The Best One Yet - ☂️ “Make it Rainnn” — Rainmaker’s rain startup. Dick’s Foot Locker palace. UnitedHealth’s worst month ever.

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsFoot Locker surged 80% on deal with Dick’s… but the wilder story is Dick’s sports palaces.Rainmaker got $30M to play God and make it rain (literally)... We got the history of human-made rain.UnitedHealth just had its worst month ever… And now it’s made every health stock sick.Plus, why did Rihanna put caviar on chicken?... Because caviar is cheaper than ever.$FL $DKS $UNHWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… 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. It's Friday the real Friday. May 16th. And today's pot is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Hey, you know what's not a T-Boy?

Someone at the T-Boy Studio spilled lasagna on my pants. That tomato sauce doesn't come out easy, dude. No, it does not. And it may have been me. Jack, three stories for today's show. What have we got on the pot? For our first story. Dick's Sporting Goods is acquiring Foot Locker for over $2 billion.

But the real story here is the palace of sports. For our second story, United Healthcare is the biggest health insurer company, check, the biggest employer of doctors, double check, and the biggest health care stock in America. And yet in the last month, it's fallen 50% on a wild investigation. And our third and final story, we're going to make it rain. Make it rain. Rainmaker is actually doing that, both literally and figuratively. So we are looking at this cloud seating startup because of a lot.

The cloud is a terrible thing to waste. But, Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories, what a mix of stories before the weekend. It's Friday the Real Friday. So Jack and I want to tell you about a new trend you may see this weekend. Caviar. Caviar. Now, first of all, who decided I'm going to eat fish eggs?

Well, Jack, that person would be proud because caviar is now being served on everything. That's the news. The new trend Nick and I are seeing is what we're calling caviar, Contrast. Caviar, the most expensive topping there is, is being served on the cheapest food there is. We're talking fish eggs on fast food. We're talking salmon row on Snickers bars. That's why Rihanna posted a video of her eating caviar on her chicken nuggets. Haley Bieber put caviar on her in and out burger. Jack, there's a restaurant down the street called Sorrel. They're putting caviar on cheesecake. That last one makes sense, actually. Yeah, one actually kind of works. Why is caviar popping

off? Because caviar is actually cheaper than it's ever been. Fish eggs are deflying inflation. And it all began back in the pandemic. Caviar companies couldn't sell the restaurants because of the lockdown. So they dropped their prices and sold to people directly no restaurant markup. Plus, now China's selling caviar. Shocker, made-in-China caviar is happy. Which is why your buddy Timmy is now bumping caviar over at brunch. So yet is, look out for the caviar contrast craze.

Jack, is that a caviar on your kit-cat bar? No. But caviar is now served at Costco for 50 bucks an ounce. Attention shoppers. Costco caviar deal over an aisle 6. That's Kirkland Caviar. I wouldn't even know what to do with caviar, to be honest with you. Do you eat it with like a really tiny spoon?

You actually do eat it with a really tiny spoon. Oh, you do? You're halfway there, Jack. You are halfway there. Yetis, let's in our three stories. Tiny eggs. Tiny spoon. 15 years before this song.

Two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack, yeah. 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 Because we're ready to go We can't wait no more So just start the show Start the show First a quick word

From our sponsor For our first story Foot Locker Their stock jumped 80% Because they're getting bought By Dick's sporting goods But we need to talk about The Wildest thing in retail

Is huge Dix. House of Sport. It's huge. But Jack, I want to go full carry Bradshaw on you right now. But wow, what a year for shoes it has been. First, Skechers got acquired last month for $9 billion. That's right. The ultimate Grandad shoe is now the third biggest shoe brand on earth. And one month later, we get this. Foot Locker got acquired by Dix for $2.4 billion. Foot Locker stock searched 80% because Dix is paying 80% too much. I mean, 80% more. than where Foot Locker stock was trading.

Dick's basically paid 80% over asking, and investors weren't happy. Dick stock fell yesterday. And now, Jack, we should sprinkle on some context for all our shoe-loving besties out there. Foot Locker will still keep its brand. So, you can still go to a Foot Locker, try on those hoka shoes,

and get dressed up by a man dressed like a referee. And no, this new merch company will not be called Dick Locker, like every analyst on Wall Street hope for. Grow up. Yeah, come on, guys. Grow up. Come on.

