The Best One Yet - 🎟️ “Inside StubHub” — The Ticket IPO. Napster’s $200M comeback. 23&Me’s DNA drama.

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

StubHub is the #1 secondary ticket marketplace… but the biz totally depends on scalpers.Napster still exists (?) and just got bought for $207M… because “Say my name, say my name.”23&M is bankrupt, but 15M customers have a question… ummm, what about my DNA?Plus, the newest economic indicator is “Recession Brunette”... $STUB $ME $EBAYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Goldfish Crackers 🧀 Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------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's Wednesday, Saviche Wednesday, March 26th. And today's part is the best one yet this is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, I got the results. You ready for these, man? What results? Okay, we asked the eddies if they or a friend were going boy sober this year. You want to know the answer? Yeah. 57% are currently or going boy sober. Seriously? Yeah, seriously? That's a big number right there. Single and not looking to middle. So, Jack, three. stories for today's show. What do we got on the T-boy? For our first story, Stubhub Hub could be the biggest consumer brand to IPO this year. So we're diving in T-boy

style to their business. The biggest risk to Stubhub's IPO, it's scalpers. For reasons, you wouldn't expect. For our second story, 23 and me just filed for bankruptcy. So we're answering the number one question everyone is asking. Oh, what the heck is happening to my DNA? And our third and final story. Napster, the Y2K music pirating platform. just sold for $207 million? No, no, no, no, no, no. That is not the worst fact-checked headline you've ever heard. That is a true story.

We'll tell you why Napster is still worth $200 million using a song from Destiny's Child. If you know, you know. But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What? A mix. I love the mix today, Jack. Everyone has one big question about the economy right now. Are we entering a recession? Nick and I looked at the data. we're not in a recession yet, the economy is still growing.

But if we were to have a recession, Jack and I have one place we would look, and that place is your hair. Specifically, your girlfriend's hair. Because the ultimate economic indicator yetis, it's something called recession blondes. Actually, the term is recession brunettes. Good fact check on that one, Jack. We'll explain. Basties, if your blonde buddy starts turning brunette, that is a big economic issue.

Let me sprinkle on some context. I love that, Jack. During the 2008 financial crisis, a new concept arose. It was called recession hair. Oh, wait, times were tough, so you skipped out on that $300 haircut. In the 2008-200-200-recession, women had longer hair, and that reflected their financial worries. Ipsop facto, that was recession hair. But the newest trend is more specific.

And what is that trend, Jack? Recession roots. Follow us on this one, besties. If money is tight, you're now postponing your hair coloring appointment. Because that toner's $200. That ballyash is $350. And that is why your brown-haired buddy might not get her hair bleached in this economy.

Stocks are down, roots are up. Egg prices are high, your natural hair color is too. Besties, if your blonde friend shows up at brunch looking a little more brunette than usual? Don't ask Rachie about her portfolio. Yeah, in fact, you should cover the tab. Yeah, that's recession brunette. It's a leading economic indicator.

To all of those formerly blonde besties out there, We hope the stock market goes up. In the meantime, let's in our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best. 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. Our first story, Stubhub, or as Jack and I call it, Stubby Hubby, has filed to IPO. So we jumped into the IPO paperwork to break down the business for you. Stubhub's future depends on ticketing bots and scalpers

in a way that will surprise you. But yet he's in order to tell the story of the Stubhubbub ticketing service, let's go back to 1999, Jackpre.com bubble, what was the scene? A Stanford Business School student needed tickets to Lion King on Broadway, but the theater was sold out.

Yeah, Hakuna Matan. Not Hakuna Matata, apparently. The guy thought to himself, there must be someone who bought a ticket that doesn't want to go anymore. Timon, Poonba, can anyone spare a ticket out there? But back then, the only option to find a ticket on the secondary market was to stand like a bum outside the theater and tell everyone walking past, I'm looking for tickets. I'm looking for tickets. Everyone in Times Square thinks you're selling drugs or actually just trying to buy a ticket to a moo musical. So that guy created Stubhub.

Yes. An online secondary marketplace for tickets. He sold that business to eBay in 2007 for $310 million. Stubhub's not part of eBay anymore. It was actually bought back by that same founder who needed the Lion King tickets, and now he's taking Stubhub public. So pretty soon, Stubhub will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under ticket symbol STUB. Stub.

And they're hoping for a $16 billion valuation, which is three lifts, and which is huge, because Jack, what are Stubhub's financials right now? They profited in 2023, but had a small. loss in 2024 on nearly $2 billion of annual revenue. So besties, Jack and I punched our tickets and we read the S1 IPO paperwork on Stubhub and we'll present to you the good and the bad of this ticketing business. First, a reason to get excited as a potential shareholder. Yeah, Jack.

