The Best One Yet - 🚀 “Finally launching Again” — Robinhood’s new credit card. Flamin’ Hot’s $3B flavor. Paid childcare’s ROI.

Episode Date: March 28, 2024

Yetis, this our last  pod of the week because markets are closed for Good Friday.Robinhood stock has doubled in the past year, now it’s got a (golden) credit credit — Here’s the business model: While the rest of finance double dips, Robinhood single dips.Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are the most controversial food in America, so owner Pepsi is giving it a promotion — Pepsi’s letting its winner ride, by spinning off Flamin’ Hot into its own brand.Boston Consulting Group just calculated a top investment a company can make: Paid Childcare — Childcare isn’t a cost center, it’s a productivity puppy.And this Easter, Peeps could finally pass the Reese's Peanut Butter Egg as the most popular candy #CocoaCatastrophe$HOOD $PEP $ETSYSubscribe to the best newsletter yet: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. March 28th. And today's pod is the best one yet. It's a tee boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. I'm sorry, Jack.

Checking the calendars over here. Markets are closed tomorrow for Good Friday. Well, you know what? This pod's closed tomorrow, too. Today is the last show of the week. So it really is the real Friday. Thursday is the new Friday. But this Thursday is the real Friday.

Okay, this kind of works. So we made this one the best one yet. This is a total tea boy. Jack, first story for today's show. What do we got, man? For our first story, it's Robin Hood. Robin Hood stock has doubled this year, and they just launched their first credit card. Because Robin Hood's business model is actually simple. Don't double dip. For our second story, it's Pepsi. Pepsi is graduating Flamen Hot from a flavor to its own brand, just like Doritos or Cheetos. But Flamen Hot may also be the most controversial flavor on Wall Street. And our third and final story.

What's the one most guaranteed investment your business can make right now? Paid Childcare. Boston Consulting Group just revealed that childcare isn't a cost. Childcare is a productivity puppy. But before we had that wonderful mix of stories yet is. What a mix to go into a three-day weekend with love the mix. Forget about the Bitcoin bounce you're seeing on like your X feed. Poco is the new crypto.

What do we got, Jack? Seriously, Bitcoin is up 20% in last month. That's pretty good. But chocolate prices? They're up 25%. percent in the last month. All right, Bessie's last week, chocolate hit a record $8,000 a ton. But this week, chocolate hit a record $10,000 a ton. We're talking about cocoa. The crucial bean needed to make chocolate. It is three times more expensive today than it was one year ago. We just read cocoa's more

expensive than copper. This is insane, Jack. And this cocoa catastrophe couldn't come at a worse time. Because Sunday is Easter. If you can't see on the screen right now, Jack just whipped up two ears like a cute little buddy over there. it out on YouTube. Not only am I wearing my button up shirt all the way to the top button for some reason. I also have bunny ears on my head right now. Which also is a good look. I think we can incorporate this in the show. So yeah, it is if you have to buy a big chocolate bunny tomorrow, it's not a good Friday at all. Because Easter is the number two day of candy consumption after Halloween in the United States. So with chocolate prices at record high, here's what we're thinking this

Easter. Jack and I think the surprise winner of Easter 2024 is Peeps, the humble marshmallow yellow peep thing. For 71 years, Peeps have been made in the same chocolate-free recipe and the same chocolate-free factories in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. But for the past 20 years, Peeps has been the number two Easter candy nationwide. Get this, for two decades, DoorDash data shows that Reese's Easter egg is actually the top-selling candy of Easter. Let's wrap this all up. Could this finally be the year that Peeps beats Reese's Easter eggs?

Yeah, could this first first? finally be the year that a yellow duck-shaped marshmallow dethrones an egg shaped like a peanut butter chocolate. Who you got, Yetis? Reistee's Easter eggs? Or peeps? And don't tell us Cadbury. They're delicious, but they're not in this fight. Hit us up with your favorite Easter candy at T-Boy Pot on Instagram.

