The Best One Yet - 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 “He took me to Chick” — Chick-fil-A’s dating lesson. Bitcoin’s $100K moment. Uber’s Christmas carols.

Episode Date: December 6, 2024

Chick-fil-A is the top restaurant for 1st dates… and women love it, on one financial condition.Microstrategy owns 2% of all the world’s Bitcoin… and Bit just hit $100K for the 1st time ever.Uber’s newest product? UberCarolling… because to beat Waymo, Uber needs Christmas cheer.Plus, Guinness sales are up 24% among young women… aka “Guinfluencers.”$BTC $MSTR $UBERWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Polaroid: Invented (sort of) by a 3-year-old 📸 Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.Slammin salmon pink: #FB4C8E—-----------------------------------------------------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 Friday the Real Friday, December 6th, 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. All right, so I'm recording from home today because we got a tsunami warning in San Francisco. I know. Nick called me yesterday and he said, Jack, a 7.0 earthquake happened off the coast of California. I had to head to higher ground. I'm recording from a podcast studio at like 900 feet above sea level right now. I'll be honest. I was very worried. I really appreciated how worried you were, Jack. Thanks so much. I texted Nick right away when I saw that the tsunami warning got cancer. But in the meantime, Yetis, the pod must go on, and we have got three fantastic stories before the weekend. Jack, what's on today's T-boy? For our first story, Ben the Bitcoin just hit $100,000 for the first time ever.

So Jack and I are looking at the one company that owns more Bitcoin than any other, micro strategy. For our second story. It's Uber's newest product. What is it, Jack? Uber caroling. Caryling. Uber will now deliver a Christmas tree and Christmas carolers to your door. But why is Uber really spreading Christmas cheer for all to hear?

It's because of Waymo. And our third and final story. A new survey says that the top restaurant men will take their first date to is Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A, but the wildest part, women love Chick-fil-A as a first date, but on one big financial condition. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. No one is doing this mix. I mean, this is an unprecedented. I love this mix, Jack. Great mix.

Guinness. Guinness. The dark, creamy beer that tastes like a confused cold coffee. Guinness, you don't drink the Guinness. The Guinness drinks you. We've all got one buddy who's like training for a marathon and the only thing he'll drink is half a Guinness. I can only drink Guinness. It's half the calories of my life. Well, here's the news. Guinness is cutting off pubs. in the United Kingdom. Apparently they have reached their Guinness limit. Because too many Brits are drinking too much Guinness right now. Besties Guinness is limiting its supply on their home

island during the holidays in order to make sure there's enough Guinness for the rest of us. So here's the question. Why is Guinness suddenly so popular in the UK? Well, get this, Jack. The latest trend among Gen Z is taking picks with a pint of Guinness. They're called ginfluensers. Ginfluencers, real term. And the goal when you drink as a ginfluencer is to split the G, which is to drink just enough Guinness like two gulps or so from your pint. So that the beer line splits the G. When you put the pint down. Because it's not just Liam and Leprocons who are drinking Guinness these days.

No, this is wild, but sales to women of Guinness are up 24% this year. Kim Kardashian, Olivia Rodriguez, the Princess of Wales. They've all recently posted picks, sipping the brown stuff. So Diageo, the Goner of Guinness, is reportedly limiting sales in the United Kingdom, where ginsanity is particularly strong. Nick, we may have to add Guinness to the hoarder's omnic. Jack, we may have to add gynfluencers to our word of the year. How about ginsanity?

That's the Ginnignti. Ginfluencers, now you know, and if you know, you know, Jack, let's have three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack, Nick, 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, for the first time, Bitcoin just reached $100,000. So we have to tell you about Bitcoin's biggest lover by far, micro strategy. But first, Jack, mazzletov to Ben the Bitcoin. Ben just had another bit mitzvah, not too shabby. We're going to get him a gift.

After 15 years, Bitcoin has reached the six-digit price of $100,000. It's a nice round number. The rally for Bitcoin is so far up 45% since Election Day. And it's up 136% since the beginning of the year. But Jack, the key reason that tipped the cryptocurrency into the six-digit club yesterday, what was it, man? It was probably Trump's pick earlier in the week of a crypto-friendly dude to lead the SEC. And for that reason, stock and crypto-traded.

apps like Coinbase and Robinhood, they have now doubled and tripled so far this year. But the one stock that's most married to crypto prices, who is a Jack? Micro Strategy. Micro Strategy. And yet he's the way Jack and I see it. Micro Strategy is Bitcoin's biggest lover. First of all, micro strategy is way older than Bitcoin. It was founded in 1989. It's a publicly traded company. And for most of its history, it was a software company. But then in 2020, Micro Strategy, You know, it kind of became a cougar. It decided to convert all the company's cash into Bitcoin. The reason, their cash was generating zero interest. And the CEO was worried that the U.S. dollar, that they were holding their cash in, could lose value if inflation came.

