The Best One Yet - 🤫 “End of Passwords” — Microsoft’s post-password-era. Formula 1’s sister surge. Mack Weldon’s anti-tariff undies.

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

Sam Altman is scanning eyeballs to verify Tinder dates… but the bigger story is the End of Passwords.Formula One just had its Miami Grand Prix… and the racing stock is at an all-time high.Mack Weldon’s underwear turned tariffs from a weakness to a strength.Plus, the next TBOY Live Show will be in **Chicago** 7/23/2025 🌭🏙️🌬️$LLYVK $MSFT $SPYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… The Starbucks Frappuccino 🥤 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. Welcome back. It is Monday, May 5th. And today's pod, out of all the pods, is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Announcing our live show in 60 seconds. But first are three stories. Which are fantastic. What do we got, Jack?

For our first story, Formula One is the fastest growing sport in America, and it just had its hottest race of the year down in Miami. Formula One sales are a surgeon because of 28-year-old American women. For our second story, get this. Microsoft just declared that it's killing the password once and for all. Gone. You can log in, Sons Password.

Ding, Dong, the password is dead, baby. And our third and final story. One company has found a creative way to turn tariff problems into a strength. Mack Weldon just unveiled price-locked underwear through the 4th of July. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a fantastic. mix of stories to kick off the week check. Our first live show was in San Francisco.

It was amazing. Then we did New York, which was huge. Then we did Seattle, which was very Pacific Northwest. But our biggest live show yet is actually our deepest live show yet. Yet he's prepared to hit the lake, feel the wind, and dig into some deep dish. Because the best one yet is coming to Chicago.

We are doing a T-Boy live show in Chicago on July 23rd. It's the biggest event to hit Shytown since Oprah. The location is the Vick Theater. Capacity? A thousand seats.

The vibe? Rock concert. But with fully audited financials. Jack, we're putting up Michael Jordan numbers on this thing, baby. Tickets go on sale

this Wednesday. So follow us at T-Boy Pot on Instagram so you see the ticket drop first. Bring your buddy. Bring your office. Loop in the whole loop while you're at it.

Because we're going to have three fantastic stories plus a surprise. guest on stage at the Vic. And we'll be whipping up takeaways like a young Ferris Bueller. T-Boy Live does Chicago. Because Chicago does logistics. Tickets are on sale this Wednesday.

Follow us to get those tickets first. Hey, Midwest, you look fantastic. Da Bears, Doubles, da! Duh! Podcast. Dah, three stories. Let's see them, Jack. Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. That's one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story, Formula One just held its hottest race event of the year down in Miami. But Formula One's stock is near an all-time high, and it's all thanks to your 28-year-old little sister. Now, yeties, if your buddy Timmy called in sick today, it's because the Kentucky Derby, Cinco de Mayo, Star Wars Day.

May the 4th. NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, and Berkshire Hathaway shareholder conference all happened over the weekend. And the Met Gala is today. Yeah, but the biggest event last weekend physically was actually the newest event. Formula One racing. Formula U. down in Miami, Florida. As they pronounce it in Daytona. Formula One,

the most technical car is the most expensive tickets and a whole lot of drama this weekend down in Miami, Jack. The Dutch racer Max Verstappen drives for Team Red Bull, but almost missed the Miami race because his baby was born just a couple days before. Like literally right before. Oh, and then Ferrari unveiled a blue Ferrari car. What? Ferraris are red. That's the rule.

It's like an insult to Italy worse than pineapple on pizza, man. Still, 2024 was a record year for Formula One. They generated nearly $4 billion in revenue. Now, historically, Formula One racing has been ignored in America. This is NASCAR country. This is an indie world, baby. But today, F1 is actually the fastest growing professional sport in the United States. Depends on the time frame, but along with pickleball and the WNBA, F1 is booming in America.

And here's what Jack and I find fascinating. Formula One is also a publicly traded business. It was acquired eight years ago by Liberty Media, and now the stock is near an all-time high. But, Jack, could you press on the Pistons bit and sprinkle on a little context to their $4 billion in Formula One revenue? That's four times the revenue of NASCAR. It's almost as much as the NHL. Wow.

And it's half as much as the NBA. But honestly, it's even more impressive when you consider that Formula One only is 24 races a year. They're called Grand Prix, not racist. And we, we, we, Jack. Still, 24 Grand Prix, compare that to 1,230 basketball games played in the NBA overseas. So what we're saying is that each Formula One racing event is really a profit puppy. It's like a mini Olympics. It takes over the entire city for a whole weekend. Get this. The Miami Grand Prix yesterday got 25% more in ticket revenue for Miami's Hard Rock Stadium,

where they do the race around, then all the Miami Dolphin Football Home Games combined. You better call an audible Dan Marino because racing is taken over Miami. One race was equal to eight football games in revenue. And it's the third race in the United States. There's also one in Austin and there's also one in Las Vegas. Now, Basties, it is Netflix who we can thank for growing the F1 fan base. Their reality show during the pandemic brought more fans and more sponsors to the sport.

