The Best One Yet - 🦅 “Falcon Mode” — Lyft’s enshittification. Labubu’s viral dolls. Bezos vs Trump on “Tariff Fees.”

Episode Date: April 30, 2025

Lyft dropped the wildest CEO letter ever… and it includes “Enshitiffication” and “Falcon Mode.”The most popular, viral product right now? Labubu dolls… Their growth hack? Blind boxes.The big business beef was President Trump calling Jeff Bezos… because of a Tariff Fee.Plus, the world’s biggest pasta brand just solved pasta cooking… with the first “Pasta Playlist.”$LYFT $AMZN $PMRTYLyft shareholder letter: https://www.lyft.com/blog/posts/letter-to-shareholders Want 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. It is Wednesday, so Vichia Wednesday. April 30th, 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. Cha-ching, cha-ching, Jack, the S&P 500 is up for the sixth straight session. Not too shabby. Main reason? Trump signed two executive orders giving car companies some more tariff relief. So Wall Street is looking for the one-week win streak. In the meantime, Jack and I found three fantastic stories for you. Jack, what's on today's tea boy? For our first story, do the words, Falcon mode or in shittification mean anything to you?

No, they don't, Jack. I don't know what any of that means. Because the CEO of Lyft just dropped both of those bombs in the most entertaining shareholder letter of the year. And we read it all for you. For our second story, the president and Amazon got in a very public fight yesterday. It dominated the news cycle. Get this, Donald Trump called Jeff Bezos on the phone. We'll tell you the business bee.

For our third and final story. Rihanna, Dua L'Alippa, and Johnny Depp, every celebrity is collecting something called LaBoo Boo Boo Dolls. LaBoo Dolls. Labubu is the new Beanie Baby. But here's their growth strategy. There's a Forrest Gump line that will explain that cliffhanger. Yeah, that's so true. But yet before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

I mean, what a mix of stories. The most fascinating, interesting mix of stories. As someone who married into an Italian family and someone whose business partner, best friend and co-host, is half Italian? C. Avedo, Jack. I can tell you that the biggest crime against humanity is overcooking pasta. Jack, and that fettuccini is an al dente.

We're spinning it now, man. It's a red flag. It is. Because every pasta has a different shape, so every pasta requires a different boil time. If that Orchetti is undercooked, that is literally a choking hazard. But here's the solution.

The first ever pasta playlist. Get this, Borilla, the world's biggest pasta company, just launched a playlist on spot. specifically for cooking pasta. It's a series of songs that time up with the cooking time of different pastas. Okay, so DJ Jack, what do we got there on the pasta playlist? Like, what are you going to see? Well, the Capilini, or as you call it in your house, Angel Hair, Nick. That only cooks for three minutes. It's a quickie. So that playlist is a single Sabrina Carpenter song. Spaghetti, it's a little thicker.

It takes nine minutes to cook. So they whipped up a nine minute playlist of four Jay-Z songs. Henay, that's a thick noodle. That requires 12 minutes, boy. So you're going to listen to five Madonna songs on the Pena pasta playlist. When the songs are over, pour it into the colander. And now, Jack, I believe I have cooked you my famous Bucatini Carbonara. Have I not, my friend? It's a two-cook, two-step process, right? It is, it is, because you boil the pasta, but then you fry it in the pan with the panchetta,

and you know what that means? That calls for Freebird. Leonard Skinner's Nine-Minute Freebird. If you're cooking Carbonara with a Bucatini, play Freebird! It turns out the secret to cooking Fucilli perfectly. Isn't a stopwatch? It's actually a customized eight-minute mixtape. The new growth hack for brands is making playlists.

