The Best One Yet - 🥊 “Fight Club” — Paramount’s $7.7B UFC deal. Nvidia’s export tax. Fazit’s $40M face glitter. + Instant Ramen.

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

Paramount is paying $7.7 billion to stream the Ultimate Fighting Championship for 7 years… because 100 million Americans watch UFC.Nvidia & AMD will pay the US government 15% of their China sales… it’s training wheels for an AI tax.Taylor Swift wore Fazit’s face-glitter and sales surged to $40M… Because Fazit had a “Viral Emergency Kit.”The untold origin story of… Instant Ramen.$NFLX $PSKY $NVDA $AMDWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… “Instant Ramen 🍜 The Incredible, True Story of “Mr. Noodle.””Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, August 12th. 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. And can I celebrate a little Jack Wynn here today as well, man? Always. Okay, here we go. Jack Yeties put together a Get Ready With Me video where he explains ETFs while putting on makeup. I'm sorry, skincare. People seem to be picking up what I'm putting down. It seems like they are. I'm picking it up. I'm picking it up. Yeties. If we threw that GRWM on our TikTok, check it out. In the meantime, Jack, three fantastic stories for today's T-Boy.

For our first story, our two biggest chipmakers, Nvidia and AMD, just signed an unprecedented deal with the United States government. But what this news is really about is an AI tax. The first ever, AI tax. For our second story, it's Fosit. Fosett's face-glitter startup saw sales surge after Taylor Swift wore sparkles to a Chiefs game. The lesson from FOSIT, every brand needs a VEK, a virality emergency kit.

And our third and final story. The ultimate fighting championship is ending pay-per-views. It's all streamable now on Paramount Plus. And the Octagon is huge. A hundred million Americans are now fans of the UFC. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories. Love the mix today, Jack.

Hang on a sec while I get ready with my five-step skincare. That's only on TikTok. Yet is yesterday we asked you the biggest trivia question in the universe, actually. Yeah, when astronauts are in outer space, what is the most popular dinner option that they eat? Is it hamburgers, peanut butter, pizza, or instant ramen? Well, the answer is, drum roll please, instant ramen.

The Japanese noodle soup, most of you actually got that wrong, I want to point out. It's specifically cup noodle, instant ramen. That's the brand that made ramen. noodles go viral. Get this, Americans, we now eat more instant ramen than we do McDonald's happy meals. But Nick and I found the origin of ramen noodles. Yeah. And it's in the rubble of post-World War II Japan. An enterprising young man named Momo Fuku invented the ramen noodle to feed his hungry nation. But instant ramen is actually a deeply ironic subject for a weekly show. The best idea, yeah. Yeah, it is, Jack, because this food has actually powered

most businesses we cover on the show. Think about it. every startup at point is so tight on cash that their co-founders eat ramen. It is the only meal that extends your cash runway by years. Instant ramen has fueled a thousand unicorns. And it's filled a million sophomore students' stomachs as well. And you can learn how Instant Ramen took over the planet on this week's TBIY. And you'll meet the Japanese visionary who turned it from a late night snack into a global food empire. So Yetis, check out the best idea yet.

We got a link, as always, in this episode, description. But in the meantime, Jack, we got three fantastic stories for today's pod. What do you say we serve them up? Let's hit him. Eat them up, baby. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm.

That's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. 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, America's two biggest chipmakers, Nvidia and AMD, just agreed to an unprecedented export deal. 15% of their China sales are going to go to the U.S. government. We think this brand new type of tax could be training wheels for an even bigger brand new tax. An AI tax. But yeties, first, let's talk about Nvidia and AMD, the Roger Federer and Rothschild.

the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal of the chip industry. Or Jack, also, I've heard some people refer to them as the Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie of the chip industry. Well, they're both pretty rich right now. These are the two largest and most advanced chip companies in America, and they're going to pay the U.S. government 15% of whatever revenue they make in China. That's the headline, and that is huge. Now, critics call this another case of Trump extorting businesses. Companies can only do their thing in this economy.

if they do it Trump's way. You can only export your product to China if you give the government 15% of your revenue. So why would Nvidia agree to this? Well, China's a huge market. Huge. So the alternative is nothing. They're happy to pay 15% in order to play there. They're paying to play.