Especially in the United States. But F1 just struck a $1 billion sponsorship deal with Louis Vuitton. That's right. The handbag company is now. sponsoring the sports cars. F1 also just got a $450 million check from America's Cadillac. Because Cadillac wants to be the 11th Formula One racing team, so they had to pay a fee in order to enter. And they joined the circuit next year. But the most valuable part of the Formula One business model is TV. Yeah, it's broadcasting. Like with every sport. Our bet Netflix is going to

buy the rights, which expire next year. Interesting. And turn F1 into a globally streamable, like glitzy kind of show with a halftime event. Rihanna's going to be there. Yeah. And Lady Gaga singing half. There's no halftime in racing, but I'm picking up what you're putting down. I'm sure they will change the sport for that money, Jack.

But the wildest part about F1's business model is actually who's behind it. Nick and I jumped in T-boy style to the earnings report from F1 last quarter. Female fans and fans under 30 are both up 50% for F1 in the past five years. That's right. Your 28-year-old little sister is who's driving. growth at Formula One. But I'll be honest, even I'm attracted to the racers in Formula One.

Have you seen how chiseled those chins are? Max, don't for stopping at all. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Formula One? F1 has mainstreamified the VIP section. Yeties, here's the irony. Formula One is the only mainstream luxury sport. Yeah, that's a contradiction that we can find. Polo, sailing.

those aren't mainstream. But F1 is mainstream, even though it's the glittiest of all the sports in the whole world. Nick, most Grand Prix have their circuits viewable by yacht. Yeah, that's a real thing. Monaco on the south coast of France, that's the most famous F1 face track. And yet, luxurious F1 is watched by a billion fans. It is also the fastest growing pro sport in America. And most of those billion fans do not own yachts. So Formula One, it is sponsored by David Yermin Jure and Brunello Cuccinelli's fancy clothing, and yet it's also sponsored by Puma and Adidas. How does F1 pull it off? Such a wide, diverse spectrum of both fans and sponsors? It's strategic about what it keeps exclusive. So Formula One limits itself to only 24 races, only 10 teams, and only 20

drivers. But it scales the media part. 100 million followers on social media, and it's broadcast globally on TV. So Bestie's Formula One is at an all-time high because it pulled off a contradiction era mayas never could. It's mainstreamified, the VIP section. For our second story, Sam Altman, Microsoft, and Tinder basically just killed the password. The future is passwordless. Yes, it is. Because we are so incredibly bad at keeping secure passwords. Now, yet he is, if I know Jack, there are a few things he loves more than a good game of trivia all the time. So, Jack, what was the trivia question? I know you asked 50 people, including your family, and like the waiter at a restaurant.

This is such a good hero stat. What percent of login attempts in America are successful? In other words, Nick, what percent of the time after entering your username and your password and clicking enter, what percent of the time are you successful and you actually get into your account? Okay, so Jack, according to Microsoft, what's the answer? 32 percent. That's it.

Only 32 percent of the time are you successful logging in. Like only one out of three times are you getting your own password right? The other two-thirds of the time, you push login and it says wrong username or password. Please try again. Yeties, using logged-in accounts online faces amazing friction and so much wasted time from all of those failed logins. Plus, Jack, we even discussed the insecure passwords. It's true that the number one password in America is password. Yeah, that's also a good trivia fact.

So it's not a matter of if your password were good stolen. It's a question of when. Even if you included three exclamation points, two hashtags, a number sign, and six capital letters. Because get this, due to all the hacks that have happened to like every company ever, right now, according to a digital risk protection company, there are 24 billion username and passwords available on the dark web for like 10 cents each. So criminals, they know your parents' passwords, even if your parents still don't know their own passwords. When your parents text you, what's my own password? It's like, I'm getting a call. It's my mom. She wants to know the password to her Wi-Fi, Jack. So besties, all of us, internet using humankind, should come to welcome this shocking news that just came out.

Microsoft announced on Friday, they're phasing out the password altogether. And we repeat, anyone who sets up a new Microsoft account will not be asked to create a password. Just give us your phone number or your email instead, and then select your pass key. Yeah, Microsoft stock was up 9% last week. It wasn't because of this. It wasn't not because of this. What the heck is a pass key though, Nick? Yeah, what is a past key?