But yet he's here's what Jack and I, found most interesting. It's not Foot Locker we want to talk about. It's Dix. Because Dix stock is up 600% in the past few years. And Jack and I are sitting here wondering, how is Dix defying Amazon, defying e-commerce, defying online shopping, and seeing their stock search 600%? They're doing it with their House of Sport. Because in the last few years, Dix has invested in creating physical temples to athletics. These are unprecedented, and they call them the House of Sport. I've never been to one. want to go there for my birthday. I mean, Jack, these are super stores bigger than your entire college athletic department. These dick stores include football fields, batting cages, rock climbing walls,

soccer nets, and virtual driving ranges. Okay, one of them we found even has an ice skating rink in the store. Where are they parking that zamboni? I don't know, Jack, you need another store just to keep and maintain the zambonies, man. So it's less store, more like community center. I would take my boys to spend a few hours there on a cold Saturday in the winter. There are actually recreational soccer leagues that are doing their entire league out of a Dick's sporting goods store, a house of store. And again, this place is huge. Nick, can you sprinkle on some context?

140,000 square feet is almost the size of the Kremlin. What a hilarious comparison. Like we said, this isn't a house of sport. This is a palace of sports. But they're also expensive. The cost to build one of these House of Sport megastores is, is $15 million more than a typical dick sporting goods. You know how much fuel those Zambonies use, by the way?

So, Yeti's add it all up and Jack and I got to ask, is splurging on these sports cathedrals a good investment? My instinct is probably not. But our takeaway is so yes. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Dix? To quote Floyd Mayweather, scared money, don't make money. Scared money, don't make money. Yeties, Lauren Holie.

is the Dix CEO, and honestly, we think she deserves a gold medal. Because in the age of online shopping, who would build a physical store three times bigger than all your other physical stores? Not just that, Jack, she built 21 of these stores. There are enough soccer fields now to host the World Cup at Dix. And in this economy, who's spending a total of $315 million on souped up sports stores? But get this, besties. Despite costing $15 million more to build each one of them, these stores.

stores pay for themselves. In fact, they pay for themselves in the first year. According to the Wall Street Journal, these Dix House of Sports bring in 21 million in extra revenue, leaving $6 million in extra profits per store. That's right. Each house of sports brings in double the revenue of a regular Dix, making them positive R-O-I in one year. Lauren and the Dix team took a huge risk building out these Olympic-sized venues. Well, Dix got an R-O-I, because The scared money don't make money. For our second story, the biggest health insurer in America is dealing with a murder, a resignation, and now an investigation for fraud. It's not just United Healthcare.

No, it's not. All health care stocks are sick right now. Jack, I got a disease, and the only prescription is less cowbell? I think so. We have never seen a blue chip company fall so. hard so fast as United Healthcare. First, their insurance CEO was murdered by 27-year-old Luigi Mangione. Then last month, the stock fell 22% in one day after it said it will not grow this year. Okay, and then this week, their CEO resigned citing vague, awkward personal reasons.

And then yesterday, the stock fell another 11% on the worst headline yet. This is bad. A criminal investigation. Hey, Hulu, when are we getting the six-part series on the fall of United Health. Seriously, because according to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice is investigating United Health Care for alleged Medicare fraud. Rip it off the U.S. taxpayers. Yet easy. Here's the allegation which United Health Care denies. When United Health Care bills Medicare for treatments it provides to seniors, it exaggerates. Yeah, like United would say the patient had the flu when they really had a cold in order to get more money off that patient. If you twisted your ankle, United Health Care would probably say you broke your ankle. Yeah, what's that thing on your thigh? United Health Care thinks

that's a pretty big thing on your thigh. Now, if this translates to criminal fraud charges, because they, like, systemically overdiagnose, that could mean billions of losses or settlements for United Health Care. Also, Jack, on top of that, isn't Congress trying to cut spending on Medicaid? The latest draft of the bill suggests it is, Nick, which would trickle down to United Health Care's revenues. So what we're saying is it's a crisis at United Health Care. Two top are gone from those awful headlines we mentioned above. And I'm sorry, Dr. Jack, can we please pause the pod for a second and just look at how huge United Healthcare is?

It's the biggest health insurance company in America with 49 million insured patients. United treats one out of six adults in America. It's also the biggest employer of doctors. They got 130,000 doctors and clinicians on the payroll. Including Dr. Doolittle, who yeah, can talk to animals. Besties. The value of United Health Care has fallen in health. Half in one month.

It used to be the most valuable company in all of healthcare. Now, they're probably getting kicked out of the Dow. Forget Hulu making a documentary. We're definitely getting a podcast series on this, Jack. And if it does well, it'll get greenlit to a Hulu documentary. Exactly. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at United Health? Hope you've stayed away from healthcare stocks because everyone's sick.

Yeties, the S&P 500 has doubled in the past five years. But health care stocks, they're only up. a quarter as much. The Vanguard Healthcare Index is up just 25% in the past five years, trailing the stock market's overall 105% gain. Honestly, wherever you look and Jack and I have been looking, healthcare is having problems. Walgreens sold to a private equity firm last year for a price 90% lower than its peak valuation. Right-Aid declared bankruptcy this month and is literally the worst retail experience I have ever seen, Jack. Pharmist stocks, both Pfizer and Madonna are down two-thirds on all that vaccine blowback. And then there's United Healthcare.