So to make this clear, it would be the first time a company has agreed to pay the government in exchange for permission to export their products abroad. It's the monetization of trade policy. Not based on rules, based on make me an offer, and I'll decide. And now one thing we should point out about this huge new deal is the reason chip exports to China were restricted in the first place. What was it, Jack? National security. That's right. So this deal kind of ignores that initial reason. Actually, Nick, this deal still forbids Blackwell, Nvidia's most advanced chip, but Trump said he's open to including that chip as well as part of a bigger U.S.-China trade deal. But best is, here's what we found fascinating about this story. Another way to look at this deal is that it's a brand new type of tax. And a America has a really interesting track record when it comes to new taxes. In 1943, let's go back to FDR, Sarah Nick. Hit me, Jack.

America's income tax became the envy of the developed world. Yeah, it was basically like a sneaky economic accelerator. Here's why. Taxes are necessary for every nation, but people universally hate and resist giving up their money to the government. Remember the Boston Tea Party? It began the Revolutionary War. But in 1943, Congress forced America's companies to withhold taxes before they even hit their employees' bank accounts.

This is basically Psychonomics 101. Citizens are way less resistant to a tax if it was money they never got in the first place. The key was the withholding. That's what made taxes way more doable in America. Anyone can charge a tax. You have to withhold the tax. Now, similarly, this Invidia-China deal, is really a new form of tax, an export tax, something America and the world has never done before.

Now, Yiddies, if this export tax starts a trend, like withholding income taxes did back in the 1940s, then trade among nations will decline even more. But speaking of new taxes, Nick, yes, Jack. We got to take away. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone affected by AI? This Nvidia export tax is training wheels for an AI tax. Yeties, AI is coming fast and it is coming furious. There is huge opportunity, but also huge potential cost to jobs.

American companies have pretty much stopped hiring the last few months, and AI definitely has something to do with that. So here's what we're thinking. If AI causes high unemployment, like some think it will, the government will have to do something to make up for it. Something big, probably. And one simple and appealing option would be to tax AI companies and distribute the revenue to citizens.

this. Imagine a 5% tax on every dollar of revenue associated with AI to fund a universal basic income. UBI. This could be training wheels for the first ever AI tax. For our second story, Faze it, these sparkling makeup patches had a Taylor Swift moment and sales searched a $40 million. Faze it shows us why every brand today needs a VEK, a viral emergency kit.

All right, Jack, how about we set the scene here? Yeties, you're 29 years old. You live in Florida, and you're doing a heated yoga class on a Monday night in a cold October. Cold in Florida. Poor scene sounding, man. You know how soft those flurians are, Jack. All right, she gets out of class, and there's 31 unread messages on her phone.

Turn on the football game fast. Taylor Swift is wearing your business on her face. Shut up. Did you say Taylor Swift? Yeah. She was wearing my product on national TV? True story. Alliet is the co-founder of phase it, and this happened to her.

She happens to make patches that you put on your face for glittery freckles. Phase it Sparkle Packle. are now the star of every musical fest you're going to. Basically, they make your cheeks look like a Lisa Frank's sticker book. Their adult facial flare. They're instant glam. Now to sprinkle on some context here, glitter is historically an engineering challenge

because plastic glitter is very hard to clean off your face. As one stand-up comedian put it, glitter is the herpes of craft supplies. It's hard to get rid of. So instead, you'd apply phase it kind of like a fake tattoo. It's easy to clean off or it falls off after three days. And the business model of PhaseIt, which makes these sparkling patches, is a lot like Starface, the pimple patch company we covered on the pod.

That's right. But the use case isn't for acne. It's really for attending live events and looking glam. Actually, Phazit does cover patches for skin issues you're embarrassed about like pimples, too. That's true, which reminds us that suddenly this has become a booming category for teens, sparkling things you put on your face. To cover up blemishes. I wish I had it when I had face acne.

But besties, how about we go back to that virus? moment we started the story with. Taylor Swift was wearing phased it on her face to see her boyfriend's football game in Kansas City. The problem for phase it is that there was no phase it branding anywhere on the screen. So news articles showcasing Taylor Swift Sparkles didn't mention the brand she was wearing phase it. So the co-founders had to email each and every reporter. Actually, they didn't have to, but they did. They basically said, hi, it's us. We're the product. It's me. After the online articles and social media posts got updated with a phase it mentioned, Sales began sparkling.

