The Best One Yet - 🤤 “Everything’s $3” — Matto’s crazy coffee. The CEO killer controversy. Louis Vuitton’s train bet.

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

The fastest-growing coffee chain in New York is Matto… because the $3 latte has a secret.The UnitedHealthcare CEO killer has been charged with murder… but it also revealed pent up frustration with healthcare.Louis Vuitton just acquired the Orient Express… because luxury trains are the new luxury shirts.Plus, toss away that gingerbread house - Charcuterie Chalets are what santa’s digging right now.$SBUX $LVMUY $UNHWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Nike’s Air Jordans 🏀 Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. December 12, 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 that. I mean, Jack, I'm no geometrist. A Madison Square Garden.

Not on Madison Avenue. Not a square. The arena's circular. And it's between 7th and 8th Avenue. Although we should point out from the Knicks game last night, underrated sushi at Madison Square Garden. Still, where's the garden? I was looking everywhere for this garden.

We're going to have to ask a geometrist. We posted some highlights from our our night at MSJ on Instagram. And they were highlights. But Jack, the three stories for today's T-Boy, they're fantastic. What do we got on today's show? For our first story. The guy who shot the United Healthcare CEO has been charged with murder, and he has gone viral online.

Besties this killing, it has erupted pent-up frustrations with the entire health care industry. For our second story, Louis Vuitton, the fashion brand, has acquired a hotel, a restaurant, and the most famous train on Earth. Louis Vuitton is bed and its business. on the Orient Express. And our third and final story is the fastest growing coffee chain in New York by far. Mato coffee, we dove in T-Boy style. Because motto coffee figured out how to scale the $3 latte. We didn't believe it. So we went there and we figured out how they scale the $3. I'm caffeinated on a model latte. We know what's in it. We found out what's in it. But Yeties,

before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, fantastic mix of stories. I love this mix, Jack. I can't believe we're less than two weeks from Christmas. I mean, Jack, You can almost smell the mistletoe out there. I can still smell my two Christmas trees. But, Jack, we should point out the hot new food trend before the holiday, it is in gingerbread houses. Introducing the charcutory chalet. It's charcutory chalet. We'll go with any pronunciation, besties.

It's a food-based three-dimensional creation that's also shaped like a house. But instead of gingerbread, the walls are made of deli meats. And instead of gum drops, it's decorated with Gorgonzola. And instead of icing, it's more deli meats. There's actually the salami on the top here. My dad would love this. The Sharkutory Chalet was actually invented by all these, the German grocery store. And in this economy, Sharkutery Chalais are beating the gingerbread house.

Because ginger prices are up 30% this year to an all-time high. But cheese prices are actually down this year. But it's not just prices. No, it's not. It's way cooler to say Chircutory Chalais been gingerbread house. It's just more fun to say. Just ask the muffin man. But when it comes to holiday-themed edible real estate,

How about a little bit of cookie dough cabin, Jack? What about a Butterfinger bungal? Would it kill us to buy a prosciutto condo? If we're going to disrupt the gingerbread house, yeah. Let's show us some creativity. Masters, you got a holiday-themed edible real estate idea. We want to hear it. Drop it in the comments.

A yogurt yurt? No yogurt yurt. If you're lactose intolerant, you may want to skip a story. Jack, let's hear three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. 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 Our first story United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson Was murdered last week But this week, his killer has gone viral

Because the murder has pointed the spotlight On the entire U.S. healthcare industry Now, yet it is something Jack and I shall lay in on. As business podcasters, we've noticed that it's always the true crime podcast that have the most popularity, right? We've never totally understood why? Yeah. But now we do. Because America has a real-life true crime on their hands, and people are obsessing over it all week.

In fact, when we were preparing for today's show, we did our headline hammer. We do it every morning. The top five articles on every news site are about Luigi Mangione. Luigi Mangione, the former valedictorian from a wealthy Maryland family turned murderer. Arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday six days after shooting Brian Thompson on the streets of New York City. Actually, just a few blocks from where we're recording right now, Jack. He's been charged with murder. And honestly, it should be an easy conviction.

Right, all right. Especially because of the latest news. And here's the latest news, Yeties. On Wednesday, police shared a 262 word hand-written note found on Luigi. It shows that Mangione clearly wrote. wrote down his plans for the murder in a premeditated fashion. Now, this note, besties, it is important because this note helps explain why there is so much controversy in the aftermath of this murder.