Gen Z is spending so much money on concert tickets. Get this, Gen Z is dropping nearly three times as much on tickets as Gen X did 30 years ago. The last few years have set records for live events and concerts in America. You're dropping $2,000 just to see Taylor Swift from the very top row. There was pent-up demand to party post-pandemic, and that demand has not stopped. Now most tickets are sold initially by Ticketmaster, which has a monopoly on that primary market for tickets. Ticketmaster is owned by Live Nation, whose stock is at an all-time high. But tickets are then resold on the secondary market by a service like Stubhub.

And just like Ticketmaster, Stubhubhub takes fees as the middleman. And since the price of all those tickets to those Celine Dion concerts has soared, people are actually going into debt just to see Dua Leap Alive. Here's the numbers. In 1996, the average ticket price to see a top 100 concert was $52 adjusted for inflation. But Jack, how much am I spending to see like Blue Man Group in 2024? $135 on average. Yeah.

The price to see a top 100 concert has nearly tripled since 9%. $1996. Add it all up and more spending on tickets is more money for Stubbhub because Stubbub makes a percentage through the fees. Their business model is a feocrycy. But besties, before we go any further, there is one hero stat that shocked us in their IPO paperwork. Stubbubb said that fans bought 40 million tickets on their platform last year from one million different sellers. Okay, Jack, could you do the simple math on that number for us, please? 40 million tickets were bought by one million sellers. That means the average seller sold 40 tickets last year on Stubhub. I don't know anyone who sold three sets of tickets. Who has sold 40 tickets in a year? Not regular people like you

and Maynick. No. They must be professional ticket resellers, aka scalpers. And that leads to the company's biggest risk, which happens to be our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies punching tickets over at Stubhub. No scalpers, no Stubbhub. These live events as an industry is plagued by scalpers, people who buy tickets in bulk and then resell them at a huge markup. These people are like hackers. They use bots to snag tickets before the fans can and then sell those tickets only at a ransom price.

I like how you said it, these people. I mean, who likes scalpers? Nobody does. Well, where do these scalpers turn to sell their tickets? They typically turn to Stubhub. And the Stubhubbub business model depends on them. So the biggest risk we see to spend. Dubhub's business is if scalpers go away. True. Which guess what? Is actually happening right now.

Yeah, for example, Ticketmaster now has dynamic pricing, pricing their tickets in the primary market at an optimal way so that scoppers can't make as much profit. Ticketmaster is basically helping artists stop underpricing their tickets so that scalpers have no arbitrage that they can profit off. Another way scalpers are getting threatened, rules and regulations. Just look at the band Oasis. OASIS has a huge reunion tour happening this year, and they have banned scalping effectively by invalidating any tickets that were sold higher than face value. So it's kind of ironic,

but if scalpers get squashed, a big part of Stubhub's business just goes away. No scalpers, no stub hub. For our second story, 23 and me filed for bankruptcy on Monday. The stock of this DNA icon is close to zero. But the biggest question right now, What happens to the DNA samples of the 15 million customers?

What the heck happens to my DNA man? Are they getting thrown into the dumpster? I don't want to talk about it. We'll get to the answer in a second. But Yeti is the coolest party to get invited to before the pandemic. It was the spit party wasn't it yet. Sounds inappropriate. Yeah.

It was kind of a fun thing to attend. Spit parties. It was actually a marketing concept from 23 and me. You basically get together and hock to a tube. And then send your saliva over just, some lab to get tested for your ancestry. Essentially, this was genetic roulette. Are you 4% Finnish, French, or Fijian?

We all have some surprise ancestry thing we didn't know about. It's a great cocktail conversation. There's actually no better growth hack than turning a product into a party, by the way. Honey, I'm Icelandic. Fun fact, full disclosure, this is Nick, and I'm actually 0 to 4% Turkish.

Did you know that, Jack? That's such a great. I love that zero is included in the range. I don't know what the margin for error is, but I do know I've always had an affinity for kebabs. And like now I understand why, finally. In 2017, 23 and Me

was one of Oprah's favorite things. In 2018, time named it the product of the year. And in 2021, 23 and Me went public via a SPAC hitting a $6 billion valuation. But unfortunately, 23 and Me never turned to profit. The stock is now down 99.8%

from its all-time high. The CEO and co-founder, Ann Wojitzicki, tried to take the company private, but she failed. So she resigned on Monday. as the company declared bankruptcy. But besties, this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. We did a 23-and-Me autopsy, and all signs point to one cause of death. It suffered from the Macarena problem.

Yeah. It was a one-hit wonder. Yeah, here's the situation, yeties. Once you get an ancestry test for $99,000, you didn't end up buying anything else from that company. They hoped you would subscribe so you could get ongoing health reports based on your DNA, but nobody did that. Now, 23 and Me did find a new revenue stream, didn't they, Jack? They had a new idea. They sold anonymized DNA data sets to pharmaceutical companies so the drug companies could develop new medicines. But unfortunately, that new concept disappointed too. So, like the Macarena, 23 and Me was a one, Macha 2, Macha 3, Maka 1 hit wonder.