And in the meantime, happy Good Friday Eve. And happy Easter Eve, Ev, V. Oh, he has risen. We're talking about the peeps. What would peeps do? Jack? WWPD. Let's hit our three stories. 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 it's 50% that's a fat tip t boy city on your at list if you know you know cause 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

for our first story robin hood just jumped because they're going after apple card and amex with a new gold credit card. Some are asking, how could Robin Hood possibly make money off this thing by single dipping? That's how. Yeties, look, we all have that points guy in our friend group, right? Jack, like the credit card calculator guy. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. For us, it was our buddy Timmy, who always insisted on paying for the tables tab for the points. Okay. And if he didn't pay and you paid for dinner and you didn't use like a Sapphire Reserve Delta Lounge double double points card, oh, he would slap you. And then send you like a unique you are. to like win the referral bonus.

You know about the credit card war is going on with your friends. Apple offers 3% cash back on Apple purchases. Amex offers 3% cash back on gasoline. Visa offers 3% cash back on travel and dining. Well, Robin Hood, the stock trading app just shockingly launched their first credit card. And Robin Hood is the first credit card we've ever seen. It offers 3% cash back on all purchases. It's like 3% off your life.

Now, a funny thing we should have been out. say there's no annual fee, but they do charge you $5 a month, which over the course of a year is a $60 annual fee. Yeah, you've got to be a Robin Hood gold member. Still, that is by far the best points to fee ratio of any credit card we've seen. It's also a gold physical metal card that could like literally cut a pork chop. It is thick. It's not real gold, is it? Well, gold's cheaper than chocolate, so it may be check. But this is basically a Patrick Bateman-like card that you're going to like to throw down on the table. It's unnecessarily heavy. It's like they're competent.

But Yetis, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Robin Hood stock dropped after its IPO. But yesterday, Robin Hood stock jumped 5%. And in the last year, Robin Hood stock has more than doubled. The reason, Robin Hood is launching again. Robin Hood's launching. Look, Jack and I love to tell you, Yeties. A, B, Lange, always be launching everything.

We actually learned that from the Robin Hood co-founders, Vlad and Beijing. Jack and I worked at Robin Hood for three years after selling our first company to them. And Robin Hood's co-founder, We're all about launching. Just get the products out there, make customers happy. That's key. After the GameStop meme stock crisis, Robin Hood didn't launch anything for about a couple years.

There was like two years where Robin Hood stopped launching things, and that was one reason why the stock didn't go anywhere. But last year, Robin Hood started launching again, and Wall Street has rewarded it. Last year, Robin Hood launched individual retirement accounts. In October, they launched a jersey sponsorship with the NBA's Washington Wizards. And then Robin Hood acquired a credit card. company and eight months later just launched a credit card. And guess what? That credit card has a Robin Hood travel center where you can redeem your points for like hotels and flights through Robin Hood.

Compared to the other credit cards, you can then reinvest the points into stocks because it's also a brokerage company. That's a nice little differentiator. Look, yeah, he's Robin Hood's founders always used to tell us always be launching. Well, guess what? Robin Hood's launching again. And we can see it in the stock price. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at Robin Hood. Finance loves to double dip. Robin Hood is happy single dipping. Before, we worked at Robin Hood before entrepreneurship, Jack Knight worked at big banks. And we noticed that the business model of banks depends on double dipping. Double dipping. When a company offers one product that generates two revenue streams.

Robin Hood's original innovation was ditching one of those dips. Robin Hood would make money one way, but not two ways on the same product. For example, stock trading. Banks and brokerage houses They would charge both a commission fee and collect revenue on the back end with something called payment for order flow. Yeah, your typical bank, it's double dipping. It's making revenue two ways. But Robin Hood single dipped. They ended the commission fee and just made money one way when it came to stock trading. That's what we think is interesting about this credit card. Robin Hood's doing the same thing, same business model. It's not double dipping, it's single dipping. But drop in the annual fee and just making money on merchant fees each time you swipe that card.

So, yeah, it is Robin Hood's business model of single dipping. It means they'll make Less profit per customer. But it could also mean more customers overall because customers hate fees. Yetis, when you look at the finance industry, finance allows to double dip. But Robin Hood is happy single dipping. For our second story, Pepsi's Flaming Hot Spice is the most controversial flavor in the entire country right now. So Pepsi is doubling down. They're turning flaming hot into its own brand like Doritos, Cheetos, or Fritos.