In the note, Mangione refers to his murder as a symbolic takedown of the health insurance industry. Yeah, we actually read in the New York Times, a police report about this note added that the suspect, quote, likely views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon injustices. Again, that's from a police report about this note. It turns out, others view him as a hero, too. Some are celebrating the murder, calling it vigilante justice. Okay, we jumped in T-boy style. This has gone viral. There is merch being sold online with the three words, deny, defend, depose. There's over 800 products with deny, defend, depose available on Etsy as of yesterday. Those three words, they are a reference

to the words that were written on the bullet casings from the murder. Those three words are technical terms in the health insurance industry. They're used to deny coverage. They're there to keep the cost down for health insurance and to boost profits for health insurance. Deny, defend, depose. Sebastian, this moment, it reveals shockingly broad support for violence against corporate America. That's why companies are rushing to beef up security for their CEOs. And it has also started a bigger conversation, which is our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway who are everyone in America with health insurance? Health Insurance was already a life and death industry.

Yet is America is exceptional in the world in a lot of ways. And one way is the amount of money that we spend on health care. We spend $12,000 per year per person. Can you bring on some context, Jack? That is double the amount of money that other developed countries pay for their health care. All right, everyone's got a health care insurance story to have our baby in California over $70,000. Covered by health care, $70,000.

That is absolutely. astronomical. Yeah, it is, it is. And the main reason prices are so high, we think, it's because our health care system is for profit. Other developed nations, they have more socialized health care to a much greater extent than the United States has. Now, for those who can afford it, you can get great health care here in the U.S. There you can. Partially because our industry is for profit. Personally, I'd rather have my appendix taken out here than in other countries. But also because the industry is for profit, you get health insurance companies who are incentivized to reject coverage even for their paying customers.

And the person getting rejected for coverage that usually doesn't make the news. But that can also lead to death. So right now, we have two things that are true. First, the murder of Brian Thompson was horrific. And second, the aftermath has revealed deep anger about our health care status quo. For our second story,

LVMH, the luxury company, has jumped from fashion to hospitality. Not just hotels? Good point. LVMH is building a luxurious vacation train that will take you back to 1883. Oh, that is a lead. I like where this is going, Jack.

Now, as we should point out, Jack and I were just cruising down to the recording studio. Midtown Manhattan, Jack, the Louis Vuitton store looks insane. What's going on? It's under construction. So instead of scaffolding, they wrapped the building in coverage that looks like their famous suitcase. It looks like a seven-story tall suitcase. You got to see this if you haven't seen it yet.

Building looks like a huge suitcase. Okay, that was an aside because we thought that was cool. But that company, LVMH, is suffering right now from the big luxury lull. Prada, Gucci, Rolex, D.R. Shoppers worldwide are buying less fashion bling than before. However, LVMH, Louis Vuitton, Moe Hennessy, the $400 billion largest of the luxury brands, has a plan. To expand to hospitality. Get this, Yeties, this year, Louis Vuitton opened their first cafe in New York City.

They opened a restaurant at Tiffany's, so you can have breakfast at Tiffany's. They even bought a 100-year-old historic bistro over in Paris. Jack, did you go on your vacation? Yeah, it was not possible to get in, was it? But this week, Louis Vuitton acquired a European hotel chain, making a major move into hospitality. Yeah, these rooms go for about $1,000 bucks a night, from Tuscany to Mallorca, Fontaineal,

is the hotel chain that Louis Vuitton now owns. Forget boots, bracelets, and buckles. Louis Vuitton is learning room service spas and late checkout. Do not disturb. But Louis Vuitton's hospitality bet that were... most excited about is a train. It's a train. Because besties, Louis Vuitton, just invested in the Orient Express. Yeah, that Orient Express, the world's most famous railway. Can I take you back to 1883? I would love to, Jack, transport us. I'll change my outfit. In 1883, a luxurious

vacation opportunity was created. Yes. Like nothing in the history of the world before. I'm intrigued, go on. The Orient Express opened. It's a long-distance, luxury train that went from Constantinople to Paris. That's right. Istanbul, the word, didn't exist yet. It was Constantinople at the time. The Orient Express train was made famous by an Agatha Christie novel. Right. Murder on the Orient Express. I bet they wish that was wedding on the Orient Express. Not great for business. Not great for business. Now that train doesn't operate anymore. After World War II, the new political map,

it got too complicated to send one train. Like the passports, it just didn't work out. It didn't work out, but that leads to the news. The hotel chain Accor acquired the brand, Orient Express, and Louis Vuitton just invested to revive the epic historic train. According to the Orient Express website, you can soon take that same train from Istanbul to Paris, not Constantinople. But other than that, it's the same experience as you would have enjoyed in 1883.

I mean, Jack, you can have tea time in the lounge car, dinner at the restaurant car, cocktails with a piano in the bar car while the train is rolling along. Louis Vuitton is going to help ensure that the train is exactly as it was with the luxurious accommodations of 1883. I mean, Jack, this is basically a cruise, but it's on land. They'll have a really comfortable bed in a cabin that you can sleep in. You can relax in the other cars on the train.

