The Best One Yet - 💎 “He went to Walmart” — The $299 Diamond Ring. Yuka’s MAHA app. Podcasts’ Golden Globes Award.

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsWalmart sells 1-ct diamond rings for $299… But lab diamonds are the monster DeBeers created.The Golden Globe Award is adding “Best Podcast”... We predict the Emmy’s will add Youtube.The Yuka app determines if food is healthy… It’s become the FDA of the People.Plus, the hot new VC trend? Removable Tattoos… The “Regrets Economy” is surging. $PNDRY $NFLX $KWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Juicy Couture Tracksuits 🍑Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Our 2nd show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, May 12. 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. Yeties, before we hit the pot, I just got to sing the praises of how great a father Jack is. Can I do this for a mama, Jack? Where is this coming from, man?

Okay, the other week, Jack hosted his son's birthday party. He wanted dinosaurs. Jack did a dinosaur Easter egg hunt. Yeah, I know. It was amazing, wasn't it? Okay. And then he wanted dinosaurs. more dinosaurs? So Jack got a wedding cake themed like dinosaurs for his four-year-old son.

The giant three-tiered birthday cake was actually Alex is doing, but thank you. I'll spread the credit to her too. The baker said it was unprecedented. But Jack, amazing work. He's balancing so much. Very kind, Nick. Thank you, man. But Jack, three stories for today's tea boy. What do we get on the pod? For our first story, the price of lab-grown diamonds have fallen by 90%. So Jack and I got to tell you about Walmart's $299 diamond ring dupe. For our second story, for the first time ever, podcast will be a new category at the Golden Globe Awards. So we've got a brand new prediction.

The Emmys are going to embrace YouTube. And our third and final story, all the big food companies are scared of one single app. Yeah, the Yucca app. That's right. This food scanning app, Yuka, is now the FDA of the people. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of story. No one else is doing that mix. Love the mix today, Jack.

You just finished a weekend. Yeah. You probably have some regrets. Maybe you regret you did too little. Maybe you regret you did a little bit too much. Which is why we want to tell you about the newest industry. The regret industry. Or the regerts industry.

Yeah, if you know, you know. There's an entire economy based on undoing things you did, but wish you didn't. Well, perfect example we found. Tattoo removal is booming. these days. Get this. Removery just raised $50 million in VC money for a tattoo removal chain. Jack, they already got 150

locations. Tattoo removal. It's the next Starbucks. Forget AI. Yes. This is the next FOMO Silicon Valley investment trend. Apparently Mark Andresen wants to disrupt the tramp stamp. Yes, he does. Now, the real reason VC loves tattoo removal is good.

It takes 10 sessions to remove a tattoo. Like we say, where there's repetition, there's revenue. against tattoos, by the way. In fact, I'm thinking about getting a tattoo to somehow commemorate all my three boys. Are you going to get a dinosaur for one of them, like to really make it special? Chrysterotaph, Brontosaurus, and gigantosaurs. I'm not discouraging it, Jack, but, you know, be careful because the regret economy, it is real, man. Oh, boy. Yeah, we also call this the Control Z incorporation. Yeah, I'm going to want to control Z that taradactyl. And maybe one,

you're 73. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in the regret economy? You can sell. Just as many erasers as you do pencils. Actually, 10 times more erasers. Your move, soft bang. Jack, let's hit our three stories. Fifteen 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. 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. Story, lab-grown diamond prices have gotten so low. You can now buy a one-carat diamond ring over at Walmart for $2.99. And De Beers, the diamond giant, is being attacked by the monster it created, literally.

But Yetis, happy engagement season to all those who celebrate. If you haven't done it yet, by the way, your secret's safe with us. It's spring. Yes. Spring is typically when we see a pop and getting down on one name. Diamonds, they're a girl's best friend. But lab-grown diamonds, they are a Fiscally responsible, best friend. Because get this, the price of a lab-grown diamond has fallen by 90% in six years. We repeat a 90% lab-grown diamond drop. Jack, what exactly is going on here? With a lab-grown diamond, you don't have to wait millions of years for Earth to create the diamond. It's a highly scalable product, like a software. You don't have to mine lab-grown diamonds either. You can make them in a lab in one to two weeks.

And they're identically the same as a natural diamond. Which leads to this wild development in the engagement industry. 50% of engagement rings today have a lab-grown diamond in them. In fact, for the studs market, that lab percentage is even higher. Yeah, a single diamond stud earring. Odds are that diamond was born in a lab. He didn't go to Jared's. He went to Walmart.