Bonus points if that playlist types up perfectly with using the product. Oh, one staff jacket's over boiling. Oh, no, oh, no! Let's in our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best 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. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

Our first story. Lyft's CEO just published a fascinating shareholder letter, the likes of which we never seen before. He mentions addition bias, falcon mode, and in shittification. This is all this. This is the CEO letter that you should read this year. Now yet is, few rivalries have diverged as much as Uber versus Lyft. Yeah, Uber and Lyft isn't Coke versus Pepsi anymore.

It's like Coke versus Fanta at this point. Because in the last five years, Uber stock has tripled to an all-time high while Lyft stock is down 50%. $5 billion company known as Lyft is still worth just one Lyft. Just one Lyft. But Lyft got a new CEO two years ago named David Risher. And David is trying to give Lyft a little bit of a jumpstart. He published an annual shareholder letter on the business. Now, Jamie Diamond does this, Warren Buffett does this.

Typically, a shareholder letter looks like an economic diary. But the Lyft CEO's shareholder letter this year didn't feel like a typical shareholder letter, did it, Jack? In fact, he referenced Wicked the Musical, and he said that Lyft will defy gravity. Again, this is a corporate letter the CEO is putting out, but this one from Lyft was like given main character energy. Like it was like a thought leadership remix, basically. It was the most thought leader, like, LinkedIn thirsty post I've ever seen. But we actually really enjoyed it. We did because he basically invented new words.

He went full Miriam Webster on the whole concept of a letter to us shareholders. And the two words that stood out to us were in shittification and Falcon Mode. Okay, Jack, let's pause the pod for a second. Just focus on Falcon Mode for a moment. Now, Yenies, we have told you about founder mode. That's when the CEO is really hands-on with all the details. And we've told you about manager mode. That's when the CEO delegates.

But Falcon Mo, Jack. That's a third option right in between. Yes, it is. Consider the Falcon besties. The Falcon bird of prey must make a 20,000 mile migration every year. But they can't stay up in the air for all 20,000 miles, can they? So what they do is the Falcon swoops down only for specific opportunities, just for critical needs like getting food.

So Falcon Mode at a company is when the CEO keeps a high-level, broad perspective of what's going on. Like a falcon flying in the sky. But then dives in occasionally to feel. the critical company issues. Like seeing a field mouse that you just got to eat. So you... The example for Lyft was ride cancellations. Oh, ride cancellations.

You know, this is the second top complaint at Lyft. The first complaint is surge pricing, of course. But the second is when you've been waiting seven minutes for your lift to pick you up, and then the lift cancels. And you have to start the whole process all over again. Igor in the Camry. What are you doing to me, man? I'm just trying to get to the studio and record a podcast.

Now, Lyft CEO told us in the letter that the reason drivers cancel is that Lyft didn't give the driver enough information about the trip before making them accept or reject it. After accepting the ride, the driver saw the details, but then realized it was inconvenient, so they canceled on us. The solution is just provide the details up front. Give the driver the full picture before they click accept. And you know what, Yetis? That single tweak in the Lyft product cut their cancellation rates by more than half. Only 5% of rides get canceled now compared to 14% of rides a couple years ago. So Falcon Mode, it may be a third way to run the business. But, But Jack, I think there's a more fascinating word we've got to share with you.

A word that borderline requires, beep. A bleep. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at Lyft? The greatest risk to a great product is insidification. In shittification. Yeah, it is. That's a new term coined by journalist Corey Doctor-O. It describes when a great product starts getting bad.

When a once great product pursues bigger profits, it causes the customer. experience to suffer. Well, one reason why insurification happens, according to the Lyft CEO, is something called additive bias. Additive bias is when instead of fixing a product's problems, you add a new feature and think that that will somehow make it all better. Yeah, like instead of fixing the boarding process on an airplane, you just add boarding priority upcharges. Like, that didn't fix the problem, airlines. No, it actually made the problem worse, airlines. Well, Lyft CEO basically acknowledged that this is an issue facing Lyft, but it's also facing all of the of the tech industry.