Yeah. But here's the key. You get to leave the train while it stopped at a train station. Honey, we're popping off in Vienna. That's right. It'll stop in Vienna. you can watch the opera. Okay.

And then come back to the train all aboard. Before moving into France. Choo-choo. And Jack, that choo-choo is our signal that it's time for our takeaway. Orient Express marketing team. If you're listening,

yes. Nick and I will happily record a podcast from that train. We'll make it happen. But in the meaning, Jack, we are late for our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Louis Vuitton? This is an industry-wide luxury pivot. From handbags to hospitality.

Yet he's, expanding from products to experiences, that's how luxury can double down on their core customer. If you trust Louis Vuitton enough to buy a $10,000 handbag, maybe you'll trust him enough to buy a $10,000 train ticket. Yeah, you know, luxury fashion sales, they're expected to slow next year, but luxury travel sales are not expected to slow.

That's why Nick and I were able to count seven different fashion houses that are launching hotels this year or next. Seven Armani. They already have a hotel in Milan. They're adding two more over in Asia. Versace. has a hotel coming to Dubai. Bulgari's building a resort in the Maldives,

and Ralph Lauren is taken over an entire hotel in Jamaica. We're seeing the luxury industry diversify. Instead of just buying brands, customers can experience brands now. They're expanding from handbags to hospitality. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Mato Coffee.

It's the next coffee chain that you are going to hear about because Mato Coffee is blowing up in New York City, so we jumped in T-boy style. They reveal the value of a simple, focused message. That's the lesson here. But yet is to sprinkle on some more context. Mato coffee is crazy. Literally.

Actually, yeah, motto means crazy in Italian. That's the Italian word for crazy. They're crazy because in a city that sells double-digit lattes and $20 assay balls. Gets me every time. We both had breakfast this morning for like $50 at juice press. Everything on the menu at Mato is $3. bucks. $3 for everything.

Honestly, we didn't believe it when we heard about that business model. We seriously didn't believe it. So we jumped in T-boy style. We went. What did you discover, Jack? First of all, I took CrossFit at 5.30 a. Humble brag. Yeah.

You look great. 1002nd Street on Upper East Side of an ad. I said you look great. On the way back, I stopped by Motel. And I confirmed it. Yeah. Everything on the menu is three bucks. 97th and Lex.

We went, a Yeti saw us. So we have an alibi. They saw us doing this. The coffees, the lattes, the pastries, the cookies, even the protein power bar I needed because of my crossfit, was just three bucks. Now, we should point out there are upcharges, right? Like, they're not going to give you the whipped cream for free. If you add whipped cream and caramel drizzle on top of your latte, it's going to be $3.50 or maybe even $4. Or if you don't order through the app, then things are $3.80. But otherwise, this is the cheapest cappuccino

you can find in the city. And here's the news. Mato Coffee has 30 locations all in New York City right now, but they're pitching investors to finance a major expansion, maybe coming to a city near you. According to Bloomberg, they plan to 10x the number of locations from 30 to 300. Now, one question venture capitalists might ask is, how can you possibly profit off a $3 latte in the most expensive city in the country? After all, just this week, Arabica beans hit their all-time high price. Prapecino, it's taken half your paycheck. The way that Mato can sell $3 lattes profitably is their extreme cost focus.

Extreme cost focus. And here's how, besties. Since customers order through the app, baristas can focus 100% of their attention on making macchiados. Beristas aren't wasting their time standing, touching some touchscreen, or managing your credit card swipe,

or telling you, hold your phone a little bit closer if you want to tap to pay. They get to spend all their time making coffees and serving pastries. And each Mato location must be under 300 square feet. The one you visited Jack, what was it like?

It's like a walking closet. Yeah, you can't bring your laptop in because it won't fit in the store. Finally, they save money on the coffee itself. Yeah. They don't use 100% Arabica beans like Starbucks or Blue Bottledo. They blend expensive arabica beans with lower priced robusta beans. As Moka Joe would say, it's all about the beans.

And they use cheaper beans. They do. As a result, it wasn't the best coffee I've ever had. Yeah, that's a good point. But for a $3 latte that I can grab and go really quickly. Yeah. I think a lot of customers are happy for that. In this economy, four-star coffee is okay.

than a five-star coffee. I just need a decent to solid coffee that won't waste time and standing in line. It's decent. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are scaling over at Mato Coffee?