And to quote your best friend's engagement post he just made on Instagram, lab-grown diamonds just did a thing. But here's what we find fascinating about this story yeties. 90% drop in lab-grown diamond prices has completely changed the engagement economy. Specifically, we need to introduce the $299 engagement ring at Walmart. That's right, the Walmart 299 ring bling de jure. This is wild. Yeties, when Nick and I got engaged, not to each other just to clarify, you may not know that,

to be honest, but we actually both have wise. The price back then of a one-carat pretty nice diamond was $5,000 or $6,000. It was more than pretty nice. I saw Alex's ring. It's beautiful. It's beautiful, Jack. Because that diamond was mined from Mother Earth by De Beers, the 137-year-old Diamond-Galaieth Monopoly. But today, Walmart is selling the same exact stone for $299. Walmart dropped the diamond dupe 95% less than what we were buying for the same chemical quality diamond. Nick and I bought them in 2017 and 2018. Now they're 95% lower price. Well, let's jump in T-boy style to the financials here, Jack.

Such low prices for the best stone on Earth, Walmart's diamond sales tripled last year because of it. Which leads to the wild news we noticed over the weekend. De Beers, the diamond giant, is shutting down their lab-grown diamond business. Now, Jack, I'm going to need you to grab a rag and, like, dust off some context for us for that statement, please. De Beers is the world's biggest natural diamond provider. In fact, they historically had a monopoly on natural diamonds. They controlled all the mines. But interestingly, because they were afraid of being disrupted, De Beers launched a lab-grown business six years ago.

But today, with the flood of lab-grown diamonds in the market, dropping prices by 90%. Yeah, the margins! They were just too small for De Beers to make a profit on their lab-grown gems. So they're shutting down the lab-grown business and doubling down on natural diamonds. In fact, Debears even tweaked their tagline to adjust for the new engagement economy. For 100 years, they said, diamonds. are forever, but now the tagline is forever present. Basically, Jack, it looks like they're marketing time as part of their value proposition.

Both backwards time and forward-looking time. It honestly reminds us a lot of Armease, because Armease points out that their Birkenbags take 30 hours to make. The suggestion here is that time makes the product superior. So Jack and I took a lot of time, and we whipped up this takeaway. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the diamond industry? De Beers created a monster. but that monster got out of its cage.

Literally. Yeti's wild reveal Jack and I waited to share until the end. Guess who actually invented the lab-grown diamond? De Beers did. Yeah, De Beers. In 1959, De Beers figured out how to make a diamond in a lab. Here's the plot twist. For 50 years, De Beers basically tried to keep that a secret

in order to protect their high prices on natural diamonds. They didn't tell anyone about lab-grown diamonds because they wanted to protect their profit puppy, the $10,000 natural diamond. What you're talking about I was saying here is De Beers is Kaiser Soze. That's basically the moment we're... They did it. They did it to themselves. De Beers, they only sold lab-grown diamonds for industrial purposes, like laser-cutting other diamonds.

But eventually, some scientist figured out how to make a diamond in a lab and started selling them as jewelry. So De Beers finally caved just seven years ago and started selling lab-grown diamonds. Look, get this, Yeties. Another plot twist. to Bloomberg. When De Beers entered the lab-grown diamond business, they did so intentionally at a crazy low price. And why did they do that, Jack? To, and I quote, create a clear divide in consumers' minds between traditional and lab-grown diamonds. Well, looks like it worked. Probably too well for De Beers, because the diamond industry, it's now in crisis flooded by man-made stones. De Beers created

a monster in a lab. Literally. But then, it got out of its cage. For our second. story. The Golden Globes have added a brand new category, Best Podcast. Next up, we think the Emmys will embrace YouTube. That's right. Because the pipe just doesn't matter. Yeties, the 2026 Golden Globe Awards are now introducing Best In Podcasts. This is the first time a major award show is going new media. Yeah, the top 25 podcast will now qualify for consideration of this brand new award. Although it's unclear how those top 25 podcasts will be determined. Trust us, besties, we're deep in the industry. Apple, Spotify, YouTube.

They each have a different way of tabulate in the charts. So it's kind of unclear who or how is what and where. Still, still, still, still. On December 8th, the Golden Globes are going to announce the six nominees for Best Podcast. And if T-Boy gets robbed and we're not nominated, fine. We'll co-host the ceremony for you. It feels like the tip of the podcast iceberg, though. Yeah, it does, Jack.

It really does. Because the Golden Globe has 15 film categories. 12 TV categories, but just one podcast category. So, like, someday they will have the coolest co-hosts award with, like, a bunch of other awards. And I want to point out, there's going to be a bunch of podcast awards. You know, we are referred to as like the Tina Thay and Amy Poehler of business podcasting, I believe, Jack, right?

Self-proclaimed, and I love it. Brunette and Blonde, just saying it works. Now, we also should point out, besties, that the Golden Globes are kind of the most promiscuous of the award shows. Yeah, when you talk about someone winning an Egot, golden gloves isn't in there. Yeah, because other. award shows are one vertical, like the Grammys only does audio.