He pointed out artificial intelligence, where every chatbot suddenly gets new features, new bells and whistles. But what about, like, the underlying hallucination problem? Well, Jack, the result of that bias for adding things is in shittification. La product gets worse. So, Yeties, try out Falcon mode

to fix your additive bias and make sure to avoid in shittification. Yes. For our second story, Amazon was reportedly going to add a tariffy to the checkout when you buy something from Amazon, but then the White House heard and gave them a call. How Amazon responded says something big about Trump's first 100 days.

Now, yeties, last week, remember, we introduced you to a concept we call the tariffy. A separate surcharge that we're already seeing on our receipts. It's basically a corporate way of saying, hey, this price hike, it's not our fault. Don't blame us, blame the trade war. Our prediction then was that the specific term you choose for the price hike would become politicized.

Like, some companies may label the tariff fee as a Trump fee, which implies this is Trump's fault. Or other companies may call it the China fee. Which implies this is China's fault. Basically, the term you choose for the tariff fee of a price hike carries some political baggage. And that came true yesterday. This was the big business beef.

First, Puck News reported that Amazon would, quote, soon show how much Trump's tariffs are adding to the price of each product, basically a tariff fee. the White House was pissed. The press secretary said in front of all the news outlets, that would be considered a hostile and political act if Amazon did that. And then things just escalated really fast. Like President Trump literally called Jeff Bezos billionaire founder of Amazon on the phone. He basically said, what the hell? I thought you were on my side, Bezos. And then the press secretary fired back with another point about Amazon bringing in President Biden to the situation.

The press secretary said, why didn't Amazon do that when President Biden hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years. Now, Yetis, one way to think about this is that President Trump kind of has a phantom seat in every corporate boardroom right now. So it was no surprise to us that five hours later, Amazon announced,

they're not planning to add tariff fees and they never will in the future. So like if Upababy, the stroller company, raises the price of their strollers from $900 to $1,200 bucks, they're not going to call it a $300 surcharge on Amazon. On Amazon, the increased price must simply be an increased price.

There can't be a new label separating out any kind of tariff or import fee. And the reason Amazon's doing this besties is, well, from their perspective, they rely on the federal government too much right now to be on Trump's bad side. Think about it. Trump could order the U.S. Postal Service to stop delivering Amazon packages. Or Trump could stop letting Amazon use NASA launch pads for their space and satellite ambitions. Or Trump could block any acquisition Amazon tribes for the next four years. Oh, Bezos, you want to buy TikTok?

Cute kid, not happening. It doesn't matter if these blockages are legal or not. Even if they get overturned in courts, it could cause chaos for Amazon. So in the past, Yetis, federal government money and federal services, they were mostly given or available to all companies as long as they didn't break the law. In the Trump era, federal money and federal services is conditional on supporting the president's agenda. Like we said, Trump kind of has a phantom seat in every corporate boardroom. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are over at Amazon?

After 100 days, no corporation has defied President Trump. Now, yet he's, no president has used the power of the office to pressure or punish individuals, companies, or trade partners like this one has. In geopolitics, a number of countries have pushed back against Trump, namely China, Canada, and the European Union. In academics, Harvard University has pushed back against President Trump. In law, most law firms cave to his demands, but some are suing him in court. But interestingly, in corporate America, we can't find a single major example of a CEO showing resistance to anything the president has demanded of them.

CEOs have urged him in private calls and Oval Office meetings to change tariff policies. And we know CEOs think like economists, like they don't like government involvement and they don't like trade wars. But in public, can you think of a single major CEO who has refused or disagreed with the president on anything? In the first 100 days of this presidency, we're not. We can't find a single one. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, the fastest growing toy in the world right now

is the Labubu doll. Somehow scary and cute at the same time. Labubu dolls are surging right now, thanks to one sneaky tactic. This is so good. You can't see them. You can't see them. But yet he's,

to give you a little background on how Jack and I work for you every day, One way we source stories is Google trends. We track what people are searching because that's a window into your desires. Now, interestingly, the term blind box is at an all-time high this week. More people are searching for blind boxes than ever in history. More on that in a moment. But another top search on Google right now is Labibu.

