The Best One Yet - 🕯️ “Everyone’s watching it” — Conclave’s Pope pop. Uber’s robo-VW-hippie-van taxi. The Great Capitalist Pause.

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Since the Pope passed, streaming of “Conclave” is up 3,200%... It’s the power of Shelf IP.Uber & VW just hooked up for robo-hippie-van taxis… It captures Uber’s Switzerland Strategy.Every company’s put their investment plans on ice… We call it the Great Capitalist Pause.Plus, Starbucks bought 200,000 Sharpies… now its new CEO wants a doodle on every cup.$UBER $VWAGY $AMZN $NFLXWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of 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.

Pump to pod, man. You keep the sweater on. You're keeping the sweater on. I'm keeping it off. I got a little bit of... Good thing I'm double old-spiced. I'm calling it. You're going to heat up by the third story. You're taking that off before the takeaway. Right, there we go. Three, two. This is Nick. This is Jack. It is Friday the real Friday. April 25th. And today's pot is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. You know, Jack, before the pod, we were saying these are like the three stories we've ever done that are the best we've ever done.

Should we get right into it? Yeah, absolutely. That's just hit three stories for today's team boy. What do we got, man? For our first story. Since Pope Francis passed away, Conclave has become the number one movie on streaming, with viewership of 3,000% from last week.

Because the secret weapon of streaming is shelf IP. For our second story, Uber and Volkswagen just did the awkwardest hot hookup we've ever seen. So hot, so awkward. A robo-hip van, self-driving taxi. Because Uber's using. the Switzerland strategy. And our third and final story is the biggest news and business news right now.

What is it? No news at all. Because 2025 has been what Jack and I are calling, the great capitalist pause. But yet,ies, before we hit that wonderful mix of story. Whoa, what a mix of stories, baby. Love the mix, Jack. Is it just us, or is there something unusual about your last Starbucks order?

I mean, Jack, was that a cartoon kangaroo on your last Vente latte, my friend? Not because your barista's sidehouse as an art student. No. Cup art is a direct order from the Starbucks CEO. Get this. A key part of Starbucks's new turnaround plan is doodling on cups. That's right. The new CEO, Brian Nicol, thinks doodles on cups bring back the coffee house vibe that Starbucks has lost. And he wants them on every cup. It's like flare from the movie office space, but we're talking about original works of art. According to the Wall Street Journal, cafe workers across 11,000 North

American Starbucks's, we're told to add messages to all to-go cups. It could simply say, have a fun day, scribbled on the side, or it could be the sketch of a dragon eating a leprechaun. Or it could be a tic-tac toeboard. Like we said, art is not meant to be judged. Now, either way, it is now a Starbucks rule to go full Picasso on most cups. Like a liberal arts degree. Required art courses to graduate that class. Now, in fact, this ties back to a story we did last year about Starbucks and Sharpie. That's right. 2024, Starbucks bought 200,000 sharpies for all of its stores.

Now we see why. They're putting those 200,000 markers to use. Turning your frabacino into a botticelli. Turning your latte into a Monet. Our thought on this, though, don't throw away that cuff too soon, Jack. Who knows? Maybe that grande duttle was done by Banksy. You don't want to be the guy that bought pizza with Bitcoin, you know what I mean?

One sec, check, I got to go to the trash. Oh, boy. 15 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. 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. For our first story, the number one movie everyone will be watching this weekend. It's Conclave. the Pope reveal a lesson from the streaming wars. Yeah, it is, over the next couple of weeks, we will all experience the most exclusive job interview in history. Because 135 men will gather in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where there will be no phones, no Wi-Fi, and no contact to the outside world.

Nobody in, nobody out until a new Pope is chosen. That is the ancient ritual known as conclave. The conclave. After each vote, ballots will be burned, black smoke will arise from the chimneys of St. Peter's if no Pope has been chosen. But once one Cardinal reaches a two-thirds majority of the votes, then white smoke razzes from the chimney because a new pope has been chosen. Well, that conclave happening very soon in real life, also happens to be a movie from the year 2024. Ralph Fine, Stanley Tucci. It's a great movie. I saw it. It was nominated for Best Picture. No spoilers.

One best adapted screenplay. In fact, Jack, I read in The New York Times, it's a very accurate portrayal. In fact, Jack, apparently in real life, they have three outfits for the Pope ready because they don't know what size he's going to be, the guy who gets picked. So they have small, medium, large. Basically, ready for whenever he gets chosen. But Besties, this movie had a $20 million budget and yet brought in over $100 million at the box office. That is a 5x return. A surprise Hollywood profit puppy for a movie with only one woman in the cast. Well, here's the news, Yetis. Since Pope Francis, the Pope of the people, a beloved Pope, passed away. The world is now processing its grief through streaming. Get this, Yetis. The day Pope

Francis died, streaming of that movie, Conclave on Prime Video, hit 7 million minutes. Okay, we did the math. That's 580,000 full views of this movie. The next day on Tuesday, viewership tripled to one and a half million full views of the film on Prime Video. And then get this, Amazon did a holy of holy moves and made the film free for all its prime members. So the Pope's passing away. plus the film being free on Amazon, viewership of the movie Conclave rose by 3,200% this week from the week before.

