The Best One Yet - 😈 “Gayborhood” — Grindr’s gay super-app. Saks’ hippo bankruptcy. Airbnb for Diggers. +McConnaughey’s trademark

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. January 15th, 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. Well, how stocks actually fell yesterday. Feels like the first time all year. I didn't know they did that in 2026. It's like investors opened their eyes and realized there's a lot of chaos happening in the world. And yet, Jack and I found three fantastic stories for today's T-boy, Jack, what do we got on the pod? For our first story, after 159 years, Sacks Fifth Avenue just filed for bankruptcy. Cause of death?

Starting point is 00:00:35 Debt. Reason for death. What Louis Vuitton did. For our second story, Grindr has a secret plan to survive the decline of dating apps. It's the Gaborhood strategy. Grindr is creating a gay-ey-ey-s super app to sell pills, hair, care, and skin cream. And our third and final story. We know what you've been wondering.

Starting point is 00:00:53 Is there an Airbnb but for diggers, bulldozers and cranes? Jack, we've all been wondering it. Well, there is now. It's called Equipment Share, and it's the newest stock to IPO. So we whipped out of Jack Hammer and jumped in T-Boy style. But yet, he's, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, my favorite mix we've ever done, love the mix, Jack. Warning, the next time you quote Matthew McConaughey, you could get sued.

Starting point is 00:01:15 Because get this, McConaughey just trademarked himself. Including his favorite catchphrases. All right, all right, all right. That phrase is now legally locked up with a little TM logo, Nick. McConaughey even trademarked images of him. himself staring, smiling, talking. Anything McConaughey is now legal property of McConaughey. Jack, this is either the most egotistical thing ever or the handsomest thing ever. So why is McConaughey legally locking himself down? Himself? Well, as with everything in business these days, the answer is AI.

Starting point is 00:01:50 That's right. McConaughey doesn't want chat GPT stealing his southern drawl. And he doesn't want AI generators knocking off his Texas twang. That's right. His image and likeness are for him and his mirror only. So, if you're a rom-com fan or you like doing McConaughey impressions, you better make sure those impressions aren't too good. They could get you sued. Add McConaughey to our list of tricky trademarks and crazy copyrights. All right, all right.

Starting point is 00:02:15 Okay. You see what I did there, Jack? You just prevented a lawsuit. Can't get sued. I just saved us. Jack, let's sit up three stories. Fifteen years before this song. Two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn.

Starting point is 00:02:26 They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best of it. I'm 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 cause we're ready to go We can't wait no more so just start the show

Starting point is 00:02:44 First a quick word from our sponsor For our first story Sacks Fifth Avenue just filed for bankruptcy Taking down Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman with it Kudegra for Sacks Fifth Ave When Louis Vuitton built their own have. Jack, if we're going to talk Sacks, I mean, great childhood memories here.

Starting point is 00:03:17 My mom taking me down to the Sacks window in December to sit on Santa's lap. Great times. I'm picturing Gimbals from Elf. Is that what you're talking about? But with better windows. Yeti, Sacks Fifth Avenue. The department store is so fancy. They wrote it in script and stuck the address in the name.

Starting point is 00:03:31 Is Fifth Avenue famous because of Sacks Fifth Avenue? Actually, Jack, Sacks did put Fifth Avenue on the map. There's a great book about it. It's called The Women who ran Fifth Avenue. And Sacks made Fifth Avenue fashion Avenue. Nice. And Andrew Sacks is a German Jewish immigrant who opened up his first store 159 years ago. Surprisingly, not in New York, but in Washington, D.C. In fact, Yeties, that first Sacks store in 1867 was a retail disruptor of the post-Civil War era.

Starting point is 00:03:59 The first store, everything had the same price. And the first major store to offer refunds. Their famous Fifth Avenue location in New York, between 49th and 50th streets arrived in 1924. Perfect timing. Roaring 20s. profit puppy. But then eight mergers and acquisitions later, Sacks Fifth Avenue peaked in the year 2001. They IPOed, they had 200 stores, $6 billion in revenue, the numbers were looking Gucci. It survived urban flight to the suburbs in the 1970s. It survived e-commerce in the 2000s.