Get this. Within 48 hours of Taylor Waringham, sales searched 3,500 percent past a million bucks for the first time. The Faisit was tracking to hit $3 million of annual sales, but ended up with $10 million. Oh, and one year later, they're now on pace for $40 million in revenue. And now private equity is calling. They want to inject Wall Street money to this glitter business. Because nothing's more glamorous than a dude in a suit from Midtown Manhattan. giving you a check. Talk about a culture clash. But so far, the two cool founders who owned 97% of this business, they ain't budgeant. They're going to bootstrap this puppy. Bootstrap it to the moon.

And their perspective is that the rest of the beauty industry is just too serious. Yeah. SPF, chemical this and that, 42-step skincare routines. So instead of serious, they're doing sparkles. And that's their competitive advantage. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over at phase it? Every brand needs a VEK, a viral emergency kit. Now, yeties, there is one detail we didn't tell you. Phazet actually spent six months targeting Taylor Swift before it went viral, hoping she would wear the sparkles. They knew it would blow up the business, so they sent samples to Sabrina Carpenter.

Who was Taylor's opening act? They sent samples to Chief's football players, wags. Their wives and girlfriends. And even to Taylor's longtime makeup artists. The key is that they only needed one to work, and eventually it did, their hard work. work paid off. But what's more interesting to us, this should have been 15 seconds of fame for FASA. That is what we found fascinating. How did they get one moment to turn into a full year sales surge to 40 million bucks that hasn't even stopped? Here's how they prepared for virality. When it

happened, they didn't run out of materials. And they even had plans to catch the momentum and take it even further. For example, they jumped on their first opportunity of a collab. They did a version with self-beauty that got them even more awareness. And then they set up pop-up stores outside of the locations of the rest of the Ares Tour to sell to the Swifties directly. Besties, virality doesn't matter if you can't capitalize on it. But Faze It had a virality emergency kit. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

For our third and final story, the ultimate fighting championship is ending pay-per-view forever. They're now streamable only on Paramount Plus. Trivia. UFC is now more valuable than one of the four major American sports. Which is it? I know the answer. I'm not proud of it.

I'm not happy about it. But yetis, do you subscribe to Paramount Plus? Unless you're a Yellowstone superfan like my in-laws. The answer is probably no. Jack, can you sprinkle on some context as to why? Paramount just finished their merger with Skydance, and the whole company is now run by David Ellison. Who is the son of Larry Ellison,

the founder of Oracle and big-time billionaire. David Ellison paid $8 billion to acquire Paramount, and even for a Nepo baby. Yeah. That's a lot of money, Nick. At that level, you've got to ask really nicely. Really nicely. And with cable dying, he needed something big

to turn his new company into a must-subscribe network. Yeah, that wasn't just for Dutton family members out West. Which led to the big announcement on Monday. David Allison and Paramount are buying the rights to all UFC fights for the next seven years. The ultimate fighting championship. And honestly, besties, we could have predicted this, right, Jack? Ellison was seen in April sitting ringside with Donald Trump and the CEOs of UFC

and their parent company, TKL. Hell, we think they weren't just talking about body slams over there. Paramount is now in the octagon, literally. Is Brad Pitt part of this deal, Jack, or is that a different fight club? Very nicely died. I see what you did there. But yet is, here's what we find fascinating about this story. Paramount is paying $7.7 billion

bucks over seven years, paying UFC's US TV rights at $1.1 billion bucks a year. Compared to the other sports, that's not bad. This is more than the NHL's TV deal in both the United States and Canada. You need to mention the Canada part, first of all.

Soccery prices itself so that everyone can enjoy it. They're not trying to be jerks and overpriced. That's admirable. I just think this is a big moment for the UFC. They're on par with MLB's TV deal. Although we should point out this pales in comparison to pigskin, doesn't it, Jack? Yeah, $1.1.1 billion a year. That's one-twelfth of what the NFL commands.

But still, UFC is getting Paramount's money, and Paramount is getting UFC's fans. Which UFC claims is 100 million Americans. Yeah, basically like a quarter of the country. Now, another big note is that this deal knocks out once and for all the pay-per-view business model. Yeah, we would say that pay-per-view's been put in a chokehold, but nope, they're not. getting out of this thing. TKO, the parent company of both WWE and UFC, has signed deals in the last week with both ESPN and Paramount. Now, in the past, the biggest wrestling and MMA fights, they were pay-per-view. There was a huge price tag if you wanted to watch a single fight. But those are dead now.

WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, those are included at no extra charge on ESPN. And UFC's twice-per-year pay-per-view profit puppy, usually around $100 an event, now is included. in Paramount Plus. So with the swoop of the pen fresh after the acquisition, Paramount owns UFC on television and killed pay-per-view. Sorry, they pinned pay-per-view

into submission. And pay-per-view tapped out. So, Jack, what's the first rule of fight club? Give us a takeaway. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Ultimate Fighting Championship?