I was going to ask you. A pass key is proof that you are you because you're already logged into something else. Here's the example we came up with. If you're already using your iPhone, then you had to use a passcode or face ID to unlock that iPhone. So with a Microsoft account, you can say face ID is my pass key. And as long as you're using your phone, you can log into any Microsoft account. They know that you are you.

Other passcode options are Android's fingerprint sensor, Gmail, or using a password manager. Basically, if you're logged into your phone, your computer, or your Gmail, that's enough. You can log into anything else as well. And if all else fails in this password purged era, you can always request a login link to your phone or your email. That's the future. And it's not just Microsoft. No, no. Apple, Google, they're both moving in this direction too.

Every big tech player wants to kill the password. They're going full Napoleon on the password. geoteneing the passwords out there. There's no chance to live. Second French reference in two stories, I think. Not possible, make it threes. Because yet he's virtually every person in America has an account with at least one of those three companies.

So all of us are going to be able to start going password-free. The password. It's going to go the ranks of other retired tech products, Jack. Floppy disks, screen names, clippy. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone with a password? The future of ID is ID, as in E-Y-E. As in eyeballs. So, Yeties, there was one other big password piece of news last week we noticed.

Sam Altman's eye scanning startup. It's called World. And World set up six retail locations last week to scan people's eyeballs for their registry. Now, Sam Altman's World also partnered with Tinder and Visa, so your eye scan will verify that you are, in fact, a user. Tinder will soon validate that that guy who's too good to be true is a real person, and they'll do it by checking his eyeballs. Well, why is there this surge in eye scans? It's because in an AI world, robots can solve those security checks that test if you're a robot. They can beat them. So instead of a capture test to verify you're a human, what we really need is proof of human. So besties add it all up, and right now we are entering the password-free era.

But five years from now, when humanoid robots are trying to log into your Tinder account, well, then the future of ID is ID. Eventually, it's all coming to the eyeballs. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Mac Weldon's men's underwear just put a price lock on their undies until July 4th. They've turned tariffs into a marketing opportunity, and we will explain how. Now, Yetis, you know Jack and I have been keeping track of recession indicators for you. Recession brunette? Skipping Botox treatments?

Bringing bagged lunches to work more often? None of those are good indicators for the economy. No, no, no, no, no, no. But the oldest alternative economic indicator is the men's underwear index. If men are so pinched that they're not buying new briefs, that's a bad sign. Yeah, guess what? Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, he actually coined this whole underwear observation. He observed that nobody sees your underwear selection, except the man who's wearing them, and maybe their locker room neighbors.

So, if men aren't buying new underwear and they're wearing underwear with a bunch of holes in them, it means they're not feeling pretty good about their money right now. So it's an interesting case study when we look at the direct-to-consumer men's brand, Mac Weldon, who sells underwear. Mac Weldon, a underwear brand that's between me undies and Calvin Klein on the coolness scale. It's pretty cool. Yeah, I guess I'd agree with you on that. Yeah, it's like the Lulu for Doodoods. And like most of your wardrobe, Mac Weldon is facing 145% tariffs on the stuff they source from China and 10% tariffs on everywhere else.

So besties, everyone right now is worried about prices. Price hikes because of tariffs. When will they happen? When will they stop? Who knows how much? Not at Mac Weldon, though. Prices aren't hiking at Mac Weldon. And the timing of their no price change is very clear.

Get this. Mac Weldon announced a price lock on all the... their underwear. Not a single pair will have a price increase until at least July 4th. We have not seen any other apparel company do this. Boxers or briefs. It's like a call option in finance applied to the top drawer of your dresser. We have seen Ford do something similar. They announced employee pricing on cars and their deal also lasts through July 4th. Now, Bessie's, tariffs are coming. Not raising these underwear prices is going to hurt their underwear profit margins. But maybe it'll boost their sales. In fact, it already has.

Mack Weldon's underwear sales actually jumped 90% in the month ending April 15th. So Mac Weldon is sacrificing some profit margin to gain loyalty at a painful economic moment. And it looks like it's selling. Men are buying up their male panties over Mac Weldon. Male panties. I'm sorry. You know what? It's a new term.