Jack, you. You know who's been munching on some Flamin Hot because they've got an index finger that is permanently stained. There's evidence everywhere. That red powder that looks like an infrared light bulb. Pro tip, you got to use chopsticks if you're eating Flaming Hot Doritos. I don't know about that. But yeah, it's actually a good idea. Flamin Hot was actually invented by Frida Laze, which is owned by Pepsi way back in 1989. This powdery, chili, spicy flavor, it is aggressively red. It's like a heartburn in a seasoning. And they don't sprinkle this flavor onto Cheetos and other chips.

They shalack those Cheetos with Flaming Hot flavor. It's kind of like when you see those planes that are trying to put out fires, Jack, and they, like, drop that material. That's Flaming Hot, I think. And when it comes to spicy snacks, nothing is bigger than Flaming and Hot. Yet this, Flaming and Hot did $3 billion in sales last year. Jack, you'd sprinkle on some context for us, literally. That's the same revenue as Crocs, the shoe company.

Or match the dating company. Or WeWork, the bankrupt company. It's also like way more than syracia. And yet these Flamin Hot sales, they have never been more. Just say it. I mean, Flaming Hot. Flaming Hot sales are up 31% in the last year. Not too shabby.

Flaming Hot is the only hot, spicy flavor that's inspired rap socks. I can't say that, Chalula. Well, here's the news. PepsiCo is graduating Flaming Hot from a flavor, typically on Cheetos, to its own brand. And it's applying that brand and flavor to 25 different snacks. But yeah, here's what's shocking about this. story, even though all of that was pretty shocking, too. Flamen Hot may be the most controversial food since the turducken.

That's right. Because first, Flamen Hot may get banned in the state of California, no joke. Because remember the aggressively red color we referred to earlier? That's an artificial dye known as Red 3. Some scientific studies show that that additive, red 3, has a harmful effect on child development. So California might ban it. So may be gone forever. They have no more Flamin Hot to California.

Unless Flaming Hot just removes the red three. It just has regular colored Flaming Hot. Flaming Hot was yellow the whole time. But that's not the only controversy facing Flaming and Hot right now, is it, Jack? No. Flaming Hot is the only flavor we know of that has its own Hollywood movie. Flaming Hot, the origin story. It's on Hulu right now.

It came out last year. It's a great movie directed by Eva Longoria. It's a feel-good tale of a man named Richard Montagnas, who used to be a janitor and actually came up with this recipe in the first place. Well, according to the movie, Richard, convinced the Pepsi executives that they were ignoring the Hispanic market and they should make a bet on his personal Flamenhot recipe. So Pepsi hired that man, made him an executive, and they both went on happily ever after. But according to the Los Angeles Times recent investigation,

he made all that up. Apparently, Richard Montanier's memoir has been debunked. Actually, it turns out Flamin Hot was developed by Pepsi in typical corporate style. A basic collaboration between MBAs and food engineers. A bunch of business school students basically came up with this flavor and then tested it in the Midwest and then it scaled it nationwide. Way less romantic. So, yeah, it's Flaming Hot has a debunked origin story and it's so red that it may get banned in the state of California. But for Flamin Hot, any press has been good press. And it's been pumping sales to record highs.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Flaming Hot? Pepsi's greatest skill is letting its winners rise. Yeah, it is last year, Jack and I covered a story about Pepsi paying $6 billion for a Super Bowl ad, but for their Gatorade brand, not for their Pepsi soda. Because Pepsi noticed that any product with the Gatorade logo was booming. So they expanded the Gatorade brand onto a wide range of other nutritional products and drinks. They let their win a ride. Well, now Pepsi is doing the same thing with Flaming Hot.

They're literally sticking the Flaming Hot logo and flavor onto 25 different products and making Flaming Hot its own brand. Pepsi's not trying to create entirely new. brands, new flavors, new products, and just throw stuff out on the market that's all different. Instead, Pepsi's focusing on a proven winner and building a whole line of products off that back. Flame and hot sales are up 31% to over $3 billion. Jack, let that win a ride. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Boston Consulting Group just shared the best investment a company can make, and that investment is childcare.