Paramount now has everything needed to win television except the engineers. Yetis, let's get ready to rumble Paramount, which remains publicly traded post-Skydance acquisition. They want to win. They're spending big, and they have most of the pieces in place. For example, Paramount owns CBS, a famous broadcast and cable channel.

They also own Paramount, the famous studio with movies and television. And most interestingly, they also have just poached an 18-year veteran of Netflix to head their content. The mother of streaming, Cindy Holland. Cindy Holland is a legend. her resume includes House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, the Crown, and Queens Gammon. Like Netflix is huge in a big part thanks to Cindy. But here's the key. To win in streaming, you don't just need great distribution and great content. You need great tech.

You need the homepage of your app to be equally as engaging and as personalized as TikTok is. So Bestie's Paramount is in it to win it. But the last ingredient to media success is a big one. engineers. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? NVIDIA and AMD are paying a new type of tax, 15% of whatever they sell to China. And this could be the precursor to an AI tax to fund universal basic income. For our second story, it's Faze It. It's on track to do 40 million in sales this year. The big moment was Taylor Swift wearing those sparkle patches.

But they were ready for it. Fizzed had a virality emergency kit. And our third and final story, Paramount Plus just got the TV rights to the UFC for seven years, and they're ending the pay-per-view model. Paramount. They got everything now to win in TV, except the engineers. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. Jack, what would you like on your tacos?

Oh, boy, I assume you're getting that. Because Trump just extended a pause on China tariffs for another 90 days. With Trump, some deadlines are actual deadlines. others are just dates on a calendar. So we're all kind of learning it's best to ignore the deadlines, just wait until or if things are actually effective. The whole world gave a side of relief yesterday, as the U.S. and China, those tariffs are the most costly of all.

And second, Ford still believes in electric vehicles. They just announced their biggest plan yet to build the next Model T. They're investing $2 billion for a new plant in Kentucky to build their lowest-priced electric car yet. $30,000, which Ford says is the same. same price as the Model T, their very first car adjusted for inflation. And finally, Chapel Rone's song that references Saskatchewan that drove huge interest in traveling to Saskatchewan.

No joke. This was Saskatchewan's viral moment up in Canada. 50,000 interactions on their social media pages that usually don't get many social media interactions. The tourism Saskatchewan CEO said that being referenced in Chapel Rone's song was like a gift from heaven. Hopefully they can harness the viality. Like phase it. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Aaron McConnell from a lovely Mission Viejo, California. Aaron remembers that story we did a few months back about Trader Joe's,

because each Trader Joe's has local paintings, like hidden within the store. Well, it turns out Bass Pro Shops also has a side hustle in painted artwork as well. Each store features a unique mural that depicts the iconic local destinations of the region. Each Bass Pro Shops is basically hand painted by local artists. Not basically. Totally. Yeah, yeah. This is like the WPA of the New Deal Jack, putting local artists to work for the public good.

It's like the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps, showing off America's outdoors. Bass Pro Shops is the Sistine Chapel of Catch and Release. And you can literally catch a fish and release it in the store. It's a thing. It's a thing. Yeties, you look fantastic today. And if you are chowing down in some noodles,

took you 60 seconds to heat up, we know what you should do while you enjoy them. Check out our full 45-minute episode on the untold origin story of instant ramen. There's a great story of the name, Cup Noodle, and why they let out the off or the of. And why they let out the S too. Yeah, yeah, true, they didn't make it a plural. But you'll have to hear that on the show. We've got a link in the episode description to our other show, the best idea yet. In the meantime, Jack and I got a jammy egg.

We got to cut open. We'll see you there. And before we go, a happy birthday, Tietti, Derek Netto, over in. Queens, New York. And happy birthday to Bobby Nalestra in Palm Coast, Florida. And Rich Roll and Aaron Wall, happy first year wedding anniversary just outside Boston. Happy second anniversary to Laura and Nate in San Francisco. And to the Tennessee Electric Cooperatives, these 15 volunteer linemen just completed a project giving power to two remote villages in Guatemala. Thank you so much for your work. And congratulations to Ada Siang and John Healy in Los Angeles on that big book launch today.

They're breaking into New Hollywood. Literally, and that's the title of the book. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock in Netflix and Ford.