Side note, by the way. Yeah. 23 and me got hacked in 2023, and the hackers got access to the personal information. of 7 million people. Okay, concerning side note on that side note, that hacker targeted Chinese and Jewish customers of 23 and me specifically. So clearly the bad guys want our DNA.

Yeah. And the company protecting us from those bad guys just went bankrupt. Which leaves 15 million humans wondering right now, is my DNA vulnerable? Unlike your Gmail password, you can't reset your DNA. No, no, no, no, no, no. Like your chromosomes are your chromosomes.

You can't mess with those guys right there. So people are worried, which leads to our takeaway. Yes. So, Jack, as we say in Turkish, what's the Gutormac for our buddies over at 23 and Me? In bankruptcy, the assets go to the highest bidder. So, yeah, it is, what happens to 23 and Me's customer DNA data? Well, it will be bought by someone. In bankruptcy, the company surrenders itself to the courts.

And then a judge decides what happens to all the stuff that the... company owns. And the goal of that judge, get whoever is owed money from 23 and Me repaid. And so that judge will sell 23 and Me to the highest bidder. Now, 23 and Me tried to assure the public this week that the buyer, whoever it is, will have to honor applicable laws surrounding customer data and privacy. 23Mee also said they're looking for buyers who share their commitment to privacy. But if the highest bidder does not share their commitment to privacy, which is possible, They'll probably have to sell to that company anyway. Yeah, because remember, the goal is to get the debtors repaid.

It's not to protect your customer privacy. And that is why the Attorney General of the state of California is telling customers this week, delete your data now. Yeah, log in to 23 and me and figure out how to delete your data. So in Jackson, my lifetimes of studying and seeing bankruptcy proceedings, basically don't take your chances with whoever buys 23 and me. You may as well delete it. your data now. Because in bankruptcy, the assets go to the highest bidder. Whoever that highest

bidder is. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Napster, the OG Disruptor of Music 25 years ago, was just sold for $207 million? We were shocked that Napster was even still around. Yeah, we really were. But we were more shocked. It's been acquired five times. Yeties, let's go back to 1999. Jack, set the scene for us, please. You logged on to your gateway computer, you signed into your AOL account, and then you downloaded that new 98 degrees album, so you could burn it onto a CD. Just because you wanted to impress a girl. Yeah, you could listen to I do, cherish you,

for free, and that was because of Napster. Launched in 1999, Napster made it insanely easy to steal music, consequence-free. Well, Napster got up to 20 million users for that service before Wi-Fi even existed. It was founded by Sean Fanning and Sean Parker, the latter of whom became the president of Facebook with Zuckerberg. That guy in the social network movie who asked Zuckerberg to change the name from the Facebook. That's him, Sean Parker. Timberlake played the guy who founded Napster.

Now, it took record labels a couple of years to catch up, but eventually they sued Napster into oblivion. Dr. Dre was pissed. I don't think any company has been sued more aggressively, more violently than Napster was back then. SORT TOR-Topic, don't bring it up with Metallica. So Napster went bankrupt in 2001. They changed music forever, but they never became a verb. Napster was gone, less than three years after it was created. But here's the shocking news, yeties.

To quote Eminem, Napster's back, tell a friend. Napster was just acquired this week for $207 million. Okay, Jack and I. I had to double, triple, quadruple check, but it's true. So, Jack, I got to ask, who is buying Napster? 23 years after the brand fell off the stage. A metaverse company. That's who.

Yeah, yeah, infinite reality. They're a Metaverse company that plans to create virtual concerts under the Napster name. The new owner says this Napster will be clubhouse times a trillion, which sounds about right. But yet he's Jack and I jumped in T-boy style, and we got even more shocked. Because this is the fifth time. Napster has been acquired since declaring bankruptcy. That's right. Napster's got more comebacks than a boy band.

It's like in sync. They're past their prime, but they're still touring. Because in 2008, Best Buy acquired Napster to boost their CD sales, and then they sold it a few years later. They sold it to Rhapsody, a legal music streamer. Then in 2022, a blockchain company acquired Napster, and now a Metaverse company is buying it from them. And why is this latest acquisition happening?

Well, the CEO said this about the deal. He said, there is no better name associated with disruption than Napster. So Napster is being acquired for reasons unrelated to music. They're being acquired because the brand represents rebellion. More than any other brand. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Napster? To quote Destiny's Child, say my name, say my name.