Starting point is 00:04:29 It even survived TikTok shop today. Well, about that last one. Yeah, Jack said survived, not thrived, because here's the news. Sacks missed a $100 million interest payment last month and just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is broke. They owe Lubiton $22 million. They owe Michael Corse $33 million, and they owe Chanel $136 million for the merchandise in their store that they haven't paid for yet. Oh, and those luxury brands, they want cash, not cashmere. Now the judge is going to decide which brand gets paid what, and meanwhile, the stores will remain open. The besties, here's what Jack and I find fascinating. What really triggered the ending for this

Starting point is 00:05:08 159-year-old brand, a real estate deal that Sachs couldn't pay the mortgage on. You see, Yeti's back in 2024, Sachs borrowed $2 billion to acquire their rival, Neiman Marcus. Basically, they tried to eat their rival. But Neiman was so big, Sacks choked on it. And remember, in 2024, interest rates were high. Interest alone on that loan cost $400 million. And then 2025 was a tough year for Sacks, so they ran out of money. The way Jack and I see the situation, it's kind of like Sacks was stuck in one of those safari situations you see on National Geographic, right, Jack? Look at that alligator. He's trying to eat that hippopotamus. I think it's too big for him. Oh my goodness, he's going for it anyway. Exactly. Like the gator of Sacks tried to eat the hippo of Neiman in one bite and basically got crushed.

Starting point is 00:05:55 And why try to swallow a company so big? Well, this story reveals Sacks Fifth Avenue's real business model these days. That's right. Sacks is actually a real estate firm that happens to sell dresses. Sacks's most valuable asset was the building on Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, which is worth an estimated $4 billion. But Sacks really wanted that Bergdorf store on 57th and Fifth Avenue owned by Neiman, basically the golden corner, incredibly valuable. So that 10% mortgage that Sacks took on to acquire that Bergdorf store was kind of a hell-married desperation play for a department store that was past its peak. Sacks, a real estate firm dressed in a tuxedo. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over? at Sacks Fifth Avenue. Louis Vuitton went around Sacks's back.

Starting point is 00:06:39 Went around their back or stabbed them in the back, Jack? I think they went around the back. Okay, they went around the back. Yeties, the number one reason why department stores existed, curation. That's the value prop. All the brands you could want all in one place. It was convenience for the shopper and it helped them discover new brands too. But over time, luxury brands realized it's way more profitable to just go direct to consumer.

Starting point is 00:07:00 In fact, 95% of Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton sales these days are direct. bypassing the department store middleman. I mean, Jack, why go to Sacks on Fifth when you can go to the Louis Vuitton Tower, also right down the street on Fifth Avenue? Nowadays, you get your content, your information, and your handbags direct. And that was the latest blow for Sacks. Louis Vuitton went around its back. For our second story, with Tinder and Bumble stocks,

Starting point is 00:07:28 both down 80%. Grindr is still growing. Because unlike other dating apps, Grindr is selling to you even after you stopped swiping. Yeties, you know how you know Grindr is a millennial tech? How do you know it, Jack? They dropped the vowel. Yeah, G-R-I-N-D-R. Yeah, they dropped the E there. Got rid of the E. Classic. Give-away. It's got 15 million users, though, who spend 67 minutes a day on average, on swipe. Oh, but those users, they are active, man. They sent 130 billion chats on Grindr in 2024.

Starting point is 00:08:00 And their next leg of growth is Grindr AI, or as they call it, gay eye. But Grindr is the only dating app. right now, whose numbers are going up and to the right. Revenues and profits hit an all-time high for Grindr last quarter. Over at Match, revenue shrank three of the last four quarters. Bumble, their revenues fall in five straight quarters. It's a classic case of Tinder fatigue. Gen Z is simply done, having pictures of their face swipe left or right on somebody's phone. It's a little different, though, for the gay community, which needs a safe space, and Grindr, they provided that for nearly two decades now. But Grindr is preparing for a post-dating app world. They're doing it by building an entire gay super app.

Starting point is 00:08:40 Oh, or Jack, a super gay app, if you will. You know, not just for dating, but for selling. Selling things like hair products. This is all based on internal documentation from Grindr that leaked to business insider. It's called the Gaberhood strategy. Again, Gaberhood, their term. Grindr has 15 million people who open the app every month, but also tens of hundreds of millions more who used the app in the past

Starting point is 00:09:03 and it's probably still downloaded on their phone. It's a digital gayberhood that the community loves and appreciates. You found your guy on the Grindr app. So now Grindr wants to capitalize on that love from the gay community with stores to sell you stuff. Basically, turn that digital gaybrihood into a real functioning style neighborhood. Or a marketplace. For example, they launched an erectile dysfunction pill just last year called...

Starting point is 00:09:28 Wait for it. Would work. They also want to sell you hair care, skin care, meds, and merch in the future. also likely with some very punny names. The product roadmap that leaked shows four successful direct-to-consumer businesses by 2028, all outside of the core dating app business. Add it all up and Grindr calls it a gay-eye super app. A gay-eye super app.