But Jack, I got to stop you right there for a second because it's not just prime, is it, with a papal movie? Did you see the movie, The Two Popes? You know, I didn't see that one either. All right, so the two popes is actually about Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict. It was a good one, too. And the papal pop for that movie

was 417% in the last few days. Now, Disney Plus and Max, they don't have any Pope content, so there's no Nielsen bump for those two streamers. But this weekend, viewership we expect, will only grow as conclave in real life actually begins in Rome. Grab some popcorn for the 800-year papal traditions. Basically the same plot as The Bachelor, but picking the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. But, Nick, this conclave pop, this papal pop, it also reflects a bigger insight to this streaming wars. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone, in media.

There's surprise value in shelf IP. Shelf IP. Yeties, have you noticed that streamers don't do news? Like, some of them have dabbled in news, but they tend to stick to evergreen content. And one perk of that evergreen content that always has value, that's just sitting up on the shelf? Well, during zeitgeist moments,

when something old becomes new, the streamers win. For example, when Queen Elizabeth passed a few years ago, viewership of the show The Crown jumped by 800% on Netflix. Or when Johnny Depp was in court for his lawsuit in 2022, Pirates of the Caribbean hit number one on Disney Plus. And in the first months of the pandemic, the movie Contagion jumped 5,000%. Basties, another way to think about this,

shelf IP is kind of like search insurance for streamers. If you search for it, they got it. And if some turtles ever hit puberty and then eat some nuclear goo, and then decide to learn karate, Paramount Plus will be really happy they have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in that catalog. So, Jack, had his streamers tap into zeitgeist moments without any news content. They do it with shelf IP. Shelf IP, the secret weapon of streaming.

For our second story, Uber and Volkswagen sitting in a tree, Robo D-R-I-V-I-N-G. Yet he's Uber's Robo-Taxi deal with Volkswagen reveals their new strategy. The Switzerland strategy. Now, Yeti is to sprinkle on some historical context here. When we were in grad school, I was at Warden, Jack was at Michigan, self-driving cars were all the rage. Nick's talking about the year 2018, but that rage was actually seven years premature. It wasn't until this year that we can officially say, robotaxies are now nationwide. Google's Waymo has robo-cabs active in four cities with plans to enter four more cities this year,

or next. Including Atlanta. You could be picking peaches from a robo cat pretty soon. Tesla announced this week they'll be operating their first self-driving model wise in Austin, Texas, this June or July. And Aurora, the self-driving tractor trailer trucks that are cruising across Texas highways began doing so just this week. Jack, now that I think of it, the only place without robo taxis right now is like the northeast

of the country. And I think I know what? Snow. Yeah, that. Also, like, walking around New York right now, the combination of like snow, pot. Hot holes and impatience would probably destroy a Waymo Robotaxi. True, true, true. Well, Volkswagen's not coming to New England, but they are coming to Robo Capsies.

Get this. Volkswagen just announced a partnership with Uber for a big electric Volkswagen bus Robo Taxi. That's right. Self-driving electric hippie vans will now be halleable on the Uber app in multiple cities, starting next year in the city of Los Angeles. If Jerry Garcia was late to a dead concert, He would probably call one of these self-driving electric hippie vans through Uber.

And when the hippie vans are rocking, don't come a knocking. But here is what Jack and I found fascinating yetis. Uber, without any self-driving car technology, is at the center of self-driving car technology. Get this. Uber currently has partnerships with 14 different self-driving vehicle companies, according to TechCrunch. Oh, those Waymo's, they're only halleable in Austin, through the Uber app. That self-driving truck company operating in Texas, Uber is a minority investor.

Jack, how about down in Los Angeles where we saw those delivery bots bringing burritos on the Uber Eats app? They're called serve. And yeah, again, Uber Eats app. And in Miami, the same thing's happening. A different delivery bot called Cartkin is partnered with Uber Eats. Honestly, we were checking the numbers here. And the only major self-driving initiative that is not using Uber right now, what is it, Jack? Tesla. By the way, Nick, they're testing in San Francisco right now with self-driving model-wise. You can download the app, which I think is called Robotaxi. I think it's a new app. You should see if it's available on your phone. So I can compare the Waymo to the Tesla in real time. Yeah, but there's going to be a test driver behind the reel for now.