The Tony's only does Broadway. But the Golden Globes do film, TV, and now podcasts. You like us. You really like us. But, dude, this isn't just the tip of the podcast iceberg. Good point, you. This is the tip of the new media iceberg when it comes to big award shows. Because, Basties, we're going to drop this prediction right now.

The Emmys are adding YouTube. The Emmy Awards, like most of the big awards, focus on just one medium. They celebrate excellent. in television. But 10% of all content watched on TV these days in America, it's YouTube videos. The old definition of TV was cable or broadcast, but now that's just older Americans who watch that way. So when you watch the Emmy Awards, they're dominated by streaming these days, and yet YouTube is completely absent from it. Even though YouTube gets an equal amount of Americans' TV viewing time as any other streamer does, including Netflix. That's why we're saying,

Hey, Emmys, your move, your move. The latest presidential, election shows that podcast mattered much more than traditional TV did. Good point, Jack. So add it all up, besties, and we think the Emmy Awards will be the next to recognize this with YouTube native shows, podcasts, and web series in the awards. To make that happen, we bet shows and podcasts on YouTube will cut episodes up into seasons to make it easier to win an award. Exactly. What we're saying is that this decision by an award show to add YouTube and podcast could affect the content you listen to and watch. And as a result, your favorite podcast might start describing their shows as seasons. Like you might have season six of your favorite

podcast. So that Emmy Awards judges could understand what they're consuming and judging now. So Jack, the envelope please. What's the takeaway for our buddies over in new media? The pipe doesn't matter. Yeties, in 2013, Netflix's House of Cards became the first streaming-only show to win an Emmy Award. Now CEO Ted Sarandoes said this at the time. This is a great quote. Most people watch House of Cards through an internet connection to their television. At the end of the day, which pipe went into the box is kind of irrelevant to viewers. The pipes don't matter. Until 2013, Emmys were dominated by cable cord pipes. Now they're dominated by Wi-Fi signals. Now, TV executives would argue that the pipes do actually matter.

can publish a podcast or YouTube video, but very few people get to make a TV series. Yeah, so like the barriers are low. There's so many podcasts and YouTube videos. Like, how can judges sift through all of that massive amount of content? But still, to stay relevant, the award shows must realize that the pipe doesn't matter. Pipe don't matter.

Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, one app has searched to number one in the health category on the Apple Eye store, and that app is Yuka. This food scanning app is scaring big food. RFK Jr. loves it, but is it a truth teller or a tyrant? Yet it is funny thing Jack and I have noticed. From Campbell Soup to Kellogg, there is one thing all the big food brands are afraid of right now,

and who is it, Jack? Yuka. Yuka, Yukaa. They got 68 million users. Here's how it works. You whip out your phone, scan a picture of a barcode, and boom. The food is scored on a scale of zero. zero to 100 in terms of its healthiness. And my dad loves doing this, even though he's eating like cake. I'm shocked your dad uses this app. It's like a party trick for him.

I think it's the only app he uses. But Jack, like what would you see if you use this, like if you did Ritz Crackers scanned on the Yucca app? Ritz Crackers got a zero out of 100. I know. There's too many additives. It's too salty. It's too caloric. And a bit too fatty, according to the Yucca app.

Okay, what about something like Quaker old-fashioned oats? Like something really wholesome. It got a 100 out of 100. Those are just rolled oats. There's no additives. There's nothing in there. It's just oats. Now, interestingly, the Yucca app has expanded beyond the food category because there was just such demand for this. For example, Sarajevo facial cleanser got a 13 out of 100 because of parabins. Or coterie baby wipes. They got a 96 out of 100 because they got just two ingredients, wipes and water.

GIF peanut butter basically got an F minus on Yucca. That hurts, Jack. The app actually suggests that you buy Smuckers organic peanut butter instead because that's just two ingredients, peanuts and salt. My Skippies feels a judge. But Yetis, we dove in T-boy style, and Yucca is based in France, has 68 million users, and one-third of them are in America. And those users are a crowdsourcing legion of grocery store detectives

who scan every product before tossing it into the car. But besties, here's the wildest part about the Yucca food analysis app. Big food isn't just scared of what grade they're going to get from Yucca? They're actually changing their products because of Yucca. Okay, we'll explain. First, the Yucca business model. They don't do ads for what appears like editorial reasons. They won't let companies advertise their product on the app

because that could affect the score that they give them. Basically, they make money on a paid version of the app or also book sales, and they also offer a calendar that shows you when vegetables are fresh, which are not things you typically see in an app. But the app also includes a button to send a request to the food company, to remove certain bad ingredients. And this feature is why Yuka has had such an outsized cultural impact. Hey, Jif, please remove the mono diglycerides.