Because the cost of child care is clear, but we just found the ROI of child care. All right. It is Nick and Jack here. Full disclosure, we both have new little kiddos right now. And those kiddos are a full-time job, aren't they, Jack? Yeah. That's why for young parents like Nick and me, one of the best benefits your employer can offer you is paid child care. Jack, our little max, he had a fever yesterday. Both Molly and I had to leave work at some point to kind of help out with that. Wouldn't have been incredible if Molly's office or were you, work had a child care center on site, that'd be unbelievably convenient. Right in this podcast studio, we just stick it right over there.

I got to talk to us about that. But that dream, Nick and I just described, is true for only 12% of American workers who have access to paid child care from their employer. And worse yet, it falls to 6% for part-timers and those in the lowest income bracket who would benefit the most from having childcare. But a study published yesterday by Boston Consulting Group and an organization called moms first could increase both of those percentages. Because Boston Consulting Group just calculated that child care actually pays for itself and then some.

Nick and I jumped in T-boy style to our first ever daycare data. Yeah, daycare data. This study looked at five different companies that offer child care, including UPS, steamboat, Etsy, like legit companies that are doing this right now. And these companies offered different forms of child care. Right. They're like three different forms, right, Jack? Right. Some offered stipends.

Some offered on-site child care at the. office and others offered backup child care for if your regular child care falls through. Now, all three of those help with the cost of child care or the access to child care for those employees. Now, here's the really interesting part. Boston Consulting Group calculated the benefits to the company of having that child care by interviewing the employees who benefited from them. For example, they went over to UPS where they've been testing on-site emergency daycare for hourly workers at one of their sites. And what do they find Jack? Boston Consulting Group found that at UPS, there were three fewer employee absences per day thanks to that child care.

Or another example, they went over to Etsy, which is offering $4,000 a year to reimburse their employees who need backup childcare. And what did they find, Jack? They found that 79% of Etsy employees say that that child care perk is one reason they continue to work at Etsy. Okay, then this is wild. They went over to a company called Steamboat that went the furthest with child care we've ever seen. Steamboat is a ski resort in Colorado. They opened up an entire child care center at the resort for their employees who had kids.

They basically opened up a hotel for the kids. And the employees loved it. They've reported, on average, 13 avoided absences per year because their kids were right there and they were taking care of. So, yet he's added all up literally. And here are the numbers on the investment in child care. Here's the hero stat. For each $1 spent on child care by these companies, they've received benefits of between, 90 cents and $4.25.

Yeties, what we're saying here is that spending $1 on child care resulted in up to $4.25 in productivity gains and employee retention. This study flips the idea of paid child care upside down. Messies, child care. It isn't a cost center. Child care is actually a productivity booster. Childcare is like a magic pill that makes all your workers more loyal to the company and more productive at work.

And you don't even have to open up a separate hotel for kids to do it. But Nick that hotel. pays for itself. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are anyone at a company with people with kids? Paid child care isn't a cost. Paid childcare is an investment. Yet he's the way Jack and I see it. The challenge with paid child care is that the present cost is so much more calculable than the future benefit. But to become an investor, it requires that you believe in or can calculate those future benefits. Now, this study, it wasn't perfect. It only looked at companies that were already offering child care. And they interviewed employees who have an incentive to say how great the

child care they're getting us and how great it is for their performance. But it does aim to achieve something crucial. It helps us understand the future benefit. It helps companies see that child care isn't a cost. It's an investment in the company's performance. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for our last pot of the week? Robin Hood just launched its first credit card as its stock has more than doubled in the past year. Robin Hood's business model, single dip while the rest of finance double dips. For our second story, it's PepsiCo. They're graduating their controversial flaming hot from a flavor to a brand. It's like the same horse racing. Let your winners ride. And our third and final story, BCG just calculated that for each dollar spent by companies

on child care, they receive up to $4.25 in benefits. They just showed that child care isn't a cost. child care is an investment. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the economic impact of the Baltimore bridge collapse may not be as bad as initially feared. The port is expected to reopen in just six weeks. Meanwhile, ships are being diverted to nearby Norfolk and Newark, and President Biden is seeking federal funds to rebuild the bridge.