Will I make small talk? If he's expecting small talk, it's a different calculation now. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Uber? Uber strategy? Switzerland. Be the neutral party in the autonomy wars. Now Yeti's, under the previous CEO, Travis Kalanick, Uber's goal was to eliminate the driver. That was the key to Uber's future profits. But then Uber's self-driving test car killed a pedestrian in Arizona. So the next CEO shut down the self-driving car division altogether in 2018. And that was key because it's when Uber pivoted.

They said we're not going to make self-driving cars, but we can still lead self-driving cars. It's the Switzerland strategy. Yes, it is. Uber said, let's be the neutral party that welcomes every self-driving car to join our app. I mean, just look at the robo-taxie math, like Amazon, Tesla, Google. They are investing billions into self-driving vehicles. Uber, they're not spending a dime. And yet Uber is still leading in self-driving because it's the app to use to hail. The result, Uber is the asset light higher profit margin position in the value chain. Uber is becoming the rich, neutral party in the autonomy wars, like Switzerland.

It's a fondue deal. It's fondue finance. It's cuckoo clock capitalism. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story before the weekend. It's a big takeaway from markets, business news, corporate earnings reports, everything financial right now, it's that all plans are on pause. Because of the relentless volatility in 2025, we're calling this moment the great capitalist pause.

But first, besties, a happy earning season to all those who observe the fiscal calendar. Congratulations. Wait, wait, Jack, one sec, one second, one sec. Why isn't anybody celebrating right now? Yeah, it is April is usually when big companies announce how they did from January through March, and then they forecast how they're going to do for the rest of the year. Honestly, it's a lot of fun. Jack and I spend our whole mornings in a bunch of earnings.

reports, but it's not fun this year. Because America's biggest corporations are basically saying, we have no idea. We just don't even know. Case in point, Jack, what did American Airlines tell us just yesterday in their earnings? Here's what they said. We're withdrawing our full year guidance. We'll provide an update if the economic outlook becomes clear. And now, Yetis, we know what you're thinking, well, airlines are a special case. Taurus are canceling trips to the U.S. They're not the same as every other industry, right? Actually, yes, they are, like. Interesting. Because we just dove into a off the press's survey from the Fed, known as the beige book. And in that Federal Reserve report, U.S. manufacturers, the group that's supposed to benefit from the trade war, said,

honestly, we don't know what's going on either. U.S. manufacturers use the word uncertainty, a record number of times from all the beige books that have ever been published. To be honest with you, besties, Jack and I have never covered a period of news like this. We actually think this is when we do our best work because we search so deeply every day for more and more intense curated stories. But it's hard because companies are just frozen in their planning right now. It's like a corporate update ice age out there.

All the IPOs that were on deck, they've been canceled. Klarna, Stubhub, they're off. Nobody is launching products right now. That Uber story we did today, that was like the only big announcement of the last week. And it wasn't even that big.

No, it wasn't. But it was cool. It was really cool. But businesses just aren't announcing any major plans because they're all in this frozen limbo period. PR teams are like, Hey guys, can you give us some material to work with, please?

Now, the companies that have made big announcements, they've done it at the White House with President Trump. But even those announcements are carefully worded, hedged. They are non-committal. Jack, for example, can you please break down that huge Nvidia news from the other week? A couple weeks ago, Nvidia pledged to, and I quote, within the next four years, invest up to $500 billion in America. Not the most committed confidence, David.

Well, the key is they said up to $500 billion. which could end up being $0.00. It was a completely non-committal announcement. Honestly, the best quote we have seen to explain all this is the General Motors CEO, Mary Barra, who said this on Wednesday. First of all, I need clarity. And then I need consistency. She said, to make investments, I need to understand what the policy is. So in the meantime, companies aren't investing. They're not hiring. They're just nervous. They are scared. And Friday cupcakes just don't taste the same as they used to.

It's the great capitalist pause of 2025. And that itself was the story and our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone looking at business right now? This highlights the real problem of this trade war. It's based on tweets, not laws. Yeties, if the goal of this trade war is to get more manufacturing in the U.S., that is a good noble goal, but so far it has failed. Because the tariffs are by executive order,

President Trump can turn them on and off and on again through tweets, and that's exactly what he's done. But we think a better way to achieve the same goal of more U.S. manufacturing would be to pass a law through Congress. Laws could create long-term incentives for the same economic goal, and with the consistency needed to achieve it. Here's an idea, Jack and I sketched out. Imagine the Made in America Act,

a law that put 10% tariffs on China this year, then 20% next year, and then 30% after that. Now look, Nick and I have said before nobody wins with tariffs. But if you're going to do them, do them gradually so that U.S. producers have time to adjust.