That's 90% of the work. That is, in politics, the incumbent, the candidate in office, wins 90% of the time, simply because of name recognition. Especially in down-ballot or local elections, you simply vote for the name that you recognize. Well, interestingly, data shows that consumers behave the same way. 90% of consumers buy from a brand that they recognize. So this Metaverse company, Infinite Reality, they could have spent $200 million on a big brand awareness campaign.

They could have dropped all that money on Billboard's ads to introduce you to their new name, Infinite Reality, so you wouldn't hopefully forget it. Or they could spend $207 million to buy a name. that people instantly recognize already and are curious about. I mean, Jack, those two options cost the same, but the Napster route guarantees a name recognition win. Napster has been acquired five times since going bankrupt. That's insane.

Because name recognition is 90% of the battle. Say my name. Say my name. Jack, could you please whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Stubb Hub is going public soon by listing their stock on the New York Stock Exchange. But if scalpers go away, So it is a big part of Stubhub's business. For our second story, 23 and Me is now bankrupt after suffering from the Macarena problem.

They were a one-hit wonder. So what about our DNA? Well, it'll be sold to the highest bidder, so delete it now. There's step-by-step instructions online, by the way. And finally, Napster has been bought by a Metaverse company. It's the fifth new owner of Napster since it's bankruptcy. Say my name, say my name. Name recognition is 90% of the battle.

But Yeties, this pod's not. over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the texting error known as Signalgate dominated the news cycle on Tuesday. A Trump National Security Advisor accidentally included a journalist into a text chain that was discussing military attacks on the Houthi rebels. Now, Trump wasn't on the Signal chat, but everyone else in his cabinet was, plus a journalist from the Atlantic, that's who was added by mistake. The only winner here is Signal, which is getting unbelievable free advertising in the form of this scandal. And second, update on the eggflation situation. Get this, egg confiscations at the borders have doubled in the last year. Here's the story. People are going up

to Canada, buying eggs, and then smuggling them back into the United States to eat for breakfast. And then they're telling border control, we don't have any eggs, so border control has seized 3,254 illegal egg crossings. Needless to say, that's a record number of egg cross of illegal border crossings. Canada, they got a different agricultural system, so their birds have been less vulnerable to the bird float. Timmy Hortons is laughing at Dunkin' Donuts right now. And finally, Waymo is launching in D.C. in 2026. The capital is getting robot taxis. When Waymo comes to town, that becomes a tourist attraction. Yeah, it's in five cities right now. Atlanta and D.C. are coming soon. Reminder, we recorded the first ever podcast episode recorded in a robo-driving Waymo. We don't know

how Waymo feels about that, but they haven't responded to our request for comments. I think they liked our post. Check out the video on YouTube. It's got over 100,000 views right now, Jack. Worth watching Yeties. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one is a question asked by Jack and I. We have a question for you. Yeah, we do. And we want your honest opinion on this. Okay, so besties, you may have received an email from us in the last few weeks called the Pop Biz News Club. We're planning to shift the Pop Biz News Club from emails to a community. So we want to know from you what platform should we use for our new T-Boy listener community? Now, more details are to come because this is a club.

But in the meantime, leave us a comment right here wherever you're listening. What is your preferred platform if you were to be a part of a T-boy community? Is it Slack, Reddit, Microsoft Teams, or Discord? That's what we want to know from you. Slack, Reddit, Teams, Discord, or another. option that we haven't even heard of. Let us know in the comments. Signal.

Apparently signal is where we should do it. Could be signal. Yetis, you look fantastic today. Jack, you are looking fantastic as well. I mean, one second. My baklava's ready. Here it is. I go crazy for this stuff.

You know the ski mask of balaklava? I always call that a baklava by accident. Does that make me 0% Turkish? No, but it does offend me and my people, Jack. Besties, the best thing you can do today to support the show is drop down. Follow us, give us a five-star rating and review. We love reading all of them. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow.

Can't wait. If you know, you know. And before we go, a happy 30th birthday to Yeti Dan's Uber celebrating in the Mile High City of Denver. Happy birthday to Josh Menez in Reno, Nevada, who's visiting family right now in New York. And Jackson Kennes in Berlin, Massachusetts is killing the third grade math test. And happy birthday to Montana Ortiz in Anaheim, California, who's retiring soon and has been a legendary director of engineering for the Viv Hotel in Anaheim. Five stars. And Arvin Parko down in Phoenix, Arizona is a new T-Ball coach celebrating the best birthday yet. And a big shout out to some boy-sober

yeties out there. Melissa Mendez, Lisa Welch, and Anastaza Rose and Michelle, some legendary boy-sober besties. Thanks for jumping into the Instagram and Spotify comments. We love you. hearing what you think. And Bessies, if you want to get a shout out on this show, or if you've got the best fact yet, we've got a form in the episode description, or go to t-boypod.com slash shout-outs.