It's interesting that health care in America is more expensive than it's ever better. And yet, this is the case. Besties, health care is recession-proof. It's tariff-proof. Every human being needs it. And yet, all their stocks are down? Hope you've stayed away from health care stocks, because they're all looking sick. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, this is wild. Rainmaker just raised $25 million to control the weather and make it rain. Literally. Literally. Because business models are like water.

You got to let him flow. You got to let him flow. Now, yet he is, Jack and I would like to introduce you to a young man named Augustus Dorico. This guy's definitely going to heaven. Because he may be the most religiously trained human being we have ever heard of. He studied under a Catholic priest, a Jewish Orthodox rabbi, a Sunni Imam, and a Buddhist monk. This guy isn't just close to God.

He may think he is God. Because his startup controls the weather. It's called Rainmaker. Rainmaker. They use cloud seeding technology that sounds very exciting because they fly a drone up into a cloud and cause that cloud to rain.

Yeah, and Jack and I should sprinkle on some context here. Some clouds don't rain. And that's a shame if you really need it to rain. Because also clouds, they get in the way of the sun. So if you're going to be there, you may as well rain a little bit. Agreed. So cloud seeding basically sprinkles chemicals right up in those clouds to condense the moisture. And that causes water in the cloud to become so heavy that it falls out of the cloud as rain or snow.

And this founder, Augustus DeRico, he was actually a Teal fellow. So he was paid 100 grand by the billionaire, Peter Thiel, to drop out of college and get into entrepreneurship. And this is the news. Rainmaker has now raised over $30 million. So they're making it rain both ways. This is a deluge on-demand startup. But get this, Yeti's, rainmaking? Like, kind of playing God? It's actually one of the oldest technologies we cover on the show. And this is what Jack and I find fascinating. Despite being one of the oldest technologies, it still is not fully commercialized.

Rainmaking was invented in 1946, after World War II and Schenectady, New York. Lovely Schenectady, where my dad is from. And the inventor of cloud seating, which is what it's technically called, is the brother of Kurt Vonnegut. incredible author. So add it all up, and we humans have had the ability, the technology to control the rain longer than we've had the technologies of the internet, the personal computer, or the Pop-Tart. The New York Times wrote about cloud seating 53 years ago with this headline. The U.S. is using rainmaking as a weapon. That's right, Jack. The Vietnam War? Apparently we were secretly seeding clouds over North Vietnam. To try to give our soldiers the advantage, although I think that

backfired. Well, today, China's government happens to be the largest cloud seeding operation on planet Earth. And it's actually controlled by the government. It's like a government service. It's the people's rain clouds over there. So it's wild. This technology is basically unchanged for 80 years. And yet you don't hear of many cloud seating businesses around. That's right. Rainmaker is basically using the same chemical to make the clouds rain. They're using silver iodide. The big difference with this startup is that they use drones. Right. So they can more specifically tar. target a cloud more efficiently. Also, they're using radar advancements to better predict where the clouds are actually moving to. The result, making rain is now more economically viable. Rainmaker

actually charges 50 bucks an hour per cloud to make a rain. So if Farmer Dan badly needs rain, Rainmaker will make sure no cloud goes wasted. A business model that Jack and I call Mass, M-A-AS, monsoons as a service. And that leads to our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Rainmaker. Business models are like water. You got to let them flow. You got to let them flow. So Yeti's on the Rainmaker website. They actually say their customers are farmers, you know, because their rain helps save a soybean harvest. But there's a number of ways that rain on demand can be commercialized. Jack and I were brainstorming this. On the entertainment side, Hollywood, movies, they use weather for filming opportunities. Hospitality. The ski industry could use

artificial natural snow to extend the season by a full month. And Jack, not to get dark here, but like remember what we just said about Vietnam, right? Yeah, the DoD could become a customer of Rainmaker. And eventually, Rainmaker could have a B-to-C business. They could start selling these clouds to consumers. Slipp and slide party, no hose needed. What better party trick. Jack, one day you and I are going to go to a gender reveal,

that involves a cloud of rain coming out of it. And honestly, every rapper would buy this for a music video. Ludacris, dropping 50K on Rainmaker. For now, Rainmaker is early. They're focused on farmers. But like water, you gotta let the business model flow. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to head into the weekend, baby? Dick's Boarding Goods acquired Foot Locker, but their house of sports is the real profit puppy.