Starting point is 00:09:48 So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Grindr. If you're going to expand the Gabrihood, make sure it's with repeat rabbits. Yeties, Grindr knows that its customer base will eventually stop using the core product, right, Jack? So now they're leveraging their real asset, their brand, to sell those customers physical things too. Okay, but pause the pot. The one thing Jack and I noticed, these direct-to-consumer businesses grinders entering

Starting point is 00:10:12 are recurring businesses. Recurring as in not one-off sales. For example, if you buy grinder skin cream someday, you're going to buy them every few months as you run out. It's the same with the hair care, the skin care, the pills. They're not one-offs like an Instapot or a board game. And this is the same reason why every celebrity or influencer has their own energy drink now.

Starting point is 00:10:34 They're looking for new revenue sources, and they want those revenue sources to be recurring. Besties, one-off products can be good for business, but recurring products more reliably drive profits long term. If you're going to expand your Gabrihood, make sure it's with repeat rabbits. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, it's equipment share. It's not just the Airbnb of excavators. This is much more than that, and it's IPOing next week. The business looks incredible. But Jim Kramer would not approve of this stock.

Starting point is 00:11:10 We'll explain why. But first, Yeti's a little bit of awkward, constructive feedback for the American construction industry we've got to share. You're not productive enough. And here's the hero stat. Since 1947, productivity in American construction has risen pathetically slowly. Farmers are producing 10 times more crops per person than 1947. Manufacturers are producing 3.5 times more per person.

Starting point is 00:11:36 But construction workers are building just 1.6 times more per person than 78 years ago. In even more ridiculous comparison here, the tech industry, right, Jack? I mean, computers are trillions times faster than 1947. But construction is just 1.6 times better, despite all the advancements in technology. Not convinced, how about this? Construction productivity is actually down since 1973. Each worker appears to be building less. And this just rings true to me.

Starting point is 00:12:07 Everything these days takes forever to build and always goes over budget. Okay, Jack, but pause the pod for a sec. Don't blame the construction workers. You got huge safety precautions and red tape that mean it takes eight months to build a bakery out there. Still, we're talking about an $11 trillion global construction industry. Huge! Construction is 10% of the world's GDP. And yet, it's been stagnant for decades.

Starting point is 00:12:33 That's all according to the S-1 IPO paperwork. of equipment share. That's right, Yetis. Jack and I threw on those green visors, you know, that accountants used to wear back in the day? Oh, no, no, Jack, I was thinking the cargo pants for this one. And Equipment Share is the company that filed to IPO on Tuesday. Ten years after being founded in Missouri as a Y Combinator startup. You see, Yetis, the way Jack and I see Equipment Share, we thought of it at first, like the Airbnb for construction equipment, but they're not just dishing out drills for the day. They're actually renting out entire fleets of construction vehicles to build an entire real estate development.

Starting point is 00:13:09 We're talking 373 physical locations with $8 billion worth of vehicles, $325,000 things with huge wheels. It's basically a toddler's dream. It is. They got John Deere excavators, Jeannie Lyfts, Hitachi bulldozers. Equipment Share, if you're listening right now, if you can invite Jack Me and our two, two-year-old toddler boys to your next earnings report, we would really appreciate that. So Equipment Share rents these vehicles.

Starting point is 00:13:34 sells them outright, but here's the key. All of their construction vehicles are connected to software. That's right. Each vehicle has cameras and sensors to track productivity, basically smart machines. Half of the fleet they rent out and the other half they sell, but all of the vehicles are managed by equipment shares software. So they're making money three different ways off the customers, and here's the value proposition to the builders. With these smart construction vehicles, your project will run faster, the equipment will last longer, safety will improve, and the cost will come way down. The result, the average revenue growth over at equipment share is 140%. They're doing $4 billion a year in annual revenue targeting a $6 billion valuation.

Starting point is 00:14:11 That is almost one lift. But we can tell you who's not going to buy equipment share stock on their IPO day. Yeah, and who is that, Jack? CNBC's Jim Kramer. Exactly. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our digging buddies over at Equipment Share? When it comes to stocks, the word cyclical makes investors sick. Yet he's back in November.