As in Labibu dolls. Not the Goo Goo Dolls. No, no, no, no. Labu dolls, which kind of looked like a Furby and a telotupi had a baby of someone. Kind. This little toy is enjoying a craze like Beanie Babies mania right now. They have snagleteathe, bunny ears, a sneaky little grin on these Laboo dolls. And people want them. Yeah, they do, they do. They look like the animals from where the wild things are, but like they're on something, too. Like, Hello Kitty's Gen Z freaky cousin.

This product is produced by a Chinese toy maker called Pop Mart and it's booming in popularity. They're selling for $13 to $16 each, and honestly, they fit in the palm of your hand and then you clip them on to something like a keychain. Doolipa has one and wears it publicly. Rihanna has one clipped onto her Louis Vuitton bag. And what we're saying is that the new celebrity status symbol is actually a five-inch $13 monster doll that you put on a handbag. And Nick, these are selling for like $2,000 a pop on eBay right now, right?

They are. Because they've used a growth hack at Lubbubu. That the Beanie Babies would never even have the furry guts to pull off. You can't see your Lubu doll before you buy them. We repeat, you can't see the doll. It's a blind drop, or what they call blind boxes. Basically, they ship the dolls in boxes that you can't see through with no indication on the outside what is inside.

This is a mystery box that you buy. You could be buying a pink Labibu doll, a striped one, an astronaut one, a bikini one. You don't know which one you get until it arrives at your door. Yeah, now, this distribution strategy has worked because it keeps the fans interested and buying more Labuboos. Like Forrest Gump, you never know what you're going to get. Yeah, it's the life is. like a box of chocolates approach to product creations. Now, this seems like a customer unfriendly move,

like not telling you what you're buying, but it's working. LaBoubu is a profit puppy. Get this. Labubu's revenues hit $400 million this year. That is up 700% from last year. I still can't get over the fact that it rhymes with the Goo Goo Goo Dolls. Did you see that one guy bought 12 of them and TSA noticed and like at the airport they like helped him see what was in the boxes? Must have created a little scene. Oh, I think they shut down SFO for like a day because of this. So, Besties, despite a trade war, despite recessionaries, despite these Labubu dolls being made in China,

they have become the ultimate affordable splurge of the moment. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Labubu? Right now, people will pay a premium for escapism. Yides, interesting observation from interviews of buyers of Labubo dolls done by the New York Times. Labibu's are serving as conversation starters. Specifically, Labibu dolls open the door to a harmless politics-free chat. It's like discussing sports or talking about the weather.

Ask me about my Labubu doll. No one's getting worked up. No, they're not. Everything seems supercharged with politics these days. Labu-dolls, they're not going to trigger anybody. I mean, Jack, it's like we're buying Labibu dolls as a type of emotional juice cleanse. In media, politics drives clicks and consumption. But in other industries, politics.

is a turnoff. LeBoo-Dawls. Show how being politics free right now can be a huge competitive advantage. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways force for Saviche Wednesday? Lyft's CEO published hashtag thought leadership. A shareholder letter

where he invented a couple new words. So, Yetis, to avoid your product getting inshittified, avoid additive bias and go into Falcon mode. For our second story, on a report that Amazon would add tariff fees to the checkout, the White House got mad. Amazon relented, and after 100 days, we can't find a single major company

that has refused Trump on anything. And our third and final story, Laboubou dolls are selling on eBay for 10 times the retail price. This is Beanie Baby's 2.0. Besties, ask us about our Laboububu dolls, because people will pay a premium for escapism.

But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, last week, we interviewed the CEO of Duolingo and he had a wild take on AI that just got an update. He said to us last week that in the age of AI, the artists will beat the nerds. But yesterday, he went even further. The Duolingo CEO announced that Duolingo was going AI first.