I just came up with it. Let's roll with it, chat. Yeah, but I hate the female version of the term, too. Well, I'm not saying it's going to work, but let's just, you know, you just put stuff out there sometimes. Sometimes. So, Bessie's every company in this economy is weakened by tariffs. But Mac Weldon has turned that into a strength. And you probably tossed a tank top and some trousers into your cart too, not just the underwear. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone affected by tariffs? Sometimes you need to go opposite day on everybody. Yet is last week,

we told you the number one theme in the economy right now. Uncertainty. Uncertainty was mentioned a record number of times in economic surveys and in corporate earnings reports. But the success of Mack Weldon's underwear price lock is that it did the opposite. Instead of uncertainty around prices, they gave a very certain price. Yeah. And you know what? It's a reminder that if you notice everyone around you just doing the same thing. It's easy to do that thing too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's safety in the herd. Nobody's going to isolate you and say, what the heck are you doing? But it is in those moments that opportunity lies in doing this.

The opposite. Call opposite day. Call an opposite day. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Formula One just finished a race in Miami. It's the fastest growing sport in the United States. Because Formula One, a mainstreamified, the VIP section. VIP, very important public. That was pretty good. For our second story, Microsoft announced last week that new accounts don't need passwords. Use a pass key instead. Password is dead, but Sam Altman thinks the few. Future of ID in an AI world is ID. Like eyeballs. And our third and final story,

Mack Weldon announced no price hikes on underwear through July 4th. When everyone else is doing the same. Raising prices because of tariffs. There's opportunity in doing the opposite. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, on a good jobs report and trade war resolution hopes, the S&P 500 rose for a 9,000.

straight day on Friday. 177,000 jobs were added to our economy in April, despite the trade war volatility. China also acknowledged for the first time potential talks with America on trade. Added all up, nine straight days of gains for the S&P 500 is the longest streak since 2004. All those losses from Liberation Day have now been erased. Second, last week Apple got eviscerated by a federal judge for failing to comply with a court order.

Epic Games and Spotify had been on a crusade to and Apple's 30% app tax, what they charge these apps in the app store. And it looks like it finally happened. You can now subscribe to Spotify directly from an iPhone and not pay an app tax. After Apple got ripped by a judge, Spotify now has a link in their app so you can avoid the app store toll booth. And finally, ConAgra, the big food company, just sold Chef Boyardee last week for $600 million to a PE firm. The founder of the soup brand, Chef Boiarty, was a renowned chef who worked at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. He was a real Italian chef.

Then he Americanized the spelling of his name to become a mass market canned soup and pasta company. Now that it's owned by private equity, they're probably going to, you know, water down some of the ingredients in the soups. Yeah, they're going to cut costs. So the can of mini raviolis, it's probably going to be even minier raviolis now. Spaghetti and meatballs is going to be spaghetti and meat bowl. Yeah. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Molly G from lovely Philadelphia.

Speaking of Formula One racing, we told you about that race in Monaco with all the yachts. Well, Monaco in Europe is actually a country, one of the smallest countries on Earth. Yeah, I said it was in the south of France. It's actually its own little thing. Like, there's checkpoints. But Monaco is actually smaller

than Central Park in New York City. Here's the breakdown. Monaco is less than one square mile of land. Central Park. It's a country. A little more than one square miles of land. Monaco, it's basically the Vatican City of the non-Catholic world. Because Vatican City is like its own country.

Jack, I think you stuck the landing on it. Yeties, you look fantastic today. Especially if you're over in the Midwest in Chicago, you'll look extra fantastic. We are so freaking pumped for July 23rd. It's going to be incredible. Amazing. We're going to a Cubs game the day after our performance, by the way. And maybe before as well.

Yetis, we are dropping the tickets right here on Wednesday. But in the meantime, follow us on Instagram so you can get your tickets first at T-BoyPod. And Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Celebrate the wins. Can't wait. And before we go, a happy birthday to the legendary Yeti N-Z over in Toronto, Maple Leaf Toronto. And happy birthday to Irameen Jostle in Henderson, Nevada. This married dink is celebrating a nap this weekend.

Popping that Pino. And Matt Ways Sharatana is turning. and 36 years old over in Seattle spent the birthday rock climbing on belay. B'leigh on that birthday, Matt. Happy birthday to Sterling Salzburg. In San Francisco, his birthday was yesterday. He's on his way to Maui with the family of four right now. And Chase and Virginia just got married in Pontevadra, Florida.

Now they're a honeymoon in, guys. Let's see some picks. Congratulations on the celebration. Congratulations to Lindsay Ardiff and Ainsley Foe, who had a wedding reception last weekend. Congratulations, guys. you look fantastic. And Anna Winter, just as a heads-up, no pressure at all. Jack and I got our tuxes ready, so just wink twice if we're good to go. Big night on the red carpet. If there's room for two T-boys,

hit us up. We've been traveling. We haven't seen our mail. So yeah, thanks for the end of time. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Spotify. I own stock of Netflix, and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500.