Mato's strength isn't a $3 coffee. Mato's strength is their clear message. We have covered a lot of coffee chains who are trying to disrupt Starbucks and Duncan. We've done it on this pod. Dutch bros. Blank Street coffee. China's luckin coffee

is reportedly coming to the U.S. But only Mato has the... clearest message we've ever seen as to why you should choose them. Here's the message. Everything is $3. The simplicity of that message is an unmistakably clear communication to every potential customer. Everything $3. Dollar stores thrived for decades thanks to a similar clear message. Yeah, good point. Mato is basically a dollar store, but $3. Now Vesde's in politics, a key to victory is a clear, understandable, and compelling message. Mato has that. everything's $3.

So the way we see it, motto's real power. It's real strength. Its real advantage isn't $3 coffee. It's a clear message that fits on a bumper sticker. Everything $3. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us

for the new Friday? The man charged with the murder of the United Healthcare CEO basically confessed to the murder in a note. And the whole ordeal has revealed a deep frustration about our entire health care status quo. For our second story, LVMH has invested in the Oriental Express, a historic marvel of luxury train travel.

It's all part of luxury's huge, shocking pivot from handbags to hospitality. And our third and final story is crazy coffee. Sorry, Mato Coffee. They're probably coming to your city soon with a decent to pretty good coffee for just $3. Mato strength. This isn't the $3 Latte's. Mato strength is the clear message. $3 everything. We've said that a lot of times at this point. Everything. $3, everything. Is that clear? You got that yet? But yet is this pod's not over yet? Here's what else you need to know today. First, we just got the inflation report, the celebrity of economic reports. For the month of November,

prices rose 2.7% on average compared to last year. That's higher inflation than the month before, but there was other good data that the Fed is going to like. For example, gas prices are under three bucks a gallon for the first time since 2021. So stocks rose nearly 1% as inflation increasingly looks under control. And second, Trump named his number. nominee for the Federal Trade Commission chair. Andrew Ferguson will be much more hands-off than the current FTC chair. The FTC, it can approve or deny mergers and acquisitions.

And the current chairwoman, Lena Khan, has aggressively blocked corporations from merging. We just mentioned one yesterday in the grocery industry. Well, the new guy signals to Wall Street. It's open season again. More deals are probably coming back. The one exception might be big tech, which he says should be reined in. And finally, open your phone because Apple just launched Open A.I. integration into iPhones. It's basically super Siri.

This was announced like six months ago. I was. But as of yesterday, it's there. It's in your phone if you update the iOS. Full disclosure. This is Nick. This is Jack. And we don't have iPhone. We have an old iPhone. Yeah. I have a 14. Tell us what it's like. I can't tell you what it's like. You can only tell you what it's like if it's a 15 or 60. I'll ask Siri what it's like. Well, you still have dumb Siri on your phone. So I'll get frustrated at soon. Now time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me, Because we still had a few questions.

As we mentioned last week, Pantone's color of the year for 2025 is mocha moose. Moka Moose. But, you know, we had a big question when we first heard this. It's a brown color. It's brown. So is it named moose after the animal? A moose? It's basically the same color as a moose.

Oh, well, it's actually named brown moose as in the dessert moose. We should point that out. Moose, the dessert dates back to 1750 in France, and the word means foam in French. It took 274 years for French foam to finally make it famous in the color industry. If you think moose is named after the animal, not possible. Yeties, you look fantastic today. And now that you finish today's pod, we know exactly what you should listen to next. And what is that, Jack?

The best idea yet. Our second show. We have a 45-minute deep dive on the Air Jordan sneaker. Yes. Wild story if you're a sports fan. Wild story if you're a fashion fan. Wild story if you have a lover. Go listen to the best idea yet right now to enjoy that story and then tell your buddies,

HYH, DBOY. Have you had the best one yet? If you know, you know. By the way, we got a link to TBIY, our other show, in the episode of description. $3 everything. We got it. Is that a... Did I get that?

And before we go, a shout out to Yeti Claire Schaefer from just outside Boston, who's a legendary Yeti listening to her third episode. Happy 12-year anniversary to Bonavie, over in Cambodia. And Colin Hartman, fellow warden. Guy Jack, buddy mine, and Felicia, they just got engaged in Minneapolis, running a business, and he's turning 40, not too shabby. Happy birthday to William Leonard of Fremont, California. This kid was born on 12, 12, 12, and is turning 12 today.

Don't round that up. And Dan Katz, our buddy over in Brooklyn, and Westchester, and Riverdale, and Germany, is celebrating the best birthday yet. Happy 30th birthday to Michael Rainey in Huntsville, Alabama. And Helena Thavenan is dancing into her 11th birthday down in Prosper, Texas. Happy birthday to Kenny, the marketer, Shannard in Huntington Beach, California. And Camlin fan is celebrating a birthday while watching Interstellar in San Diego. And happy birthday to Corey Allen in Philadelphia, who always has the best facts yet.

And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple. Whoa. Olivia, what's the brick for in case Nick screws up? I can throw it at him.