What does that mean? Well, starting with contractors. No more contractors at Duolingo. That's right. They're using AI instead. And second, on Monday, Canadians elected Mark Carney as prime minister, the liberal candidate and former hockey goalie who played in the net over at Harvard. The Conservative Party in Canada was set to win until Trump got involved in the election.

Trump's 51st state rhetoric swung the public opinion back toward the Liberal Party, it appears. Carney's goal is to form new alliances with the European Union and other allies to replace their dependence on the U.S. And see if the maple leafs can actually stay in the playoffs. And finally, the Dubai chocolate phenomenon, the viral chocolate concept we covered two weeks ago, just hit a whole new level. Dubai chocolate, which includes pistachio nuts, as the key ingredient is, causing a pistachio shortage. Get this. Prices for pistachios are up 40% in the last year, driven by, that's right, record

pistachio demand in Dubai chocolate. Now, time for the best fact yet, which today is actually a couple of corrections Jack and I got to make to the pod. Yesterday, we told you about the Washington commanders and their new football stadium. Their new complex is coming to Washington, D.C. It's opening in 2030. Although we had a little geographic, oopsie, didn't we, Jack? Yeah, we said they currently play in Virginia.

That was wrong. They currently play in Maryland. As you can tell, Jack and I have not lived in the greater Washington, D.C. area. And our second correction is something we said yesterday about colors. That's right. Veronica from Chicago, doing logistics, pointed out that UNC's famous blue is not called Chapel Hill Blue, as we referred to it as. It's called Carolina Blue.

As you can tell, the Tar Heels fan base. Don't want to mess with them. Don't want to mess with them. And I need to repeat what I said yesterday. Piper! No! Clearly, Jack and I need some lost. Yeties, you look fantastic today. One sec, Jack.

You know, if you listen to our entire show today, you could cook two lasagnas. Is Borilla going to add our podcast to their playlist? I would love that. I think they're going to add our podcast to the pasta playlist. You listen to our show, you can kick two lasanas for a family of four. Wow. Yeah, not too shabby.

Pretty impressive. It must be the automatic lasagna. You know, I'm going to pretend I do it. Do that check. Besties, the best way you can help T-Boy and grow the show is Tell a Buddy Today, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. Have you had the best one yet? And then check out our weekly show at the best idea yet for the untold origin story of the Starbucks Rappuccino. Side note, I just got disowned by my in-laws for saying automatic lizon.

Let's cut his mic. We're cutting Jack's mic. Besties, if you know you know, we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Aubrey Kempin celebrating down in lovely Louisiana. birthday to Cindy M. in Los Angeles, California. And Benito Maxwell Miranda gets a half-birthday shout-out celebrate the... Down in Charleston. And congratulations to Don Burtzal, who's retiring after 35 years in higher ed, this CPA and doctorate holder is a proud Yeti of five years. Amazing, Jack. And Kelsey Black, the legendary Yeti, interviewed by Vulture Magazine this week down in Flugherville,

Texas. Kelsey is getting the business out there, baby. Kelsey, I, I, I came across this mention, like, totally unrelated to you. I was like, I know Kelsey. Yeah, wow. That's the Kelsey. That's our Yeti Kelsey. And Alicia Chavez and Jeanette Rodriguez are engaged in Hollister, California. They listen every morning together.

Guys, let's see some ring picks. Congratulations on the incredible new era. And congrats to Shelby Lour, who just defended her dissertation in history at Princeton University. I don't know, but Shelby deserves an A. I think it's past fail. Actually, I don't know. I didn't go to Princeton. Shelby, we give you an A.

This is Jack. I own stock of Lyft. Yeah, that's right. Lyft. Amazon 2. And Nick and I both own ETFs of the S&P 500. You didn't forget to salt the water, did you?

Oh my God. I'm on!