That would give companies the certainty they need to invest. A law, something that can't be overruled with a tweet the next morning. So besties, if we want to re-industrialize the USA, don't do it with tweets. Do it with laws. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us

for the real Friday? Conclave is enjoying a papal pop this week, which will only accelerate this weekend. Sorry, one sec, check. Old content can tap into the new zeitgeist. For our second story, Volkswagen's electric hippie buses are going self-driving on the Uber app. And that is Uber's strategy in the autonomy war, as we call it, the Switzerland strategy. Be neutral. And our third and final story.

The relentless volatility of the trade war has resulted in the great capitalist pause of 2025. If you're going to do tariffs, do them with laws, not tweets. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Adidas is all over Nike lately and just running away right now. Adidas just announced $700 million in quarterly profit. Double-digit sale growth across all channels and all markets. The reason, interestingly, retro shoes.

The Adidas gazelle, the Samba, the Tokyo classic Adidas is right there. Their casual wear is the new workwear. And second, Tony Shea, the legendary founder of Zappos, passed away five years ago. But get this, they just found his will. Now, when he died, there was no will. So there's been a court battle. But someone just submitted what looks like his will signed in 2015 to the court.

It's like a scene from succession. It's a $1.2 billion fortune. And the money looks like it's going to Harvard, the Red Cross, and the Gates Foundation among a lot of people. He also wrote something specifically to his beneficiaries, urging them to experience the wow factor in life. I think he was basically saying, like, live now. Like, don't wait to spend your resources and live life.

Live now. It was a fascinating guy. What a cool message. And finally, scientists have discovered a brand new color. And the color is Olo. It's a really intense blue-green turquoise that scientists say no one's ever seen before. But I'm looking at it right now. Feel like I've seen this.

I feel like it's, I have a bathing suit. I feel like they're like multiple. raves you went to in college that were like themed with this color. It's actually a pretty complex color, they say. Scientists that UC Berkeley beamed five lasers to create it, and now the fashion industry already wants in on it. I think we could have used those resources better. Lasers. All right, now time for the best fact.

Yet this one is a correction. That's right. Uh-oh. We got a correction on the show sent in by Connor Blodgett, C.J. Knapper, and Louis Monroy, as well as Ken C. Yesterday, we said, I'm sorry, Nick said that the Ninja Turtle. Donatello used numchucks as his weapon. Turns out the Ninja Turtle Donatello actually used a bow staff as his weapon of choice. Michelangelo had the nunchucks. Everyone knows that.

But side fact on the Ninja Turtles, the Ninja Turtle's movie was actually the most successful indie film of all time. The 1990 movie, it made $200 million at the box office without an experienced Hollywood producer. And it only costs $13 million to make, making it maybe the greatest ROI in Hollywood history, the Ninja Turtles movie. Side note, it's Nun Chucks, not Numb Chums. Should we just correct our correction on this? No, I said num chucks earlier. It's actually Nunchucks,

which I never knew until we did that episode, The Best Idea Yet. Yeties, we did do a whole episode on The Ninja Turtles Origin Story. Check it out this weekend. The Best Idea Yet, it's the next thing you gotta listen to. Yetties, you look fantastic over there. Jack, you are glowing right now. So many wins to celebrate.

I mean, just a great week of pods. I'm really proud of every episode we published this week. Oh, Duolingo. What a CEO interview. Oh, my God. If you're taking a road trip this weekend, listen to the best idea yet on Ninja Turtles on the way there and listen to Duolingo on the way back.

Then tap to follow us so you get T-Boy every day. Tell a buddy, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I, and celebrate the audience. And before we go, happy 36 birthday to Yeti, G-R-N and Saratoga, and her daughter, Ruby, who is turning one. What a fantastic family beat. Happy 33rd birthday to Austin, Flogey in La Crosse Wisconsin with the flow and Moss Withers in Raleigh, North Carolina is celebrating

a barbecue birthday, baby. Happy birthday to Robert X, who's also got a new job up in Toronto. And Reagan Dyer is turning 31 years old in Hillsborough, Oregon. Happy 22nd birthday to M.G. Garcia and Charlotte, North Carolina. Good luck on the finals. We know you're graduating in a couple weeks. And Raul Vasquez and Alamo, Texas will never forget that 42nd birthday. And happy birthday to Lizard Anderson.

In Berlin, Germany. I'm not sure if it's Germany, but let's go to Germany. Celebrate the wins. And Juan and Isaac, Jack, Juan and Isaac are two best friends who found out they were in love with twin sisters, but now they don't know how to tell the twin sisters. So I guess we're telling them on the podcast for them. Let's hope they're both yadis and besties. And Alberto Cobain understandably wants to say he surprised Jack isn't sharing his tomatoes with me

since Jack is a people-pleaser. Yeah, Alberta. that's a really good point. And now I'm questioning my decisions. Well, you know my address, yeah. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a TV. Celebrate the Wits. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon, Netflix, and Disney, and Nick and I both own some Bitcoin.