I don't mind if the oil separates in my peanut butter. Actually sends an email to the company. In fact, companies like Chibani have now changed their products' ingredients because they got so many of these Yuka email requests. Yuka users complained that Chobani's oat milk included an additive, so Chobani found a way to remove that additive. And it's not just Chibani. Humble Soup also changed their recipe to a product because the Yucca user sent them so many emails.

68 million Yucca users. They're scattered across the world. But that one button with feedback created massive market pressure. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies Yuccaing over at Yucca? This is an example of populist regulation. Yeti's interesting quote from the CEO of Yucca, She said that regulations can be very slow to change. And we saw this in a story we covered on our show, red dye. We knew decades ago that red dye was bad, but it only got banned by the FDA this year. However, consumers are now getting companies to change by using market forces through the UKCA app. Companies are making changes, regulating themselves, basically, because of consumer pressure from Yucca.

And now, yeties, Jack, and I should point out, when a government regulates, they do it after years of science and careful implementation. Yucca is effectively making regulation happen too, but less scientifically vetted and much faster. So add it all up and Yuka is basically acting like the people's FDA. We call this populist regulation. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? For our first story, the hot new bling at Walmart is a $299 diamond ring.

Lab grown is now half of all engagement rings. Debears, they created a moment. But it got out of the cage, and now it is eating them. For our second story, the next Golden Globe Awards will have a best podcast category. After that, we think Emmys will embrace YouTube. Because the pipe that enters the TV just doesn't matter. And our third and final story, the Yucca app is now used by 68 million people, and it's gotten food companies to change their products.

This is the people's FDA, or as we call it, the populist regulation. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, last week, Mark Zuckerberg said on a podcast that the average person has less than three friends. And then, unironically, he said that meta-AI chatbots can become their friends instead. So it looks like meta is transforming again from a metaverse company to an AI company. And Zuck wants to use AI to solve the loneliness crisis that Facebook and Instagram might be cost. And second, over the weekend, you may have noticed a change in how your Netflix looked.

The homepage got a complete makeover. The first changed the homepage in 12 years. Yeah, they're calling it the new Netflix. And you know what? We think it looks a lot like a TikTok feed. We also think every other streamer is going to change their homepage to copy Netflix's. HBO, your move. And finally, Pepsi is now the number four soda in America after it just got passed by Sprite.

First century, it was Coke versus Pepsi. It was Jack. Now, Coke is still number one, with over 20% of the American soda market share. But now Dr. Pepper is number two behind Coke. Jack just tried his first one a few months ago. And Sprite is number three with Pepsi following at number four. That's a shocker. It is, it is.

Although I wonder where birch beer is. Big birch beer fan here, Jack. Like a birch tree? I don't even know what that is. A birch beer? It's a red... You know what? That's a story for another pod, Jack.

Like root beer? I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Now, time for the best fact. Yeah, this one whipped up by Jack and I, because Monday is for trivia. Trivia. What app caused Steve Jobs to declare, and we quote,

thermonuclear war? Besties, this app was available on the iPhone, but an even better version was only available on Android phones. When Steve Jobs learned about this, he went berserk. And then ordered Apple to create their own version of this app. So we're all up, and besties, here's our question. What app made Steve Jobs angrier than any other app? That app will reveal in tomorrow's show.

Yes, we will, Jack. Yides, you look fantastic over there. If you haven't bought tickets to our live show in Chicago yet, we got a link right here in the episode description. It's going to be a great show. Deep Dish Pizza Party after the show, location TBD. In fact, Jack and I may get tattoos of the logo for this show on our arms, but then we may get them removed after the show.

Is that what you're thinking, Jack, tattoo removal? Cost 10 times more to get it removed than to get it on. Yetis, you buy your ticket, we'll get the tattoos, and we'll all get them removed. No regards. Nick and I, we'll see it while. And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, John Gill, turning 26 in Grand Rapins, Michigan, and roll tie, John. Happy birthday to Joey G. In Philadelphia, PA, who's celebrating in Nashville.

And Chicago Yeti, Sydney Jones, Victoria Loggley, Katie Close, D. Nackie, Eric Williams, and so many more who've copped their tickets to the live show. Thanks for sharing your tics picks. SFFFD. And finally, Jack. We had a little incident with some smoke and almost a fire at our apartment the other night. So the San Francisco Fire Department came out. Yeah. And Jack, guess what?

Not only are they all incredible professionals. They're the best. Shaggy, one of the firefighters, was a Yeti, and I got to meet up. No way. Can you believe that? Did you give them a sticker? I gave him a sticker. Shaggy deserved way more than a sticker.

So just a thank you to the whole SFFD. Incredible what you guys do. Thanks for everything you're giving. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix and Nick and I both on stock of Apple.