Because as Floyd Mayweatherer, the boxer taught us, scared money, they'll make money. For our second story, United Healthcare is kind of scared money right now. They're down over 50% in one month on a hurt. A hurricane of bad headlines. You know what? Just about every stock in the health care industry has underperformed in the past five years. They're all a little bit sick. And our third and final story is Rainmaker. They raised $30 million to make sure that cloud up there starts raining ASAP. Because when it comes to business models like water, you gotta let it flow. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, wild story.

Hackers hacked Coinbase and then thread into elite customer information. unless they got paid $20 million bucks. It's a classic ransomware hack, but Coinbase has turned the tables on the bad guys. Yeah, they're going on the offensive, and instead of paying the bad guys $20 million bucks, Coinbase is offering a $20 million bounty.

So if you know who hacked Coinbase and you bring those men to justice, could be women, probably men. Probably men. Coinbase will pay you $20 million. Yeah, Jack and I call this the Liam Neeson strategy. Second, Apple just launched CarPlay Ultra. The entire car software is run by Apple.

And interestingly, they have starting with Aston Martins, one of the most expensive car brands out there. So you can now see the speed, the AC, the heat, even the tire pressure through your phone, through your car. Through the car. Yeah, through the car. Car play. It's the only example Jack and I can find

where Apple offers its software without controlling the hardware. The car. Next up, Hyundai's. They're all turning over their tech to Apple. And finally, Disney Plus is going to license movies from DreamWorks Animation Studios. That means Shrek can finally stream alongside Buzz and Woody. And that means Madagascar can finally stream alongside Moana.

Peacock's not doing too well, so they're licensing out some of their best movies to their rival, Disney. Side note, DreamWork started as an anti-Disney company. Jeffrey Katzenberg was pissed. He wasn't named CEO of Disney, so he made Shrek to kind of ridicule Disney, actually. And that is the story for another pod. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Legend. Ariety, Jason Geiger from over in Buffalo.

Push and play. Hi, Guy from Buffalo here with the fizziest fact yet. Root beer or birch beer. Root beer is an old-fashioned soda popular nationwide. It's brewed from a blend of roots, barks like sassafras, birch trees, winter green, licorice. Birch beer, on the other hand, is mostly found in the northeast and strictly made from parts of the birch tree. Technically, birch beers are root beers, but not all root beers are birch beers. Do not get me started on sasperilla.

Oh, sasper. No one should be able to spell sasperola. That's an illegal word right there. Oh, wait. Jack, are you going to reveal to us now about how you've probably never had any of these sodas? Dude, I've never had any of these sodas. Although he had me at sassafras.

I think that still doesn't answer our question. I had a fear for exotic sodas. I don't know what to tell you. Never forget your first Dr. Pepper, Jack. Never forget your first Dr. P. Yeties, you looked fantastic all week. And because it is a fantastic Friday, we're doing an AMA this Friday today on Instagram.

So if you've got questions for Nick and me, any questions, we'll answer them at T-BoyPod. Yeah, last week someone asked us what they thought they should do if they have student debt but they want to start a family. Jack and I gave them our four-quadrant solution. So hit us up at T-boy Pod. Ask us anything. Happy Friday, everybody.

Celebrate the wins. So many wins to celebrate Jack. And we will see you Monday. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Shriette. Reyes Wow over in Bangalore, who is opening up meetings like we open up the show. That's how you do it. For our first story. And Austin Frederick, down in Chicago doing logistics, is celebrating the best birthday yet.

Austin, hope to see you at our live show in Shightown. And happy birthday to Wyatt Lowe, who's joining a new team in Pasadena, California. And Josh Swerdloff turning 28 over in Boston, just outside Boston, proudly stealing those T-Boy takeaways. And Josh, we want you to steal. Josh, that's what they're made for. That's what they're for. And happy 10th birthday to Greta Ransom in St. Paul, Minnesota. I have a niece named Greta.

Greta, happy birthday. It's a great name. And Ben McGirk and Michelle Croasdale are getting married in Cincinnati, Ohio. Guys, you'll look fantastic for the weekend. Keep swiping. We know you met on a hinge. And Ethan and Elise Herzog are getting married tomorrow. In Northfield, Minnesota, it's going to be the best day yet.

Congratulations to Lizzie and Ben Beckham, who just had little baby August, join the family. Layton, you're going to be a brilliant big older sister. Happy five-year anniversary to Kristen Cruz in Farmington Hills, Michigan. And Chai Young, Kate and Rachel are celebrating MBA graduations from NYU Stern. Congratulations, guys. The case studies are over. Promote these people. And congratulations to Emily Harrison, who's graduating from Manhattanville University.

This is Jack. I own stock of Moderna and Disney, and Nick and I both own stock of Apple and ETFs of the S&P 500.