressure. For Yeti's, Six Flags, they're a $2 billion company. They've got 23 theme parks in the United States. Disney? They only have two theme parks.

One in L.A., one Orlando. But Disney World, that's where you take your first child. That's where you glamorize the photos. Six Flags is where you take your first date. But get this, Yeties. Six Flags just had their best first quarter ever on revenue and spending. The stock jumped by 21. 1% in one day for 6 flags.

Yeah, because over the last three months, you came, you rode, you vomited, and then you splurged. Yeah, these one year ago, Six Flags stock plummeted on this awkward line made by the CEO that actually insulted some people. Okay, Jack and I discovered this when we were covering Six Flags today, and we were shocked the CEO said this. The CEO complained last summer that low prices for admission attracted teenagers who were looking for midweek mischief. Which honestly makes sense, because when you're 14.

You can't spend the day at the movies. You can't go to a bar and you got no car. So what are you going to do, Jack? You go to Six Flags. You go to Six Flags. You find someone to drive you to Six Flags. The CEO of Six Flags said that Six Flags has become a cheap daycare for teenagers. Yeah, that's not a good look for any company to be described that way, much less by the CEO.

So the CEO wanted to change that, so he raised prices to price out those mischievous teens and attract more affluent families. He said he wanted families who shoped. Target, not Walmart. That was another insulting life. Now that was insulted. His goal was to go from more customers paying less money to fewer customers paying more money. So for example, the top complained at Six Flags is that the lines are too long. You can't get on the rides because the lines are so long. So what did he do? He raised the price. So fewer people came, shorter lines. Those who were there were happier. And then Six Flikes took a lot of their cash and they invested in adding more trees, adding more flowers. They even hired artists to paint more.

murals. Again, to feel more target than less Walmart. Six Flags, home of succulence. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Six Flags? Going up market can be as hard as defined gravity. Like a roller coaster. Yet he's what Six Flags really wants, it's to look more like Disney. But Disney's price for a day ticket is $110. That's almost three times what it costs to get into Six Flags. Jack, when a family goes to Disney, it is a wholesome family memory. splurging every penny on. Six Flags doesn't have that, but they want that to be the feeling too. But to do that, to become Disney, Six Flags spent more money last year than it's ever spent in a single year. And to go up market, Six Flags ended up alienating their most loyal customers.

And despite all of those moves, Six Flags is still 150th the size of Disney's Parks Division. Because going up market is as hard as defined gravity. Just like a roller coaster. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the Real Friday? Gmail is getting an AI assistant to write entire emails that you don't want to write. But with AI, Google is facing the ultimate innovator's dilemma. For our second story, America is booming with building factories. It's a factory fiesta. It's a plant party.

But as in any gold rush, the winners are the ones selling shovels. And the third and final story is six flags. They're trying to level up. But some customers are mad and it's really expensive. Just like a roller coaster because going up market is as hard as defying gravity. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Jack and me because we noticed something when we were jumping in T-boy style to that Six Flags story.

All right. So it's called Six Flags, classic. It's based in Arlington, Texas, that company. Lovely. I know where we're going with this. Why is it called Six Flags? That's the question. Why not five?

Why not seven? The answer is that the state of Texas has had six different countries. countries rule it at some point. There have been six flags fly over Texas. And those countries, should just whip up the takeaway on this one, Jack? All right. Well, first, the United States. That's today.

As a history major, I can jump in on this one. You want to tag? No, you go ahead. The United States. That's all I got. Okay, we got Spain, France, Confederacy, Mexico. United States. And last but not least, the Republic of Texas.

Texas. All of those states have. have ruled Texas at some point. It's a wild stat. The United States, the Confederacy, Mexico, France, Spain, and Texas. That's it. Six Flags. His F-Cots got a lot of flags, too. Yetis, you look fantastic this whole week, Jack. You're going to look glowing this weekend at our buddy Timmy's wedding.

I'm your plus one. You're my plus one. It's a real wedding, but it may not be a real wedding. Timmy, maybe real, maybe fake. He's real. Unless he's fake. Yet he's celebrate the wins. Jack and I will see at the after party. We'll see you Monday. And before we go, congratulations to Yeti Shubi Gandhi, who's graduating and taking her fourth driving test in California. Congratulations to Megan and John Mulgrew, a couple of Dinkwad

asses having a baby shower in Phoenix. And Jordan Amar just got the dream job as a neurologist over in lovely Los Angeles. Congratulations to Ryan Swanson, who got a new job in electrical charging in Minnesota. And on Kit Badia just turned 32. Happy birthday. in Mountain View, California. And happy birthday to Alonzo Trillis in Caritaro, Mexico. And Benson Conan is turning nine at Center Ice in Anoka, Minnesota. Happy birthday to Scott Piper in New York City. And Sam Shally in Boston, just outside Boston.

Happy birthday to Dominic Suarez in Chicago. Doing logistics. And Nug and C.J. Henry shared the same birthday in St. Charles, Illinois. Not too shabby. You know, Nick, everyone on this list shares the same birthday. Happy birthday to... Andy Arguello in Tiffin, Iowa. And Jaron Joe is turned in 23 over in Boston.

Also just outside Boston. Happy birthday to Luke Polidore in Collingswood, New Jersey. And a happy birthday to Cali Baltich in lovely Lakeland, Florida. Happy first birthday to Atticus Chapman in Fredericksburg, Virginia. And Rowan Gardner doesn't have a birthday. Rowan Gardner was just born in St. Louis. Congratulations to his parents on his birthday. Celebrate that.

This is Jack. I own stock of Disney. So yet he's paused the pod. You got two days to make that reservation. Six people, 1 p.m. Seddells. Make it happen. She gave you life. So give her some bagels.