But the city of Baltimore is still mourning the six construction workers who passed away as a result. And second, last week, it was baseball star Shohei O'Tiote. Connie, but now another sports gambling scandal has just sprung up. It appears the Toronto Raptors Ford, Jontay Porter, may have made a prop bet on himself and then taken himself out of the game in order to win that bet he made on himself. Ooh, yeties, the leagues went from zero to 60 in embracing sports betting, and maybe, just maybe, they went a little too fast. And finally, Beyonce's latest album drops tomorrow on Good Friday.

Stock markets are closed, but Cowboy Carter is open for business. Beyonce declared last week, this ain't no country album, but her song Texas Holden did hit number one on the country music charts. Jack, next season to Yellowstone, pretty sure Beyonce's going to be in. Good call. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by John Young from lovely Mansfield, Texas. Trivia. How do African elephants walk?

Well, it turns out African elephants walk by tiptoeing on their toes. They walk on their tippy toes. Even though they're huge. They're so big. and yet they tiptoe on their toes because a large fat pad is in their foot. And it forces the elephants to basically walk on their toes. To technically walk on their toes. If you say, hey, Nick and Jack, I saw an elephant not walking on its toes,

that was probably an Indian elephant. Nice try. We ain't putting out no correction on this fact. Yeah, it is. You looked fantastic for this four-day week. Jack and I are going to miss you tomorrow. But remember, hit us up a T-boy pot and let us know who is going to be the number one candy this year. Will Chocolate Reese's peanut butter cups finally get beaten?

My money's on peeps. See? Gambling. It's out of control. And by the way, if you haven't yet, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, because if you miss us tomorrow, you can hang with us over the weekend.

Jack and I have a newsletter that goes out every Saturday. You can subscribe at t-boypod.com slash newsletter. And if you get engaged this weekend, remember, don't put a diamond ring on her finger. Put a butter finger on her finger. It's almost as valuable. Jack and I will see you Monday. Love lasts forever, but don't leave it.

out in the sun. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Mitchell Walter, who's running 28 kilometers for his 28th birthday in Vancouver, Canuck, Canada. And a double happy birthday to Emily and Rebecca, two fantastic twins turning 22 in Orlando, Florida. And a happy birthday to Nick Goodner, the Super Yeti, who's hanging out with some amazing Instagram post down in Orlando, Florida. And a big happy birthday to Mike the Funny Man Panzer, down in Washington.

DC. And Pavel Laskowski is turning 15 years old. Enjoy and celebrate that birthday in Dayton, New Jersey, Pavel. And a big happy birthday to South Burlington's finest Zach Daddy Smith, up here in Vermont. Is that your nickname for him? Zach Daddy? No, I don't know Zach. Yet. And Raina McConnell is turning 25 while walking the Camino de Santiago Trail with her mom. That's a fantastic birthday. Happy birthday to Paige Baskin-Cilio, who's celebrating her birthday with wine tasting in beautiful Carmel. And Daniel Maldonado is turning 32 years old over in Queens, New York. Happy birthday, Daniel.

Big shout out to Daniel M. We're celebrating a birthday, and we'll be at our live New York City show on April 24th. We'll see you there, Danny, and Michael Contini's turning 41 years old at Smuggler's Notch. Right here in Vermont. They ski hard at the notch. I don't know Michael yet.

And Marin Tsar Javier is feeling loved for his birthday down in Houston, Texas. Happy birthday to Catherine McCormick in Atlanta, Georgia. And Lisa Leslie and Justin Chapman are celebrating a birthday together at the West Side Market in Cleveland, Ohio. Happy birthday and 50th anniversary of the family business to Andrea Langston. The WDKX radio station is one of the last black-owned independent radio stations in the country.

Keep it going, Andrea. WDKX. And Joe Lebrum is graduating from Naval Postgraduate School in California. Congratulations, Joe. Happy eight years together to Ben and Kara Inos in Nashville, Tennessee. And Grand and Judy McKeown. Kenzie's got a 50-year anniversary in Phoenix. Happy 50th guys. Huge congratulations to Zach Lamb, who just became debt-free at the age of 30 in Hawaii.

This is Jack. I own stock of Crocs, and Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Robin Hood. And we both own one Bitcoin whose name is Ben.