So he converted it to Bitcoin. And since then, Micro Strategy has gone from CryptoCurious to like a full-on crypto-kisser. Micro Strategy has completely transformed from a software company that they were for 30 years to a company that simply buys and holds tons and tons of Bitcoin. Oh yeah, Micro Strategy is deep in bed with Bitcoin. Get this, Yeti's. Micro Strategy has bought and now holds around $38 billion of Bitcoin. Jack, could you sprinkle on a little context to that number, please? This random publicly traded software company actually holds 2% of all the Bitcoin in the world. We repeat one at every 50 Bitcoin on planet Earth, is a is owned by Micro Strategy.

But that's not even the wildest part. No, it's not. This company plans to sell $11 billion worth of stock in itself and then take out $21 billion in debt in order to buy more Bitcoin. They're raising more money to buy more of the Bitcoin in the world. Now, the CEO of this 35-year-old tech company says that Micro Strategy is becoming a Bitcoin Treasury. But it's also the same strategy as your Bitcoin buddy who mortgaged his house in order to buy more Bitcoin. So micro strategy's micro strategy is to sell software to their clients. But Jack,

micro strategy's macro strategy is to be a publicly traded proxy for Bitcoin. But back to Bitcoin's rise to $100,000. Good point, Jack. It just hit 100K. That is a nice round number right there. We can explain that rise from one quote from earlier in the week. And that quote is our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in crypto? Bitcoin doesn't compete with the U.S. dollar. It competes with gold. Yeties, those are the words of Jerome Jerry Powell, who spoke at the deal book conference on Wednesday of this week.

Our Federal Reserve Chairman clarified that Bitcoin is not really a currency, even though it's called a cryptocurrency. It's really more like a commodity. Here's how he's thinking about it. Just like gold, Bitcoin is a popular option. alternative asset for investors to park their money in. And also, just like gold, Bitcoin is scarce. There's only so much gold in the world and there's only so many Bitcoin in the world. And also just like gold, investors have decided that Bitcoin is valuable. Very valuable, it turns out,

$100,000 is valuable. Now, we should point out, he is biased. Our Fed chairman's job is to protect the strength of the U.S. dollar. But it was validating for Bitcoin to be put on the same pedestal as gold in the words of our top central banker. Bitcoin. It doesn't compete with the U.S. dollar. It competes with gold. And that's why I just hit 100K. For our second story, Uber just launched an entire suite of holiday services. This year, you can Uber Christmas carolers to someone's door.

But this isn't about Christmas cheer. This is about Uber's greatest threat. Yes, it is. Now, yet is, Jack and I have been covering Uber in the markets for a while, and over the years, Uber has tested out a lot of, of new Uber options you weren't aware of, Jack. How would you describe them? Uber, Uber. Yeah, they're Uber, Uber these options. In Bangkok, for example, you can book an Uber Moto. You can jump on the back of a motorcycle because the city is so crowded. Uber Moto. Your Uber driver is the guy whose

arms you're wrapping around right now. You're going to get to know each other. You're going to give them five stars. In Ibiza, you can book an Uber yacht. Yeah, you and seven other people can sail around the island for 1,600 euros a minute. I mean, hour. I think it's the day, actually. It may be a minute over in a visa. You can hail a scuba. Scoober, like a scuba Uber. This is a submarine experience, so you can sail through the Great Barrier Reef in an Uber sub.

A self-contained underwater Uber apparatus. Now, Yeti's Uber stock, it has tripled in the last two years. Probably not because of the scuba. No, no. But still, it's now worth $140 billion, which is 20 lifts. So, the way we see it, Uber, it's got some mojo right now. So Uber, they can A-B-L-E. Able, they can always be launching new things.

And Jack, what is the latest launch from Uber? Christmas Carols. Christmas Carols, besties. Uber just launched a suite of holiday services that they even got Macaulay Culkin on board to promote. It's like, your driver, Kevin! is arriving in four minutes in a Honda Civic. Would you like to give Kevin?

Five stars. Here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Uber basically realized that they weren't getting a piece of all of the holiday shopping season. All the money you're spending right now? It's going to retailers. It isn't going to Uber. So they just launched nationwide Christmas tree delivery to get in on that Christmas cheer. Yeah, they want in on that holiday spending.

So now you can get a Douglas fir on top of a Prius arriving on your door because you ordered it via Uber. Seriously, from Boston to Santa Barbara, you can now get your tree delivered. So you don't herniated disc cutting it down and putting it onto your rivion yourself. Sounds like your back hurt, Jack. I told you, I got two trees, Nick. Lift with your legs now with your back. Uber is also expanding Uber Courier, which is for last minute tasks that you just really don't want to do,

so the driver will do them for you. You can tell Uber to pick up the eggnog that you left by accident at Edna's house. You already had a condo with Ian Edna, and you can't have more conversation with her. It's a long cavo. The wildest launch, though, is Uber Christmas Carol through Uber Eats.