Starting point is 00:14:30 Jack and I read Jim Kramer's book on investing. And then we got to interview Jim about that book at the NASDAQ stock exchange. His key insight is that you only want stocks that can grow in any market. Equipment share, unfortunately, is not one of them. Remember that 140% growth weight, Jack and I just mentioned? Well, that was their average growth rate since they were founded. More recently, it's been much more slow. In fact, their growth rate has shrunk every year since 2022 and is down to just 27% growth

Starting point is 00:15:00 last year. Well, what happened exactly in 2022 that hit their growth, Jack? Inflation and interest rates both spiked. And high interest rates basically kill the construction industry. It's like automotive and airlines. Construction is a cyclical industry. It does well when the economy's doing well, but it shrinks when the economy's not. That's why equipment chair is on track for their first year of losses since 2019. Oh, look, Basti's, equipment share sounds like a great biz. Again, kind of fun to call it the Airbnb of construction stuff. But they could lag the rest of the stock market long term because it's cyclical. When it comes to stocks, the word cyclical makes investors sick. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the

Starting point is 00:15:42 New Friday? Sacks Fifth Avenue declared bankruptcy because its acquisition of Neiman Marcus was just too big to eat. It's death by debt, but Louis Vuitton held the dagger. For our second story, Grinders' business is still all-time highing, but they're expanding to become a gay super app anyway. They're expanding the Gabrihood, but they're doing it with repeat rabbit products. And our third and final story is equipment share. The stock hits the stock market next week. It's a huge milestone going public with an IPO. It's a great business, but a cyclical business.

Starting point is 00:16:13 And that limits its stock's growth. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Carmen San Diego, we've got to do a rundown of some geopolitical updates out there. In Greenland, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Denmark, who insisted that Greenland is not for sale, but the two sides agreed to disagree and continue talking. Over in Iran, the president says that the killing of Iranian protesters has stopped, and he's ruling out military action for now. No major updates right now on the Panama Canal or Venezuela, the two other geopolitical

Starting point is 00:16:46 hotspots the president is very interested in. And second, Delta Airlines is apparently becoming a luxury product. Their premium cabin sales have eclipsed their coach cabin sales for the first time ever, even though the premium cabins are just 30% of the seats. It's like a 12-tier society up in the sky. Delta 1, first class, premium select, Delta Comfort Plus, Delta Comfort, they bring in more than half the bacon, even though they're just 30% of the seats. It's the air travel evidence of the K-shaped economy. Wealthy or eagle to spend more on tickets, but not so wealthy, trying to save every buck they can on the seats.

Starting point is 00:17:19 And finally, Nike's first pickleball deal. Wow. Nike signed Anna Lee Waters to an endorsement deal, and she's a pickleballer. Yeah, this 18-year-old is the LeBron of Le Kitchen, the number one ranked in singles and doubles and mixed. In 2023, Nick and I wish that Nike would acquire Major League pickleball, just saying, this isn't that. We basically predicted this, Jack.

Starting point is 00:17:40 I think we got to give ourselves some credit on this one. This isn't that, but we were directionally correct three years early. Nike, just buy the whole league. Just do it. Now, time for the best fact yet, this one sent in by Rob Yawsway from lovely Littittitts, Pennsylvania. Do you RSV to my party? You know, did I RSVP to your party? I think I forgot the RSVP into your party, Jack. Well, it's just a segue, because the abbreviation to RSVP is the star of this fact.

Starting point is 00:18:03 I was going to say, I don't feel like I got an invite to your party, Jack. What does RSVP stand for? Well, it's actually a French phrase, and in French, it stands for, responde si vo'u play. Which means, respond, please. Or, more directly, respond if it pleases you. Speaking of France, White Lotus Season 4 is named their destination. Not possible, Jack. It's a hotel in the south of France.

Starting point is 00:18:29 I'm pretty sure you've never been to. No spoilers, Jack, no spoilers. Yetis, you look fantastic for the new Friday. And the best thing you can do to grow the show, what is it, Jack? Share this show right now with a friend. Yeah, by copying a link to the episode, pasting it into your group chat. And McConaughey, we know you're listening. Actually, he's probably looking at himself in the mirror.

Starting point is 00:18:49 All right, you can send it to yourself, McCona, send it to yourself. H-Y-H-T-V-O-I, if you know, you know. And before we go, a woof-woof to Cooper the Husky. Happy gotcha day down in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thanks for listening to this pod every day on your walks. And happy 20th birthday to Pranav Gadraju in Kerry, North Carolina. And Isaac Awusu in Cincinnati, Ohio's turning 36 listening with his fantastic two- and four-year-olds. Happy birthday to Terrence Agney in Jersey City, who's also just become a dad.

Starting point is 00:19:23 And Declan Bernard's over in Portland, Oregon, celebrating the best. birthday yet. Happy birthday to Lindsay Drager, New York City. And a shout out to Pamela Miller, a legendary Yetty who points out it is International Voter Registration Day. Get yourself signed up. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Bumble. Nick own stock in Nike, and we both own stock in Airbnb.

The Best One Yet - 😈 “Gayborhood” — Grindr’s gay super-app. Saks’ hippo bankruptcy. Airbnb for Diggers. +McConnaughey’s trademark

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.