That's right. Uber Christmas Carol. Like, Yetis, let's say you couldn't get a physical gift for your buddy Timmy in time. What are you going to do, Jack? You can send him the sweet sound of Silent Night through four carolers who arrive in an Uber. It's a partnership with Diageo, so you actually have to order alcohol, too. Like, you have to have a bottle of peppermint schnops show up with the carolers. Along with the four carolers.

But either way, Yetis, this holiday season, it means holy spending. and Uber has finally found a way for a logistics company to get in on that retail spending. But there's actually an existential reason that Uber's doing this. And that reason kind of represents the Grinch. Is our takeaway for all to hear. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Uber? The antidote to automation is a human touch. Human touch.

Yet is, for the last decade, the greatest threat to Uber was left. But for the next decade, the greatest threat to Uber is Robo Taxis. Waymo, Cruise, Tesla's Cybercab, all of those are new Uber competitors who just didn't even exist five years ago. In fact, Waymo announced yesterday that they're expanding their Robo Cab service to Miami. Good point. It was a new update yesterday. Which caused Uber's stock to fall by 8%. It's a serious threat. But here's how we see it, besties. Uber has always seen the human drivers as the expensive part of their business model. But now Uber's realizing that those human drivers are their advantage against the real competition.

And here's why. Only with a human driver can Uber deliver carolers and Christmas trees and Aunt Edna's eggnog right off her porch. Those human-powered perks are advantages that Waymo can't offer right now. And that is the power of this Uber Christmas caroling. Uber, they just realized that the antidote to AI is human touch. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story to send you into the weekend, Chick-fil-A. It is now the top destination for men to take a first date to.

And that reveals one of the top things women look for in a relationship. But Jack, in order to properly set the scene for this story, you know, Friday night, it's date night, we're all going out, but you have a tradition for day night that you got to share with the Yeties. It's more a challenge, actually. Alex and I, we go to Electra's on Friday night, and our goal was to eat everything on the menu by the end of the year. Even if they changed it, you're like, you got to bring that. Bring back the squash. We got to have more of that. We didn't try it yet. We're not on pace to do it because a lot of babysitters fell through. It gives you a goal for every date, which is kind of the goal of the date.

But in 31 American states, the first date night happens at Chick-fil-A. Here's the news, Yetis. dating news surveyed 3,000 singles across the country and asked the men, what is the top restaurant that you like to take women to on a first date? Now, in Maine and Vermont, the top answer was Subway. But overwhelmingly, in 31 American states, the answer for the number one first date destination was Chick-fil-A. What do you do for work? Yeah. Where'd you grow up? Interesting. Do you want waffle fries or regular fries? Tell me more about your ketchup preferences. I feel like we're on the same vibe right now. Now, there was more data here. Overall, 54% of men said that a fast food restaurant was just fine for a first day. Okay, but even more interesting,

the rate was 66% for women. Sixty-six percent of women think a fast food restaurant is fine for a first date. He didn't go to Jared's. He went to Wendy's. And that was her turn on. It's hot, baby. Now, yet he's, Romeo would have taken Juliet to a fine sit-down French or Italian restaurant. But right now, Pookie is cool with hanging out at the Waffle House as she gets to know her. guy on the first time. Because in this economy, chick filet can be a sign of financial responsibility. That's right, Jack. Besties, the reason two out of three women in this survey were fine with fast food for a first date? It was the money. It was the money, yeah. Women are much more likely to say yay to chick filet if the man asking them is honest that they're going there because of their budget.

Now, I'm sure she would prefer a nice filet mignon or maybe a sushi dinner out instead of the chick-fil-a sandwich. But more important than the cuisine is the guy's financial character. Yes, it is. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone going out on date night? It's not the size of the budget that matters. It's how honest you are about it. Yeties, the number one issue in American breakups, it's money. The number one cause of divorce in America.

It's money. But just as painful is financial infidelity. Not being honest with your partner about your. your money situation. Misleading, hiding, creating false expectations, all that, it's a form of monetary cheating. That's why we find the chick-fil-A data so powerful. It is powerful, Jack. You're right. Because it's not about what you can afford. It's about honesty on what you can afford. The budget number wasn't the issue. It was honesty about the budget. Sebastian's, it's not the size of the budget that matters. It's how honest we are about it.

Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday? hit $100,000 for the first time. And as Bitcoin booms, micro-strategy booms even more. And our Fed chairman said for the first time that Bitcoin is like digital gold. Our second story was Uber. They just launched a bunch of holiday-specific services to differentiate from robotaxies. Because the antidote to automation is human touch. And our third and final story, according to a survey, Chick-fil-A is the top fast food restaurant for first dates. And women, they're totally fine with it. It's not the size of our budgets that matters. It's how honest we are about them.

But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, yesterday, we told you about the cold-blooded murder of the United Healthcare CEO. Well, here's an update. He didn't have a bodyguard. And police have shared two pictures of the likely killer who is still at large as of this recording. Also, interestingly, they found three words written on the bullet cases that the killer used. deny, defend, and depose.

Those could be a reference to the health insurance industry's habits of denying coverage to bolster their profits. Either way, this could lead to a lot of conversation on America's health care system, which is the most expensive in the world. Second, Kim Kardashian Skims is expanding from the sun to the snow. Yes, they are. Skims partnered with the North Face to launch a line of women's ski gear. They're getting into skiwear.

Skims, they started with shapewear onesies. Now, they're doing downhill onesies. Valued at over $4 billion, Skims is considered a candidate for an IPO in 2025. And finally, Taylor Swift's Erez tour book was, unshockingly, a chart topper, but we just got the numbers. It dropped on Black Friday, and it was only available at Target. Only sold at Target, interestingly. And over 800,000 copies of that concert tour book were sold in the first two days. Second most ever for nonfiction right behind Barack Obama's most recent memoir.

Although many are pointing out typos and grammatical mistakes in that book. Yeah, the errors tour, and this is the errors tour. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Tyler Marwood down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Push and play. Here we go. Hey, besties. Yesterday, Nick and Jack gave a shout out to the Wicked Green, 9B, C, A, 47. But did you know that code isn't random?

It's part of the hexadecimal system, where 9B is red, C.A is green, and 4-7 is blue. Mix them all together, and voila. Aw, Wicked Witch Green. The Hexoridary part, Hexcoats can create over 16 million colors packing the whole rainbow into six little digits. We see what you did there, Tyler, by the way. I feel like I'm back in kindergarten.

I know. Mixing my three primary colors. Well, you know, we should share our hexagonal colors for Slammon-Sammon, because we have our own special hexagonal... You don't remember what it is off the top of your head, do you? It's hashtag FB4C8E. That is the special Slaman-Sammon color pink we use. We'll drop it in the episode.

description. Yiddies, you've looked fantastic all week. Jack, so many wins to celebrate. Thank you to everyone who dropped a wrap. That was unreal. We actually got a special gift for you at the end of the pod if you gave us a wrapped. We were in the top five of 50,000 Spotify users.

Not too shabby, Jack. And besties, before you go, we have the perfect thing for you to listen to to take you into the weekend. And that's our new weekly show. The best idea yet. This week, it's the Polaroid camera. This was a tech company before the tech industry even existed. Oh, the Polaroid camera was such an innovative product that Steve Jobs said it was his inspiration.

It is a wild story, and we cover that on the best idea yet. So head over there right now. You're going to love this weekly show. We dropped a link in the show notes. In the meantime, celebrate the wins, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I, and Jack and I will see you Monday. And before we go, a happy birthday to Bowen Way, eat in chocolate for his birthday in California. Happy birthday to Ms. Kat Stringham, who's turning 30 in Scottsdale with some tiramisu. And Jack, I love this. Sarah is celebrating a New York birthday in Chicago doing logistics with an Eli Manning-themed party.

Eli Manning. He really was elite. And Arias, is turning nine years old in Andover, Massachusetts. Get this. Arayash, the legendary birthday boy, has listened to every episode of the best idea yet every week. This kid is the best one yet. Thank you, Ariash. And Ashley and Jordan just got a good. engaged on Black Friday in New York City. Let's see some ring picks, guys. What a holiday. And a quick shout out to a handful of the 19,000 of you, who had us as number one podcast of the year on Spotify.

Oh, are you ready for this, Jack? Thank you. Chris Shaw, Mary Montiel, Marley, Morana, Rachel Rappell, Ralph, Gustav, Pili, Gushner, Emberle, Danica, Dachshepard, allegedly. Daniel Cohen, Caitlin Crosdale, Gillian Henderson. Victoria Chang, Daniel Stokes, Lost in Travel, Lindsay McMahon, Mike Gullard, Ali Uribe, Ralph Gustav. Billy Cushner, Emberley, Leo, Sherry, Morris,

Amanda, and Bairn, too, is, and Brendan. Wow. You are way better than me at whipping off names quickly. I mean, you whip up the takeaways. I whip up the Shadows. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own a Bitcoin, and we both own Stock and Robin Hood. I made my family disappear.

No, you're supposed to arrive three minutes. to go in an acura